AN OCEAN OF EMOTION
Chapter Eleven
Rose
While I was still in shock and
fear, Cal shoved his way past me and charged into my home.
"What are you doing here?
Get out!" I pointed to the door, but Cal just laughed. "I mean it. I
no longer have anything to do with you. Get out!"
Cal just laughed more. "On
the contrary, love. You have everything to do with me. You’re still my fiancée,
remember?" Cal spied Victoria. "Is she yours?"
Victoria just glared an icy stare
that I had never seen before. "Go to hell, Cal."
"What would your father say
to you if he heard you talking like that? Living like this?" Cal waved his
hands around.
"Living like what? Away from
you?"
I stifled a smile at Victoria’s
comeback. She shifted the baby around so he was as far away from Cal as
possible. I handed James to her to get him out of Cal’s line of sight.
"I see." He stopped to
stare at both babies. "Which one is the little bastard child of that
Dawson filth?"
I felt my blood boil over. I
don’t know what came over me, but my closed fist connected with Cal’s cheek.
"Do not ever say anything of the sort around my son or around my friend or
her daughter. You are not welcome here. Get out!" I looked back at Victoria,
who was horrified at what I had just done. The pain from my fist began to
radiate and I began to shake it.
Cal just glared as he touched the
sore spot on his cheek. His hand fell to his side and an icy stare emitted from
his eyes as well. He started to walk towards me, but changed his mind when he
remembered Victoria was in the room. "What a little spitfire you’ve
become." He touched his cheek again, which was beginning to redden from
the impact of my fist. "Do you really want me to leave?"
I nodded my head. "I’m done
with you. Get out of my house."
Cal nodded. "As you
wish." He turned to leave, but turned around and spoke once more.
"But rest assured, I’ll be back. You do belong to me. Remember that."
Victoria and I watched as Cal
silently shut the door as he left my house. The soft footsteps of his shoes
against the wooden porch were heard before we heard a car door slam, and as we
watched from the parlor window, a black Renault drove off.
I motioned for James and Victoria
gladly handed him over. I held him close and buried my face in his tiny
shoulder. I realized that tears were forming in my eyes as I looked up.
"How did he find me? How?" I wiped a tear from my eye with the edge
of my sleeve. "We were so careful. We didn’t get ourselves photographed
and we didn’t do anything wrong. Jack and I were careful! What happened?"
Victoria just shrugged. "You
know how Cal is. Maybe he tracked down Jack and had one of those awful
manservants follow him home."
I just shook my head and composed
myself, knowing that Jack and Harry would be back. "Don’t mention anything
to Jack or Harry about this, please. I don’t want this to be ruined. And
telling Jack about Cal coming over would just upset him, and then Jack would
probably go to Philadelphia and do something he’d regret."
Victoria nodded. "Are you
sure that you don’t want anyone to know?"
I shook my head. "Not yet.
Do you think Cal is dumb enough to try this again?"
"Rose, I don’t know. You
were his prized possession. And then you slipped out of his fingers. For some
reason, he’s still got his eyes set on you, and you know how he is."
Victoria stopped a minute to shift Anna around. "Just be careful. That’s
all I’m asking. But I’ll respect you and I won’t tell anyone. I promise."
I slowly nodded. "Jack and
Harry are on their way back." I shook my throbbing hand again.
"How are you going to
explain that?" Victoria pointed at my red hand.
I thought for a minute. "If
Jack asks, the front door slammed shut on it. Wind caught it or
something." I shook it again, trying to get the throbbing to stop.
Two Days Later
Ruth
I was eagerly awaiting Cal’s
return home. He needed to stop in New York to attend to some business
beforehand and the telegram I had received a day earlier had said he had news
and would be home today. He had told me what time his train would be arriving
and as I waited for him to get home, I paced the upstairs foyer. I heard a car
drive into the driveway and walked to the window. It was Cal’s Renault. I made
my way downstairs to the entry foyer and waited for Cal to come in. He finally
made it in after what seemed like an eternity and his manservant opened the
door. He easily made his way past the servant who went to get his bag and the
manservant who was holding the door. I just stared at him as he put his hat and
coat on the hooks in the hallway. "Well?" I asked.
He turned around to face me.
"She’s alive. You were right. And she has a child. Looks to be maybe six
months old or so. He looks just like her." He turned his attention back to
the servant bringing in his bag. "Just put it over there." She
curtsied and put the bag where Cal told her.
I felt the breath leaving my
lungs. "Why? Why would Rose ignore me? I am her mother."
Cal just stared. "What are
you babbling about?"
I sat down on a bench in the
entryway of the house. "She is my daughter. My flesh and blood. My
relation. Why did she or how did she just walk away from everything?"
Cal just shook his head and said
blandly, "That’s your problem, not mine."
I turned around to look at him.
"What are you talking about?"
Cal pointed to a faded purple
bruise on his cheek. "This. Your daughter hit me." He touched the
spot. "Do you think I honestly wanted her back in my life? I can find
another mindless drone to carry on the Hockley legacy. I just went on this
charade to shut you up. Rose has a little bastard kid by that filth Dawson. How
can I pass off a bastard child as a member of society? She’s damaged
goods." He started to walk off, but I grabbed him by the arm.
"Damaged goods? How can you
be so heartless? You were the one engaged to her."
He looked at me and smirked.
"But she’s the one who married that Dawson kid. Now, didn’t she? Now,
excuse me. Some of us have work to do."
I watched as Cal made his way to
the back of the house to his office. I heard the muffled slam of his office
door and just winced.
I had to find my daughter. If she
wouldn’t listen to Cal, she’d listen to me. She had to. She was my daughter. I
went to my room to find my bag. If Cal wouldn’t bring her home, I would.