A LOVE NEVER FADING
Chapter Thirty
Jack and Rose flew out of the door in
hysterical laughter. They ran down the beach and fell into the sand. They were
both so out of breath that they were clutching their stomachs. They kept
laughing, neither really knowing what was so funny.
Rose sat up and shook the sand out of her
ponytail. She looked down at Jack and smiled at his bright red face. "I
feel so sick," she said through giggles.
Jack looked up at her. "Me, too. It must
be the combination of everything." By everything, he meant all of the
adventures they had been on today. In the afternoon they had decided to go down
to the pier. They went into a few of the shops and bought things. They bought
food from the vendors and walked down the pier. Jack played some of the games
and won a few silly things for Rose. They went on a few rides, but finally it
was time for the roller coaster. They nearly did throw up. Their heads were
throbbing so much from riding it over and over. Then they found a tiny bar and
drank some of the most horrible tasting beer in the world. A few men coaxed
Jack and Rose into a poker game and they both smoked like chimneys. The men
were amazed that the beautiful, refined, young lady was actually very rowdy and
wild. They were enthralled with her, but then one of the men was caught
cheating, and a brawl broke out. That's when Jack grabbed Rose's hand and they
ran out of the bar. And now here they were, lying on the beach in hysterics.
Jack sat up. He looked down the beach and
smiled. In a second he was on his feet. He grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her
up. "Come on." Jack began to run with Rose.
"Where are we going?" she asked
through excited laughter.
"I think you know where."
*****
"His name's Clyde. And I think..."
The man laughed. "...he already likes you."
"Yes, I can see." Rose smiled. As
she had suspected, she and Jack had run down to the horse stables. She petted
the beautiful horse's mane and fed him some sugar cubes the stable hand had
given her.
"What's her name?" Jack said, as he
held the other horse's face in his hands.
"That's Elizabeth. She's a sweetie. Hop
on and I'll get your wife settled..." But when the man turned around, Rose
had already mounted Clyde. "You're a natural, little missy." He
laughed again. "Why don't you two follow me out to the beach." The
two rode out behind the man. "All right. You can have them for an hour,
but you can keep them a little longer than that. I don't get many people this
time of day."
Jack and Rose galloped down the beach. Rose
had forgotten how much fun it was to ride. She remembered that when she was a
child, every year her family went on a European tour. She and her father would
ride around the English countryside. She smiled to herself.
They kept riding further down, and at one
point were stopped by a man who took their photographs. When the hour was
almost up, they went back to the stables. Jack told her to stay on Clyde, and
he would return Elizabeth. He returned and climbed up behind Rose. When he
situated himself comfortably and wrapped his arms around her stomach, Rose took
off. They laughed and smiled at each other.
After a while, Jack pointed to a spot and
told Rose to stop. The horse trotted over to the edge of the water, and Rose
put the reigns down.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Jack
was speaking of the glorious sunset falling across the water.
"Yes, it is," she replied sweetly.
"That's it." He picked up her hand
and pointed out to the water. "That's our horizon. All those promises we
made to each other have come true. Now we have to make new ones."
"I want to see the world with you,
Jack."
"Then I'll take you to see it. We'll
promise ourselves right now. The world is ours for the taking."
"You swear?"
"Completely. Five months ago we said we
would come and drink beer, go on the roller coaster, and ride horses right in
the surf. And here we are." He sighed. "We'll do it all, Rose. This
is our new life together, starting now."
She smiled. "I love you."
"I love you." He cuddled closer to
her. "You've made all my dreams come true. For the rest of my life, all I
want to do is make you happy."
"You've already done that. If it all
ended tomorrow, I would be happy forever with the memories we've made."
"But it won't end tomorrow. It won't end
ever. I'll be with you forever. You're everything to me."
Rose laughed gently. "You never run out
of things to say."
*****
"Oh! Look at that one!" Rose gasped
with excitement.
"They're amazing. I can't think of a
better way to end the day, or our trip."
"Don't remind me. Do we have to go home
tomorrow?"
"Well, if you don't want to..."
"No, I do want to. It's just that I've
had such a wonderful time here. But all good things must come to an end."
Jack smiled and kissed her neck. "Not
all good things, Rose."
She laughed and cuddled up against his chest.
"That was beautiful."
Jack and Rose were on their porch. Rose was
sitting on Jack's lap, and they had a blanket wrapped around them. Fireworks
were being set off, and they were thoroughly enjoying the show.
"Jack, do you think we could come back
here sometime? Maybe a little more permanently."
"You want to move here?"
"Not now, but someday. Don't you think
it would be nice?"
"I think that would be wonderful. But
you're right, not now. When we're ready."
Rose smiled. "Besides, I would never
think of leaving New York now. I could never leave Maggie and Brian now.
They're so wonderful."
"They are, aren't they?"
"I can't wait to get home and tell them
all about our trip." Rose smiled mischievously. "Of course, there are
some things..." She kissed him. "...that we can keep between
us."
Jack pulled her tightly to him. "I
completely agree." He kissed her passionately.