Page 71 of A Late-Blooming Rose
Her eyes filled, and fat tears rolled down her cheeks. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“That’s not a conversation one has with a young, unmarried lady.”
“Poppycock!” Rose straightened, her eyes snapping. “I had the right to know. Instead you just disappeared.” She shook off his hands and pushed on his chest. “I would have married you anyway!”
“That’s why I left. Marty and I had a discussion. He thought it best that I didn’t tell you. Didn’t let your feelings for me lead you into a childless marriage. With your bright mind and kind nature, you were made to be a mother and raise children as special as yourself.”
She made an inarticulate sound of grief.
He touched her cheek. “We both knew your loyalty to those you love. If you learned the truth, you’d stand by me and forsake your chance for a family. I was afraid that as time went by, you’d grow resentful, perhaps stop loving me. I never wanted to trap you into a troubled marriage.” He lowered his arm.
“Oh, how ridiculous, Andre!” she said, her expression and tone bitter. “There certainly are enough orphans in the world. We could have adopted children.”
With a rueful smile, he shrugged. “Micah taught me about loving a child of my heart. But I didn’t know that then, Rose. I was weak from my illness. Out of my mind with anger and sadness and frustration from what I saw as my body’s betrayal.” He inhaled and let out a slow breath, relieved to finally admit the truth, no matter how galling. “Feeling less of a man. Loving you desperately. Wanting thebestfor you and believing that man wasn’t me.”
“Oh, Andre.” Her tears started up again, dripping down her cheeks.
“Marty and I both thought you’d forget me, especially if I cut you off without a word. My absence would help you turn from me and fall in love with some other man. Marry and have children. I tried to forget you. But no other woman could compare.” He swallowed. “Marty and I couldn’t have foreseen that you wouldn’t marry. That all our wretched scheming would come to naught.”
For a moment, Rose sat wordless.
Thinking what?
Then she brushed at her tears. “I’ve never loved anyone but you.” Her voice trembled. “Good thing my brother’s not alive, for I’d, I’d….” She shook her head, not able to continue. “We’d have been married for years now. Still living in New York.”
“Choices. Choices. Sitting here today, though, Rose, I can’t wish for that kind of happy ending with you, for then I wouldn’t have Delia. The timing of my discovering her was really an act of Providence.” He hated how he was hurting her. “If I’d stayed in New York, I wouldn’t have met my daughter. As it was, our window to meet was only a few seconds. Delia would have ended up in unspeakably bleak circumstances. Then if she and I hadn’t fled, we wouldn’t have ended up here. No Joshua. No Micah. No baby. No Reverend and Mrs. Norton. No Sweetwater Springs.”
Rose let out a slow sigh. “I suppose you’re right. Life is so odd. The twists and turns our journeys take…who we meet…who we don’t meet.” Her expression brightened with sudden hope, and she grabbed his hands and squeezed. “But we havenow, Andre. We can have each otherandyour family.”
His chest tight, he brought one delicate hand to his lips for a kiss, and then the other, before lowering both and releasing her. “No, Rose, my darling Rose, we don’t. My time left on Earth is very short.” He tapped his chest. “This old ticker will give out any day now. I’ve kept from you how very bad my heart is.”
Her hand flew to cover her mouth. More tears seeped into her eyes and fell.
He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dried her cheeks. “Don’t look so stricken, dearest. God gave me the gift of extra time with my loved ones, which includes you. I don’t take that time for granted. I appreciate every day.”
She laid a palm on his chest. “There’s heart, the actual organ, and then there’sheart. You havethat!”
He placed a hand over hers. “Without this creaky heart, I’d take the blessing of time for granted, probably squander some of that very precious commodity. So, my condition is not all bad.”
“Commodity,” Rose said bitterly. “So speaks the business man.” She pulled her hand away and grabbed his handkerchief, dabbing under her eyes.
“Yes, my darling.” He spoke past the lump in his throat and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “I’m not about to leave you a widow when we’re barely wed. This is the last time we’ll speak of this topic.”
Before she could say anything to deter him, he stood and strode to the door. Hearing Rose break into sobs almost made him falter, but Andre knew if he turned back, he’d give in and, all too soon, leave her a widow.
Instead, Andre sped up his pace down the hall. He reached the conservatory and flung open the door to the smell of earth and greenery. The half moon allowed only the faintest hint of grayness among shadows.
Andre didn’t bother to turn on the light, for the darkness reflected what was in his heart—the grief and the long-buried loneliness that even Delia’s presence hadn’t completely assuaged. He wanted to rage and break things, somehow vent his anger.
He stumbled over a wicker chair, kicked the thing out of his way, and bumbled forward in the darkness, tripping over the bricks lining the rose bed. He managed to catch himself before falling into the nearest bush. Finally, some semblance of reason entered his brain.
Stilling, he waited for his eyes to adjust. No sense tripping again and breaking his fool neck. His family wouldn’t thank him for being so idiotic.My heart will kill me soon enough.
Feeling as if every muscle weighed as heavy as lead, he shuffled over to the light switch and pushed the button. When the light illuminated the conservatory, Andre glanced around, looking to see the havoc he’d caused. But only one of the fan-backed, wicker chairs lay on its side. Even the gardening shears on the small wicker table hadn’t moved.
Walking to the table, he seized the shears, wanting to throw them through the glass. His gaze fell upon the Empress Red, the bush as empty as his hopes and as useless as he felt.
Although I don’t dare destroy this conservatory, I can tear apart that blasted rose bush!
