FALLING STARS
Chapter Twelve
The Hockleys and the Dawsons visited until
around ten o’clock that night. After Cal and Laura left, Jack and Rose bade
good night to Nathan and Ruth and slowly made their way up the stairs to their
room. Gregory was already sleeping soundly in the small nursery adjoining their
room.
As she made her way up the stairs, Rose
realized that she felt more at ease with these members of the upper class now
that she was no longer one of them. She could visit with them, and speak to
them, without having to worry about what they thought, or how her actions would
be viewed. She was among them, but she was not of them.
Jack, for his part, had always managed to be
comfortable wherever he was, and he was just at much at ease in the Hockley’s
parlor as he was in the small town in which he had been born. Contrary to Cal’s
original thought, he did understand something about business, although he had
never really paid much attention to it as long as it didn’t immediately concern
him. He supposed that it would be a good idea to learn a little more about
business, if he was going to be running an art gallery.
They prepared for bed in silence. Rose
slipped into the nursery to check on Gregory, who was still sleeping peacefully
where she had left him an hour earlier. She climbed into bed beside Jack,
almost surprised at the size of the king-sized bed, much larger than the narrow
double bed they had shared in Chippewa Falls.
Jack pulled the blankets up over them, and
they snuggled together, seeking warmth against the chill night air. Rose sighed
contentedly, leaning her head against Jack’s shoulder.
"Jack?" she whispered, looking up
at him.
"Hmm?"
"What do you think of
Philadelphia?"
"It’s interesting enough. I’m seeing it
from a different viewpoint than I did the last time I was here."
"You’ve been here before?"
"Once. About two years ago. I hitched a
ride on a train, without any idea of where it was going. I didn’t really care,
since I didn’t really have any place to be. It stopped in Philadelphia, and I
spent about three weeks here before leaving again."
"Where did you stay?"
"On the streets. It was summer, though,
so it was okay."
"Do you like this better?"
He shrugged. "It’s more comfortable,
I’ll say that."
"But do you like Philadelphia? Do you
want to stay here?"
He leaned back, considering. "You want
to stay here, don’t you?"
Rose nodded. "It’s good to see Mother
again, and the place where I grew up. Few people know us here, and those that
do won’t talk about us. They don’t want our secrets getting out and causing a
scandal that might affect them. I also don’t think that Cal will bother us any
more, since he’s now married himself."
"To the lovely Laura, she of the
high-pitched voice and ‘cute’ personality."
Rose laughed. "She is something, isn’t
she? I almost feel sorry for Cal. Still, maybe there’s more to her than meets
the eye."
"One would hope, but..." He paused.
"Doesn’t that make her our stepsister-in-law, since she’s married to Cal,
who is now your stepbrother?"
Rose’s eyes widened. "I never thought of
that. We are related now, aren’t we?" She laughed. "Well, now we can
be sure that Cal won’t bother us. Can you imagine the scandal if he was
carrying on with his stepsister?"
"It almost overcomes the
imagination."
"But you still haven’t answered my
question."
"What question?"
"Do you want to stay here in
Philadelphia, or go elsewhere?"
He looked up at the ceiling, thinking.
"I think we can give it a try. Nathan Hockley is going to show me the art
gallery tomorrow. If I decide I want the job, we’ll stay here. If not..."
"If not, then we’ll just head for the
horizon."
"Gregory in tow."
"Well," Rose responded, "maybe
if you don’t want the job, we should still stay here a while, at least until we
can afford to move on. Let’s give it a few months, at least."
"All right. We’ll stay here, for a while
at least."
Rose smiled and threw her arms around him,
snuggling close. Jack responded by kissing her, a kiss that slowly deepened as
they wrapped their arms around each other, nestling together. Jack finally broke
the kiss.
"Rose," he whispered. "It’s
been almost two months since the baby was born. Do you think you’re ready
to..."
"I think I’m ready," Rose whispered
back, her fingers toying with the buttons on his pajama top. He kissed her
again, and reached to turn out the lamp.