JACK'S ROSE
Chapter Forty-Three
Rose dropped her bags, spread her arms out,
closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. "Country air! I'd forgotten..."
She smiled and opened her eyes to look at the others. William laughed and
dropped his bags as well, then grabbed her hands and began to swing her about
the middle of the road, laughing and saying, "Come dance with me, my
Juliet! Dance, dance, dance!" It was all Cora and Lilly could do not to
fall over laughing as they watched the couple dance about the deserted road.
Nathan observed it all through droopy eyes from his standing place between
Lilly and Cora.
But finally, partly from exhaustion and
partly from the dark clouds beginning to roll their way, Rose and William
stopped their antics and the five started towards the Dawson house once more.
Rose and William would go to the store later.
The walk to that house did not take long;
they finally reached it just as the rain began fall.
But as Julia—seemingly somewhat reluctant—let
them enter the house, Rose could not help but feel that the rain was something
of a foreboding...
*****
Rose gripped her coffee mug tightly—so
tightly that her knuckles were white.
"Don't you think that a woman living
alone in the city is dangerous, Rose?" Julia asked scornfully. Rose looked
up.
"No, Julia, not really. I live in the
theater's apartments with the other actors and actresses, and Susan. And
besides, when I go back, William will be there with me. Not everyone is suited
for country life—"
"I never said everyone was."
The two women stared at each other.
"And I never said you did. I'm just
saying, I like the city."
"And your job? You don't mind being
looked down upon by society?"
"We're not looked down upon, really,
anymore. And besides, the theater I work at only does the classics—like
Shakespeare. Nothing anyone should be ashamed of," Rose defended.
"Regardless..." Julia took a sip of
her coffee. Cora and Lilly had long since retired, and Nathan had been asleep
almost since they had arrived. Henry sat next to his wife in silence.
So much had changed. The entire atmosphere of
the house had changed. Henry now lived in his wife's shadow. It was obviously
neither were happy anymore. No one in that house was.
"But flying, Rose. And in the war?
Really...was that not a bit much?" Julia's eyes challenged Rose. They
dared her to speak her immediate response.
"I couldn't help the war, Julia. I
couldn't stop the world for the time it took me to get from India back to
California. Nothing happened to me. No one tried to shoot me down."
"But still. Someone could have. That was
rather dumb of you, Rose. You just put you life at risk—"
"I know that, Julia, but what is life if
you take no risks? Where would you be if you had taken no risks in your life?
Life is full of risks, and that's what makes it fun."
"Risks, yes. But stupid stunts like
that, no."
"What does it even matter? They told me fly,
and whether they meant it in that sense or not, I flew. And when I did, I left
my problems far behind. When I got back, I was a new person and started over
again. I made myself a new life. And this is where it has led me. I'm happy
with my choices. I'm happy with my life. I've lived my life for me, Julia—and
no one else." Rose looked harshly at Julia, hoping that would have ended
this argument they had engaged in.
The silence in the room was deafening. Henry
fidgeted, then asked, "So, Rose, when are you and William going to be
married?" Those were some of the first words he'd said since he had
arrived home from work three hours ago.
"April fourteenth," Rose answered,
forcing cheerfulness into her voice. "The same day as my friend and her
fiancé."
"Among other things," Julia
mumbled.
Rose's eyes snapped to Julia's face. How dare
she... "What?"
"Nothing. I said nothing." Julia
paused, and a faint look of something Rose could not place came over her face.
Julia inhaled, leaned forward, and placed her cup on the table, then once more
turned her eyes to the couple sitting across from her.
The rain. Oh, God, the rain...
"So, Rose, William, you're not expecting
a child yet?"
And at that, Rose's heart and mind froze.
*****
Rose lay in the bed, listening to the rain as
pattered against the tin roof above her. Her chest felt as if it weighed a
hundred pounds. Her eyes burned from crying.
She inhaled deeply and rolled over, turning
away from William. He stirred, and suddenly she felt his arms around her. He
kissed the back of her neck gently.
"It'll be all right, Rose."
"No, it won't, William! How will it be
all right? I can never go back to my family's house again. I don't—don't want
to." Another tear found its way down Rose's cheek. "How could she say
such a thing? What have I done to her? I—I—don't know. I don't know anything
right now." She turned to face him. William reached forward and tenderly
stroked her cheek.
"I love you," he whispered.
Rose laughed sadly. "Oh, you terrible
person." She smiled. "But you do know just how to take my mind off
things, don't you?"
It was now he who laughed. "I thought
that's what I was here for."
Rose smiled and kissed him gently. "Yes.
That's what I'll keep you around for." She paused. "Well, good night,
William. I don't think Ralph will let us sleep all day, and it must be past
midnight already."
"True." He leaned toward her and
kissed her lips. Then she turned away and closed her eyes, ready to finally
sleep, but William's voice sounded again. "O, wilt thou leave me so
unsatisfied?"
Rose's eyes slowly opened and her mouth
curled into a smile. She found it amusing that he remembered a line—any line—from
the play. "What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?"
William's response was slow. He moved closer
to her and kissed her neck once more. "You."
Rose turned to look at him and studied him
deeply. He smiled and leaned towards her.
Their lips touched. Their hands wandered.
And that night, Rose and William shared that
bed in more ways than one.