Rose paused for a moment, not sure of what to say. “My name is Rose Porter, and this is my friend, Lionel Douglass.”
“What do you want?” Asked the voice again. The tone of the woman’s voice was almost rude, but still kind in a strange sort of way.
“I read your book about Rose who lives in the countryside,” Rose said suddenly, before even really realizing what she was saying. “I just love it. I was wondering if you could please sign my copy?” Rose was thankful that she had the book in her purse.
Ten seconds passed. Then the door opened, ever so slowly. In front of them stood a tall, slender woman with brown curls, which had strands of grey in them here and there. Her eyes were green and her face showed signs of age. It was a kind face, though the eyes were full of pain.
“I don’t usually have readers come to my house,” the woman said with a slight bit of annoyance. “I’m surprised you were even able to find me.”
Rose just smiled. She held out the book with a pen.
“Pleased to meet you,” Rose said politely.
The woman took the book. “What was your name again?”
“Rose Porter.”
The woman scribbled something onto the book and handed it back.
“Enjoy your book,” the woman said. She started to close the door.
“Wait!” Rose cried. “Please, wait.”
“Yes?” said the woman.
“I don’t know how to say this, but I wanted to ask about your daughter, Rose.” Rose spoke fast because she was so afraid.
The woman’s eyes grew wide. Her mouth hung open in shock, and she began to slowly shake her head.
“I-I don’t have a daughter,” she stammered. “I have no children.”
“I’ve read the newspaper articles,” said Rose. “I know about Rose.”
“I think it’s time for you to go now,” the woman said firmly, beginning to close the door again.
“Please, don’t!” Rose begged. “I am Rose. I’m Rose Garnet Jennings, your daughter.”
The woman stopped. Her eyes filled with tears and her face turned white. “What?” she asked.
“I’m Rose,” Rose repeated. “I’m Rose and I’ve been looking for you.”
The woman began shaking her head. A tear streamed down her left cheek.
“This can’t be,” she said. “This is some kind of a cruel trick.”
“It’s not!” Rose protested. “I’m Rose! I’m your Rose!”
The woman shook her head again. “As I said, I think it’s time for you to go.” She slammed the door.
Rose stood before the door in shock. Lionel, who had been silent the entire time, took her hand. What now? Rose wondered.
This isn’t how it was supposed to go! Rose thought mournfully. She was supposed to call me Rose and reach out her arms to me. We were supposed to sob in each other’s warm embrace, longing for all of the years that we missed together. We were supposed to talk for hours and hours about all that had happened in our lives the past eighteen years.
Rose turned to Lionel. “What do I do, Lionel?” She asked helplessly.
“Well, obviously she wants to be left alone right now,” he said in a quiet voice. He rubbed her arms. “But I have an idea. Let’s write my parents’ address and telephone number in the front page of this book. We’ll leave it here for her. Then she knows where to reach you if she changes her mind.”
“And what if she doesn’t change her mind, Lionel?” Rose asked, her voice filled with sadness.
“She can’t deny her own daughter. Especially not after seeing you in the flesh and talking to you. She had to have sensed that you were genuine.”
Rose smiled. “You think so?”
“I know so,” he replied with an encouraging smile.
“I hope she won’t give up on me,” whispered Rose, trying to shake off the feeling of utter disappointment that was weighing down on her heart. The almost constant feelings of uncertainty about her quest were replaced by a sinking feeling in her chest brought on by the rejection that she had just experienced.
“Come on, let’s head back,” Lionel said after writing the address and phone number on the book and leaving it on the doorstep.
“Okay,” said Rose.
Lionel put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close for a moment before letting go. Momentarily, Rose felt warmth and comfort. The feeling quickly faded as a cool breeze touched her face and brought her back to the gloomy reality that she was facing. After her long search and her chance discovery through an illustrated children’s book, her mother had rejected her.
Together, she and Lionel walked up and down hills and around bends in the road. They saw the same houses and barns. They saw the same fields and trees. The sun hid behind a cloud, which offered some relief from the heat.
They left Abbotsford Road and headed back toward town. They kept their eyes peeled for some sort of shop or hotel where they could call a cab. They finally found an inn after about half an hour of walking. They called the cab and rode took it back to the train station. In silence, Lionel and Rose walked up to the same man that they had spoken to earlier and purchased their return tickets home to London.
Their feet were sore from walking and they were covered in dried dust and sweat. Rose had a large blister on the bottom of her left foot, and another on the side of her right food. To take her mind off the disappointing encounter with her birth mother, Rose thought of how wonderful it would feel to take a shower, slip into a clean pair of pajamas, and put her feet up in bed. In the morning, after she woke up, she would soak her feet in Epsom salts to help ease the pain from her two blisters. Then she might even take a nap. She fell asleep on the train thinking those same thoughts, trying to ignore the pain of rejection that was slowly gnawing away at her heart.
Chapter Sixteen
Rodney called Rose on Sunday morning and suggested that they have tea.
“I know of a great little bakery near my store,” he told her.
“I’d love that!” Rose told him. “My sweet tooth has been begging for a treat all morning.”
Rodney chuckled. “Okay, I’ll come get you at two.”
Rose wore her new yellow sundress and a pair of sandals. She pinned her hair back and spritzed a borrowed bottle of perfume on her neck. Then she waited by the front door until Rodney arrived.
Together they strolled to the main street and then found a cab. Their cab stopped near the bakery and they walked there at a slow pace.
“How was your work at the store yesterday? Didn’t you have a meeting?” Rose asked him.
“It was all fine.”
“I think it’s really cool that you manage a jewelry store,” Rose told him. “I’ll bet you get to see really interesting jewelry piece all the time.” She secretly hoped he might give her jewelry as a gift sometime. She had never received a gift like that before.
“Oh, really? Why?” Rodney asked her.
“I don’t know, I just think that jewelry is so beautiful,” Rose told him. “It seems like a really important job, to manage such valuable things.”
Rodney smiled with pride. “I like to think it is.” They continued to walk. “Hey,” Rodney said suddenly. “Want to see my store? It’s just down the street.”
“Sure,” Rose agreed, feeling excited.
They turned down a street and stopped in front of a large jewelry shop. The sign read Herald’s Jewelers, Established 1894. A row of diamond necklaces was on display in the front window.
“Wow, this is all beautiful.” Rose spoke breathlessly. “You manage all this?”
“Yes, I do,” Rodney told her. He waved his hand, motioning to several display cases. “I take care of all of this.” His voice was full of pride.
“Wow, it’s amazing.”
Rodney smiled.
Around the store were over a dozen customers and half a dozen clerks. Everyone respectfully greeted Rodney as “Mr. Martin.” Rose felt very important as she hung on his arm.
�
��Would you like to try on a piece?” Rodney asked her.
Rose could feel her heart beating in her chest. “Yes,” she cried with excitement.
Rodney took Rose’s hand and led her to a case in the corner. “Take out the Juliette,” he instructed the clerk. The woman obeyed immediately and lifted a beautiful necklace that had scores of diamonds set in white gold. The diamonds encircled the entire necklace.
“Now, turn around,” he ordered Rose. She eagerly did what he asked and lifted her hair. She felt the cool heaviness of the necklace as it rested on her shoulders. She dropped her hair and let Rodney spin her around to gaze in the mirror.
“Wow,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful.”
“You look amazing,” he whispered in her ear.
“I love it,” she whispered. I’ve never worn real jewelry before, Rose realized. I love how this necklace looks on my neck. I love how the diamonds sparkle. I’ve been missing out.
Rodney helped Rose take the necklace off. After glancing around for a few more minutes, Rose and Rodney walked to the bakery. They enjoyed a hot pot of tea and a plate full of scones. They finished their time with a sponge cake.
After leaving the bakery, Rodney took Rose to the Tube station so she could go home. He walked with his arm around her. This would be the perfect moment for him to kiss me, Rose thought with eagerness. Will he? Maybe I should kiss him.
Looking down at Rose, Rodney gazed into her eyes. She lifted her chin and parted her lips. Do it. Do it, she silently implored him. Rodney leaned down and pressed his lips against Rose’s forehead. Her heart sank.
“Good-bye for now, sweet Rose,” Rodney said in a soft tone and walked away.
Rose stared after him, gaping. Is there something wrong with him? Is there something wrong with me? Shaking her head, Rose turned around to walk down the stairs to catch the train. Wait, Rose thought suddenly, stopping mid-step. What if he doesn’t really like me? What if he found someone else and he just can’t bring himself to break it to me? I just need to ask him. I need to ask him what is going on.
* * *
Mrs. Douglass had an extra busy workload the next week. Rose worked an additional four hours, which she was paid additional money for. A French diplomat was coming, and Mrs. Douglass was preparing the menu for a special meal. She wanted to fuse French, English, and American cuisines for the occasion. Because of this, Rose spent most of the day on Tuesday going from market to market to buy ingredients. Each item was carefully handwritten on Mrs. Douglass’ extensive grocery list. She went to a French grocery store, and then to a different one, which sold many American foods. Meanwhile, Julie was at work at the hospital and Lionel stayed home working on a writing assignment for his job.
By the end of the day on Tuesday, Rose was already exhausted. She soaked her feet in the bathtub for an hour while she read a book. It was a mystery novel which she had borrowed from Mrs. Harrison.
The book was about a young woman who was escaping her abusive ex-husband. She fled to Oregon to get away from him, but he followed her there. While Rose read, she began to hear thunder in the distance. She stopped to listen briefly before continuing on to the next chapter. She continued reading and reached a particularly suspenseful part of the book where the woman realizes that her ex-husband had followed her all the way to Oregon.
Rose’s heart began to pound. What if Mother followed me here to London? Rose began to worry. Of course, she had seen no sign of Mother since coming to England. And really, Mother had no way of knowing where she was. But reading this book was beginning to make Rose jumpy. Maybe I should put it down, she thought to herself.
A clap of thunder crashed nearby and shook the house. Rose was so frightened that she jumped and the book flung out of her hand and hit the bathroom door with a loud thud.
Rose heard a knock on the door a minute later. “Rose?” came Julie’s voice from the other side of the bathroom door. “Are you okay?” She jingled the doorknob and came inside.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Rose told her. She sat on the edge of the bathtub in her pink, fluffy bathrobe. Her feet rested in the tub.
“What was that sound?”
“Oh, I got scared and dropped my book,” Rose told her.
“Oh, that one?” Julie grinned. “Her ex husband dies at the end. Falls off a bridge.”
“Wow, gee, thanks for telling me, Julie,” Rose with sarcasm. “I’m only in the eighth chapter.”
“Oops, sorry to ruin it for you,” Julie apologized, embarrassed.
“When did you read it, anyway?” Rose asked.
“Oh, I didn’t read it,” Julie admitted. “I saw your copy out on the table and I just read last chapter.”
“You just read the ending?” Rose asked in disbelief, her face showing how mortified she was.
“Yeah, I always do that,” Julie told her matter-of-factly.
Rose’s mouth hung open. “What?” Her eyes grew wide.
“I didn’t want to spend all that time reading the whole book,” Julie explained. “Reading a whole book takes way too long. So I always read the ending. Once in a while if I read an ending that is really fantastic, then I’ll read the rest of the book.”
Rose shook her head. “I’m not even going to try to understand this.”
Julie laughed. “Lionel says the same thing.”
“Well, I guess I’m done reading for the night,” Rose said, lifting her feet out of the tub. “Will you hand me that towel?”
* * *
Rose attempted to fall asleep while thinking of Rodney. She kept thinking of how happy she would be to see his face again in a couple days. He was going to call her on Friday. I really like Rodney. I like him a lot.
The sound of a distant train whistle floated through the window. Rose glanced toward the window through the dark room. Seeing nothing but moonlight and lamplight outside, she turned over and hugged her pillow. She snuggled into it, daydreaming of Rodney and the warmth of his arms whenever they danced. She realized that she had become more fixated on him ever since she gave up hope on forming any kind of relationship with her birth mother days before.
Rose’s mind drifted back to the painful moment when her birth mother shut the door as she stood outside on the front step. Once again, that seem sinking feeling came to her. Rose shook her head, as if to shake away the sense of rejection that she was battling constantly since that day.
After several more minutes of trying to sleep, Rose began to pay attention to the sound of light raindrops on the window. Again, she opened her eyes and glanced toward the tapping. Tiny droplets reflected the evening lamplight from outside. Chilly, she pulled the covers more closely over her. Finally, she fell into a deep sleep as she listened to the raindrops tap, tap, tap on the window.
Chapter Seventeen
Two weeks went by and Rose and Rodney continued their usual outings and dates. Then one day Rodney told Rose he had to go out of town for work.
“It’s this big jewel show in Paris,” he explained to Rose. “I’ll miss you, but don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”
Rose felt her heart sink in disappointment when he gave her the news, but she was too busy to focus on her emotions. The Douglass family was hosting an embassy ball in their home, and Mrs. Douglass needed all the help she could get. Rose was paid extra by Mrs. Douglass to work every day the week before the ball. It was a masquerade party, and it would be quite formal.
Excitement filling her heart, she began to look forward to the party. Julie, of course, was overjoyed.
“The nephew of the Russian diplomat will be going, and I’ve heard he’s hot,” Julie told Rose one afternoon as they strung twinkle lights around the main entryway, which led into the foyer. Mrs. Douglass had been putting Julie to work with party preparations, as well.
“Oh, really?” Rose asked, suddenly curious.
“Absolutely,” Julie told her. “I’m sure there will be other guys, too. This is going to be the event of the summer for me!”
“This will be
the event of my life,” Rose admitted with a laugh. “I never did anything back in New York. My mom was really, really strict.”
“Ugh, that’s the worst,” Julie muttered as she continued to work. Julie’s attempts at empathy were often weak.
Rose gazed at the large room. The foyer was large enough to be the dance floor. There was to be a dance instructor teaching two traditional waltzes and a foxtrot at the party. The rest of the evening there would be current music and modern dances. Mrs. Douglass was very traditional and she liked to throw in touches of the unique and customary at her parties. Rose only knew modern dances from her time with Rodney. Julie had been droning on about how waltzes were so old fashioned for weeks. Listening in silence, Rose had been sort of curious about these dances. She had recently been reading parts of Dickens and Austen novels in her spare time, which had piqued her curiosity about traditional dances and balls.
“Well, it was bad, but now I’m here,” Rose chirped cheerfully. “I don’t know what I’m going to wear yet, but I guess I’ll figure it out.”
“Hey, why don’t we go shopping after this?” Julie proposed.
“Sure, sounds good.”
“Gosh,” Julie moaned. “I’ve been telling my mom to get a DJ for this party, but she won’t listen. She’s all about creating some sort of historical, traditional soirée or something. It sounds like a party they would have at the retirement home.”
“Oh, come on, it won’t be so bad,” Rose insisted. “It’s different. Let’s just enjoy it.”
“Sure, okay. Hey, I’ll go ask mom if she needs help with anything else right now,” Julie told Rose. “And if she doesn’t, we can just go shopping now.”
“Okay,” Rose agreed.
Julie hopped down from the step ladder she was standing on and went upstairs to find her mom. She came back in a few minutes, Mrs. Douglass in tow.
“Of course you girls should go and have a good time when you’re done,” Mrs. Douglass told them, smiling. “It just so happens that I wanted to talk to you about shopping, Rose.”
“Yes, Mrs. Douglass?” Rose responded politely.
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