Rose

by Alison Chaffin Higson

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  It was another sunny day in Cape Elizabeth. After Mack had strapped Lucas into the car, they headed to the closest supermarket. With hardly any traffic around, it was so peaceful. She drove through tunnels of aging trees, past vast farms, some with the tractors working in the fields. She was even lucky enough to drive through a covered bridge, and all this had made her want to pack up home in Roslindale and move to Cape Elizabeth.

  Mack wasn’t really unhappy in Boston, she just felt as though something was missing. She hadn’t had a boyfriend in a very long time, and although her parents and sister were near, they had their own lives, and after all, Cape Elizabeth was only a couple of hours drive away. She would still be able to see Lucas on the weekends.

  Perhaps in the next few weeks, she would check out the local schools to see if they had any positions for the start of the semester. She really would give the idea some serious thought.

  Lucas was actually being rather quiet in the back of the car -- rather unusual. She didn’t know Lucas was capable of sitting quietly, especially after their trip out of Boston.

  “You okay back there?”

  “Yes. I’m being good so I can have ice cream after my burger and fries.” He displayed a huge grin.

  “Okay.”

  She drove into the supermarket parking lot and spotted a book-store across the road. With the car parked, Mack retrieved Lucas from the back, took hold of his hand and walked over to see if they had a children’s atlas for Lucas to track his parent’s travels on.

  Not only did they have an atlas, but they also had a new dragon book as well that Lucas just had to have.

  As they walked back across the road to the supermarket, she could now understand why her sister refused to take Lucas shopping with her. She had to use the ‘on holiday’ talk on him, to make him put the twelve or so books he’d chosen back, telling him there would be no room in the car if they bought them all. After many very sweet looks in his Auntie Mack’s direction to try and get her to change her mind, he’d settled on the two.

  Mack grabbed a shopping cart and instructed Lucas to stay with her and not to disappear. His own father had lost him in a supermarket on a couple of occasions. The first time, Lucas had been found eating grapes under one of the displays and then another time, he was lying on the floor in the children’s section with a coloring book and pencils. He had been coloring away, thinking nothing of the fact that his father was running around looking for him.

  The fruit and vegetable aisle held little interest for Lucas, who had spotted two girls shopping with their mother. He decided to try and inch away from his Auntie Mack, who apparently really did have eyes in the back of her head.

  “Lucas, where do you think you’re going?” she asked just as he was about to sneak behind the bananas, making him jump.

  “Looking at bananas.”

  Mack looked amused while she tried not to laugh, knowing exactly what he was up to. “Lucas, I thought you didn’t like bananas. Would you like some?”

  He had a look of horror on his face, so Mack took pity on him. “Don’t worry, we aren’t going to buy any, but you better stay put, young man.”

  At the chocolate aisle, she suddenly realized she was alone. She took some deep breaths, trying to control the panic welling up inside her, as she looked around and rushed up the middle of the aisles, then moved along, when all of a sudden she heard someone scream.

  With her heart in her mouth, she ran towards the sound, only to find Lucas in the middle of a water gun fight with two girls who really did look soaked, while Lucas looked as dry as he could be.

  “Lucas Cartwright, what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, while trying to keep a straight face. The whole scene looked rather comical, but there was no way she was going to laugh just yet, she was supposed to be the grown up.

  “They asked me if I wanted to have a water fight with them. I was bored and said yes. They had an extra water pistol. Does this mean there’s no burger and fries in my future?” he asked with his hands in his pockets and his head down.

  “Lucas, please look at me.” He did. “Forget about burger and fries for now. I want to know why they’re soaked and you’re dry?”

  “Because they’re girls and they can’t shoot for beans.”

  “I’ll have you know that some women can shoot better than men.” Mack wondered what on earth his father had been saying to him.

  She decided it might be better to make a quick escape. So, after grabbing hold of Lucas, they headed for the checkout, and both were thankful the girls’ mother didn’t catch up to them.

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  They pulled into the drive of Rose Cottage and saw Thomas making his way over to them.

  Mack opened the car door for Lucas, and he jumped out then ran over to Thomas to tell him all about the water fight in the supermarket and having real food on the way home. By the laughter coming from Thomas, he found it just as amusing as she did.

  Although as the adult in charge, she should have added a reprimand in there somewhere. There was no harm done and all parties involved seemed as much to blame, so it was left for now.

  “Thomas, would you like to come in for something to drink?” she asked, grabbing hold of the shopping from the trunk of the car.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” he replied, opening the kitchen door for her, then followed them both into the kitchen where he took a seat in what appeared to be his favorite chair in the cottage. He then got comfortable and pulled Lucas onto his lap.

  “Can you swim, boy?” he asked Lucas.

  “I can swim two hundred meters without stopping, and I have a badge at home to prove it.” Lucas was rather proud.

  “Good, because I was thinking, if you didn’t have anything planned this afternoon, I might take you fishing with me for a couple of hours. If it’s okay with your aunt?”

  “That’s fine. He’s actually a very good swimmer and has swim team three nights a week back home.”

  She wanted a quiet word with Thomas about the diary, so she turned to Lucas. “Why don’t you go and play your new Wii game for now, while Thomas finishes his drink.”

  As soon as Lucas walked into the sitting room, Thomas turned to look at her. “Something on your mind, Miss Mackenzie?” he asked while he took a sip of his coffee.

  “First off, why don’t you call me Mack?"

  “Done! Next.”

  “You know who Rose is, don’t you?”

  He abruptly stood up, put his cup down on the table before he walked over to the window and looked out, not really seeing anything, as he remembered Rose, and his love for her. “I haven’t talked about her in sixty-five years, and I don’t intend to now. It’s time to go fishing,” he said agitated.

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  “Thomas, what’s in that tub?” Lucas asked, because he could see something moving inside it.

  “Bait.”

  “I thought I was bait.” Lucas paused. “What’s bait anyway?” he asked baffled.

  “Bait is what you attach to the end of the line, something fish like the taste of, and when they try to take a bite, the fish get attached to the hook with the bait on.” Thomas laughed when he noticed the horror on Lucas’ face.

  “You’re not really going to use me as bait, are you?” Lucas backed away slightly.

  Thomas roared with laughter, so much he had to sit down before he fell down. He had tears running down his face, and every time he glanced at Lucas, he set off again.

  “Oh, my dear boy,” he just about managed to choke out. Then he took some deep breaths to try and calm down. “I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much.” Thomas managed to get himself under control. “You’re safe, Lucas. Come sit by me and I’ll show you how to bait a hook.”

  Lucas sat down and spent the next ten minutes listening to Thomas explain about fishing and how to bait a hook. Lucas wasn’t too impressed that he wasn’t allowed to try it by himself, but Thomas didn’t want little fingers to become part of the
hook!

  Thomas offered Lucas a cheese sandwich and a drink of lemonade while they sat back and waited for the fish to catch.

  “How long have you been fishing?” Lucas asked between gulps of his lemonade.

  Thomas quickly glanced at Lucas, then relaxed back against a tree, thinking back to the summer his father took the effort to purchase him something, instead of sending his mother or the housekeeper to do it. “My father bought me a fishing rod for my eighth birthday. That would be about seventy-two years ago now. I spent all that summer fishing with my two best friends, Levi and Walt.”

  Lucas carried on munching his cheese sandwich then, obviously having thought about what Thomas just told him, asked, “Are they still your friends, or have you had a fight? I fight with my friends all the time.”

  Thomas chuckled. “Oh yes, we’re still friends, although back then we were more like partners in crime, as we used to get up to all sorts of trouble, that used to get me grounded a lot.”

  Thomas walked to the edge of the river to check the line, then looked back at Lucas, who still had his attention focused on him. “I remember after one fishing trip, we were walking back to my house, when we spotted my neighbor arranging some shoes on the porch. We hid behind some bushes, and when she went inside, we snuck up to her porch and put fish in three of the shoes. We caught about eight fish that day, don’t think we ever got so lucky again. I got grounded for a week, but it’s the only time my father ever found one of my antics funny. I heard him laughing as he shut my bedroom door, on his way downstairs after telling me off.”

  Lucas giggled. “That’s funny. I think I need to pee.”

  Thomas looked rather startled and just hoped he didn’t need help. “Okay, Lucas. Are you all right going behind that bush?”

  “You mean I get to pee outside?”

  Thomas just nodded his head while he tried not to laugh.

  “Yeah!!” Lucas took off behind a bush.

  “Don’t go too far, Lucas, okay?”

  “I won’t. I’m peeing now.”

  “Okay, buddy.” Thomas chuckled.

  Lucas ran back to Thomas. “I feel better now. Please can I have one of those chocolate bars?”

  “Yes, you can. Now come and sit back down beside me. Let’s clean your hands first with this wipe, and then I’ll pass you some chocolate.”

  Not long after, Lucas’ line started to go crazy, which had both of them jumping up, nearly knocking everything into the river. While Lucas jumped up and down cheering, Thomas managed to reel in a yellow perch on Lucas’ line.

  “Well done, Lucas. Do you want to try again, see if we can catch enough for dinner?”

  “Yes. Auntie Mack can cook them,” Lucas laughed. “You might have to get rid of the middle first, though, because she’s a girl and would scream and run away. That’s what Daddy said, anyway.”

  “Is that right?” Thomas hid his grin.

  <><><>

  Mack had spent part of the afternoon baking. When she’d finished, she decided to go and have a walk to the beach, taking Rose’s diary with her. She’d left a message pinned to the back door for Thomas and Lucas, just in case they were back before she was. No need to worry them, unnecessarily.

  At the beach, she found a sheltered corner and settled down with the diary.

  Chapter 7

  March 14, 1947

  I put my dancing shoes on…

  I was so excited to be seeing Jacob in twenty minutes. He was meeting me at the end of the drive to take me dancing and I could hardly contain my excitement.

  Not five minutes before I left the house, Mother walked into my bedroom and wanted to know why I had a huge smile on my face. Of course I fobbed her off and told her I was just thinking about something Jayne said the other day. Not sure she actually believed me though.

  As I approached the end of the drive I couldn’t see any sign of Jacob, which had me worried.

  I walked onto the sidewalk and looked in both directions and there was still no sign of him. I decided it would probably be best to wait back from the road, in case anyone I knew saw me, and started to ask questions or even worse ask my parents what I was doing. Ugh!

  Just about to step back, I felt arms go around me and lips on my neck. “Hello, Rose,” he whispered into my neck, which sent shivers straight through me.

  I sagged against him, and turned my head slightly to meet his lips. “I’ve missed you and been so looking forward to this evening,” I whispered.

  “Me too.” He turned me around so we could embrace properly. “We better go or we’ll miss the bus.”

  Jacob held my hand all the way to the stop, all through the journey to the dance hall, and only released me when I handed my jacket over to one of the cloakroom attendants.

  “Would you like a drink first, Rose?”

  “No. Just hold me in your arms and dance with me.”

  His eyes bore into mine as he pulled me onto the dance floor to dance to Frankie Laine’s, That’s my Desire. I really loved that song.

  We danced and danced for about two hours without even breaking for a drink. Part of me was exhausted, but another part of me felt so alive. Being held in his arms while we danced, feeling his muscles shift under my hands had my body overheated. Every time he caressed down my back, goose bumps followed.

  I was in love with Jacob. I’d never been in love before, but I knew I loved him. What I was going to do about it though was another thing. It wouldn’t be too long before my parents found out about us. Then all hell would break loose with how my father was. Never mind, I would cross that bridge when it happened.

  By the time we arrived back to town it was rather late, so Jacob walked me back to the house, and gave me a quick kiss goodbye, promising to meet me on Tuesday.

  March 18, 1947

  The day I lose my heart…

  I’d spent the past four days pining for Jacob. He had to work nights, and for some reason I hadn’t asked him what he did. How I hadn’t asked him, I didn’t know. He also hadn’t volunteered it, either.

  Eventually, it was five minutes before ten as I sneaked out of the house through the kitchen, with a flashlight in my hand. I quickly made my way to the beach and Jacob.

  As I turned the corner, I just made out Jacob up ahead. He saw me and started walking towards me. I picked up speed and ended up running to him, throwing my arms around his neck as he put his lips to mine, while holding me tight against his body.

  “Being in your arms feels so right.” I leaned in to kiss him again.

  All too soon he released me and took my hand, leading me to a sheltered section of beach. He had already laid a couple of blankets on the ground. Once sitting, he pulled me between his legs and kept one arm around my waist as he passed me a hot chocolate with his other hand.

  He turned me inside out. When I was with him I felt as though I’d known him my whole life, and when we were apart, I desperately longed for his company. He made me feel protected and cherished, as though nothing could harm me while I was with him.

  I turned my head slightly so I could look at his face. “Will you tell me about Jacob?”

  “What do you want to know?” he asked me while caressing my face.

  “Everything.”

  He laughed and pulled me back against his chest, snuggled real tight. “Okay then, here goes. I’m twenty-two years old, born in New York. My parents moved to Boston in 1931. Eleanor still lives in Brookline and runs a respectable boarding house. She visits me often. The only time she couldn’t visit me was during the war when I was stationed in England.”

  I turned around to face him with a look of concern. “Where in England?”

  “Leominster in Herefordshire. I was in the 5th Ranger Division towards the end of the war. I remember the local children were great fun. We used to give them chocolate and gum in exchange for them going to buy us fish and chips. The kids were the best.”

  I leaned forward and kissed him. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”


  He took hold of my hair, which had come loose from my clip and smoothed it behind my ear, caressing my face at the same time. “Now, please tell me about Rose.” As I looked up into his eyes they were sparkling with passion, for me. My heart was pounding so much, I felt as though it was about to jump out from my chest.

  He leaned forward and placed such a tender kiss to my lips, then smiled at me. “Sitting there looking gorgeous and ready to be kissed, does not mean I don’t want to hear about you, Rose.”

  I smiled up to him, then leaned back against him again. “I’ve lived all my life in Cape Elizabeth. I had an older brother, Charlie. He was killed in France during the war.” I started to sniffle. Whenever I talked about Charlie, I always ended up in tears.

  “Rose, please don’t cry.” Jacob wiped my tears away with his thumbs.

  After a few minutes, I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms around Jacob’s waist, snuggling in close to his warmth. “I mentioned my younger brother, JT, the other day. He makes me laugh with the things he gets up to with his friends, Walt and Levi. Father grounds him nearly every other day. It doesn’t last long though, as Mother gets frustrated when he’s under foot all day long. He’ll then go and find his friends, and end up getting grounded again. He can also be very annoying.”

  Jacob started to laugh. “Isn’t that what brothers are supposed to be like?”

  I elbowed him gently into his side. “Please tell me you weren’t an annoying brother to Eleanor?” I raised my eyebrow in question.

  Jacob pulled me closer. “Probably, but not all the time. Eleanor is a great sister. Sometimes, I don’t know what I would’ve done without her.”

  “I feel like that about JT -- well some of the time,” I said, just before Jacob leaned forward to give me a sweet kiss. “I don’t want tonight to end.”

  He looked at his watch. “It’s getting late, you might be missed.” We untangled ourselves and Jacob took my hand, pulling me up from the ground, and straight into his arms for a wonderful kiss.

  Breaking the kiss, Jacob threaded his fingers through my hair and pushed it behind my ears. “Will you meet me again, Rose? I’m working for the next few nights, but I can meet you on Friday.”