RUNAWAY ROSE
Chapter Eighty-Eight
The next week was a blissful one for Jack and
Rose. Nathan and Ruth gave them the use of the guesthouse for a week, with a
couple of servants to tend to them and strict orders that they not otherwise be
disturbed. For the first time, they were able to be alone together as long as
they wanted, with no one to disturb them and no day-to-day concerns to take
away from their time together. They spent their days wandering through
Philadelphia, visiting museums and parks, while the nights they spent alone
together, sharing in the boundless love and passion they had felt for so long.
At the end of the week, when they returned to
the main house, they were surprised to find Deborah and Grace waiting for them.
The Hills had returned to San Francisco, but the Hutchisons had stayed on with
the Hockleys, waiting for Jack and Rose to return.
"So, Rosie," Deborah asked when
they were alone, "how is married life?" She smiled, looking at Rose’s
content expression.
"It’s wonderful, Debbie," Rose told
her, her face lighting up. "I’ve never been so happy. Jack is...wonderful.
I’ve loved him for years, and we’re finally together."
"I’m glad for you, Rosie. You’ve been
through so much—you deserve some happiness."
"Sometimes it’s hard to believe that
he’s really here, that we’re really together. When I first saw him on the highway
in California, I was sure I had lost my mind—or was seeing a ghost. I’d thought
he was dead. I was so surprised, I stumbled backward and fell in the mud."
Deborah laughed. "And the first time you
met him, you almost fell off the ship."
"Actually, I’d seen him before that
moment. I’d said some very impolite things at lunch and gone outside to mope.
Jack saw me from the third class deck, and for some reason, we couldn’t stop
staring at each other. It was almost as though we knew each other, though we’d
never seen each other before. Then Cal came up to me, and I went back
inside."
"Did Cal notice you staring at
Jack?"
"Maybe. I’m not sure. He came to my room
that night and was especially brutal, but he could have been angry with me for
being so rude at lunch. It didn’t take much to set him off. But that was what
drove me to try to jump off the ship, and that was when I met Jack."
"It’s strange how things work out
sometimes," Deborah agreed. "If I hadn’t been injured in the
earthquake, Mother and Father would never have dragged me from place to place
seeking a cure, and Father would never have opened a branch of the business in
Los Angeles. If we hadn’t lived in Los Angeles, I would never have met
Will."
"How is he? Have you heard from him
recently?"
Deborah shook her head sadly. "Not in a
long time. Not since before you arrived in San Francisco. Oh, Rosie, what if
something has happened to him? What if he doesn’t come back? What will I
do?"
Rose was silent for a moment, thinking.
"You’ll go on, Debbie, like you have before. You’ll be strong, keep on
living, and raise Grace. I’ve heard it said that women are the weaker sex, but
I don’t believe it’s true. We’re the ones who keep going when hope is gone, who
raise up our children and make homes for them, no matter what happens. We’re
the strong ones. If...God forbid...something has happened to Will, you’ll
survive. It’s hard to lose those you love, but you will survive." She put
a hand on Deborah’s arm. "You’ve been away from home for several weeks. He
could have written in that time, but you haven’t been home to receive his
letter."
"I hope so, Rosie. God, I hope so. I
miss him so much. Grace asks constantly when he’s coming home. I don’t if she
understands. He always went away on business a few times a year, so she was
used to him being gone for short times, but he’s been away since May. I wish he
were here. I don’t care if he would be breaking the law or going against the
war effort—I want him home. There’s so much waiting for him at home—why does he
need to fight in that stupid war, anyway? He’s a businessman. He could do so
much good here in the United States..."
"Don’t give up hope, Debbie," Rose
told her, reaching out to hug her best friend. "He’ll come home. I know he
will. You just have to keep hoping. The strangest things happen sometimes—I
should know. Why, he could be on his way home now."
Deborah shook her head. "I doubt it. The
war is going full force, so I doubt he could go home without being seriously
injured—and I would have been notified about that. Even if it had happened when
I was away, one of the servants would have sent me a telegram. I can’t help but
worry, Rosie. I love him."
"I know you do, Debbie. I know. You just
have to keep hoping that everything will be all right. It’s all you really can
do."
*****
That afternoon, Rose was sitting on the
parlor floor, playing with baby Nathan. Grace giggled delightedly, waving a
brightly colored toy in front of the baby, whose still unfocused eyes tried to
follow the object. Deborah sat nearby, watching the children with a smile.
The doorbell rang downstairs, but both women
ignored it. A servant would get the door and go to fetch whomever the person
was there to see. No one was expected, so it was probably a neighbor, business
associate, or salesman.
The butler, James, stepped into the parlor a
moment later. "You have a visitor, Mrs. Hutchison."
"A visitor?" Deborah glanced at
Rose, wondering who could possibly be visiting her here in Philadelphia. Then
her eyes widened with dread. "Rosie..."
Rose stood, looking at James. "Could you
please watch the children for a moment, James? We’ll be back as soon as we
can." If the visitor was indeed here for the reason Deborah suspected,
Rose wasn’t going to let her receive the news alone. "I’ll come with you,
Debbie."
"Thank you, Rosie." Deborah wheeled
herself into the hallway, fearing what the visitor might have to say. No one in
Philadelphia would have come to visit her, and her parents and friends were in
San Francisco. It could only be a telegram, bringing bad news—that something
had happened to Will. He could be seriously injured, or worse. She remembered
Rose’s words about strength, but was more glad now than ever that Rose was with
her. She didn’t think she could face the news alone.
Jack stepped out of the kitchen, where he had
been eating a mid-afternoon snack, just in time to see the two women go by,
their expressions grim. Wondering what was going on, he followed them, catching
up as they reached the front door.
"Rose? Deborah? What’s going on?"
Deborah glanced at him, her mouth trembling,
before slowly opening the door.
In an instant, her expression changed. Shock,
then joy, crossed her face. Before Jack could say a word, she snatched his
walking stick from him, then tugged her skirt up, revealing the leg braces she
had been wearing for months. And then, as everyone stared in wonder, Deborah
struggled to her feet, then stumbled through the door into Will’s arms.