A FIRE IN THE WIND
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Rose woke up early on Saturday and looked
over her shoulder in disgust. It was Cal. It could have been Jack. Cal had
insisted that Rose sleep with him that night to keep an eye on her, if
anything.
That morning the mansion was a madhouse of
caterers, flower delivers, and interior decorators. Ruth had insisted on having
the wedding reception at their house and was in way over her head with last
minute decisions.
Rose was a little relieved when her mother
told her that they had to picked up Rose's grandmother at the train station.
Rose's father's mother had the same wild
spirit as her son. After her father's death, Rose only saw her grandmother once
in a great while, for she lived in Chicago. Rose missed her immensely. Mary
Bukater was someone that Rose could talk to about things that she wouldn't even
consider discussing with her mother. Rose was much too depressed to talk about
anything real right now.
Ruth and Rose waited patiently for Mary at
the train station. The wait took forever. Rose hated being so close to her
mother after their little talk the night before. The two were silent until the
train pulled into the station, where Ruth put on her fake smile, although she
had quite a lot of stress on her shoulders.
"Mary! How delightful to see you!"
Ruth greeted her mother-in-law. "I trust you journeyed well."
Mary smiled at her daughter-in-law. "I
don't know. Chicago to Philadelphia is quite a trip. And how are you, Rose? I
can't believe it. Tomorrow you'll be married! It seemed only yesterday you were
an infant."
Rose laughed along. Her mother's fake
happiness had rubbed off on her.
The three returned to the house, where it had
become more chaotic than ever.
"I have a lot of things to attend to
here," Ruth said to Mary and Rose. "Why don't you two go out and have
some lunch? Rose, you know some good places to eat, don't you?"
Rose nodded, relieved that she could be alone
with her grandmother.
"Good." Ruth smirked, happy to get
them out of the house. "I'll send for the driver."
"It's such a beautiful day. I think we
can walk," Mary replied.
"As you wish," Ruth said, walking
away to attend to the house.
Rose and her grandmother walked to
"Chester's Deli," an upper class restaurant a few blocks west of
Rose's house. Mary had given her granddaughter a few looks during the meal.
Rose had never acted this way before. No…she was too quiet. Something seemed
wrong.
"So, Rose," Mary started off
cheerily, "where's the groom? I haven't met Cal yet."
"His father just arrived from
Pittsburgh. I believe Cal's showing him around town a bit," Rose replied,
polite but obviously devastated.
"I see," Mary replied with a smile.
"Rose, dear, please tell me what's the matter. It's the day before your
wedding. You should be dancing around the room in excitement, yet you seem
so…depressed."
Rose sighed, looking down at her barely
touched sandwich, knowing that she couldn't avoid the subject of Jack. It was
inevitable.
"I know any girl in my position would be
happy…" Rose started off, not believing that she was letting her heart
out, yet again. "I guess I was looking for something more than just the money
and the charm…"
Mary looked at her granddaughter, relieved
that she was speaking her mind. "What, dear? Is there something wrong with
Cal? Your mother told me that he was quite charming and handsome."
Rose sighed in discouragement. If only her
grandmother knew the real Cal…
"Yes, he's charming and handsome,"
Rose replied sadly. "That's why I fell for him in the first place. I--I
don't know what I was thinking. He had seemed so wonderful, so…I don't know,
classy. I had fallen for him for all the wrong reasons."
Mary lowered her voice. "Oh, Rose. Are
you worried you've chosen the wrong one?"
Rose disregarded her grandmother's remark and
continued. "At first it was the usual. He had sent flowers and chocolates
and sometimes we would take a walk in the park. He had seemed just fine. By
Christmas there was a proposal. It had seemed more like a business deal than an
engagement. Cal had long talks with my mother about the matter before he had
even mentioned it to me. I felt obligated to say yes. Cal was reasonable. It
was my mother who was really pushing me to say yes. I did it as a favor to her
for a reason I really can't explain to you. Anyway, I began to notice the real
Caledon Hockley when I became engaged…"
Rose went on about the difficulties of the
engagement and of Cal's fierce, overpowering temper. She spoke of the European
tour and then stopped casually.
Mary stared at her granddaughter in shock.
"Rose, I had no idea! And you're going to marry him still?"
Rose sighed, looking down at her plate.
Mary nodded, thinking that she understood all
the reasons why Rose was sad. "How has it been lately? Has he gotten
worse?"
"What do you mean?" Rose asked,
apprehensively.
Mary replied, "You skipped a few weeks
of the story, my dear. You told me everything about your European vacation in
vivid detail, but mentioned nothing of the journey back, on the Titanic."
"The Titanic?" Rose laughed
nervously. "Why should anything have happened on Titanic?"
Mary shook her head in disbelief. "Rose!
I'm your grandmother. I know when you're trying to hide something. I have never
heard you laugh so fake before. Really, Rose. Tell me what happened, even if it
was something little. I'm not expecting some long, detailed, tragic story.
Please!"
Rose scanned her eyes up to her grandmother.
"The thing is, it is a long, detailed, tragic story."
And once again Rose explained the story of
Jack. She left out a number of details, things that she did not feel that she
could share with her grandmother, but told the majority of the story.
Rose had gotten to the part where she had
hopelessly returned to Philadelphia with her mother and Cal when Mary said, in
sniffles, "Dear I am so…sorry. It must be so hard for you. It seems that
this Jack boy was something out of a dream. A messenger from God to tell you
not to give up hope."
Rose took a bite out of her slice of apple
pie. "Grandmother, I'm not finished."
Rose explained everything that had happened
since her grieving over Jack's loss, to that day, Saturday.
"He tried to save you from the
engagement?" Mary asked, shocked.
"Jack did a lot more than just trying to
save me. I love him so much, but it's too late!" Rose cried softly.
Mary gripped her granddaughter's hand, trying
to comfort her. "Thank you. Thank you for telling me, dear. I know it must
have been a hard thing to do."
"Please don't tell Mother or Cal. If
they knew Jack was alive--"
"Your secret is safe with me, dear. I'm
not like your cousin. Frankly, I'm just glad she was on your mother's side of
the family, not mine." Rose giggled softly.
"Rose, are you sure there's nothing you
can do?" asked Mary, vitally concerned about her granddaughter's future.
Rose sighed. "I wish there was…but it's
hopeless. I cannot talk my way out of an engagement the day before my wedding.
There's no way."
*****
Allison Courtwell stood at the door of Jack's
flat, eager to come in. She knocked fiercely on the door about a half dozen
times before Jack looked through the threshold, his eyes bloodshot with bags
under them.
"Allison!" he said eagerly.
"Come in."
Allison followed Jack, carrying a large paper
bag.
"I'm assuming you didn't get to sleep
last night either."
Jack ignored to comment, too concerned about
Rose. "What happened? Is she all right?"
"As good as anyone who just got their
heart broken and is about to face an eternity of hell," Allison replied.
Jack sighed. "That's me, too. I can't
live without her, Allison. There's no way I can do anything."
Allison smiled. "There just might
be."
Jack stared at Allison, bewildered, as she
handed him the large bag. Jack's frown soon turned into a sly smile. "Oh,
no. Not again!"