AFTER STARTING ANEW
Chapter Sixteen
Molly turned in her seat until the beautiful
staircase came into her line of vision. And just in time too. Rose and her two
little daughters were just starting down the white carpet that covered each
step. Carefully, deliberately, the twins took one stair at a time. It was
obvious that they were concentrating on holding their petal filled baskets as
they proceeded their mother down the steps.
The vision of Rose and her two little girls
just about took Molly’s breath away. It seemed like the other day that Molly
had been the lone guest at Jack and Rose’s wedding. Children certainly made
time fly. The resemblance between mother and daughters was obvious. They looked
like a bouquet of roses in their matching opal colored gowns. Marriage and
motherhood certainly seemed to agree with Rose from the looks of her. And she
had heard from Ruth yesterday, that the newest baby, Frank, already was taking
after his father. What a lucky man, Jack Dawson was with a family like this.
Molly twisted back to face forward looking to
see who she recognized among the wedding guests. There was of course Pete
Thompson’s wife and five of their six children, the oldest being away at
college. In front of them sat Annie Murphy and Agnes Grey, the woman who
cleaned Arthur’s office at the bank and his devoted secretary, respectively.
Sitting at attention, crisply dressed in their Sunday best, were four of the
oldest girls from St. Ann’s Orphanage. She was sure that Sister Martha had
admonished them to be on their best behavior. Altogether there were about
thirty guests. The rest Molly guessed were some of Ruth’s new friends from her
church work, some members of the Lopez family, and several of Arthur’s
colleagues from the bank and their wives.
The musicians stopped for a moment, shuffling
the music on their stands. Rose and the twins had made their way to the front
of the seats, by the fireplace, which was to be the backdrop for the ceremony.
Molly looked down at the white carpet that was now covered by delicate rose
petals scattered by the twins. Rose bent down and whispered something to each
of them and they sat down quietly on two cushions that were on the floor in
front of them. She could see Rose give a sigh of relief.
All the guests had whispered to each other at
the appearance of Ruth’s beautiful daughter and granddaughters. Molly thought
how shocked they would be to see the bride. For Molly, who had visited with
Ruth earlier in the day, had never seen such a transformation in her life. In a
few minutes they would all see for themselves.
The candles near the makeshift altar
flickered in a draft. The air was permeated with the smell of flowers, candle
wax, perfume and the food that was awaiting everyone in the next room. This was
a small wedding to be sure, but Molly knew that Arthur had spared no expense
for this occasion. Still though, simplicity had prevailed.
Arthur. Now there was a groom to behold.
Molly turned her eyes to him, as the small ensemble began playing another
selection. If she remembered correctly, it was the fourth movement of
Beethoven’s Ninth. Arthur stood confidently and resplendent near the fireplace,
his hair perfectly trimmed, his formal wear looking as if it had been tailored
to his body. Everyone in Denver had pitied him when his first wife, the wealthy
Meredith Holloway, had deserted him and her money and run away with a traveling
actor. When the scandal broke out, Arthur had gone into seclusion and cut
himself free from the moneyed set of Denver society. In fact most people had
forgotten that he even existed except when he sat in his bank office.
Today however, Arthur stood proudly at the
side of Pastor Wood from the Episcopal church, waiting for the woman who was
the love of his life. Arthur knew the story of Ruth, of course, but none of the
other guests would ever realize the rough road that she had traveled to this
day. But to Arthur it made no difference. That was all in the past. The woman
he loved was wonderful and sweet, kind and charming. Never mind what had been.
He whispered something in the ear of Pete Thompson who was on his other side.
Probably just the usual question if the best man had the ring. Pete looked
slightly uncomfortable in his finery. He spent so much time at the newspaper
office, that unless his clothes were permanently rumpled, he just didn’t look
like himself.
Molly noticed that suddenly everyone was
looking back at the stairs. There walking slowly and proudly to her future was
Ruth on the arm of Jack. Among the guests, there were oh’s and ah’s of
exclamation. Molly was not sure if it was Ruth or Jack that they were dripping
over. The two of them made quite an elegant pair. Ruth’s trim figure was set
off to perfection in her blue velvet suit. Her hair done up, hung more loosely
than usual, flattering the simplicity of her outfit and softening her face. As
they came closer, she noticed that Ruth wore only a simple pearl necklace and
matching drop earrings. A gift from the groom no doubt.
Jack, who had never been accustomed to formal
finery, still cut a dashing figure in his tails. Molly remembered the night she
had helped the innocent boy get ready for that dinner on the ship. He might
have needed her assistance with the clothes, but he had certainly held his own
that night among the greater snobs of the time. Now Jack held his head high, a
relaxed smile on his face, but staring straight at what? Molly followed his
eyes. Of course. His beautiful wife Rose. What a fairytale romance they had.
Ruth was passing Molly’s row now. With the
way she looked today, no one would guess that she was forty five. She appeared
about fifteen years younger. Her cheeks were glowing in the candlelight and her
eyes sparkled, almost mischievously. She could see that Ruth was hanging on
tightly to Jack and he had his hand clasped over hers for reassurance. Jack
lowered his head and spoke softly to his mother in law. She blushed and bit her
lip slightly as if to keep from laughing. Whoever would have guessed that
relationship would turn out in such a positive manner. But with Jack’s breezy
acceptance of people and Ruth’s resolve to put her life back on track, the two
had conquered their differences and were now very close and protective of one
another.
Molly still remembered that night in the New
York taxicab when Ruth had poured her heart out. The night she’d had absolutely
no use for men at all. Now, Ruth’s eyes were focused on only one thing. A tall,
distinguished man, who she loved for who he was, not what he had. For both of
them, this would be a union of true devotion and love. Molly saw Ruth’s mouth
twitch in nervousness. But there was a gentleness about it now, a softness that
had not been there three years ago.
Arthur cleared his throat and clasped his
hands together. Molly thought that between Jack and Arthur, just about everyone
female heart in the crowd was fluttering. It was not fair that any two men
should have the nerve to be so handsome and also to be in the same room.
Arthur’s stunning gray eyes gazed at Ruth, as if he wished to steady her nerves
just with his glance. And it must have worked for Molly saw Ruth take a sigh
and a smile broke across her face. She had arrived at the side of her groom.
“Aunt Molly, did you see our flowers?” Molly
Dawson sat in the lap of her namesake, playing with her empty basket.
“Sure thing darling,” said Molly. “You and
your sister did a real fine job. And your Granny looked real pretty, didn’t
she? Just like you.” Molly shifted the smaller Molly in her lap.
“And Mommy too?” added Edy.
“Girls, you aren’t bothering Molly are you?”
Rose had come over to the table with a punch glass in her hand. “Thank you for
watching them now, so I could meet Mother’s friends,” said Rose.
Ruth had proudly been introducing Rose to the
ladies from her literary club and her sewing circle. They were extremely lovely
people and Rose was glad that her mother had met such nice women. She would
certainly have a busy life now between these activities and Arthur’s charities.
But her mother had promised to still make time to spend helping her with the
children.
“I see your husband has released Frank from
his captivity in the kitchen.” Molly inclined her head in the direction of the
swinging door. Jack was holding six month old Frank against his shoulder while
some of the older ladies in the crowd were admiring the little boy.
“Yes,” said Rose, sounding relieved. To her
it had been a miracle that her children had all behaved on this day, so far. “I
just could not be worried about the baby too. Anita was very good with him.”
Rose bent down and wiped some cookie crumbs off of Edy’s face. “Molly, didn’t
Mother look wonderful?”
“Sure did, darling. You’re mom is a real
special gal. Of course, all of us can take some credit for that, not meaning
any disrespect.” Molly set her namesake on the floor and straightened her dress
as she stood up.
The two girls wound their arms around the
soft skirt of Rose’s dress, tired from the long day. Rose massaged their heads
gently. “No, of course not Molly. It was something that had to happen and we
all know that Mother is happy the way things turned out.” Rose stifled a yawn
and smiled at Molly.
From across the room came the bellowing,
gruff voice of Pete Thompson. “Here, here, everyone. Let’s gather in the center
of the room. It’s time to toast the bride and groom.” He waved his arms in a
circle as he tried to herd the guests closer together.
Jack with Frank in arms, the Lopez family and
the rest of the guests, crowded around Ruth and Arthur. Frank seeing his
mother, reached out for her. Edy and Molly grabbed their father’s now available
hands. It brought tears to Molly’s eyes to see such a loving family. Things had
never been quite like that around her house.
Pete held a bottle of champagne in his hands
and poured some into everyone’s glass within his reach. Maria Lopez took care
of the rest. When he was sure that all the guests were ready, he cleared his
throat. “Um. Well, we are sure all happy to be here today. I never thought I
would be witnessing any event like this at Arthur’s home.” Pete looked over at
Ruth and Arthur who both seemed to be lost in each other’s gaze. “Yes, well……I’ve
known Art since we were kids and he has waited a long time for find the one
special person who would compliment him. It appears he has finally done it.
Ladies and gentleman, a toast to Arthur and to his very lovely wife, now Ruth
Bennett. Long life and happiness to you both.” He lifted his glass high in the
air. The others joined him.
“Cheers,” “Good Luck Art, Ruth.” “Best
Wishes.”
Molly sipped her bubbly champagne and out of the
corner of her eye, next to her, she saw Ruth and Arthur clink their glasses
together, their eyes locked on each other. She felt a shiver and thought that
aside from Rose and Jack, she had never seen quite such a romantic and perfect
couple.
In front of her, Edy Dawson yanked on her
father’s hand. Jack bent his head down to listen to what his daughter had to
say. “Daddy, won’t Gran get hot if they toast her?”
Jack had to resist the temptation to laugh
out loud. Inside, he managed only a gentle chuckle. “No sweetheart. That is
just something grown ups say for a special occasion. No one is going to make
toast of Grandma.” He kissed his daughters small forehead and squeezed her
little hand in his.
“Say Jack, you have taken to fatherhood real
well. You’re not goin’ teach these girls to…”Molly lowered her voice, “to spit
too, are you?”
Jack turned ten shades of red, realizing for
the first time that someone knew exactly what he and Rose had been doing that
day on the boat. “Ah, no Molly. I plan to set a better example for them.”
Molly nodded her head and beamed at the young
man whose cause she had championed. Then she turned to Ruth, who was still busy
receiving the good wishes of some of the departing guests. “Did you ever figure
out what to do with a man, Ruth?” she whispered. “Remember that night you said
to me…..”
Ruth jerked her head to stare at Molly’s
outrageous comment. She coughed, put her handkerchief to her face, trying to
hide her embarrassment. Then to the shock and delight of everyone around her,
including her new husband, Ruth did something no one had ever seen her do. She
giggled.