Rose

by Alison Chaffin Higson

  All she wanted was a walk to the beach to try and blow some of the cobwebs away, plus she’d missed seeing the ocean this past week. She’d also missed Rose and Jacob, because while she was playing Florence Nightingale, she’d been too tired, then too sick to pick the diary up and had wanted to enjoy Rose’s writing, which she wouldn’t have done.

  Throwing the cover from the top of her, she climbed out of bed and quickly dressed in a pair of jeans, t-shirt, and sweater. The last thing she needed was to get sick again. Then she followed the sound of voices to the kitchen.

  Standing in the doorway she just watched Thomas and Lucas interact, while she was unobserved. They seemed to know what the other wanted without words being spoken. It was sweet.

  “Auntie Mack, you’re awake. We’re making you breakfast… You were supposed to be eating it in bed.” Lucas didn’t look impressed at all.

  “Well, I would love to eat the breakfast you’ve made me, but I’ll sit here with you and Thomas. If that’s okay? Then maybe after breakfast we can go for a walk to the beach. I need some fresh air.”

  “Yeah!” Lucas shouted, running around the kitchen.

  Mack had to put her hands to her ears with the racket he was making.

  “Lucas, you hush up now. You’re giving your auntie a headache.” Thomas’ words managed to shut him up, much to Mack’s relief.

  They’d both made pancakes, Mack’s favorite, which she ate with a small amount of butter and maple syrup. As she placed the first piece into her mouth she happened to glance up and noticed that both Thomas and Lucas were sitting staring at her.

  She paused mid chew.

  “I dropped an egg shell in it.” Lucas had a huge grin on his face.

  “Oh.”

  Thomas started to laugh, while watching Mack try and eat the pancake without choking on egg shell.

  She managed to clear her plate with only eating a couple pieces of the shell. “That was delicious, Lucas. Thank you.”

  “Yeah, she liked it!”

  “Thomas are you going to walk to the beach with us?” she asked while clearing the table of the breakfast dishes.

  “No, I don’t think I will, Mack. I’ll walk with you as far as my cottage.”

  Lucas’ face fell. “I don’t want you to leave, Thomas. Can’t you stay?”

  Thomas pulled Lucas on to his lap. “I’m only five minutes away. The thing is, I need my own space. It’s been a long time since I’ve lived with anyone, and even though it’s been nice staying here, I need to go home. I appreciate everything that you and your auntie have done for me. In fact I bet your auntie will invite me for dinner, providing she feels up to it.”

  “Consider yourself invited. Now Lucas, you go and wash-up and bring a sweater down with you. I don’t want you getting sick again.”

  Mack turned to Thomas and had a good look at him. He still appeared pale, but he certainly seemed better than he had been. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

  He smiled at Mack. “I really am fine. Just tired. I don’t sleep too well unless it’s in my own bed.”

  “I know what you mean. I’m a bit like that, but for some reason I haven’t had any trouble here. Perhaps it’s the fresh air and being so close to the ocean.”

  “Auntie Mack, I’m ready.”

  She turned her head and looked at Lucas, who did look ready with his sweater on and his sneakers on the correct feet.

  “Come on then, let’s go. And Lucas, no messing in the tidal pools today. You’ve just been sick.”

  “This isn’t going to be any fun,” he grumbled.

  Mack just smiled and ushered him outside the cottage, took hold of his hand then started walking with Thomas along the beach path.

  When they reached Thomas’ cottage, Mack stood on the porch with him while Lucas lay in the lounge chair on the front lawn.

  “Thomas, can I ask you something?”

  “Go on.”

  “Are you JT?”

  Thomas stopped what he was doing and abruptly sat down on the porch swing. “I haven’t used that name in a very long time. It was her nickname for me, switching my initials around so no one would know she was talking about me,” he explained, wiping his hand across his face.

  “Thomas, if it’s too painful to talk about Rose, I guess nobody has ever died of curiosity,” Mack said concerned.

  “She hated me,” Thomas whispered.

  Mack was stunned. “Who, Rose?”

  He nodded his head. “Yes, I was always trying to get her into trouble.” He shook his head.

  “Thomas no. You’re wrong. In her diary she said that she loved you. Wait a minute.” Mack quickly retrieved the diary from her purse and found the relevant part in the diary. “This is dated March 20, 1947. Rose says, ‘JT is otherwise known as Thomas James. He is fourteen years old and regardless of what he may think, I love him dearly.’ That was what she wrote in here, Thomas.”

  “I never knew,” he whispered.

  After a few minutes of silence he stood up and unlocked his front door. “I’ll be fine, Mack. I’m glad you found her diary and told me. It means a lot.” He tried to reassure her. “You go and have fun with the boy and I’ll see you both for dinner.”

  Thomas walked inside his cottage as Mack looked towards Lucas, who was waiting patiently in the garden. She just hoped he would be all right.

  <><><>

  Mack and Lucas had both taken a nap when they’d returned from the beach, where they’d collected an assortment of clamshells and smooth stones. Mack loved shells and had them all over her apartment. For the past three years on her birthday, Lucas had painted some and stuck them to some sort of clay item that he’d made. She smiled in remembrance of the flower pot, vase and coffee mug he’d made her. All unusable, but they meant more to her because Lucas had taken the time to make them. She knew she’d treasure them always.

  After they’d eaten dinner, Thomas decided to stay while Lucas had his bath and then he read him another Our Gang story before they both said goodnight.

  Sitting with a coffee in the sitting room with Thomas, Mack hoped he had decided to talk about Rose.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Tell me about your sister.”

  “Oh boy, she was amazing, so full of life.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I was with her the morning she first met him. Does she say that in her diary?”

  “Yes, she does. She says you dragged her away from him.”

  Thomas laughed as he remembered. “Yes, I did. Our father was a snob. He would have made her life so difficult if he’d any idea she was interested in someone who didn’t come from money. He barely allowed Rose to work at the library, but she refused to give the job up and said she wanted to make her own money. I don’t think she liked working there much, but it was her bit of freedom, I guess. It probably made her feel good, knowing she was going against Father’s wishes.”

  He took a minute. “I caught her once or twice, sneaking out to meet him, so she would bribe me with ten cents to buy Our Gang comics. She actually went out and bought me the April 1st edition to keep me quiet, as Father had told Mother I couldn’t have that issue for getting up to no good. I sometimes wonder if I’d told my father about what she was doing, that maybe she would have lived.”

  Mack just stared at him and wondered if she heard him correctly. “What do you mean?”

  With a glance into the darkness, Thomas then turned back to Mack. “She died the night she was running away with him, April 14, 1947. She’d left to meet him, to go away to marry him, I guess. That was the last time I saw her.” Thomas wiped his eyes.

  “How did she die?” Mack asked.

  “That I really don’t want to talk about.”

  “Do you know if she met up with Jacob?” She couldn’t stop with the questions.

  “No, she never made it. About a month later, I overheard my father talking to my mother. It turned out it was about Jacob. I heard him telling her Jacob had rung the house asking for Rose
. He told Jacob she was happily married to Richard. He said Jacob sounded really upset, and then he hung up on him.”

  “Oh my, so if he’s still alive, all this time Jacob thinks Rose changed her mind and didn’t love him and used him probably,” Mack said with tears in her eyes. “That’s so sad, Thomas. I have to see if he’s still alive and tell him what happened to Rose.”

  “If he is, he’ll be older than me. When I overheard my parents talking, my father said he was three years older than Rose, so he would be... around eighty-eight, I think.”

  “I have to try, Thomas. If you read her diary, you can see and feel just how much she loved him, and if his feelings were the same as hers, then he has to know.” Mack still had tears running down her face. “If he’s still alive and remembers her, I think he will, then he has the right to know the truth, and just how much she loved him.”

  “I think you’re right.” He stood up to leave.

  “Thank you, Thomas, for sharing that with me. It breaks my heart knowing how their love ended.”

  “You have a soft heart,” Thomas told her, placing a kiss on her cheek.

  “Are you okay walking home? It’s pitch black out there.”

  “I’ve been walking home in the dark since I was five years old,” he told Mack with a chuckle on his way out the door.

  “Okay, goodnight then. Why don’t you join us for breakfast?” Mack couldn’t help but notice the look on his face and thought perhaps Lucas had mentioned the hot cereal. “Pancakes, eggs and sausage,” she quickly added.

  “I’ll be here at eight.”

  “Goodnight.”

  She stood on the doorstep and watched Thomas head home, thinking about Rose and Jacob. Their story was so sad.

  Inside the cottage, she locked up for the night and headed upstairs to shower and change into her pajamas.

  Back downstairs, she made her usual hot chocolate and retrieved Rose’s diary from her purse, then headed to bed with a heavy heart, knowing how it all ended, but unable to stop reading Rose’s story.

  Chapter 11

  March 22, 1947

  Movie night with Richard….

  Richard came calling for me, just as he said he would, in his father’s car. I was really looking forward to watching the movie, Road to Utopia. Dorothy Lamour was one of my favorite actresses. I didn’t really have the heart to tell Richard, I’d already seen the movie with Jayne. At least it was a fun movie to watch, so I really didn’t mind seeing it twice.

  We took our seats and Richard was ever the gentleman, even though I had reminded him that it wasn’t a date, and we were just friends.

  “Rose, are you comfortable?” he whispered. The movie theatre was really full tonight.

  “I’m fine, thank you. Do you like Dorothy Lamour? I think she’s great,” I asked.

  “She’s all right, but I prefer Bing Crosby. I think he is very good.”

  The movie started to get underway and stopped the chit-chat. I was relieved, really. I didn’t know what to say to him. During the interval, I visited the restroom, and was just about to open the door when two hands grabbed me, then pulled me into the cloakroom. Jacob.

  “What...?” He slammed his lips down to mine. His tongue slipped between my lips. We both moaned.

  “God, Rose. I can’t stop touching you. Wanting you.” He kissed me again. My arms were wrapped around his neck. His arms were wrapped around my waist. He held me against him and I felt the hardness between us.

  “I wanted to remind you just who your guy is.”

  “Okay.” I pulled his head back to me. I really couldn’t get enough of this man.

  We were both breathing heavily when the bell sounded to let everyone know the movie was about to start up again.

  “I need to get back to work. One of the guys is covering for me.” He caressed my face.

  “I better get back as well. I’m really going to miss you.” I had to fight back my tears.

  “I’ll miss you as well, Rose. I’ll see you soon. Now go.”

  He placed a quick kiss to my lips and shoved me back through the curtains. I quickly made my way back to Richard, who looked at me with widened eyes. Oh heck.

  “Are you coming down with something? You look really flushed.”

  “I think I might be, but I feel okay, really.” I took my seat again and avoided looking at him, until I felt his hand creeping across the back of my chair. “What are you doing?”

  “Um, stretching.” I wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not.

  “Well, stretch somewhere else.”

  He huffed and put his arms back down.

  The movie seemed to drag after the interval with Jacob. Eventually the lights went up, and everyone stood to stretch their legs, ready to exit.

  “Would you like to go and have a slice of pie and chocolate milk?” Just about to refuse, my stomach grumbled. “I take that’s a yes, then.”

  I didn’t really have much choice, so I let Richard take me to the diner. On entering, he started to lead me to the front, he then froze and backtracked to the booths at the back of the room.

  “Richard, who are they?” It looked like he was trying to avoid the three guys seated by one of the windows.

  “I don’t know.”

  He was grumpy now and I hesitated to say that he looked troubled. “Richard….”

  “Please don’t ask again, Rose.”

  “Okay.” Well, that was odd.

  We ate in silence, but by the time we had finished, he seemed to be back to normal.

  “Thank you for this evening, Rose. Perhaps we could do this again sometime?”

  I tried to hide a yawn. “Maybe.”

  Richard walked me to the front door, which made me nervous, but luckily, JT opened the door and saved the day.

  I quickly said goodnight and dragged JT inside, closing the door behind us.

  March 24, 1947

  Richard doesn’t have to marry me...

  It had been two days since I last saw Jacob. I missed him terribly. I was sitting on the porch, day dreaming about the night on the beach, when Richard appeared in his father’s car.

  He climbed out and came running over to me. “Rose, will you come for a drive with me?” I hesitated. “Please?” he begged.

  Oh, what the heck. I wasn’t exactly doing anything. “All right. Let me just grab a jacket and my purse.”

  I ran inside to quickly grab what I needed and ran back outside. Richard opened the door for me. I climbed inside his father’s luxurious car and admired the cream leather interior with a dark mahogany wooden dashboard, while Richard shut the door and ran around to the other side.

  “Richard, what’s going on?” I was both nervous and curious.

  “My father has agreed I don’t have to marry you. So I thought we could celebrate with pie and chocolate milk,” he replied, grinning at me like a little boy.

  I laughed. “Well, let’s celebrate then.”

  He drove to town and parked at the crowded diner. We walked inside and I spotted Jayne on her own just finishing eating. I walked over, sitting down beside her. “What are you doing here?”

  “Richard wants to celebrate not being forced to marry me.”

  Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Which made me laugh.

  “Rose, Sandy is going to bring our favorite pie and milk over. Hello, Jayne. Would you like anything?”

  “No, I’ve just finished eating. Thank you, though.”

  Richard sat opposite me and engaged Jayne in conversation. I so wanted to confess to Jayne about Jacob, but I was afraid she would say something to someone else. She may be my best friend, but she had trouble, big trouble actually, keeping things to herself.

  I had just finished my pie when I noticed JT sitting with Levi, Walt, and some girls at the back of the diner.

  Excusing myself, I walked over to their table. When he saw me, he went bright red and stood up. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from his friends so they were out of hearing range.
/>   “What are you doing here, sis?”

  “I’m with Jayne and Richard. What about you? You know you’re not allowed in here.”

  “I’m with Walt and Levi.” He glanced in their direction.

  “I have eyes, JT. I’ll walk back with you, so you don’t get into any trouble with Father. I also don’t want Richard getting any ideas.”

  He laughed. “Wouldn’t want that, sis.” He strolled back to his friends and said his goodbyes, then walked back to me.

  “Let me just tell Jayne and Richard I’m leaving,” I said, quickly walking over to where they were sitting.

  “Sorry, but I’m going to walk back to the house with JT, before Father gets home.”

  “Rose, please don’t leave. Can’t JT walk back on his own?” Richard asked, frowning at JT, who stuck his tongue out at him.

  I gave him a shove. “Stop that.” I turned back to Jayne and Richard. “I really need to make sure he gets there without causing any more trouble. I’ll see you both later.” I turned quickly and grabbed hold of JT’s arm, then dragged him out of the diner.

  March 26, 1947

  The night I became a woman….

  Sneaking out of the house had JT catching me, again. I owed him an Our Gang comic. He sure was getting a lot out of me.

  Jacob was waiting for me at the bottom of the drive. I ran straight into his arms, and we kissed and kissed while he spun me around. “I’ve missed you so much,” he caressed my face, “my Rose.”

  “Always.”

  “Let’s go, before we miss the bus.” He took my hand as we walked to the bus stop. We should be more careful, because I didn’t want Father getting wind of me going out with someone other than Richard. While Jacob was holding on to me, I really didn’t care.

  We were going watching The Shocking Miss Pilgrim with Betty Grable. I loved her movies, so I was really looking forward to watching it.

  Jacob held my hand all the way there, and during the movie, I cuddled into him, moving slightly to give him a quick kiss.

  After the movie ended, we only had time to catch the bus home, but we jumped off a stop earlier. We walked along the cliffs, Jacob had his arm wrapped around my shoulders with mine holding him tight around his waist. He felt so amazing. I never wanted to let go.