The carriage ride through town was long, although William had done nothing but smile since they arrived in Philadelphia three days before. The carriage rocked gently and the motion of it was beginning to make Rose feel sick. She found that she preferred motor cars on long journeys.
“It’s not too far now, Jackie boy,” Nathan said as he took a drag of his cigar before flicking the butt end onto the street. “It’s a great little place. I shall value your expertise.”
The evening before, at dinner, Nathan had mentioned that he was interested in buying an art gallery. He had a great love of art, and when a large, unused building had come up, he had decided to investigate. The place was a stable about a hundred years before, but had been converted into a saloon and then a gallery. It had been unused for some months now. Some pieces of art still hung on the walls. The building, from the outside, appeared to be good, but inside it had fallen into disrepair. After exploring the outside, Rose poked her head inside to see a few rats running around.
“Oh, God! Will is not going in there!” she squealed. Jack saw the vermin running around inside.
“Oh, Lord. Why don’t Rose and I take the baby to the tea room down the road while you two look over this place, although it doesn’t appear to be much more than a pile of filth.”
Rose covered Will’s face and backed away from the building, not wanting his to catch anything or even see the rats. She shivered thinking about them. “Come on, Mother. Meet us at the tea room in an hour or so, Jack.”
“All right.” Nathan smirked. “Right then, Jackie. You ready to go in?” Nathan struggled to open the door. Jack followed him, not knowing exactly why he would want to invest in something that appeared so dirty. It was spacious inside. Some vortex sort of art hung on the walls and Jack looked them over. Seeing the weirdness of the art made his eyes feel funny. Some cubism and dottism hung on the walls, but nothing real, no good art to speak of.
“You need to get rid of all this shit.” Jack pointed to the pictures on the wall. Nathan looked at Jack, interested in his ideas.
“And why is that?”
“There’s nothing real, nothing drawn from life. You want nature or people, to see their faces so alive and so real that you can almost see the wind blowing their hair.” Jack couldn’t remember the last time he had drawn and felt his passion for art overtake him again. “When I was in Paris, it was all dottism and cubism, but that stuff has no heart to it. When I draw, I do it from real life. I capture it and put it on paper. Cameras are good and all, but they don’t capture the moment right there and then. You can’t see the love or the beauty of the picture.”
Nathan smiled. This Jack knew something about art. “So, what would you suggest then, son?”
Jack looked around at the open space, noticing that there were stairs, too. “Hmm…I don’t know. I’d say a gallery split into separate parts. I run a small gallery in Santa Monica and I always make sure there is some space for the up and coming artists because it’s hard to get recognized these days.”
“That’s a good idea. What else?”
“Well, there’s always one or two people interested in the vortex, dottism, and cubism sort of art, so I would say find some tasteful pieces and have a section dedicated to the artists who do that sort of work.” Jack looked around. “As for the layout of the room, it needs to be plain, maybe white or cream walls and wooden floors. It needs to be light and airy. The art needs to do the talking in the room. There should be no other distractions, just plenty of light.”
Nathan pulled out a cigarette and offered one to Jack. “You have some brilliant ideas, Jack.”
“Thank you, sir.” Jack lit his cigarette and breathed in the smoke. He hadn’t smoked since Rose had become pregnant, so this was like heaven for him.
“Say, Jack, if you let me use those ideas, I will pay you for them.” Nathan smiled. He liked this guy. He knew his stuff and he would be willing to pay him.
Jack stopped smoking his cigarette for a moment. “Pay me?”
“Yes. If I built this place exactly like you just said, then I would pay you. Those ideas are yours.”
Jack frowned. “Maybe, but you can decorate this place how you want.”
“No. I want it the way you just said. You know what you’re talking about, Jack. You have talent and I want to pay you for it.”
Jack thought for a moment. He didn’t want money. He could so easily say yes, but that was going against everything his mother and father had taught him, and the way that he wanted to teach his own son.
“Look, thank you, Mr. Hockley, but…”
“But what? This is a good opportunity. You could have shares here. You could build this place up with me.”
Jack’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He knew he couldn’t say yes. “Thank you, but no.”
“But the money would be there, for you, Rose, and that son of yours.” Nathan leaned against the wall, smoking the last of his cigarette.
Silence fell over them for a few moments, but Jack thought about it logically. “Mr. Hockley, I don’t need the money. I may not be a rich man, but I never will be. I wouldn’t know what to do with a lot of money if it slapped me in the face. Rose and I have a life in Santa Monica and I run my own gallery. It may never be as huge as this, but it’s the way I live.” Jack stubbed his cigarette out. “Thanks for the offer, sir, but please take my ideas. They’re yours…for free.”
*****
“Oh, come on, sweetie. Hush now, darling.” Rose attempted to soothe her son, but he just wouldn’t settle down. He had been screaming for almost an hour and Rose had done everything to calm him.
Ruth held out her arms and Rose passed her son to Ruth. She needed some peace. Ruth looked down at the small baby in the blanket and smiled at him. “Hello, beautiful.” Slowly, she began to hum something—something that was familiar to Rose. It wasn’t perfect, but it was in tune, and after a few moments William’s cries died down into small whimpers.
Rose smiled at her mother. She seemed to be magical with her grandson. Ruth continued to hum and William soon closed his blue eyes and wrapped his fingers tightly around Ruth’s.
“Oh, my,” Rose whispered. “He’s actually asleep.”
Ruth smiled. She could barely remember the last time she had sung a child to sleep—twenty years before, when Rose was a baby. She missed having a child around now that Rose was a beautiful young woman with a life of her own. “Rose, can I take William for tonight?”
Rose frowned at her mother, confused as to what she meant. “I want to look after him for tonight, to give you and Jack some peace and some privacy. Would that be all right?”
Rose looked down at her son, sleeping in his grandmother’s arms. She hadn’t been away from William for a night before, and even though he would be in the same house, it would feel strange. Rose knew that Ruth was lonely at night. Nathan slept in a separate bed, so maybe it would be good for Will to spend some time with her and for Rose and Jack to get a full night’s sleep.
“Of course.”
*****
“Are you mad that I didn’t take the money?” Jack asked. Rose had been silent for a while now and Jack didn’t know what the matter with her was. “Rose?” Jack had told Rose what Nathan had offered him that afternoon.
Slowly, Rose turned to her husband, hugging her body against the chill. “No. No, I’m not mad. You’re right. We don’t need all of that.”
Jack was relieved and pulled her into his arms. “I’m so glad. I just don’t want to go against everything I have ever known. I’m never going to be rich, Rose, but I just want to give you and our son a good life.”
Rose silenced him by putting her finger on his lips. “Jack, you’ve given me everything I’ll ever need. We have a perfect life in Santa Monica, and while I’m going to miss my mother when I go home, I also can’t wait to see Maria, Fabrizio, and the twins again. I can’t wait to return to work and to be on the stage again and to see the sea every morning when I wake. That is our life, Jack, not this here. This mansion could house a hundred homeless people. Nathan could feed several small countries with his money. He doesn’t need his millions. He thinks it makes him a man, but it doesn’t. You are the perfect man, the perfect husband and father.”
“Aw…Rose.” He rubbed his nose against hers and she giggled. “I love you so much. I’m glad you see it the way I do. We never needed money before to be happy.”
“No, Jack. I was unhappy when I had money and fine things, but you taught me how to live simply and I love you so much for that and so many other things.”