A FATHER'S RESCUE
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rose was just as surprised as everyone else.
She could only watch as Cal took his leave, deciding it was best to cease his
interference at this family gathering. She then turned back to her mother,
waiting to see what she would say next.
"I'm sorry he treated you like that,
Rose. I would hope he won't be coming back. It seems like he took me seriously.
You really don't look that well, is something bothering you?"
"I wouldn't say that. I feel all right,
even if I look pale or something like that. Like Daddy said, I was in the
hospital just lately. But I'm fine, or they wouldn't have let me out."
Michael knew very well that the trip had been
hard on Rose, but he stayed quiet. Rose knew enough to say something if she was
feeling sick, and Ruth didn't need anything else to worry over.
But something wasn't right. She could feel it
in the pit of her stomach--a mild dread, almost as frightening as when she was
boarding the Titanic. But she didn't know exactly what it was. She chalked it
up to the nervous anticipation she'd felt all day since deciding to make this
journey.
"Well, I suppose there's no sense in
inviting you to sleep in your own bed tonight," Ruth was saying.
"You've made it clear that you want no part of me or of your life in
Philadelphia--"
"No, that's not true at all," Rose
cut in quickly. "I mean, my life has changed drastically, yes, but there
can still be room for you in it. I just need you to accept that I can no longer
play the role of the society princess. I am my own person and I have plans for
my life. To study art and drama, to see the world." She paused. "To
marry whomever and whenever I choose. If you can accept these things you will
always be welcome in my life."
Ruth stood and walked slowly to the fireplace,
standing with her back turned to them for a long moment. Finally, with her back
still turned, she addressed her daughter.
"Where will you go? How will you
survive?"
"I'm going to be looking for a job so I
can save money and find a better place to live. I think I will be going back to
New York, but if it's all right, I...I would like to stay here for a few days.
It will be nice to sleep in my own bed again."
Ruth smiled very slightly, as she turned
around. "Of course you can. What about you, Michael? Will you be staying
here?"
"Yes. I think it will be very good for
all of us to be here together again. It's been such a long time." He
sighed. "But you could definitely say that is my own fault. We can talk
about that later, Ruth, if you like."
She only studied his face intently; Michael
knew Ruth well enough to immediately comprehend that that meant yes. "For
now, why don't we see if there is something on hand for a meal. It was a bit of
a longer trip than both of us expected."
Rose decided to leave them alone for a moment
and give herself some time to recover. She excused herself, saying she wanted
to freshen up, and slowly climbed the stairs to her old room.
It was just as she'd left it before departing
for Europe. Not one item had been touched, and a thin film of dust layered the
furniture. The windows were shut and the curtains drawn, and a stale smell hung
in the air. It was as if Ruth had known her daughter would come home, and
preserved the room accordingly. Rose shuddered.
She had deliberately failed to mention to
Ruth that she and her father planned to travel to California. Ruth would want
to know why; naturally she would be hurt that they'd want to move so far away
so soon after reestablishing ties. But it would be too complicated to explain
that it was a journey Rose had planned to share with Jack, and that now that he
was gone, his spirit was urging her on, to do the things they'd hoped to do
together. It was something Ruth would not comprehend.
Rose could no longer tolerate the stuffy
atmosphere of the room. She threw open the curtains at one of the windows, and
coughed at the cloud of dust the movement caused.
Suddenly an arm snaked tightly around her
waist and a hand was clamped to her mouth.
"You didn't think I was going to let you
go that easily, did you?" Cal growled into her ear.
Rose couldn't speak, of course, so she only
shook her head. Somewhere inside she had known he would be back. Rose suspected
that was what her feeling of dread had been caused by. The thing now was to get
him out of here, without taking her away with him.
"You are smart, aren't you? Now, there
are some things I want you to listen to. If you can be quiet, I'll take my hand
away. If not, things stay like this. Can you be good, or not?"
Rose nodded very quickly, and he removed his
hand. Then his tone grew even harsher. "You humiliated me downstairs,
Rose. I think you know that. Telling your mother things she had no business hearing
about! And dismissing me as if I were completely unimportant. Would you like to
know the state your mother would be in right now if it weren't for me?"
Rose considered this. Seeing how her mother
had looked even with him here...she slowly shook her head.
"I didn't think so. And what happens
when you go back to your other life, Rose? You know as well as I do that you
will be better off staying here."
He had adapted the pose of the courtly
gentleman that Rose knew all too well--a pose that had caught her off guard
many a time. And each time he would slowly work on her, confusing her with his
little lies--he made them sound so plausible--until he reeled her in. A regular
snake charmer.
"You don't know when to stop, do
you?" Rose shook her head in disbelief.
"Please, Rose, I only have your best
interests at heart. As I always have. You are very dear to me, and I hate to
see you making such a terrible mistake."
"The only mistake I made," she
replied, "was to say I would marry you."
Cal flinched and she saw a trace of the
violence he was trying so mightily to restrain flash across his features for a
fraction of a second. But he looked away quickly, and when he turned back to
face her he'd regained his composure. "Don't you see what you could be
getting yourself into? Your father is...is...insane! He faked his own death,
for God's sake. Took off and abandoned you without leaving so much as a note,
then discovers you by accident and all of a sudden wants you to leave your
mother and your home for a life of poverty in New York! Just like Dawson. And
you see what became of your plans with him."
"My father didn't make me leave
anywhere! He found me when I was already in New York. He had to convince me to
come back here to see Mother. I'm glad to see her, but I don't intend to stay
here for good. But that is my choice, not his. As far as Jack is concerned, if
it had been up to him, he would be here right now. You have no idea what he
went through. You don't even want to know, do you?"
"Honestly, no. But I suppose we will all
have to hear about it eventually. You might as well get it over with now."
Rose's eyes flashed fiercely. "I think
you are the most insensitive person I've ever known! You don't care to know;
I'm not telling you. Only people who care about me deserve to know what...what
happened to Jack. Mother and Daddy are expecting me, downstairs..."
"Rose," he sighed. "You didn't
really think it would be that easy, did you? I didn't come back only to be
dismissed again. You go ahead, call them up here if you like. I don't care who
sees me."
"I'm not that stupid. You'll only upset
them, and leave me to make up a ridiculous story as to how you got in here! I'm
not letting you make a fool of me anymore. You used me, and my mother. But that
is over with now. I never want to see you again."
The gentlemanly act was over. In a flash he
withdrew from a coat pocket a silver-plated pistol, which he aimed straight at
her head.
"I see you won't come to your senses,
Sweetpea. I'm sorry to have to do this, but I have a name to protect, and it
won't do to have my dead fiancée smearing it at every opportunity."
She was shivering--quaking--in absolute
horror, but she stood her ground. He was not going to win this time.
Forcing herself to look him in the eye, she
said softly, "My name is not Sweetpea, it's Rose. I really hate it when
you call me by that silly pet name."
Was there a hint of uncertainty in his gaze?
She really couldn't tell, and while a part of her screamed run, there was
another, more outspoken side that said if she ran now, she would be running
from Cal for the rest of her life.
"You should have listened to reason,
Miss Dawson," he snarled, emphasizing the name. "I won't miss this
time."
And the gun went off.