A SIMPLE SOLUTION
Chapter Nine
Rose looked at the clock in the huge living
room as it ticked away the minutes. Her hands were clasped over her chest and
she was breathing slowly. Are you nervous? Where to, miss? Are you nervous?
Nervous? You're so beautiful…Rose…
Her arms closed around her own waist and she
rocked back and forth. Was she beautiful? Or had she just been another girl for
him? Nothing more? Had that been the reason for him making her go with Molly?
Had he wanted to get rid of her?
She closed her eyes, feeling the emptiness
fill her heart as well as the room, the house, her life. Everything was empty
and she was lost in the darkness. Why couldn't she have stayed with Jack?
Her hand moved over her back around her waist
and when she felt the palm over her flat stomach, she sobbed involuntarily. A
voice rang in her head and this time it wasn't Jack's.
"He'll want you to have boys and only
boys. Just remember that when you feel very tired and you miss your period and
even faint, Rose, you'll know that you're going to give Cal a baby." Ruth's voice, a few days after their arrival in
Paris, on the engagement trip. She had smiled meaningfully at Rose, but Rose
hadn't really paid attention.
Rose swallowed hard, thinking about the last
few weeks. The suspicion she had gotten an afternoon almost a month ago…at
first, she had thought that it was just a reaction to living somewhere else
than in the family house in Philadelphia, to being in love for the first time
in her life. But when she had been six weeks late, she had realized that her
mother's words would explain it.
She could just hope it wasn't true. But, then
why was she so tired? And why was she always sick in the mornings? She had
tried to hide this from Molly and the rest of the people in the house, as she
knew the situation would only get worse. She couldn't have a baby! Not now.
Jack probably didn't even want children. That
would mean settling down and getting a regular job, marrying her and she was sure
Jack would hate it.
She laughed at her own thoughts, reminding
herself that Jack wasn't even in her life anymore. He didn't care. She leaned
on the bookcase behind her, feeling the tears enter her eyes.
Why had she allowed herself to get involved
with Jack? She should have known better. She should have married Cal, or just
told her mother to forget all about it. There had never existed a reason to
leave the upper class, her safety. Or had there?
She pressed her hand over her chest as she
tried to breathe calmly. She couldn't let herself panic now. "I can't
turn away without knowing you'll be all right…that's all that I want…" Jack's
voice replaced Ruth's and Rose furiously wiped away the tears. But that hadn't
been all he had done…
"Who's out here? Rose, is that
you?"
Rose looked up and saw Molly's form entering
the room. A clicking sound made her wince and then the room was bathed in
light.
"What are you doing here, darling? You
should be in bed at this time of the night. I know I'm not your mother, but you
need your sleep." Molly smiled at Rose, but her smile faded somewhat when
she saw the girl look down and try to hide behind her curls.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Molly placed
her arm around Rose and to her surprise, she felt her shaking violently.
"What is it? Are you thinking about Jack? We'll find him, darling. We
will."
Rose shook her head and attempted to get up
from the step where she had been sitting. "No, Molly. It's not Jack."
She sighed lightly and remained seated.
"Well, then, what is it? You can tell
me."
Rose swallowed and looked at the kind woman,
trying to smile. "Molly, I think it's best if I leave now and try to make
it on my own. Perhaps I'll meet Jack again, perhaps not, but I can't take
advantage of your hospitality anymore. I can't."
Deep furrows lined Molly's brow now and she
looked at Rose seriously.
"What do you mean, Rosie? I promised
Jack that I would take care of you until you two were together again."
Rose smiled slightly, remembering his concern
for her, the way he had cared about her. "I know, Molly, but things have
changed. He's…left me and…I'm on my own. And…besides…you'd want me out of your
house if you knew what I know."
"Rose, now you've really lost me. What
is wrong? Tell me." Molly looked at her so lovingly that Rose actually
smiled a real smile and then took a deep breath, feeling Molly taking her hand.
"I…Jack and I…you know I've told you
about him kissing me on the bow and the picture he drew of me, but I haven't
told you about the car…you see Lovejoy started chasing us and we ended up in
this car and…he…we…"
Rose didn't know what to say, how to explain
something she couldn't even put in words, and suddenly Molly understood.
"Oh darling, I understand, you were
together...like husband and wife, and now you're...you're pregnant, aren't
you?" Molly smiled gently, touching Rose's face.
Rose nodded; inside, she was cursing her own
actions, her own selfishness, thoughtlessness. But she felt better now, now
that Molly knew.
"Yes, I think I am. I…I know it's not
the right way to become…you know…I don't know what we were thinking. I…we only
did it that one time, never again. It was as if we were fighting time and we
had to…we had to be together. Now it feels so ridiculous," Rose admitted,
feeling the tears burn inside her.
"Don't apologize, Rose…I've been young
too and I know what it's like. Did you really think I was going to make you
leave this house? You're being stupid, darling. You're staying with me for as
long as you need to and I'll help you with the baby. And we'll find Jack,
too."
Rose just looked at Molly sadly, her eyes
betraying her doubts.
"Jack won't ever want me now. He doesn't
want children and I…maybe he knows somehow, Molly and that's why he left?"
Rose swallowed again, trying to sound strong and brave. But it was hard. She
had nothing inside her to help her, because nothing like this had ever happen
to her.
"We'll find him and you two will talk
about this. He won't leave you again. And if he does, he's not worth even
thinking about anyway."
Molly smiled and placed her hands on Rose's
face, caressing Rose's wet cheeks. "I have a feeling that he'll be at your
side quicker than you can ever imagine."
Rose laughed slightly and finally felt calm.
She let Molly take her up to bed and tuck her in, as if she were a small child.
Then she heard Molly deciding that they were going to a doctor the next day.
*****
"Thanks for walking me home, Jack. I
really appreciate it." Tina leaned closer to the blond man, feeling her
heartbeat quicken at the thought of how his arm had rested around her all the
way home to her room. How would it feel to have those hands on her, touching
her?
"No problem," he smiled and leaned
closer, kissing her cheek lightly. It felt good to be close to a woman again,
to hold someone in his arms. Loneliness was the worst fate for anyone and Jack
sure knew that.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Good night,
Tina. Sweet dreams." He kissed her cheek again and looked into her brown
eyes. The night had swallowed him and he didn't know his way back anymore. All
he knew was that he couldn't keep living his life in the past. He had to move
on.
"Tina?" She turned around, stopping
on the first step to the building. "Yes, Jack?"
He wrapped his arms around her gently and she
stared up at him, her eyes shining with stars it seemed to Jack. He kissed her
softly on the mouth, deepening the kiss as he moved closer to her. Her soft
body was pressed against his and Jack didn't know if he wanted to stop, if he
could stop.
He shot up in bed, his heart pounding hard.
The room was quiet, except for Fabrizio's soft snores and the gentle summer
wind that came from the window. He was alone. Tina was at her place and all he
had done was kiss her cheek and then he had gone home. So, why was he having
dreams about going further than that?
Jack sat up, letting his feet land on the
cold floor as he pushed back his locks of blond hair and then he wrapped the
sheet closer around his naked upper body. A strange feeling made him shudder
and all he could see was one name, one face. Rose…was she in trouble? Why did
he have that horrible feeling in his stomach?
Tommy had been by just when he had come back
home from Tina's. He came by once in a while to see his old friends and he
always tried to make Jack contact Rose. He knew what the two of them meant to
each other and he wasn't going to let Fabrizio's words and Jack's insecurity
stand in the way.
Every time Fabrizio wasn't there, Tommy spent
even more time talking to Jack about Rose. "Hey, Jack…the angels are here.
Haven't you noticed?" Jack turned his head, eyes full of questions.
"What?"
"When you first laid your eyes on our
pretty Rose, remember what I said. That you'd as like have angels flying out of
your arse as getting next to her. Well, they're here now, Jack."
Jack smiled, sorrow shining in his deep blue
eyes now. "I know, Tommy. But I think they'll fly away soon. She's closed
the door again."
Tommy sat down next to his friend on the old
couch, which was of an unidentifiable color and looked like it would fall apart
any second.
"So she didn't write back to you. Have
you ever thought about the possibility that someone is hiding her letters from
you? Have you? Fabrizio sure doesn't like her. I'm not saying that he did take
the letters, but what if he did? What if Rose is just as miserable as you
are?"
Jack stared at his friend, not even wanting
to let that thought into his mind. Fabrizio would never do that…or would he?
He got up from the bed and walked over to the
window, hearing Tommy's words ringing in his ears. Didn't Rose know where Tommy
lived? She could try to contact him if she had to reach Jack.
An alarm bell seemed to ring inside Jack's head
and the images of him with Tina faded into nothing. Rose was there instead,
looking into his eyes deeply, taking his hand to her chest…her lips against
his.
Jack shook his head slightly, wondering why
he kept having these thoughts. He had never been in love before…before Rose…
His eyes wandered over the empty street, his
thoughts with her. It was time to do something about this, Tommy was right. It
was time to go and get Rose, marry her…Jack laughed nervously to himself…or go
on with his life. What was the right decision?
*****
The car pulled away from the sidewalk where
Rose was standing, waving nervously at Molly, who looked back at her with
concern. "I'll be okay," Rose mouthed before the car had disappeared
around the corner and then she took a deep breath and headed over to the shop.
The sign told her that it was a workshop where you could get your shoes
repaired and she walked up to the door slowly, not sure what to say.
Behind the counter a man was standing,
looking down at his books. She immediately saw the resemblance between him and
Tommy and she felt a bit more secure. Softly she touched the counter and
cleared her throat.
"Yes? May I help you, miss?"
"I…is Tommy Ryan here?" she asked,
finding her old strong, secure voice.
"Yeah. Hang on. I'll get him for you.
He's just in the back room." The man gave her a smile and then disappeared
for a moment, returning with Tommy right behind him.
"Rose!" Tommy smiled and walked
around the counter to hug her. She melted a bit at the feeling of her friend's
arms around her. Tommy wasn't a dear old friend, but he had quickly taken an
important place in her life…and now he might be able to help her get her true
love back.
"How you've been?" he asked,
friendly concern in his voice. She smiled and said that she was fine and then
went on by asking him how he was. "All's well here," he smiled, but
something in her eyes made him motion for her to go outside with him.
"You want to talk?" he asked and
she nodded, relieved that he had read her mind.
They stood outside in the waves of hot
sunshine, looking at each other for a long while. Then Rose finally opened her
mouth, trying to form words.
"Have you seen Jack?" she asked
softly and saw him move away from her slightly, as if the answer would hurt
her. "Yeah…Fabrizio and he, they live in an apartment not too far from
here. But I wouldn't go there if I were you. Fabrizio is there more often than
Jack is and he wouldn't tell Jack that you were there."
Rose looked down, not able to say anything
for a while. There had to be some way she could reach Jack. She had to tell him
about the baby. He deserved to know about his own child.
The doctor's words and tone of voice washed
over her like a roaring ocean. He had sounded condescending, compassionate, but
the compassionate part was fading as she thought about what her mother would
have said.
"Rose? Something wrong?" Tommy had
taken her hand and she felt him squeeze it for a second or two. She nodded,
looking away from him.
"You miss Jack, right? I'll tell him you
were here. If I only knew where he works, I'd take you there. But I will tell
him that you were here and that he should go see you. You're still at Mrs.
Brown's house, right?"
Rose nodded, feeling warm inside at how
caring Tommy was. Why did Fabrizio have to be such an idiot? She had never
wanted to take Jack away from his old life. She had wanted to share it with
him…and Fabrizio.
"Thank you, Tommy," she whispered,
looking up at him.
"You're welcome. I'm just returning a
favor. You saved my life, remember?" He smiled at her, and she nodded, her
smile pale and fading now. "Rose, there's more, right?" he asked at
this and again she just nodded, not looking him in the eye. "What is it?
I'll tell Jack. Or, if you don't want me to tell him, I won't."
To his surprise, she started laughing and
then froze, looking straight into his eyes. "You can't tell him, Tommy. I
have to myself and I can only do that if you bring him back to me."
Tommy looked a bit confused now and he moved
his fingers over a piece of paper and something that looked like tobacco. He
rolled himself a cigarette without looking at what he was doing. Instead, he
was watching her thoughtfully.
"I'm pregnant, Tommy," she said in
a clear and calm voice, making him wince and almost drop the cigarette.
"What? I mean, I heard you…Jack's?"
"Yes. Tommy, I can take that he doesn't
want to be with me. That he has fallen for Fabrizio's tricks. But I want him to
know about his child."
Tommy closed his arms around her on impulse
and pulled her close. He couldn't believe that she wasn't falling apart over
this, crying like a baby, screaming to make Jack come back to her. She was
willing to let the decision be his. Fabrizio couldn't be more wrong about her.
"It's okay, Rose. I'll tell Jack that
you were here and that you need to talk to him." She felt an enormous
weight lifting from her shoulders and relaxed in his arms, knowing that he
would make Jack realize what Fabrizio was doing.
"Tommy, do you think Fabrizio took my
letters to him?" she asked suddenly, looking up at him with shock in her
eyes. He just nodded, trying to think of what to say to Fabrizio when he saw
him. Fabrizio wasn't a bad person; he was just jealous and desperate to keep
things as they had been. But Rose had changed that and Fabrizio had to accept
it. He just had to.