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Date Posted: 19:43:34 03/05/01 Mon
Author: Lakota
Subject: Waiting for You - Chapter 24b

Waiting for You – Chapter 24B - - Valentine’s Night, February 14, 1944

Entry to the main supper club at the Grand Hotel


= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Even before they reached the doorway, Jack and Jennifer could hear the house pianist playing romantic tunes for the
patrons to dance or talk to in the huge ballroom where only weeks before their friends had celebrated New Year’s
Eve.

Dining in such opulent surroundings as the Grand Ballroom hinted of at its entrance was nothing new to Jack. He had
grown up dining out a minimum of once a week in similar places since he was sixteen as the son of a high profile New
Deal Senator. In such heavy-draped, crystal water-gobleted places were deals made or compromises struck that
moved along the business of a nation struggling to regain its economic feet after the Depression. Only since the
declaration of war in December 1941, had the United States truly regained its financial equilibrium. Jack’s father had
come in on Roosevelt’s coattails as a freshman senator filled with ideas of how to resurrect the nation’s economy.
Twelve years and two terms later, his father had gained position and political clout. There wasn’t a restaurant in
Washington, DC or his home state that didn’t eagerly accommodate Senator Deveraux’s party on any given night, no
matter how crowded they might be.

As they passed through the entry and made their way to the cloakroom, Jennifer’s eyes sparkled as she took in all the
beauty of the room. It certainly wasn’t the Penthouse Grille, though that was the closest Jennifer could think of any
place back in Salem that could even attempt to match the majesty of the room. The hatcheck girl smiled and reached
to take Jennifer’s coat first handing Jack the claim ticket at the same time she reached to take his overcoat. Jennifer
took his arm as they made their way to the podium blocking the entry to the salon where the maitre’ d held court as
he matched names quoted to those on the reservations guest book.

“Good evening, sir,…the name?”

“Good evening…Deveraux.”

The maitre’ d scanned the list before him as Jennifer glanced about the ballroom taking in the rich wood paneling that
lined the floor, walls and even ceilings. All was polished to a high gloss and reflecting the candlelight from the hurricane
lamps placed at each dining table.

“Ah, yes….Deveraux, party of two. One moment.” The maitre ‘d motioned to the podium a lovely, young woman
dressed in black and gave her two leather-bound menus along with the table number the Deveraux party has been
assigned.

“Please, follow the young lady who will show you to your table. Enjoy your evening with us.”

“Thank you,” Jennifer and Jack answered in unison.

As they followed the hostess the walking room between tables became narrower until Jennifer was forced to unlink
her arm from Jack’s and walk ahead of him. It was then Jack first noticed the interesting and, yes, surprising feature of
Jennifer’s dress. He found himself unable to tear his eyes away except to look around and see if other males were
noticing it as well. They arrived at their table situated one row in from the edge of the large dance floor. Jack pulled
out Jennifer’s chair and watched her gracefully descend into it smiling up at him as he walked around to take his
opposite her. Jack stared across the table silently with a small quizzical look on his face.

“What is making that face on you?”

“Huh….what face?”

“That one, …that I’ve seen before whenever you’re dying to make some comment.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…except…”

“…except? Come on, Jack, what happened between the time we walked into the room and sat down here?”

“Well, I was just wondering……”

“About?”

“I’ve read there’s a material shortage along with everything else these days. Is that dress a victim of it?”

“What are you talk….oh, now I get it. I forgot I had my coat over it until a few minutes ago. And, no, it was designed
this way. Are you not so subtlety telling me you don’t like it?” Jennifer asked in a tone indicating Jack had better tread
lightly.

“No…no, I wasn‘t implying that at all. It’s beautiful, especially on you. It’s just that every male’s eye in the room was
on you when we walked by. I’m surprised you couldn’t feel them.”

“What if they were? It’s flattering but as long as your eyes are on me, I don’t care about any one else. Besides, think
of it this way,…. YOU get to have more than just your eyes on me in this dress.”

Jennifer looked at Jack finishing her sentence and flashing her best Mona Lisa smile at him. Jack cleared his throat
when her meaning became clear to him. He reached for a taste of the cold water in his crystal goblet before
responding.

“Well, that’s definitely one way to look at it. I like your thinking, Miss Horton.”

“I thought you would.”

“May I make one more comment about the dress and then I’ll stop.”

“All right…one more.”

“I was just going to say that you’ll never have to worry about putting it on backwards by mistake, will you?”

“No…not unless I mean to.”

“Jennifer!”

“Oh, will you relax. I was just kidding. Kurt was right. He said you were going to flip when you saw me in this dress.”

“Oh, he did, did he? Since when did he become your fashion consultant?”

“Since when did you get upset about what Kurt says? He’s a friend.”

“Uh, huh…a MALE friend.”

“I thought you liked him.”

“I do like him …..and……….. I suddenly realize I am behaving like a complete idiot.”

Silence.

Jack looked at Jennifer who stared unblinkingly back at him. Jack raised his eyebrows silently asking Jennifer for a
response to his admission.

“Well?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, was I supposed to disagree with you? Afraid not - I saw no point to argue against.”

“Fine, just let me dangle here in the wind from the hangman’s noose of my own making.”

“Honestly, Jack, I had no idea you were going to react this way about a stupid dress.”

“It’s just that…..you’re so beautiful, Jennifer, and that dress just makes it more obvious to the whole world….well, at
least to everyone in New York City tonight.”

Jennifer’s face softened as she leaned across the table, moving the hurricane lamp slightly to her right and reached for
Jack’s hand.

“After that remark, I think the governor just granted you a stay of execution.”

“Thank you, Governor.”

They met across the table and kissed - each smiling as they pulled back at the end of it.

“Would you like to order or have a drink first?”

“Ummmm…a drink would be nice. We have all evening to eat dinner and dance.”

Jack motioned over a waiter and ordered champagne.

“Champagne? Jack, are you sure?”

“Of course, it’s Valentine’s Day…nothing is too good for my Valentine and besides it’s only…..how many days?”

“Days….what? Oh…it’s seventeen days and a few hours.”

“I’ll have you know I’m up to a little over two hundred push ups a day in anticipation.”

“My, you are desperate.”

“Desperately in love….with you.”

“Oh, Jack…I love you, too.”

They silently gazed at one another while waiters took orders and delivered dinners around them at a frantic pace. For
a while it was as though Jack and Jennifer were locked into their own sense of time while the rest of the world hurried
by oblivious to them. A waiter appeared and returned the time continuum by asking if they were ready to order.

When dinner arrived they leisurely ate and talked of wedding plans – their favorite topic – next to talk of honeymoon
plans, that is. With all their meticulous planning it was impossible to believe anything could go wrong. It also helped
that only six guests would be in attendance.

The dishes were removed and a dessert menu was brought.

“How about cherries jubilee, Jennifer?”

“That sounds good. Can we wait just a little before we order?”

“How about, we order but ask him to delay preparing it? I think I could use a respite before the next course, too.”

The waiter took the order and agreed to serve it in a half an hour.

Jennifer looked around the room at the various tables taking in the people they were sharing their evening with in a
roundabout way by merely being in the same room and having the idea this was the place to celebrate, too.

“What are you thinking?”

Jennifer looked back into Jacks’ eyes and sheepishly grinned.

“Oh, you’ll think I’m being silly or sentimental.”

“No, I won’t…besides this is a day to be sentimental. So tell me.”

“I was just looking at the people here. They’re all ages. Some of the couples are younger than we are…..some are
maybe fifty years older than we are and there’s every age range in between. We have something in common tonight.
We’re with the one we love on the day that’s made to celebrate love. It kind of gives me a good feeling to know
there’s a constancy in things …like love. See? I told you……you’d think I was being silly.”

“No..no I see what you mean. I’d be willing to bet there may even be a couple or two who come here every year to
celebrate…like a tradition. They probably even make it a point to see at the exact same table.

“Jack, that’s a wonderful idea. Let’s do that.”

“Do what?”

“Come back here every year to celebrate Valentine’s Day until we’re at least one hundred years old.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am. I want us to have our own private traditions we create from our shared life together. Some will probably
come from Christmas, Easter or other occasions involving family but this one would be just ours…yours and mine.”

“What about the kids? Are we going to bring them along as they begin to appear in our lives?”

“Kids? How many are we planning on having?”

“Let’s see…how many does this table seat…..maybe two…three at most ..unless we ask them to add an extra leaf to
the table.”

“Bite your tongue. I was thinking maybe two…. or three at most. I’m beginning to wonder if you’re planning to keep
me barefoot and pregnant.”

“No, you can keep your shoes on if you want.”

“There’s an interesting image forming in my head. Are you really thinking about more than three?”

“Let’s just say if I were to offer a stock market tip to anyone, I’d encourage them to buy heavily into shares of
Motherhood Maternity and Gerber baby foods.”

“Am I ever going to see my feet again the first twenty years of our marriage?”

“Probably not…so, I guess it won’t really matter if you have shoes on either. They’ll all be flats…heels aren’t
something you should wear during pregnancy.”

“Just how would you know?”

“I’ve been reading up on this stuff. Might as well be well informed, I always say.”

“Oh really…and when had you thought you might share all of these plans with me?”

“Right at the start of the honeymoon…first night I believe.”

“The first night? Don’t you think we should have a little time for just the two of us.”

“Oh, we will…at least nine months.”

“My…you certainly have everything planned out.”

“Well, I try to be thorough.”

“I see…and will it be a boy or a girl?”

“Well, I’ve given this a lot of serious thought. After considering the two basic options we have, I came to the
conclusion I’d like to have someone who’ll think I’m perfect, can do everything and will always need me, besides
you, that is…so, I think it should be a girl.”

“Are you sure you aren’t confusing a family with a fan club?”

Jennifer sat back with her arms crossed and smiled as Jack described how the first baby would look. Even though
there was a sense of play in Jack’s tone, she also realized he truly had given their future family great thought. It had
caught her off guard. Jack didn’t talk much about his family. They were polite to one another, she remembered, as
they had been to her the weekend they spent with the Deveraux’s in Washington, DC but there wasn’t the warmth
she was used to apparent in all her family’s gatherings. It struck her how much Jack wanted a family of his own and
she could feel the beginning of tears forming.

“Jennifer? What’s wrong? Did I say something? Sweetheart, I was only kidding about making all these plans without
consulting you. I just got carried away. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’ve just learned something about you I didn’t know before. I’ve had this impression that maybe my family
was overwhelming to you when we went back for Christmas. I admit, there are a lot of us. Having met your family, I
thought maybe you weren’t interested in having more than one or two children and that was fine with me. I wanted
more but I understood that would be maybe too many for you to handle.”

“You know what? Before I met you I never really thought about marriage let alone kids. I grew up where marriage
was a way to garner votes – perfect family…more votes. It wasn’t about the content of the marriage but the way it
appeared to the public from outside. We weren’t allowed to make noise or slide down banisters in case we were
seen as being unruly. It was a given political formula - if you can’t control your kids how can you govern a town,
county, state or country?”

“Oh, Jack…I had no idea.”

“No one did. Another rule is you don’t talk about family problems or dislikes with anyone. The press might find out,
then the opposition party and it could be used against you in the following election. I didn’t want that perpetuated so I
kind of thought marriage might not be for me…..until I walked into the Manhattan USO club one early evening in the
autumn. Everything I had talked myself into went right out the window the minute I saw you.”

“I remember turning around from the soda fountain and seeing this handsome soldier walk in. I didn’t see anyone else
in the room the rest of the evening.”

“How did I get so lucky, Jennifer, to find you?”

She smiled looking down at her engagement ring before looking back up to answer him.

“You just had sense enough to parachute into the right place at the right time.”

Jack nodded and grew quiet for a moment or two before looking out across the floor where the hotel dance band
was beginning to assemble on the platform before doing the first set of music for the evening.

“Okay, Jennifer you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Meaning?”

“We’ll come here every year to celebrate Valentine’s Day just like we did the first one. I think I’d really like that, too.
I’ll even include that it’s at this very table. What do you say?”

“I say, I think you’re wonderful and that you’ve got a deal, too.”

“Meaning?”

“Four kids.”

Jack grinned at her remark.

“With an option to renegotiate for a fifth?”

Jennifer let out a long, exaggerated sigh.

“You are a tough negotiator……..all right….option for a fifth.”

Jack held out his hand to shake on it. Jennifer reciprocated.

“Let’s seal this with a kiss, have dessert and finish with a dance.”

They met across the table with a long, lingering kiss. As they finished the waiter arrived with the chaffing dish to
prepare the flaming dessert at the table. No sooner had the dessert been finished and the plates removed the
orchestra began playing a tune that had Jennifer turn and look at Jack with a smile.

“Jack, this is unbelievable. That’s the song they were playing at the USO the first time you and I danced. Do you
remember?”

Jacked listened to a few measures and nodded.

“I kind of think of this as our song.”

Jack rose from the table and came around to where Jennifer was. He held out his hand to her.

“May I have this dance…..again?”

:Yes, …you may.”

They made their way to the dance floor. He placed his arm around Jennifer and began to move in time to the music.
Jennifer placed her head on his shoulder until she felt him pull back slightly. She looked up to see why and saw a
broad smile on his face.

“Do I want to know what brought that on?”

“It’s nothing…I’ve just suddenly developed a whole new enjoyment of your dress.”

Jennifer could feel his warm hand gently running up and down her exposed back. She shook her head at Jack in mock
admonishment before pulling his head down to kiss him once more. She returned her head to his shoulder closing her
eyes as he did his. The band singer approached the microphone. As they swayed to the music the future parents of
the Deveraux dynasty listened to the lyrics.


Dozens of girls would storm up;
I had to lock my door.
Somehow I couldn’t warm up
To one before.
What was it that controlled me?
What kept my love life lean?
My intuition told me
You’d come on the scene.
Lady, listen to the rhythm of my heartbeat,
And you’ll get just what I mean.

Embrace me,
My sweet embraceable you.
Embrace me,
You irreplaceable you.
Just one look at you – my heart grew tipsy in me.
You and you along bring out the gypsy in me.
I love all the many charms about you’
Above all,
I want my arms about you.
Don’t be a naughty baby,
Come to papa-come to papa, do!
My sweet embraceable you.

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