THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HEAVEN
Chapter Fifteen
Trouble in Paradise
Rose stepped into the nursery her mother
prepared for the twins. Everything was in perfect order, from the cloth diapers
to the cotton balls on the changing table. Her mother was more organized than
she was. Her mother might have been annoying at times, but she had her good
points.
Rose gently put the last infant in the crib as
she sang it a lullaby. She loved her children more than anything else in the
world, but she couldn’t stop thinking where her father was. Rose closed the
nursery door and walked to their bedroom, one of the twenty-eight guestrooms in
the mansion.
Jack paced around the room, pondering about
how he was going to tell Rose about Rosemary. When the door opened, he jumped.
"Why so jumpy, Jack?" Rose stared
at his blue eyes and knew something was wrong.
"Uh...it’s nothing." He hesitated
to tell her.
"Are you sure?" She knew he would
tell her when he was ready.
"Yeah," he lied.
The phone interrupted when it rang. It was
his cell phone. He picked it up from the table by the bed and flicked it open.
"Jack?" Jason sounded worried.
"Yeah."
"It’s Jason."
"Oh, hi Jason. Glad to hear from you.
What’s wrong?" He could hear it in his voice.
"The gallery burned down last night. I
barely found out."
"Was anything saved?"
"No. I’m sorry."
"Don’t worry. I’m on my way." Jack
wasn’t worried, but the drawings were his fondest memories. He knew he could
redraw them again. No need to worry.
He turned toward Rose.
"Rose, the gallery burned down last
night, so I need to go to New York."
"All right. Don’t worry. We’ll be okay.
So go ahead. They need you." She didn’t want him to go.
"Thanks. Take care of the children, and
give each of them a big kiss from Daddy."
"And what about me?"
"I would never forget you, lovely
Rose." He gave her a kiss that said, I love you with all my heart.
Something was wrong. She could feel it in her
heart. It wasn’t Jack’s gallery; it was something else she couldn’t place.