Rose and Jacob

by Lexi Buchanan

  “I’m walking you home, and I plan on staying outside your house all evening to make sure you don’t go sneaking off with him.”

  I just glared at him, shocked. “Have you lost your mind?” He really was crazy.

  “No, but you have, for dallying with him.”

  “I’ll have you know that Father has invited Jacob to dinner. So, you see, I don’t need to sneak out because he will be eating with me and my family tonight.” I stomped off and left him as I reached my house.

  I ran upstairs and looked out of the window on the landing only to see Richard still sitting at the end of the drive.

  I really couldn’t believe he was doing this, to what gain, I had no idea. In my room, I quickly changed into a clean dress, rather than one that was rumpled from a day’s work. I brushed my hair and applied my lipstick.

  As I ran down the stairs, I was just in time to watch Jacob walk up the porch steps. I spotted Mother and Father approaching from the parlor so I ran and opened the door for him. It took all my strength to keep from throwing my arms around his neck.

  “Rose.” He winked and grinned at me. I felt like melting into a puddle.

  “Rose, are you going to invite the young man inside?” my father asked.

  “Yes, of course,” I replied, grinning at Jacob. I took his hand and pulled him inside, then refused to release him.

  “Mother, Father, I would like you to meet Jacob Evans.” Please let us just get through this meal. Please accept him.

  My parents were polite and shook his hand. Mother stared as we held hands. I loosened my hold slightly, but Jacob tightened his fingers and entwined them with mine.

  We took our seats in the dining room and all was quiet. Too quiet.

  “So Jacob, Rose was telling us you have been offered an apprenticeship in New York.”

  With a quick glance at me, he looked back at my father. “Yes, sir, I have. It’s with an engineering company; they pay very well.”

  “Hmm, so what do you intend toward my daughter if you’re planning on leaving Cape Elizabeth?”

  Jacob placed a hand on my leg underneath the table, knowing I was seconds away from saying something. “Rose has agreed to become my wife so I’ll be taking her with me.”

  Yes!

  “That is enough. You are not going to be marrying my daughter because she is already spoken for.” My father’s face was red with anger.

  I stood up and faced my father. “No, I am not, and if you mean Richard, we have already had this discussion.”

  “I forbid you to spend any more time with this man.”

  Jacob stood up and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, which, with my father in the room, wasn’t the wisest thing to do. “Don’t worry, Rose. I’m going to leave now, but please don’t worry,” he whispered into my ear. “I’ll go now.” He turned to me. “Remember, I love you, Rose.” He then walked out of the house and I ran upstairs to my room, crying.

  Although I knew what my father was like, I’d hoped he would accept Jacob and all would be well. I was stupid to hope.

  With my tears dried, I made sure my door was locked and then retrieved another travel bag before I packed my few remaining belongings. I came across the Our Gang comic, April 1st edition that I’d bought for JT. Father had refused to let him have it so I had bought it for him to bribe him to keep quiet.

  Taking out the photograph of myself and Jacob, I wrote on the back a small message to JT. I told him I loved him and wished I could take him to Boston with me. I also wrote the address of Jacob’s sister, in case he ever needed anything, and I begged him not to tell Mother and Father.

  I placed the photograph in the middle of the comic, and then put it to one side, ready to leave on his bed.

  Dressed in slacks and a warm sweater for traveling, I climbed onto my bed to rest before it was time for me to leave. I had started to become nervous about the whole thing. I had no doubt whatsoever that I loved Jacob and wanted this baby, his baby, our baby, but it was going to be stressful, doing what I was about to do.

  I wondered what to do about my diary. Part of me wanted to take it with me, but another part wanted to leave this part of my life behind. I would have to leave it somewhere safe, where hopefully one day, someone would find it. Part of me hoped it was JT, but the other part hoped it was someone else. I just wanted someone to know just how much I was in love. Maybe they would be inclined to return the diary to me, if I was alive when it was found.

  It was ten thirty. I climbed from my bed and collected my purse, bag, and JT’s comic, and then slipped quietly out of my room. I went into my brother’s room and watched him sleep for a minute before I had to leave. I placed the comic on his bed beside him, as my tears started to flow.

  As I walked down the stairs to the kitchen, I’d decided to leave my diary on top of the kitchen cupboards. They never were cleaned so it could be a long time before it was discovered.

  And this is where I write my final passage. Standing at the counter, gazing out at the dark garden beyond the window. Know that I loved you, sweet diary . . . you were the only confidant I have had during all this time. I will miss you dearly but not as dearly as I will miss my JT.

  Goodbye, diary.

  This is the end of a Rose!

  Chapter 23

  Dean had no idea what to say, which was a first. Hearing about the love ‘Rose’ had for his grandfather, and the love his grandfather had and lost for another woman, totally blew his mind.

  Mack started to shake. He realized she was sobbing her heart out, her face buried into his side. He pulled her further into his arms and started to gently stroke her back. “It’s okay, Mack, just let go.” And let go she did, while he just held her tight as sobs wracked her body.

  She pulled slightly away from Dean to search for a tissue, managing to control the waterworks while he also felt like bursting into tears. “God, their story is so sad.” Mack started to cry again. “She loved him so much, and he obviously loved her. It breaks my heart, knowing that she died that night and Jacob never knew. He always thought she’d left him.”

  Dean pulled her close again. “Mack, why did Jacob only make one phone call to find out about her? Why did he wait a month after he left? Why not come to see if she’d been held up that night? Why wait a month to try to contact her? It doesn’t make sense.”

  Still cuddled into his chest, she looked up at him and gave him a watery smile. “Then let’s try and get Thomas to talk.”

  He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “What does the J in JT stand for?”

  “James.”

  “Now I really am sure, but it doesn’t make sense, why, if he’s with another woman, would my grandfather name his firstborn after his first lover’s brother.”

  Mack had a quizzical look on her face.

  “My father is James Thomas Evans, and remember, James is my middle name.”

  She sat up suddenly. “Oh my God, and then you said your Aunt Rosalind . . .”

  “When do you want to see my grandfather?”

  She looked out to sea and found it hard to get her head around everything. Jacob obviously had loved Rose to name his firstborn after Rose’s brother, and then his daughter after Rose herself.

  If he loved his wife as much as Dean said, then he couldn’t have told her about Rose and the names of his children, unless his love for Eliza only grew after the children were born, and he was still missing his Rose all the time. None of this made any sense. She was going to have to ask Jacob, and just hope he could clear everything up.

  “I don’t know. I can’t really take Lucas, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving him all day with Thomas. He can be a real handful.”

  “Who? Thomas or Lucas?”

  “Ha ha . . . both!” She turned back to look at Dean. “Soon. Can I meet him soon?”

  He reached up and moved a piece of hair behind Mack’s ear. “Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll take you.”

  Mack took hold of his hand. “Thank you.” She p
laced a kiss gently on his knuckles. “So, am I your girl?” she asked with a large grin on her face.

  “Yes,” he replied without any hesitation. He leaned closer and nuzzled her neck. “You are!”

  “Mmm. Good, because you’re my guy!” She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, sending shivers down his spine. “I think we’d better head back. If there’s an opening in the conversation, I’ll ask Thomas about the April 1st edition of Our Gang. We can see what he did with the photograph. I would love to see a photograph of Rose and Jacob.”

  “That would be amazing. We would also know for sure if it’s my grandfather. There are photographs all over the house in Brookline from when he was young so I’ll be able to recognize him straightaway.”

  Mack made chicken parmesan with rice and she’d also made two pies, one apple and the other cherry. In fact, she hadn’t stopped cooking and baking since getting back from the beach.

  Dean was playing one of Lucas’s Mario Brothers Wii games in the living room, and apart from him coming back and forth for a beer or munchies, or even delicious kisses, he’d pretty much stayed out of the way.

  When they’d read the diary, it had really upset her. She had cried all over Dean, for heaven’s sake. Dean hadn’t minded though, he’d just held her and tried to comfort her.

  Her thoughts turned back to Rose. She wondered if Thomas had known about Rose’s pregnancy. Did anyone know outside of Jacob? Jacob had known Rose was pregnant so wouldn’t he have wanted to know about the baby? He seemed to be happy at the prospect of becoming a father. She really needed to speak to Jacob.

  “Auntie Mack, I’m home. Did you miss me?”

  Mack held her arms out and Lucas ran straight into them. “I sure did, buster. Dean’s in there playing Mario.”

  “Yes!” Lucas darted out of the kitchen to join Dean.

  “Hi, Thomas, come sit. Would you like a drink of lemonade?” Mack asked as he took a seat at the table.

  “That would be mighty fine, thank you.”

  She poured him a large glass of homemade lemonade. “Can I ask you something?”

  He smiled. “You usually do whether I want you to or not.”

  She placed his drink in front of him and sat down on the chair beside him. “Thomas, do you have a photograph of Rose and Jacob together?”

  He hesitated. “No, I don’t. Never saw one, either.”

  Mack was puzzled. “Are you sure? In her diary, she says that when she was leaving the house, she went into your room and left the April 1st edition of Our Gang on your bed. Inside of it, she’d placed a photograph of herself and Jacob with a private message on the back for you only.”

  Thomas looked really shaken. “All this time, I’ve had a picture of her with him and I didn’t even know?”

  Mack was puzzled. “I don’t understand, Thomas.”

  He leaned forward and put his arms on the table with his head in his hands. He sighed. “I knew Rose had bought me the comic, and I found it that night, but I didn’t get a chance to read it then. When I finally went back to bed, we had been told that Rose had gone over the cliffs so getting into bed, I just held the comic and cried. The next morning, I placed it in the box with the others and never opened it. I couldn’t.”

  Mack took hold of Thomas’s hand. “Do you still have that comic?”

  He nodded his head. “I took it away from Lucas and placed it on my night table. I intended to finally read it. Maybe it’s time. I’ll look through it tonight.”

  “If you find a photograph, will you bring it tomorrow? I’d love to see what Rose looked like, and the man she loved.”

  He raised his head. “Okay, Mack. I will.”

  “Thanks, Thomas. You’re staying to eat, right? I’ve made chicken parmesan and then there’s cherry or apple pie with ice cream.”

  “You do know they say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!” He chuckled.

  “Really! I think I remember something like that.” She turned away, laughing, to check the chicken in the oven, and then turned back to Thomas. “Dean’s surname isn’t Simone, that’s his mother’s maiden name.”

  She had his full attention. “His name is Dean James Evans, and the James is after his father who Jacob named James Thomas. Dean is Jacob’s grandson.”

  “What are you saying, Mack?” Thomas whispered.

  “I’m not sure yet, but Jacob named his firstborn James Thomas after you, Rose’s brother. He also named his only daughter Rosalind, obviously after Rose. He married after Rose died, so by naming his firstborn and then his daughter in memory of Rose, he was obviously missing her terribly. Maybe he insisted on those names with his wife, Eliza, to remember a part of your sister.”

  “That is some story,” Thomas replied, shaking his head.

  “Thomas, did you know Rose was pregnant the night she died?”

  He took a deep breath. “Yes. I overheard a conversation between my father and mother after Jacob phoned the house. Apparently, my father had known she was pregnant. I don’t know how, but he said he told him Rose had lost the baby. He also told my mother that Jacob sounded very shocked. I didn’t want you thinking badly of Rose, about her being pregnant, so I didn’t tell you when we talked before.”

  Mack wiped her eyes on the apron she was wearing for cooking. “Thomas, it’s okay. It’s hard to explain, but somehow I feel as though she’s talking to me and wants me to help,” she waved her arms around, “I don’t know, maybe set Jacob free, as ridiculous as that sounds.”

  They sat lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes. “I know you said Rose had gone over the cliffs, but how, exactly? What happened?” Mack asked.

  “Let me sleep on it, Mack.” He shook his head. He looked so sad.

  She felt guilty having bombarded him with so many questions and brought back painful memories.

  Mack stood up with Thomas, gave him a hug, which she followed with a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Thomas. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Let’s eat!”

  Chapter 24

  Mack was upstairs reading Lucas a bedtime story, and Dean was lying on the sofa thinking about his grandfather. If everything in Rose’s diary was true, and it looked like it was, then why had no one in his family ever mentioned a Rose in his grandfather’s past. Why hadn’t they mentioned that his grandfather had lived in Cape Elizabeth for a time?

  His grandfather had always said he lived his entire life in Boston, apart from the war when he was in England. Unless, he loved and missed Rose way too much to talk about her.

  He had seen wedding photographs of his grandparents, and they’d looked really happy. Dean’s father was the eldest and had once told him that his parents were the most loving couple he had ever seen. Even from being a small child, he remembered them always holding hands and kissing. He had a really hard time imagining his grandfather like that with anyone but his wife, Eliza.

  “You look deep in thought.” Mack moved away from the doorway and leaned over the sofa to get a closer look at him. He looked sexy, laying there in his stocked feet, well-worn jeans, and Rascal Flatts’ T-shirt.

  “I’m really blown away with everything I’ve learned today about my grandfather’s past. It’s unreal.”

  “I know what you mean. I can’t stop now. I need to find out what really happened. It’s really important to me.”

  “Is Lucas asleep?”

  “Yeah, he was exhausted.”

  “Come . . . lie down with me, Mack.” He held his hand out to her, wondering if she had anything on under the robe she was wearing.

  She climbed half on top of him, flashing a bit of thigh. Dean caught his breath. He reached out and put his hand on her hips to steady her, only to get one hell of a view of her breasts—plump, naked breasts. Guess he had his answer.

  He inhaled at the sight of her hovering over him, practically naked. “Mack, you’re killing me.” He gritted his teeth as he closed his eyes to hide the sight of her so he could gain some control of his lib
ido.

  Dean felt her straddle him. His eyes flew open just in time to watch her lose the robe.

  “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

  Wouldn’t want what? All Dean’s brain cells had traveled south, giving him one hell of an erection. While she was only seconds away from discovering that fact, he couldn’t even keep up with the conversation.

  Mack was totally naked. She straddled his thighs and wiggled around on top of his dick, which was hard as a rock in his jeans, and more than ready to come out and play.

  “I want your hands and mouth on me, Dean.” She leaned over him and traced the outline of his lips, before touching his teeth, with her tongue. Finally, she sealed her lips to his in a hot, passionate, open-mouth kiss that left them both gasping for air. He put his hands on her naked bottom and arched up into her.

  Mack broke the kiss and groaned. “You have too many clothes on.” She started to pull his T-shirt off, which he ended up yanking over his head and tossing on the floor impatiently.

  “You’re a goddess!”

  She grinned. “You’re already getting laid so you don’t need—” and before she could finish, Dean had his lips locked on hers again. His hands moved to her breasts, which he massaged before he started to play with the hard tips.

  “You set my skin on fire,” she whispered as she broke away from the kiss. She moved down his neck to his collarbone, and then alternated between his nipples as she licked and nibbled on them. Dean arched his hips into hers in ecstasy.

  She moved down south toward his navel and dipped her tongue in and around. Dean shuddered and arched his hips again, wanting her attention even further south.

  She started to undo his zipper, and to her delight, found his very naked cock at full mast, impatient for her attention. She leaned closer and placed a kiss on the tip, then smoothed her hand over him and into his jeans. He groaned. “Mack, stop!”

  She froze. “Stop!”

  “Just a minute, let me get my jeans off. You make me feel like a teenager.” Breathing heavily, he tried to regain control. She giggled and rolled to the side so he could stand up to get rid of the rest of his clothes, which he did in record time.