Scarlett Rose's Arc

Chapter 26 of 57

Aunt Lorraine's flight landed at noon Thursday, which gave Scarlett one day. One day to pack for a week away from her own house, and one day before her body stopped cooperating. The nausea had been quiet three mornings running. She did not trust it to last. Rose stood in the bedroom doorway with two empty duffel bags. "Sit on the bed. Point. I fold." Scarlett sat. Her back ached already. "Toothbrush. The blue sweater. Two pairs of the stretchy jeans, the ones that don't cut." Rose moved through the drawers. She held up a folded white bundle and stopped. "What about this." Scarlett had bought the nightgown the same afternoon as the dress and hidden it in the bottom drawer. Lace across the bodice. A long skirt that fell soft. She had not looked at it since. "Pack it," Scarlett said. "Top of the bag." Rose laid it in careful. "He's going to lose his mind." "That's the point." A wave hit her then, slow and green. She lay back against the pillow and breathed through her nose until the room settled. Rose kept folding without comment. That was the deal they'd made. No fussing. Just motion. When Scarlett could sit up again, she opened the drawer of her nightstand and took out a bundle tied with a ribbon. Letters. She had written one to Clayton every week for the past year and never sent a single one. Some were three lines. Some were three pages. She had meant to burn them after the wedding. "Bag," she said, and handed them to Rose. Rose looked at the ribbon. "What are these." "Something for him to read. One a night." Rose tucked them beside the nightgown. "You've been holding out on me." "I hold out on everybody." By three o'clock the two duffels sat zipped by the door. Prenatal vitamins. Doctor's number on a card in the front pocket. A book she had not opened in a month. Clayton's spare flannel because she slept better in it. Clayton came in from the barn and looked at the bags. He didn't ask. He picked them up and carried them to the truck and set them behind the seat. Then he came back and put his hand flat on her lower back. "Done?" he said. "Done." "Good. You sat down for the rest of the week." She let him steer her to the couch. Rose brought crackers without being asked. Outside, the sun dropped behind the ridge and the barn light clicked on by itself. The phone rang. Rose picked it up in the kitchen. Scarlett heard her sister's voice go careful, then quiet, then careful again. Rose came back holding the receiver against her shoulder. "Aunt Lorraine's flight got moved up. She lands in the morning. She wants me to pick her up at seven." Scarlett looked at the bags by the door and understood that her honeymoon was packed and her house was about to fill with someone else.