BACK WITH YOU
Chapter Eleven
If Rose was mad about the Heart of the Ocean,
she didn't say so. Jessamyn assumed everything was fine and let the subject
drop for a couple of days until she nonchalantly asked why Rose had given it to
her in the first place. Rose had explained that for one, she didn't want it lying
around, two, if anything were to happen to her then Jessamyn would have some
sort of other clue to look at in her search for who Rose was, and three, that
it was a major piece of evidence that Rose was indeed the dead DeWitt Bukater
girl and if anyone caught her with it then she would be found out. Of course,
this led Jessamyn to ask the question of why Rose just didn't sell it. Rose had
answered that she had wanted to and had thought about it, but if she sold it
would certainly make headlines and then they were back to the issue of her
being found out. She had also added that she just thought Jessamyn would sell
it--which would in turn let Rose know Jessamyn knew--or leave it somewhere, and
hadn't expected her to hold onto it.
Jessamyn didn't really understand everything
about the necklace, but she left it at that. Along with some other questions,
she also asked about the box. Rose said that back in the late twenties she had
gone back to Chippewa Falls, where Jack was from, and had asked about him around
town. She didn't tell Jessamyn a lot of what people had told her, but she did
explain that the box was just a bunch of old things that had been left over
when Jack skipped town.
It took a week or so for Jessamyn to move in
and get everything settled. But when she did, it finally felt like she was
getting into a normal life again. Rose would go off to work every morning and
Jessamyn would hang out at the house, except for Mondays and Fridays when she
still worked at the deli. During her free time, though, Jessamyn had managed to
find out some other secrets through old diaries and such that she probably
shouldn't know. Like how her mother had reoccurring dreams about making love to
Jack and how she had a large supply of sleeping pills stashed away in her nightstand
drawer.
A dozen times she had started a letter to her
family back in Maine; and a dozen times she had ripped the paper into a billion
little pieces and flushed them down the toilet. She just didn't know what to
say. How was she supposed to let the people who had raised her and provided for
her know that she was happier in California with her real mother and she didn't
plan on leaving, without hurting them? It was just too hard. If she had a
choice, she wouldn’t even tell them. But she knew that wasn’t possible.
Thoughts of this pending letter occupied
Jessamyn's mind as she walked home from work early one Friday afternoon. She
was in a cheery mood, despite what problems lay in her path, and smiled happily
as she made her way along. She was so distracted, though, that she didn't even
see Charlie approaching her. So you can imagine her surprise when she walked
straight into him.
"Oh, I beg your pardon. I'm
so--Charlie!"
She threw her arms around him as he started
laughing. He pulled her into a big bear hug and held her tight for a bit before
letting her go.
"How've you been?" she asked, out
of breath, realizing she hadn't seen her friend since the day before she had
found Rose, almost four weeks ago. His hair had gotten a bit longer, and
lighter. But all in all, he looked like himself.
Charlie nodded and shrugged his shoulders.
"Um…okay." He chuckled a little bit. "Been busy with school and
things like that."
Jessamyn smiled. "Yeah, I can imagine
so," she said as she brushed some stray hair away from her face.
"What about you, though? Did you ever
find your mom?" He seemed honestly interested in what had happened. His
face had a concerned, but excited look upon it.
"Yes, actually, I did. I'm living with
her now."
Charlie’s face lit up and he grinned charmingly.
"That's wonderful, Jess!" he exclaimed. And then, true to his
fashion, he pulled Jessamyn into another warm hug.
Jessamyn laughed as she returned the hug. She
hadn't realized how much she had missed him until now, and she was pleased they
had run into each other. When she pulled away, she smiled at him. "It's
great," she said sincerely. "She was really happy to see me, too; I
was worried she might not want me there. Oh, and I've found out so many things
I didn't know but wanted to. Its just so exciting, Charlie."
He smiled, but checked his watch hurriedly.
After cursing under his breath, he shook his head. "That really is
amazing, Jess. And I really want to hear more, but I've got to run. I have
meeting in about ten minutes."
Jessamyn tried not to look or sound
disappointed as she mumbled a soft all right. She was really hoping they could
have sat down and talked for a while.
Charlie broke into a grin as he realized that
she was upset he had to leave. Not that he was happy she was sad, but just that
she probably wouldn't reject his next proposal this way. "Are you busy
tonight?"
A sly smile broke out on Jessamyn's face.
"No...why?"
"Have dinner with me." It wasn't
really a question. He just kind of proposed it, making it sound like she had
to.
"Mr. Beaumont, are you asking me out on
a date?"
Charlie's floppy grin continued to be
plastered across his face. "You could call it that."
Jessamyn's heart skipped a few beats when he
said that. A date, hmm? "Okay," she agreed. It had been so long since
she had been out on a real date.
"Great...I'll pick you up at about
5:30..." Charlie said, as he started to walk backwards away from her.
"I have your address already!" he called, before finally turning
around and running down the sidewalk.
Jessamyn watched until he was gone, slightly
awestruck, not even bothering to worry about how he already had her address.
How long had it been since a boy had paid any sort of romantic interest to her?
It would probably have to have been a year or so ago, when she had had a date
for one of the junior dances. Never before, though, had she had a real,
honest-to-God boyfriend. The boys in high school had liked her. She knew that,
but Jessamyn wasn't the type of girl they dated. They wanted the blonde, flirty
type of girls who would go behind the football stadium with them after a game.
And Jessamyn was the girl who had skipped a grade and was still smarter than
most of her class. She knew better than to go behind a stadium with boys. She
was always their friend, but never their girlfriend. But as Jessamyn was left
standing there, she began to think that it might not be so bad if Charlie
wanted to take her behind a stadium. Most likely, she would follow him.
It was a half hour later when Jessamyn made
it home. She came in the front door and found Rose lying on the couch in the
living room, a washcloth across her forehead and a magazine in her hands.
"Hi, Mom. Are you all right?" she
asked, as she set her purse and her jacket on the floor.
Rose pulled the washcloth from her head and
gave Jessamyn a weak smile. "I'm fine. I just had a bad day."
Rose didn't look fine, but Jessamyn didn't
say so. It was probably some personal thing, she decided, and so she kept her
mouth shut about it. "I'm going out with Charlie tonight; he's coming by
at 5:30, which is in about an hour."
"That’s fine," Rose said absently.
In fact, it didn't even look like she had really heard Jessamyn.
"I thought I would wear that black dress
in your closet...is that okay?"
"Hmm..." was the only response she
got.
"And your emerald necklace..."
This time there was nothing from Rose and
Jessamyn saw that her eyelids had lowered.
"...and dance naked around the pier with
all of Santa Monica watching as I do on every date..."
Rose's eyes opened swiftly and she gave
Jessamyn a really odd look. "What?" she asked.
Jessamyn started laughing. "Did you even
hear anything I said at all before that?"
"No. I'm sorry," Rose said
apologetically, a tiny smile forming on her face. She didn’t know what was
wrong with her lately; she was so tired and worn out. She felt like a teenager
again; every little thing was getting on her nerves and it was hard to keep her
temper under control. Hopefully, the aspirin she had taken a little bit ago
would kick in soon.
Jessamyn asked again if she could borrow the
dress and necklace, and once she had gotten permission from Rose, she scrambled
off to her bedroom to get ready. The excitement of a real date had left her in
a relatively good mood and she hummed to herself as she got dressed and put her
makeup on. It didn't take very long because a kick of adrenaline had kicked in
and she hadn't wasted any time. Even her hair, which usually didn't like to
cooperate at the end of the day, went easily into a fashionably messy upsweep.
And when she presented herself to Rose, she was afraid her mother might cry.
"You look so old!" Rose exclaimed.
She hadn't moved from her position on the couch, but she sat up a little more
and took the washcloth off.
Jessamyn broke into a bright smile and she
twirled around a few times, making the dress fly out. "I feel old,"
she confessed. Definitely not like a girl of eighteen. She felt at least
twenty, twenty-five maybe.
Rose took a sip of water from a nearby glass
and raised her eyebrows. "Now, who is this boy?"
"Charlie," Jessamyn said, as she
sat down next to Rose. "Do you remember him? He's the man I was telling
you about when I first showed up...the southern one...from New Orleans."
"Oh yes, that one," Rose mused
softly. "Southern boy, Jess? At least he must have good manners. I should
hope, at least." She paused and then gave her daughter a sly grin.
"Hmm…well, I hope you have fun. But don’t stay out too late, and I mean
it. And don’t do anything I wouldn't do." She sensed that she probably had
no right whatsoever to start telling Jessamyn what to do now. She was eighteen;
she could really do whatever she wanted so long as it was legal. But maybe some
words of wisdom would stick in her daughter’s head.
This time, it was Jessamyn who raised her
eyebrows. What wouldn't Rose do? Her mother seemed to get the idea as she threw
up her hands and rolled her eyes.
"All right. You have a point. Just...be
careful. All right?"
Jessamyn nodded. "I will, Mom. There’s
nothing to worry about," she said, earnestly, before standing up and
smoothing her wrinkled dress out.
As if on cue, there was a loud knock on the
front door. The adrenaline rush kicked in again as Jessamyn realized that it
must be Charlie. As she rushed about, trying to find her dinner purse, Rose
finally got up from the couch and sprinted over to the front door. She found
behind it a grinning boy.
"You must be Charlie."
He nodded. "Yes, that's me. You must be
Mrs. Dawson."
Rose moved aside to let him in, and then
closed the door. "I'm afraid so," she commented, a smile on her face.
Charlie held his hand out. "Pleased to
meet you, ma'am," he said, politely, as he shook Rose's hand.
"Jessamyn didn't tell me her mother was quite so young looking, or
beautiful, for that matter." He was about to kiss the back of her hand,
but Rose stopped him by softly pulling her hand away. Memories were the last
thing she needed right now. Still, she couldn't help but blush a little from
his comments.
She was saved by Jessamyn coming into the
front hall. Charlie's face lit up and he held out his arm. "Are you ready
to go?"
Jessamyn smiled and nodded. "Good-bye,
Mom," she said, as she linked her arm with his.
Rose called good-bye as they left, closing
the door behind them with a soft click.
Jessamyn followed Charlie out. Neither of
them said much until Jessamyn saw what was waiting at the curb.
"Who did you swipe that from?" she
asked excitedly, breaking free from Charlie and running toward the car. She
knew very well that he didn't have one and couldn't afford one. Her brother in
Maine had been quite fascinated by cars, so she was pretty sure it was a nice,
not to mention pretty expensive, automobile. It wasn’t very big, but it was a
soft red color with black seats. Convertible, too. She could definitely get
used to this.
Charlie came up behind her and smiled.
"I borrowed it from my roommate. He's a bit obsessed with it, though, so
we're not allowed to eat, drink, or do anything of the sort in it."
Jessamyn laughed and ran one of her fingers across
the edge. "It’s great," she said sincerely.
Charlie nodded and wiped some hair away from
his eyes. "Yeah. But shall we go? I thought we could go to that Cajun
place down by the pier."
Jessamyn nodded and allowed him to open the
door for her and help her into the car. When he shut the door and then ran
around to the other side, she couldn't help but remember what her mother had
said about him about the manners and such. She had to agree...southern to the
very last.