HEARTS WILL GO ON
Chapter Eighteen
Jo Dawson
2:30 AM
Two Days Before New Year’s Eve, 1932
"He’s in there! I know
it!"
"Please, sweetheart, stay
here."
"But that’s my daddy in
there! I saw him! Daddy! Daddy!"
"Jo?"
"Jo?" My eyes opened to
the sight of my mother’s worried face.
"Ma?" I croaked,
glancing at my alarm clock. "What is it?"
"There’s a phone call for
you…" she said, and I sat up.
"For me?" I repeated,
and when she nodded, I didn’t even bother with a robe. I got up and let her
guide me to where Grant stood in his robe with Olivia, holding the receiver in
his hand. A horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, I took it from him.
"H-hello?" I said, my voice cracking from exhaustion and worry.
"Yes, Miss Dawson? This is
the Philadelphia police…we have your fiancé in custody." I nearly dropped
the phone.
"D-Dave? Mr. Stirling? What
happened? What has he done?" But as I asked the question, I knew it had
something to do with Gloria.
"He attempted to kidnap
young Miss Edwards…" the man said. Ma was eyeing me.
"That’s impossible…there
must be some mistake…"
"No mistake, miss…we caught
him. Look, can we expect you to bail him out, or does he stay?"
"No…no…I’ll be there…thank
you," I said. He grunted good-bye as I spun around to the expectant faces.
"It’s Dave…he’s in jail." Mom gasped and Olivia looked at Grant, who
remained solemn.
"What are the charges?"
he asked. I sighed.
"That’s the thing…it’s
fishy. They said he tried to kidnap Gloria Edwards. They caught him…"
"Oh, my God," Mom
finally said.
"I’m going…" I said,
spinning on my heel to go get dressed.
"I’ll come with you,"
Grant said.
"Thanks," I replied.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to the Philadelphia police station. I heard
Dave before I saw him. He was begging the officer to send someone to watch
Gloria.
"Ah…right on time…Miss
Dawson, I presume?" the officer, who was a middle-aged, tired-looking man,
asked.
"Yes…yes…" I said
robotically as he led me to Dave.
"Jo! Jo…he set me up.
He…" I held up my hand to quiet him and leaned in to whisper.
"Dave…be smart…I know…he’s a
piece of shit. But right now I am worried about you, so I’m going to kiss you
and pretend like I was so worried and I am going to tell the officer that you
were simply there to fetch back a scarf Gloria had borrowed from me. Play
along." He nodded blankly as I pressed my lips to his. Just as I’d
expected, I didn’t feel at all like I had earlier that evening when Jonathan
Hockley had kissed me, but I did a damned good job of pretending I did.
I turned coyly back to the
officer.
"Oh, thank goodness!" I
said sweetly, trying to be flirtatious. "This is all just a silly
misunderstanding. You see, David wanted to do me a favor and fetch back my
favorite red scarf. Gloria had borrowed it for a dinner she was attending, but
I needed it back." I laughed, and the officer softened.
"Well, that is a relief.
Sorry about the confusion. Edwards is very protective of his girl," he
said, and I nodded.
"Yes…Gloria and I are great
friends," I lied, chancing a look back at Dave.
"Well, shall we get the
paperwork completed then?" Grant asked as the officer let Dave out and
removed his handcuffs. I patted his arm, trying to control the irritation I
felt at his utter stupidity.
*****
When we walked in the door of the
house, it was well after four in the morning and I was fit to be tied.
"Pull a stunt like that
again and I’ll kill you myself," I muttered as Mom watched us walk by.
"We’ll talk tomorrow." He sighed and disappeared upstairs.
"I called Liz and Randy.
They’re leaving this morning on the first train. They were going to come back
for the wedding, but they are coming early to keep an eye on him." I
nodded, yawning.
"He’s a fool," I said
dryly, and Ma looked wistfully at the stairs.
"He’s in love," she
said.
"Love is overrated," I
retorted. She looked taken aback.
"Josephine Dawson, I have
never heard you speak that way…" she said, and I looked at her. The look
in my eyes seemed to affect her.
"Love is more trouble than
it’s worth. Terrible things happen to people who are in love." I left her
standing there with her mouth open, thinking about nothing but the soft, warm
bed waiting for me. The only thing I feared now was the dream I seemed to have
more frequently nowadays.
*****
Liz and Randy arrived with
Belinda two days later on New Year’s Eve. Belinda had grown up since I had last
seen her and her attitude toward me was somewhat warmer. She gossiped with me
and I actually found myself enjoying her company. I was, in fact, talking with
Belinda when the doorbell rang and I was told it was for me. It was the last
person I wanted to see--Mr. Hockley himself.
"Hello, Miss Dawson,"
he said, and I clenched my hands into fists, not out of anger but anxiety.
"How are you, Mr.
Hockley?" I asked, and he smiled, handing me a small bouquet of some kind
of lily.
"A peace offering. I
sincerely hope you will accept my apology for my behavior at our last meeting.
It was rude." I swallowed and nodded, taking the flowers.
"Thank you…of course. These
are lovely." I gestured for him to sit beside me so I was between he and
Belinda on the settee.
"Won’t you stay for dinner,
Jonathan?" Olivia asked from the doorway.
"Certainly…thank you, Mrs.
Banks," he replied, holding his hat in his hands. Ma walked in and smiled
warmly at him.
"Hello, Jonathan…how are you?"
she asked, holding Luke on her hip. Jamie wasn’t far behind with his toy train.
"I am well, thank
you…looking forward to a New Year...well, I must go. I just wanted to
apologize," he added, and left. Belinda nudged me, leaning in to whisper.
"Jo…he’s so handsome. You
should marry him and not stupid old Dave." I laughed and patted her hand.
"Thanks, Lindy…but no. He’s
engaged." Her face fell with disappointment and I saw a bit of a
schoolgirl crush in her eyes.
"Jo…" Aunt Olivia said,
sitting across from me in an armchair, "I…well…I finally got our pictures
sent out here from Chippewa Falls. I thought you might like to see." Ma
told the boys to go play in their room. Belinda excused herself so that Olivia
and Ma could sit on either side of me. Olivia opened the first photo album,
which was full of ancient wedding pictures and baby pictures. A young, modest
couple in simple formal wear smiled up at the camera. The man had the same eyes
as me, with dark hair and a wide smile. The woman was an elegantly tall woman
with fair hair and skin.
"Those are my parents…your
grandparents." I nodded, seeing the resemblance.
Another picture of a girl who was
no older than ten, holding the hand of a toddler, a little blond boy with light
hair and the same eyes as his father.
"That is Jack," Olivia
said, and I nodded.
"I can tell…" I said,
and Ma bit her lip, as if trying to remember him. The next page caught my eye.
Jack was now older, probably around eleven, and was wearing a suit. He smiled
proudly at the camera. I laughed and looked at Ma.
"This sounds crazy, but he
reminds me a bit of Jamie…it must be the age," I said, and Mom nodded.
"Your brother does tend to
get that look in his eye, doesn’t he?" Olivia smiled fondly.
"That was Easter Sunday.
That was the day I met Grant. You see, Jack was playing with one of his friends
and they knocked Grant over. I was eighteen."
She pulled out the next album,
which was the one I had seen in the library, though I did not say it.
"Are you ready for
this?" she asked me, and I nodded, looking at my mother. She was
surprisingly calm and smiled encouragingly. She opened it and I looked at a
pubescent boy with light hair and the same smile.
"He was fourteen,"
Olivia said with a chuckle. "That was the year before Ma and Pa…"
"Pa?" I asked, raising
an eyebrow. My mother looked over at me. Olivia just smiled and looked back
down. We finally came to the last page and the last picture.
"This is the last picture I
have of Jack before he disappeared. It was at the funeral." I peered down
at the picture and it was the only one of Jack where he was not smiling, but
looking at the camera with a hollowness I hoped to never feel.
"This is the Jack I
remember," Ma said, touching the picture. The smile left my face as I
looked at him.
"Wait…this is Jack?" I
asked, taking the picture gently from the page. I looked up at Olivia, feeling
wounded, and she guiltily looked away.
"I know it must be hard to
see him, Jo…" Ma comforted, but she had no idea. This wasn’t Jack. This
couldn’t be Jack, because Jack was dead, and this man was not dead! I felt the
urge to vomit.
"I have to go…" I said,
getting up and still clutching the picture of my father in my hands.
"Jo…you look positively
green."
"I just…need to go…" I said,
and ran from the house, grabbing my coat on the way out before anyone could
stop me.
I heard Olivia say behind me,
"Let her go, Rose…"
I found myself at Jonathan’s once
again, staring at his door. I sighed and rang the bell. A maid answered.
"Dear…are you all right
then?" she asked. I gulped.
"Is Mr. Hockley here?"
I asked, not really knowing why I wanted to see him, but it was far enough away
from everyone else that I didn’t care at the moment.
"Yes…he’s out in the
orangery…do you want me to let him know you’re here?" she asked kindly.
"No…I’ll go out myself.
Thank you," I replied, and I was so out of sorts I barely remembered how
I’d gotten to the Hockley home. The world seemed to haze around me.
I opened the door to the orangery
and bit my lip before calling out.
"Jonathan?"
I heard a slight rustle nearby,
followed by his voice.
"Just a minute…who’s
there?" I looked back down at my picture.
"It’s
Josephine…Dawson," I replied, though I knew it wasn’t necessary. He came
around a flower bush, wiping his hands.
"Jo?"