DUST IN THE WIND
Chapter Sixteen
Rose stared out of the bedroom
window, Josephine sleeping peacefully in her arms. It had been a busy morning
for Rose. Helping with breakfast, a bit of housework, and, of course, caring
for her newborn daughter. It had all made her extremely sleepy. Silently, she
wondered where her husband was. Probably spending more time with Maria. The
thought was bitter and stung her pretty good. What could they possibly be
talking about for so long? What were they really doing?
"Rose!" Sam’s voice
pulled her out of the world of jealous wife rambling thoughts. "What are
you doing?"
"Rocking Josephine to
sleep," was her exhausted answer. "What is it?"
"I just wanted to make sure
that you were okay. I know you’re thinking that Jack’s still with Maria, since
he’s not with you. I thought I should just come up and see if you needed
anything."
"What if he falls in love
with her and leaves me, Sam? She’s so beautiful and exotic…I can’t possibly
compete with that." Rose got up and put Josephine in her cradle.
"Jack loves you, Rose,"
Samantha tried to reassure her sister-in-law, as well as herself. "Listen.
Maybe you should talk to Jack yourself. Tell him how you feel."
Rose sighed, staring up at the
ceiling. She knew that she needed to talk to Jack. Keep the lines of
communication open. But what if he thought she was being a baby?
"Sam…you’re right. I do need to talk to Jack. But what if he thinks I’m
horrible?"
"He won’t."
"How do you know?"
"Because he loves you. I see
it in his eyes every time he looks at you, Rose. Just talk to him."
Rose sighed. Samantha was right.
Keeping her feelings from Jack would only cause problems. "Okay. You’re
right. I’ll talk to Jack. Even if he does think I’m being silly."
"He won’t think you’re
silly. Talk to him now. George said he was outside."
Rose nodded and took a deep
breath before leaving the room; hoping to get over her jealousy of Maria.
*****
Sure enough, Jack was indeed
outside, smoking, his eyes closed against the bright morning sunlight. At
first, Rose thought that he was asleep, but then he sighed and opened his eyes.
He turned his head, and Rose knew
that Sam was right when Jack’s eyes lit up with love and adoration when he saw
her. "Rose." He put out the cigarette and got to his feet.
"Jack." She shyly
smiled, suddenly nervous. How was she going to explain herself without sounding
like…Cal? "Can we talk?"
Jack nodded, concern emerging in
his eyes. "Sure we can. Come here." He led her to the chair he had
been sitting in and knelt before her. "Now tell me, what do you want to
talk about?"
Rose took a deep breath, hating
herself for feeling the way she did. For doubting Jack’s love. "It’s about
Maria. How do you really feel about her, Jack?"
Jack inwardly frowned. Did Rose
know about his earlier conversation with Maria? Did she suspect anything at
all? "What are you talking about?"
"Jack, I don’t know why, but
I feel that you’d rather be with Maria than with me. I know I’m being silly,
that I’m the only woman you love…but I can’t help being jealous of her."
Rose bowed her head, ashamed to be feeling like this.
Pulling her into his arms, Jack
held Rose, rubbing her back gently. "Oh, Rose, you have nothing to worry
about. I love you. I always have and always will. You’re the mother of my
child, the love of my life. Maria is only a friend. That’s all she can ever
be." Jack sighed, pushing away his confused feelings about Fabrizio’s
lovely sister. George was right. Rose was too important to him to risk losing
over feelings he shouldn’t be having at all.
Smiling, relieved to know that
Jack didn’t think her silly after all, Rose pulled out of his embrace and
stared deeply into his eyes, falling into them completely. "There’s no one
else for me but you, Jack. There never will be. I love you so much."
Jack could only smile and pull
her into another hug as he banished anymore romantic thoughts of Maria to the
back of his mind.
Maria stood at the door, looking
out at the couple. Sighing, she walked back to her room, convinced that there
would never be anyone else for her but Jack. Whether he was married or not.