JACK'S ROSE
Chapter Thirty-Seven
In the cafe, a great amount of noise was
being made by all the chattering and laughing and congratulating—and drinking—going
on. Rose sat at her booth, talking with Susan and Andrew, William, and Cora and
Lilly. Nathan was sitting to the left of Lilly, against the wall, still working
on the drawing he had started during the show.
"That was a wonderful performance,
Rose," Susan said, after taking another sip of her mug of beer. She
hiccupped and laughed. "A few more like that, and we'll not need to work
anymore!"
Rose blushed.
"It really was wonderful, Rosie,"
Cora said, smiling. "You are a superb actress."
"Thank you. But I owe it all to
Gretchen," Rose said, looking over at the actress across the room.
"Had she not been sick that one night, I might never have gotten a chance
to do all this."
"And what a waste of talent that'd have
been!" Andrew said, raising his mug. They all laughed and raised their
own.
"Toast! To a most wonderful
actress!" a strange voice asserted. Their heads turned to a woman standing
beside the table. None of them recognized her. None of them, save Rose—and
Cora.
"Molly! Oh, my Lord! Molly!" Rose
leapt up and threw her arms around her long-lost friend. "I can't believe
you're here!"
Molly chuckled. "It's good to see you
again, Rose. You look wonderful." Molly smiled, and Rose returned it.
"As do you, Molly!" Rose smiled
excitedly and turned back to her friends. "Susan, Andrew, William, Lilly,
this is Molly Brown."
"Margaret Brown? The same Brown that ran
for Senate?" Andrew asked, looking in awe at her.
She laughed. "That's right, boy!"
Andrew leapt up and took her hand. "It's
a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Brown."
"Call me Molly, please. No 'Mrs.'
stuff."
"Mol—Molly," Andrew stuttered out.
Molly chuckled again, as did the others gathered at the table.
"It's a pleasure to meet you,
Molly," Susan said, smiling. "Rose has told me quite a bit about
you."
"Likewise," Molly said, smiling
back. "I'm glad she made a friend like you." Molly looked at William,
then smiled slyly and said, "And this, I take it, is William Calvert,
huh?"
William blushed. "That's me."
"I've heard quite a bit about you, too,
Mr. Calvert." Molly chuckled. "And you must be Lilly," she said,
turning to the fair-headed young woman.
"I am. It's a great pleasure to meet
you, Molly." Lilly reached out and gently shook Molly's hand.
"Could it possibly be, then, that this
is Cora?" Molly asked, smiling down at her. Cora stood and tightly hugged
Molly. "I can't believe you're the same little girl! Oh, you've...you've—"
Molly stopped, suddenly being unable to say anything at all. As they parted,
Nathan looked up, noticing for the first time that he had missed quite an
ordeal. He looked at Molly questioningly. "And this must be Nathan
Thomas," Molly said, smiling. "Dear me, Rose—"
Rose looked up at Molly and shook her head,
but only enough so that it was barely obvious.
"Does he look like his father?"
Molly asked, quickly covering her mistake.
"Yes. Just like Henry," Rose
replied, glancing nervously over at Nathan. The young boy forced a smile.
"Well, I'm Molly, Mr. Dawson, and it's a
pleasure to meet you," she said, smiling at the boy. He looked away shyly.
"Miss Dawson," a voice said from
beside Molly. They all looked toward the speaker. "I told you I'd be here
tonight. Wonderful performance," the man from the art store said. Rose
blushed.
"Thank you again, sir."
He nodded and left.
"Who was that?" William asked,
after the man had left the cafe.
"Just one of my many adoring fans,
Will," Rose teased. "So, don't let your eyes get too green."
They all laughed.
William blushed.
"Aunt Rosie," Nathan said, quietly,
after the laughing had settled. Rose looked over to him. "I drew you
something," he said, extending the paper towards her. Rose accepted it.
Tears filled her eyes as she looked at the picture of her on stage, decked out
in the her costume. "Is something wrong?" he asked, seeing a tear
slide down her cheek.
Rose shook her head and looked back up at
him. "Not at all, Nathan. It's beautiful. Thank you." She smiled and
the young boy blushed.
Rose would treasure the picture forever.
A few more moments of silence passed. It was
Rose who broke it, saying, "How did you ever find the theater,
Molly?"
"The letter you sent me right after you
moved here, of course, had the address on it. I just put two and two together.
I might not be a genius, but I ain't stupid," Molly said, laughing.
Rose smiled. "That you're certainly
not."
"Well, it's late," Susan began,
after another pause, "and there's another show tomorrow night, so, I'm
getting off to bed. Good night, all." She turned to Andrew. "Night,
night." She smiled and gently kissed him.
Rose and William looked at each other. Both
blushed, then looked away.
"I'll be off, too, then. Nice meeting
you, Will, Molly," Andrew said, shaking his hand.
"Same to you, Andrew," Molly
responded.
"Ditto," William said, smiling.
"Night then," he said, sliding out of
the booth, kissing Susan's cheek once more, and leaving the cafe.
"Come on, Nathan. If you want to go to
the beach tomorrow, we need to get an early start," Lilly said, standing.
"Up to bed. Say good night."
Nathan frowned and struggled to get out of the
booth. He hugged Susan and gave Rose a kiss, thanking her for the things she'd
bought him, told Molly, "Good night," and followed Lilly up to their
room.
"I suppose I should set a good
example," Cora said, after they'd left. "Good night, Rosie." She
hugged Rose, then tightly embraced Molly again. "Will we see you
tomorrow?"
"Definitely! At the show!"
"All right. Good. Then, good night. I
will see you tomorrow." And with that, Cora left and hurried up to her
room.
"I'll let you two talk," William
said. "Good night, Molly. It was a pleasure meeting you."
"And you. Night, Will."
He smiled at Rose and then left, dissolving
the last of the group.
"Would you mind staying a while,
Molly?" Rose asked when he'd gone.
"I was just about to ask you the same
thing, Rose," she said happily.
The two women stepped outside.