Heaven On Earth

by Constance O'Day-Flannery

  The girl's head peeked past the door of the huge chest. "Shh," she admonished, as though her walking through walls were an ordinary thing! "I wanted to make sure you were feeling better for tomorrow."

  "And you couldn't have knocked on the door?" Casey asked with a laugh as she sat up in bed and watched the teenager emerge completely and walk toward her. She was dressed in a light cotton nightgown and robe. Truthfully, Casey was delighted with the company.

  "Everyone thinks I am resting for my big day tomorrow, but I am far too excited to sleep." She stood at the edge of Casey's bed.

  Scooting over, Casey threw open the cover and said, "Come on, then. Get up here."

  Smiling, Rosa climbed into the bed, and when Casey pulled the cover over them both and settled back against her pillow, Rosa threaded her arm through Casey's and rested her head on Casey's shoulder.

  For just a moment, Casey tensed at the innocent gesture, and then she found herself enjoying it. Many times she had done the same thing to Amy while growing up when she wanted to talk. Smiling with fondness, she said, "Okay so how are all the plans going for your quinceñera? Everyone all set?"

  "Oh, yes," Rosa whispered. "All the chambeláns and damas are fully rehearsed. We shall make a good presentation. This afternoon was the last practice."

  Casey was learning about the Hispanic custom of presenting a fifteen-year-old girl to society. Fourteen couples, representing each year of the girl's life, prepared a special dance. It was going to be some celebration, full of tradition. "And your sponsors have arrived?"

  "Yes, my padrinos y madrinas are all in Santa Fe now. Tía Concepcion and Tío Arturo arrived today, so all is ready. I am more anxious about the mass tomorrow than the reception after it. It is very serious, Casey."

  She nodded. "Because you will then be considered a woman?"

  "I will renew my baptismal vows and make a public statement about my commitment to my family, my faith, my chastity, and how I will contribute to society. I am anxious, for I don't like speaking in front of many people."

  "You don't like speaking?" Casey asked with a laugh.

  Rosa squeezed her arm with affection. "Not in front of so many! The church will be filled with friends, relatives, and… and my one true love. This may be the first time he hears me speak. I must speak words that will ring true within his heart."

  "Yes," Casey said thoughtfully. "I can see why you'd be nervous, but your parents love you very much, Rosa. Don't rush into anything or expect too much. Just relax and enjoy each moment tomorrow. It's certainly a grand party they are giving you."

  "Sí, Casey. I know this. Papi is sparing no expense for my quinceñera. I think it might even be more grand than Marguerita's was, and people still speak of that. I am blessed for certain, and tomorrow I will meet my one true love." The girl sighed deeply in thought.

  Casey put her hand over Rosa's smaller one resting on her arm. It was odd how quickly she had become fond of this impetuous teenager. She felt like an older sister. "Now, wait a minute. Do you think it's wise to put that much pressure on yourself tomorrow night, of all nights? What if it doesn't happen?"

  "But it will. I know this. In here," she whispered, touching her heart. "Tomorrow I go to church a child in the eyes of everyone and leave a woman. I am entering womanhood, and women know of these things."

  Casey didn't want to argue with her about that, but still felt she should say something more. "Okay, but promise me if… if you need me tomorrow you will seek me out. I hope your one true love does appear, Rosa, for your sake."

  "He will come. He, too, has been waiting. I know this."

  "How do you know?" she asked, truly curious how this girl could be so sure. Was it more than romantic fantasies placed in her mind by others?

  Rosa leaned her head closer to Casey and whispered, "I have been talking to him."

  "You have?" Casey was surprised. "Is he here in Santa Fe? Do your parents know?"

  Rosa giggled. "I have been talking to him in here," she whispered, touching her forehead. "And in here." Again she placed her fingers to her heart. "I know he hears me, and tomorrow he will make himself known. I have been talking to him since I was a very little girl. He is my true love and tomorrow our souls will meet in person."

  Casey could only stare at Rosa and blink. "I know what you mean," she finally whispered back. "I've done that myself, that yearning for the one to appear in my life. Telling him everything, opening my heart to him, whoever and wherever he is. I guess I gave up a long time ago and didn't believe it anymore, but I will tell you a secret now…"

  Rosa raised her head to look up, and her beautiful brown eyes widened with anticipation. "Yes…"

  "I think I have found mine."

  "No! De veras? Really?"

  Casey giggled like a teenager and nodded. "Yes."

  "It is Señor Luke, is it not? It must be!"

  "How did you know?"

  Rosa smiled. "Oh, Casey. It could only be him… or Don Miguel."

  Both females stared at each other for a few seconds in the dimly lit room and then burst out laughing. "Definitely not Don Miguel!" Casey managed to get out as Rosa nodded.

  At the same time both of them were aware their laughter might attract attention, so they restrained their giggles. Rosa sighed deeply and murmured, "Oh, Señor Luke… he is so handsome and… and I watched you two dance and I knew something was happening. Has he declared his love to you? You must tell me everything!"

  "Calm down, Rosa," Casey said with a smile. "He's admitted he's attracted to me, though I don't think he's thrilled with that, so no, he hasn't declared his love. But I just know he's the one," Casey said, glad to have told someone what was in her heart. She felt she would burst if she kept it in any longer.

  "He is attracted to you but does not love you? Don Miguel might say such a thing, but Señor Luke would never admit his attraction if love was not behind it. He is too honorable."

  Casey realized the girl was thinking with the mentality of someone living in a very formal household of 1878, when people didn't declare a sexual attraction at all unless a marriage proposal was first given. "Well, marriage isn't even the question in my mind," she said firmly. "But love…" She sighed. "That, I would like to hear from his lips."

  Rosa leaned in closer. "I have seen him dance with you, Casey, and I will tell you this… He is part Spanish and his passion for you is real. This I know." She nodded her head with confirmation.

  "If you are being pronounced a woman tomorrow, then there is something you should know right off the bat. Passion isn't always love, Rosa. There is a difference."

  "I know the difference. Do you think I do not see Don Miguel's advances? They are done without the respect of love first. Do you believe Señor Luke respects you?"

  "Yes." Her answer was immediate. Luke hadn't even tried to kiss her.

  "Then if he has admitted his attraction to you, it is because of love and respect, Casey. I know Hispanic men and I have seen his eyes when he dances with you. There is great pleasure and affection in them."

  Pleased, Casey smiled. "I hope we dance tomorrow. He's been avoiding me."

  "Oh, you shall dance. I shall request it!"

  Casey burst out laughing again. "You are too much, Rosalinda d'Montoya!"

  They heard voices in the hallway and both stopped speaking until they'd passed. Whispering, Rosa said to Casey, "I have to prepare myself. Wait until you see my gown. It has been made by my relatives. All my accessories come to me from my relatives and are cherished. Even Marguerita has given me her fine comb and mantilla for the mass. Later, it will be replaced with a jeweled crown. All of my female relatives will attend me and I will thank them before I am dressed. It is a long process, but I shall see you tomorrow when my flat shoes are traded for heels and I am finally adorned as a woman and no longer a child. Rest now, Señorita Casey, for tomorrow we shall both be certain of our loves. It is fated."

  Casey stared as Rosa leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Hasta luego, herman
a."

  She touched her cheek as she watched the teenager scamper out of the bed and rush to the wardrobe. "Dulce sueños! Sweet dreams," she translated right before she pulled the door closed behind her.

  Casey was suddenly so filled with emotion, she felt like crying. Rosa had called her "sister." How she missed Amy. She missed her mother who had passed away four years ago. She missed that female connection to her past. She wanted to get back, but what good would it do to go mentally time-traveling there? she thought, and stiffened against the onslaught of emotions that seemed to be poised right above her, waiting to crash down.

  She turned her thoughts back to Rosalinda d'Montoya. What a gift to the world the young woman was. Rosa's faith in herself was remarkable for someone of such tender years. Immediately her mind started racing when she realized she wanted to give something to Rosa for her birthday. What could she give this child who seemed to have everything? She had nothing with her except her clothes, and hopefully one day soon she was going to need them. Just clothes, shoes… and her wallet!

  Scrambling out of bed, Casey opened the wardrobe and searched the side shelf for her wallet, stuck inside one of her blue flats. She grabbed it and raced back to bed. Money was out of the question, but there might be something… and then before she even opened it, she knew the only thing she had to give to the girl.

  She crawled back onto the bed and pulled the cover over her. Slowly she opened the wallet and with her fingers searched the compartment in back of the bills. Amid a few coins, she felt it and pulled it out. Placing the wallet on the bed, Casey sat back and opened her palm.

  In the light of the moon she stared at a tiny glass pendant, sealed with a gold bezel. Preserved inside was a perfect four-leaf clover.

  It had been a gift to her from her mother so many years ago when she'd graduated college. She could almost hear her mother's voice saying, One leaf is for hope. The second is for faith. The third is for love. The fourth is for luck. Casey had carried it with her since that day, transferring it from wallet to wallet as a sentimental keepsake, a token of love she just felt better having around her. Most of the time she forgot about it in the day-to-day routine of her life, but now it seemed like a wonderful gift to give another.

  She thought about what the clover, part of her own Celtic heritage, represented… all the things Rosa was professing tomorrow. Hope, faith, love, and luck… Luck didn't seem like the right thing now. Since traveling back in time and learning more about herself, she wondered just how much luck had to do with anything. Could everything that had happened to her be attributed to luck? If it wasn't luck, what was it? Fate? Destiny?

  It dawned on her that she'd never pondered such thoughts, realizing she had preferred to think of everything happening as a matter of good and bad luck. Did she believe in destiny? Of course she did, though she secretly denied it most of the time. Since she was a small child, she had felt something awaited her, something wondrous that would point to her purpose. She had never told anyone about it, not even Amy, thinking it might sound vain to someone else. But now, in the silence of this night, she could be honest with herself. She had been taught that it was humble to belittle herself, to make herself out to be less than she was. Now she believed she and her mother and so many other women had been taught incorrectly. Sure, she had lots of room for improvement, but if she didn't recognize her gifts, how could she ever hope to fulfill her purpose? Secretly it was what kept her going, knowing that she was meant to be something, to do something with her life that had meaning. And everything in her life has been leading up to it, whatever it was.

  Maybe it was what Luke had said… to just be happy with where she was and stop questioning everything. Just allow it all to unfold around her. Turning the tiny pendant in her palm, Casey realized that trust took faith and hope and love… So then, who needed luck?

  Yes, she finally decided. Tomorrow morning she would give Rosalinda the clover and tell her it represented hope, faith, love, and destiny.

  She had made a choice, and it felt right inside of her. Suddenly she was pleasantly tired and couldn't suppress a yawn. She wished she had remembered the clover while Rosa was with her and they could have talked more. Sometimes the teenager seemed so wise and Casey felt like a kid herself when she was with her. And tomorrow Rosa would be thought of as a woman, welcomed into society. It was a nice tradition, and she wished there had been something in her own life to celebrate the passing of her childhood and youth into womanhood. It might have made the journey a little easier, instead of leaving her to spend years trying to figure out if and when she finally was a woman and responsible for her life.

  She leaned over and placed her wallet and the pendant on the small table by the bed. Lying back into the pillows, Casey sighed with contentment. She had a fine gift for her little sister.

  Wondering if Luke would ask her to dance, Casey punched her pillow down and turned to her side. She stared at the beam of moonlight, thinking Rosa was going to have a full moon tomorrow night for her reception. How perfect. Closing her eyes, she allowed her mind to let go finally and rest. No plans… that was her new resolve. All she had to do was be herself, enjoy where she found herself, and be aware as life unfolded before her.

  Sounded like a pretty cool gig, this time-traveling…

  Casey walked into Rosa's bedroom hesitantly, for it was a hive of feminine activity. Women were rushing around, making last-minute alterations to Rosa's beautiful white gown, laying out lovely lace undergarments, crinolines, and an exquisite veil, and speaking in an excited voice to each other. One would think it was a wedding about to take place.

  "Casey!" Rosa called out from in front of a vanity, where an older woman was curling the girl's hair with a hot iron. "Venga aquí, come," she added with a sigh of what sounded like relief.

  Smiling to the other women in the room, Casey hurried to her friend's side and clasped Rosa's outstretched hand. "I'm sorry for barging in on you now, but—"

  "Do not apologize," Rosa interrupted, glancing around at the excited older women. "It is a most welcome visit. Have you ever seen such activity for one person? I keep telling everyone all will be fine, yet no one believes me. They insist on fussing endlessly, though I am not complaining, for I know it is done out of love too."

  Casey reached into the pocket of her borrowed robe. "I have something for your birthday," she murmured, hoping not to take up too much time. "I wanted to give it to you before all the excitement started, but I see I am already too late." She brought out the pendant and offered it to her friend.

  Rosa inhaled with pleasure and stared at the four-leafed clover. "It is beautiful. I have never seen such a thing." She said something to the woman who was fixing her hair and the older woman backed away, giving them a few moments of privacy.

  Casey placed it in Rosa's hand and said, "It was given to me by my mother when I was a little older than you, as I was going off into the world on my own. It's an Irish four-leafed clover. Each leaf represents something. One is for hope. The second is for faith. The third is for love. And the fourth is for your destiny."

  She watched as tears came into Rosa's eyes. "But I cannot accept such a priceless gift from you, one that your own mother gave you."

  "I would be honored if you would accept it, Rosa," Casey whispered, reaching out to tenderly wipe a tear from her friend's cheek. "You are my sister now, so it will stay within the family, no?"

  "I am honored, mi hermana. I will treasure it always. Gracias… from my heart to yours." She reached up, and Casey leaned down to embrace her.

  Rosa turned her head and kissed Casey's cheek so hard that Casey started laughing before she, too, started crying. "Now you'll have to wipe your eyes or all these women will scold me for ruining such a beautiful face on this special day."

  Rosa sniffled and wiped her fingers under her eyes. "I cannot wait to get to the church and begin the festivities. I feel like I will be here preparing all night if they have their way," she said with a chuckle.

&
nbsp; Casey saw the older woman returning with her hot curling iron. She looked a little impatient. "I should leave now so you can finish up here. Happy birthday, Rosalinda. May you always be as happy as you are today."

  "Muchas gracias, my sister of the soul. Never will I forget this moment and your generous gift. I will see you in the church. I am saying all my vows in English, for Papi has invited many of his business and political acquaintances. Say a prayer for me that I do not stumble over the words."

  Casey quickly placed a kiss on Rosa's cheek. "You will do fine. Don't worry. What could go wrong on such a day?"

  Rosa smiled broadly. "You are right. The saints are with me, and already I have a charm to ensure it is the best day of my life." She held the pendant up and placed a tiny kiss upon it.

  "I will see you in church," Casey called out, and headed for the door, very pleased with her decision to give Rosa the pendant. Even though it was precious to her as a sentimental reminder of her mother, she knew she had done the right thing… for it just felt so good!

  It had been years since Casey had been inside a Catholic church, and she found herself falling into the routine of kneeling and standing and sitting. The scent of incense wasn't any more appealing to her than it had been in her past. The priest, a bishop, said Rosa's mass in Latin, and the young woman, dressed in a gorgeous white gown, gave a beautiful presentation when she renewed her baptismal vows and placed a bouquet of red roses at the feet of the Madonna. Rosa then told the bishop and all in attendance that she wanted to contribute love to the world, that she was blessed by her family and wanted to share those blessings with others. It was a very pretty speech, and Casey was happy it was in English, so Luke wouldn't have to translate. Even though he sat next to her in the church, he didn't say anything more than politeness demanded. So she was still being shut out, huh?

  Back in her room, dressing with Juana's assistance in the lovely yellow gown, Casey felt a surge of anticipation as she heard a pianist and a violinist playing a romantic bolero while people arrived for the reception. She knew from Juana that an excellent mariachi band had also been hired for the party. Even Juana and all the servants were invited guests as Marcella supervised the hired men and women who specialized in these grand affairs. Helping Casey to dress was Juana's last official duty of the day. This was a day to honor all those who had contributed to Rosalinda's life. She remembered how Rosa had cried when she'd presented her with the pendant earlier, and thought with a small twinge of pleasure that she, too, had contributed in a tiny way to this young woman's life.