CALIFORNIA PARADISE
Chapter Twenty-Three
"Rose? What’s the matter with you
tonight?" It was Jack. He was trying to put his arm around her. She jumped
up before his skin could meet hers.
"I’ll tell you what’s the matter."
She turned from Jack to face her mother. "This woman, the only mother that
I’ve known my whole entire life, has just announced that she remarried. To a
man I’ve never heard of before, and probably only married her because she lied
to him just like she did to Daddy."
Ruth blushed from embarrassment, and, in a
level, even tone, said, "Rose, you’re making a fool of yourself in front
of all these people. Now, let’s sit down and enjoy the wonderful dinner. We can
discuss this later."
"No! You have been treating me like this
since the day I was born. Well, I’m a grown woman now, and I’m tired of you
putting on masks just to please other people. Who gives a damn what all the
people in the restaurant think? What about me, your only child? You’ll
never see these people again, and they will forget all of this in a week, tops.
But I won’t. You’re my mother. You’re supposed to care about my feelings. And I
want to talk about your new husband now and right here. And I
don’t care who hears. I don’t care what they think. I just want to know the facts."
So they talked. And talked. And talked. When
it had been a while and the conversation didn’t seem to be wearing down, Jack
had them all driven to a park. The discussion involved tears, and Jack had to
comfort Rose more than once. When Ruth was at a loss for words or an argument
sprang up, Molly would fill in the blanks.
As the clocks around the city struck
midnight, the conversation wound down and they headed home.
"Rose, I’m so sorry for everything that
I’ve ever put you through," Ruth said, just as everyone was entering their
bedrooms.
"It’s okay. Really."