PHILADELPHIA IN SPRING
Chapter Six
Rose stared out of the window of her room.
She lay in bed, as the rain poured down in sheets outside the safety of her
house. She stretched and yawned, and pulled the covers up tightly under her
chin, not yet ready to get up.
She was thinking about the night before.
About Jack, and the way it had felt for him to hold her so close. The way his
eyes danced when he looked at her. The way his lips would curve in the most
darling little smile...
Rose smiled to herself when she thought of
him. Still smiling, she closed her eyes, and pictured his face, coming toward
hers...
"Rose, it's getting late..." Her
mother walked into the room noisily, interrupting Rose's thoughts.
Rose opened her eyes and sat up cautiously.
"What?"
Ruth sighed and crossed the room, sitting on
the edge of Rose's bed.
"Rose, you couldn't possibly have
forgotten. Our whole family is coming in today..."
Rose's mouth opened wide, as her mother's
statement brought her back to reality. It was Tuesday. The rehearsal dinner was
tomorrow. And then, Sunday...
Rose's lips set themselves in a firm line.
"No, of course not, mother.
Well...please let me get ready then..."
Ruth nodded an ounce of hope reaching her
voice when she realized that Rose had offered no retort.
After the door was shut, Rose threw the
covers off of herself, crumpling her body into a tight ball in the middle of
the bed. She cried into her tangled hair as her whole body shook.
Jack sat several cups of hot, steaming tea in
front of three very formal old ladies. They nodded approvingly, and Jack walked
back toward the kitchen, sighing to himself. It was only ten o'clock in the
morning, but he was a wreck. After he'd taken Rose back home, he'd tossed and
turned all night long, shaking with the realization of his inevitable affection
for her.
Her image would not leave his head, and as he
prepared plates of eggs and dishes of fresh fruit that morning, nothing else
was on his mind, but the creation of some sort of plan to see her again. Her
presence was somehow becoming a sort of an addiction, and he knew that the more
he saw her, the harder it would be for Sunday to come.
"Dawson- you okay?" Mr. James came
up behind Jack, slapping him heartily on the back. Jack shook his head back and
forth, and turned to look at his boss, offering a weak smile.
"I'm fine, Mr. James."
"Something's on your mind son. Care to
share it?"
Jack hesitated. "Sir, I've got
tables..."
"Tony can get those for you, don't
worry. Sit down, make your burden light." Mr. James smiled.
Jack sat down across from him and crossed his
arms over the countertop.
"Mr. James, I have a question."
Jack bit his lip, and looked toward the older man.
"Shoot." Mr. James looked intently
at Jack, ready to listen.
"Okay, see, there's...okay I really
don't know how to start this...let's just say-that you know someone..."
"A girl?" Mr. James added.
Jack blushed. "Yeah, and let's say
she's...way out of your reach. Let's say there's this huge boundary, this
dividing line..." Jack continued, "and maybe there's this chance,
that you both want to step over the line, but...you just can't. Let's say she's
not happy on her side of the line. I just..."
"You want to know if it's your place to
break that line down, to help her?" Mr. James asked.
Jack sighed. "Yes, exactly...exactly. Is
it?"
Mr. James searched his thoughts for a moment.
"I'd say, son. If this girl is as special as she sounds, and you care
about her enough to ask me this question, which you obviously do; then there is
no line, Jack. And you can't act like there is one. If she's reaching out to be
saved, then save her, son..."
Jack darted his eyes upward, opening them
wide.
What he said sounded so profound, so true.
Jack put his arms down to his side and rubbed
his pants nervously.
Mr. James looked curiously at him, as Jack
searched his heart and mind for a response.
And then everything was suddenly crystal
clear.
Rose sat motionless on the train station
bench, staring straight ahead. Cal and Ruth were standing by the tracks,
waiting anxiously to put on their wedding faces for the family about to roll
in.
Rose's eyes were glazed over in thought.
Thoughts only of Jack. Of whirling around in his arms, of the safety she'd felt
the night before. Of seeing him again.
But how would she? Sneaking out had been so
dangerous. If her mother had caught her...
Cal turned around and caught Rose's eye, a
strange look on his face. Almost a look of authority, of rule. She looked away
quickly, just as the train pulled up and whistled to a slow stop. Rose was
forced to join the two, in greeting the many relatives that had arrived.
There were her two uncles on her father's
side, with their families. And then Ruth's two sisters, with their husbands and
children. There were second cousins and their spouses. Rose felt dizzy as she
wove her way through, trying, and certainly not succeeding, in looking the part
of the blushing bride. Her face grew pale in the heat, and she was relieved
when Ruth began to direct the family members to the various cars that would
take them to their hotel.
Rose took a seat in one, next to her cousin
Catherine. Catherine was 16, with dark brown hair and petite features. Of all
of her family, Rose viewed Catherine as the most normal member. She seemed more
like herself; aware of the falseness of all that surrounded them.
"Rose, are you alright?" Catherine
turned toward her pale cousin and touched her cheek.
Rose attempted to smile. "Oh, I'm fine.
Just tired."
Catherine giggled. "Rose, I would be
too. I can't believe you're getting married on Sunday. To Cal..."
Catherine's eyes then turned worried, as if she wanted to say something but
couldn't.
"Kate, what is it?"
Catherine looked at Rose and spoke carefully.
"I just...I just never saw Caledon Hockley as your type..." she
looked around the car and lowered her voice. "He's so...so domineering,
Rose. Are you sure you're alright?"
Rose almost attempted one of her acts again,
but she couldn't muster the strength. She leaned her head back against the seat
cushion and sighed.
"No, Kate, I'm not."
Catherine put her hand on top of Rose's and
looked at her softly.
"What happened Rose? You can tell
me."
Rose looked into the reassuring eyes of her
cousin, the girl who she'd escaped dinner parties with when they were little;
who'd nursed her tears when she and Ruth had fought.
Rose put her face close to Catherine's and
began to whisper.
"Kate, I just feel so incapable. So not
in control of my own future...do you realize that on Sunday, my life becomes
Cal's?"
"Rose, I knew Cal wasn't right for
you..."
"I know, I know, but my mother, she...Kate,
you know about our situation...and, and..."
"What, Rose?"
"There's something else."
Kate leaned in close as Rose whispered into
her ear.
"I met someone...in the park the other
day."
Kate covered her open mouth with her gloved
hand. "A man?"
Rose nodded. "Yes, and God, Kate, he's
so different from Cal. He's so gentle, so sincere, so understanding, I
just..."
"Rose, what are you doing?"
"That's the problem. I don't know."
"Do you really care about him?"
Rose nodded. "More than I can even come
to terms with yet. But Sunday is..."
Rose's eyes began to tear up. Kate reached up
to wipe away the droplets on her cousin's face.
"What about Cal, Rose?"
Rose shook her head. "I don't know at
all...I just don't think I can go through with all of this...and I can't stop
thinking about Jack..."
"His name is Jack?"
Rose nodded once again.
"First, Rose, before you do anything,
you need to figure out about this Jack. You need to figure out your feelings
for him, and his feelings for you. You can't lead your mother and Cal on like
this- if you want to break it off, now is the time, Rosie, now is the
time."
Rose looked into her cousin's eyes. They were
serious and truthful. And she knew she was right. Rose knew she already was
aware of her feelings for Jack, but her problem, as Kate had put it, was
deciding what to do about them. And finding out whether Jack even shared her
affections. Surely he had to; with the way he had looked at her...
"Thank you." Rose whispered and
leaned over to hug her cousin.
Just then, the car stopped.
"What hotel are you staying at, Kate?"
"The Ashford." Catherine answered,
shifting back into her own seat.
Rose's face turned pale as the realization
struck her. The hotel where Jack worked? Would her mother see him? Would...
"Rose, Catherine, everyone, we're going
to go into the cafe right here in the hotel, and have some tea before we let
you all get settled."