Chapter 23

I buriedmy face into Dean’s side as my tears flowed freely. I sob as Dean settles me into his arm and gently strokes my back. “It’s okay, Mack, let go.” And let go I do, while he holds me tight, sobs wracking her body.

Minutes later, I pull slightly away from Dean to search for a tissue, managing to control the waterworks. “Their story is so sad.” I start crying again. “She loved him so much, and he obviously loved her. It breaks my heart, knowing that she died that night and Jacob never knew. He always thought she’d left him.”

Dean pulls me close once more. “Mack, why not come to see if she’d been held up that night? Why did Jacob only make one phone call to find out about her? And why did he wait a few days after he left to do it? It doesn’t make sense.”

I cuddle into his chest, and look up at him, giving a watery smile. “Then let’s ask Thomas.”

He leans in and kisses my forehead. “What does the J in JT stand for?”

“James.”

“Now I really am sure, but it doesn’t make sense, why, if he’s with another woman, would my grandfather name his firstborn after his lover’s brother?”

“What do you mean?’

“My father is James Thomas Evans, and remember, James is my middle name.”

I sit up suddenly. “Oh, and then you said your Aunt Rosalind . . .”

“When do you want to see my grandfather?”

I look out to sea and find it hard to get my head around everything. Jacob obviously loved Rose to name his firstborn after Rose’s brother, and then his daughter after Rose herself.

“I don’t know. I can’t really take Lucas, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving him all day with Thomas. He can be a real handful.”

“Who? Thomas or Lucas?”

“Ha ha…both.” I turn back to look at Dean. “Soon. Can I meet him soon?”

He reaches up and moves a piece of hair behind my ear. “Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll take you.”

I take hold of his hand. “Thank you.” I place a kiss gently on his knuckles. “So, am I your girl?” I ask with a large grin on my face.

“Yes,” he replies without any hesitation. He leans closer and nuzzles my neck. “You are.”

“Mmm. Good, because you’re my guy.” I reach up and run my fingers through his hair, sending shivers down his spine. “I think we’d better head back. I’ll ask Thomas about the April 1st edition of Our Gang. We can see what he did with the photograph. I would love to see a photograph of Rose and Jacob.”

“That would be amazing. We would also know for sure if it’s my grandfather. There are photographs all over the house in Brookline from when he was young, so I’ll be able to recognize him straightaway.”

* * *

I makechicken parmesan with rice and I’ve also made two pies, one apple and the other cherry. In fact, I haven’t stopped cooking and baking since getting back from the beach. I needed a distraction.

Dean plays one of Lucas’s Mario Brothers games in the living room, and apart from him coming back and forth for a beer or munchies, or even delicious kisses, he’s pretty much stayed out of the way.

When we read the diary, it had really upset me. I’d cried all over Dean, for heaven’s sake. Dean hadn’t minded though, he’d held me and tried to comfort me.

My thoughts turn back to Rose. I wonder if Thomas knew about Rose’s pregnancy. Did anyone know besides Jacob? Jacob had known Rose was pregnant so wouldn’t he have wanted to know about the baby? He seemed to be happy at the prospect of becoming a father. I really need to speak to Jacob to put an end to my wandering mind.

“Auntie Mack, I’m home. Did you miss me?” Lucas practically sings.

I hold my arms out and Lucas runs straight into them. “I sure did, buster. Dean’s in there playing Mario.”

“Yes!” Lucas darts out of the kitchen to join Dean.

“Hi, Thomas, come sit. Would you like a drink of lemonade?” I ask as he takes a seat at the table.

“That would be mighty fine, thank you.”

I pour him a large glass of homemade lemonade. “Can I ask you something?”

He smiles. “You usually do whether I want you to or not.”

I place his drink in front of him and sit down on the chair beside him. “Thomas, do you have a photograph of Rose and Jacob together?”

He hesitates. “No, I don’t. Never saw one, either.”

I’m puzzled. “Are you sure? In her diary, she says that when she was leaving the house, she went into your room and left the April 1st edition of Our Gang on your bed. Inside of it, she’d placed a photograph of herself and Jacob with a private message on the back for you?” I trail off at the look on his face.

Thomas looks really shaken. “All this time, I’ve had a picture of her with him and I didn’t even know?”

“I don’t understand, Thomas.”

He leans forward and puts his arms on the table with his head in his hands. He sighs. “I knew Rose had bought me the comic, and I found it that night, but I didn’t get a chance to read it then. When I finally went back to bed, we had been told that Rose had gone over the cliffs so getting into bed, I held the comic and cried. The next morning, I placed it in the box with the others and never opened it. I couldn’t.”

I take hold of Thomas’s hand. “Do you still have it?”

He nods his head. “I took it away from Lucas and placed it on my night table. I intended to finally read it. Maybe it’s time. I’ll look through it tonight.”

“If you find a photograph, will you bring it tomorrow? I’d love to see what Rose looked like, and the man she loved.”

He raises his head. “I will.”

“Thank you… Rose and Jacob both mean something to me now that I’ve learned about their love,” I admit.

Thomas nods.

“You’re staying to eat, right? I’ve made chicken parmesan and then there’s cherry or apple pie with ice cream.”

“You do know they say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” He chuckles.

“Really? I think I remember something like that.” I turn away to check the chicken in the oven, and then turn back to Thomas. “Dean’s surname isn’t Simone, that’s his mother’s maiden name.”

I have his full attention. “His name is Dean James Evans, and the James is after his father who Jacob named James Thomas. Dean is Jacob’s grandson.”

“That’s a surprise,” Thomas replies, shaking his head.

“Thomas, did you know Rose was pregnant the night she died?”

He takes a deep breath. “Yes. I overheard a conversation between my father and mother after Jacob phoned the house. Apparently, my father had known she was pregnant. I don’t know how, but he said he’d told him Rose had lost the baby. He also told my mother that Jacob sounded very shocked. I didn’t want you thinking badly of Rose, about her being pregnant, so I didn’t tell you when we’d talked before.”

I wipe my eyes on the apron I’m wearing. “It’s hard to explain, but somehow I feel as though she’s talking to me and wants her story told,” I wave my arms around, “as ridiculous as that sounds.”

We sit lost in our own thoughts for a few minutes. “I know you said Rose had gone over the cliffs, but how, exactly? What happened?” I ask.

“Let me sleep on it, Mack.” He shakes his head, looking lost.

I feel guilty having bombarded him with so many questions and brought back painful memories.

I stand with Thomas, give him a hug, which I follow with a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Thomas. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Let’s eat.”

* * *

Lying backon the sofa while waiting for Mack to finish getting Lucas in bed, Dean thought about his grandfather.

If everything in Rose’s diary was true, and it looked like it was, then why had no one in his family ever mentioned a Rose in his grandfather’s past. Why hadn’t they mentioned that his grandfather had lived in Cape Elizabeth for a time?

His grandfather had always said he lived his entire life in Boston, apart from the war when he’d been in England. Unless he loved and missed Rose way too much to talk about her.

He had seen wedding photographs of his grandparents, and they’d looked really happy. Dean’s father was the eldest and had once told him that his parents were the most loving couple he had ever seen. Even from being a small child, Dean remembered them always holding hands and kissing. He had a really hard time imagining his grandfather like that with anyone but his wife, Eliza.

“You look deep in thought.” Mack moved away from the doorway and leaned over the sofa. She looked gorgeous.

“I’m really blown away with everything I’ve learned today about my grandfather’s past. It’s unreal.”

“I know what you mean. I can’t stop now. I need to find out what really happened. It’s important to me.”

“Is Lucas asleep?”

“Yeah, he was exhausted.”

“Come…lie down with me.” He held his hand out to her.

She climbed half on top of him, flashing a bit of thigh. Dean caught his breath as he reached out and put his hand on her waist to steady her, only to get a view of her breasts—plump, naked breasts.

He inhaled at the sight of her hovering over him, practically naked. “Mack, you’re killing me.” He gritted his teeth as he closed his eyes to hide the sight of her so he could gain some control.

When she straddled him, his eyes flew open in time to watch her lose the robe.

“We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

Wouldn’t want what? All Dean’s brain cells had traveled south, causing his lower body to swell with need. While she was only seconds away from discovering that fact, he couldn’t even keep up with the conversation.

“I want your hands and mouth on me, Dean.” She leaned over him and softly kissed the tip of his nose, then his eyes, and, finally, she satisfyingly kissed his soft mouth.

Mack broke the kiss, gasping for breath. “You have too many clothes on.” She started to pull his T-shirt off, which he ended up yanking over his head and tossing on the floor impatiently.

“You’re a goddess,” Dean groaned.

She grinned. “You’re already getting laid, so you don’t need?—”

Dean reclaimed her lips while he fondled one small globe, its pink nipple marble hard.

“You set my skin on fire,” Mack whispered, kissing down his neck and along his collarbone before moving further south toward his navel, causing a shudder to ripple through Dean.

He gasped. “Stop!”

She froze above him. “Stop?”

“Let me get my jeans off.” Breathing heavily, he tried to regain control of his overheated body.

Mack rolled to the side, letting him up, and watched as he removed his clothes in record time. He knelt beside the couch and taking her hand, he guided it to himself, closing his eyes as her fingers wrapped around the full and pulsing length.

Her touch made him crazy and not wanting to embarrass himself, he knocked her hand away and moved over her. He dropped his forehead to Mack’s and groaned. “I don’t have any protection with me,” he admitted. “I’m healthy.”

“I’m covered.” Mack softly smiled and reaching up, caressed the strong tendons in the back of his neck. “And I’m ready for you… Make love to me.”

Dean joined them together, her nipples solid peaks against his hair-roughened chest.

“I’ve never felt this way before,” Dean confessed before he slowly started to love her.

Mack abandoned herself to the whirl of sensation and wrapped herself around him, her hands caressing the planes of his back as the flames of passion burned within them both.

Then minutes later he knew the flooding of uncontrollable joy as she soared to an amazing, shuddering ecstasy.

Dean breathed heavily into her ear when he felt her response to him, and then he lost control and his own body vibrated with liquid fire.

He dropped his head to Mack’s shoulder. “I saw stars…the whole universe,” he confessed with a kiss to her heated skin.

“Me too,” she whispered, sated.

“Let me stay with you tonight. To sleep. I want to hold you in my arms all night.”

“Mmm.”

Lying on the couch with Mack cuddled in his arms, Dean felt like he was the luckiest man alive.

Over the past week, he’d started to fall in love with her. The thought of her with anyone else caused a deep pain in his chest where his heart was. Heck! He was in love with her. He hoped she was in the same place because he had no intention of letting her go.

* * *

Thomas climbedinto bed feeling unsettled. Discussing Rose after all these years was rather upsetting, and to discover that she’d left him a photograph with a note on the back… Ah well.

He picked the comic up from his night table and slowly started to turn the pages, holding his breath each time a new page opened. When he turned to the middle of the comic, he found what he was supposed to find seventy years ago, bringing tears to his eyes.

A slightly faded polaroid of his sister Rose, wrapped in the arms of—who he presumed was—Jacob Evans. They both looked so much in love.

Mack had said there was a message on the back for him. He hoped the ink hadn’t faded with age. He took a deep breath and turned the picture over to look at the handwriting he never thought he would see again.

Dear JT,

I want you to know that you are the only one I will miss. I love you so much, brother, please forgive me.

If you ever need anything, go to the address at the bottom and ask for Eleanor, she will know how to find me.

When we have our own place and are settled in Boston, I will be back to see you. It may take a few years but know that I will always be thinking about you.

All my love, Thomas, my JT,

Rose

He used his fingers to wipe his eyes, and, with shaking hands, he placed the comic and photograph back on the table to the side of his bed. He needed to tell Mack what actually happened that night, and maybe then, he would feel better. After all, he had carried around so much guilt for all these years.

First, though, he would show her the photograph and then think about what to say.

In his eighties, it was time to be free and have peace of mind at last.