SWING
Chapter Sixteen
Rose’s house stood dark and empty when they
arrived. Rose quickly unlocked the door and led her friends up to her room,
where Fabrizio immediately sat on the bed with his friend. He was now bone
tired from walking at a fast pace and supporting his friend’s weight as well.
"Finally." Fabrizio breathed hard.
"Come here, Jack. Lay down." Rose
pulled back her covers. "You’re safe here."
"What about your mother?" Helga
worried.
"She’ll be out of town all week. We’ll
have Jack moved to a safer place by then." Rose pulled the blankets over
her injured boyfriend and kissed his forehead tenderly. "Or on the airship
to America."
"Are you sure they can’t find me
here?" Jack frowned. He was definitely worried. The Nazis were all
powerful. They could do anything they wanted to do, no matter how minor. Take
his father, for example. They had made him disappear! He’d never forgive
himself if anything happened to Rose and Fabrizio because they helped him.
"Positive." Rose smiled, kissing
his lips. "You’re safe."
"Well…I guess I better be heading back.
I want to make sure my parents are okay." Fabrizio stretched. "I’ll
be by tomorrow."
"Me, too." Helga hugged her friend.
"You be careful. Those Nazis are mean."
"Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. We
both will be." Rose smiled bravely. She knew why Helga was so worried. She
had told her friend about her father being a Jew. If the Nazis really did know
about that and Rose pissed them off, she’d be on the first train to Auschwitz.
"I’ll stop by tomorrow." Helga
nodded. "Take care."
"I will. Now, both of you, out."
Rose pushed open the door and followed them downstairs. Two minutes later, she
was back by Jack’s side, tightly holding his hand. "How do you feel?"
"A little better, but worried. Rose…this
isn’t a good idea. What if that Hockley guy drops by, or my mother discover
where you live?"
"I’ll deal with them when the time
comes. But right now, you have to rest."
Jack smiled and took her hand in his. They
got lost in each other’s gazes. "Thank you."
"For what?" Rose asked, lost in his
blue stare. His eyes were the most beautiful she had ever seen. Her heart broke
each time at the thought of anyone hurting him. How could anyone want to hurt
someone with such beautiful eyes?
"For taking me in like this. I promise,
Rose, it won’t be for long…"
"Shh. There’s no rush for you to leave.
You’re safe here, Jack." Rose smiled, pushing his hair back out of his
eyes.
Jack stared back up at her. His face was full
of emotions, but what they were, Rose couldn’t tell. She swallowed and
tightened her hold on his hand.
"Why are you doing this, Rose? We barely
know each other."
"Well, you did save my life a couple of
days ago. Remember?" Rose smiled. "Plus…Jack…I…"
"What?"
Rose swallowed. It was time for him to know
her true feelings for him. She knew that. It was now or never. But what would
his reaction be? Would he get up and leave her? Would he feel the same way? Or
was she a really good friend? Well, she had to find out. "I’m in love with
you, Jack. I have been all along, from the first moment we met."
Jack swallowed, his eyes shining in surprise
and happiness. "I…I’m in love with you, too, Rose. I just didn’t know if
you felt the same way." He reached up and gently touched her face. She
closed her eyes at his touch, and was a bit surprised to find herself leaning
down to kiss him lightly. She was even more surprised when his arms encircled
her waist and he had pulled her down onto the bed, right next to him.
They lay there together, in each other’s
arms, staring up at the ceiling. Jack pulled her closer to his body and sighed.
"Thank you."
"For what?" Rose asked, rubbing his
arm, wanting to warm him up some more.
"For loving me. You may be the only
person in Germany who does." Jack sighed, turning his head to stare into
her eyes.
"Jack." Rose touched his cheek,
wiping away a tear that had formed. "Your mother does love you…just not
enough. But I do believe she does."
"Can we talk about something else?"
Jack asked, wanting to take his mind off his situation for a while. "Who’s
your favorite swing artist, Rose? I like Cab Calloway. His songs tell a story,
sometimes silly, sometimes cool."
"Oh, you mean like Minnie the
Moocher?" Rose giggled.
"More like the jungle swing." Jack
laughed.
"I like Count Basie. He was one of the
first we danced to. Jack…do you think they know what’s going on over here in
Germany? Do you think that they know that people are being put to death, and
that it’s their music that’s helping incite a rebellion? No matter how tiny it
is?"
Jack shrugged. "It’s hard to say."
"So you like Cab Calloway, huh?"
Jack nodded. "He’s the best."
"Well…it just so happens I had bought a
record recently, and I do believe it’s Cab Calloway. You want to listen to him,
Jack?"
"Are you serious? Of course. Put him
on." Jack grinned, letting Rose go so she could put on the record. Five
minutes later, the silky voice of Cab Calloway filled the room, and Rose was
back in Jack’s arms. "Now that, my dear, is swing. If I wasn't hurt right
now, I’d get up and show you some new moves."
"We’ll just have to wait until next time."
Rose kissed him.
A yawn escaped as Jack snuggled closer to
Rose. He knew that he was close to sleep, but he wanted to spend more time with
Rose. She wasn’t going to have it. As soon as she spotted the yawn, she turned
out the lights.
"Rose!"
"Go to sleep, Jack. You need your rest.
We’ll have all day tomorrow, really the rest of this week to spend alone
together." Rose kissed his cheek.
"Okay, okay. I’m going to sleep. I love
you, Rosie."
"I love you, too, Jack. Now, go to
sleep." Rose pulled the covers over their bodies and snuggled as close as
she could without hurting him. "Sweet dreams."
"Sweet dreams." Jack yawned once
more as he drifted off into a deep sleep, one he didn’t wake from until the
late morning hours.