4 Weeks Later
Hockley Residence
Sprinting down the street, Cal dodged various movers loading furniture and expensive decorative items from various homes of those who had also been hit by the Great Crash into a truck.
Reaching his home, Cal manoeuvred himself around the movers taking certain items from his own home to auction off. He ignored the 'Foreclosure' sign posted on the door and entered the home.
Each room was filled with wooden crates filled with their life. The crates were separated by the words 'Keep' and 'Auction'.
In these last weeks, Rose had played a major part in Cal's support system. She never complained or looked deterred by their sudden change from First Class to the Working Class. She kept the children in line and wrote glowing references for each individual on their staff. Rose even helped Ellen get another nannying job with a wealthy family, which went unscathed by the Stock Market Crash.
Meanwhile, Cal paced back and forth in what was left of his office trying to come up with a plan. It took him four weeks and two days to finally figure it out as he was closing the steel factory across town.
As he walked home, Cal passed a real-estate window front and eyed the advertisements.
An idea sparked in his mind and Cal entered the agency.
Cal ran into each room in search of Rose when he found James and Ellen colouring on paper and Grace reading a book by the window.
"Where's your mother?" Cal asked catching his breath.
"Mrs Hockley is upstairs, sir," Ellen replied hiding the sadness in her voice because her time with the Hockley children was coming to an end. She enjoyed her time these last nine years and fell love with this family.
Taking off from the former playroom, Cal ran up the stairs by two.
The movers and maids jumped out of the way as Cal sprinted down the hallway and turned into the master bedroom where Rose helped packing away many of the gowns she hasn't worn since the first time she's worn them.
"Rose! Rose!" Cal shouted for her attention.
Perplexed by his sudden appearance, Rose faced him with a cocked brow.
"Cal—What in the world?" Rose ran her eyes over her dissolved husband. The tie around his neck was loosened, his forehead was damp with sweat, and his hair was unkempt and over his forehead. "What happened to you?"
Catching his breath, Cal grabbed Rose by her hand and pulled her out of the bedroom and down the hall to another room for privacy.
Her patience wore thin as he reached into his inside breast pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He passed it to her.
He shifted antsy with anticipation as she unfolded the paper.
Unfolding the paper, Rose frowned, "You bought a house?"
"Yes," ignoring her wide horrified eyes, Cal pointed down at the paper, "Look at its location."
"Santa Monica," she read aloud then look at him dumbfounded. "Y-you bought a house in Santa Monica?"
"Yes, I did. It's on the beach. We're moving to Santa Monica, California and we're going to love it there." His grin widened.
Rose eyed him sceptically, "Yes, I understand that, but, dear, we've never been to Santa Monica."
He held her face between his hands, "You've always wanted to go. This is our chance."
Stepping away from him, trying to wrap her mind around everything. Over the last weeks, Rose had endured his ever-changing mood swings. She remained patient during his 'Blue Period'; moping around because 'Hockley Steel' closed its doors. But now, Rose had no idea how to handle this 'spontaneous Cal'.
Rose looked at him completely baffled, "We can't just move across the country. What about our children's schooling? What about my mother? What about your parents? Have you thought about this at all?"
He pulled out another folded piece of paper. "Open this."
Rose did as told and unfolded the paper with dismay, "Cedar Rapids, Iowa? Cal, honestly..." she shook her head.
Cal wrapped his hands around her upper arms drawing her attention back to him, "This is our chance, Rose. Our only chance to finally break free and be whoever we want to be. We leave a trail to Iowa but really, we're in Santa Monica living out your dreams." He cupped the back of her neck with his hand, bringing her close, "Runaway with me, Rose."
Unsure how to react to all of this, Rose let out a breath and said, "Even if we 'run,' there are too many 'Hockley's' in the country. Surely your father would find us in California. And he'll drag us back here so you can rebuild the company."
"That's why I changed our name." Rose stared at him blankly, unsure where to being in sorting out her husbands logic. "I'm no longer Caledon Hockley. I'm now John Calvert."
"Calvert? John Calvert? Cal, this is too much." She began to pace back and forth. "Changing our names and disappearing from our parents—"
"—A new home, new identities, a new us… This is what we need."
"Why John?"
Cal smirked, "Because, sweet pea, Cal Calvert doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. I'm John to the outside world but to you, I'm still the same man."
"And what of me?" Rose asked. "Am I still Rose or did you change my name to something ridiculous?"
Taking her hand, Cal brought it to his lips brushing his mouth across her knuckles, "You'll always be my Rose." He flashed her his most charming crooked smile. "What do you say?"
"This is crazy," Rose said, still grappling everything Cal had been throwing at her.
"I know. It doesn't make any sense. That's why I trust it." It was right then, Jack's face flashed behind Rose's eyes.
Cal twirled a loose red curl from her hair bun around his finger. She stepped closer to him and released a breath as she nodded her head.
A smile shot across Cal's face. He lowered his head, catching her mouth in a searing kiss. Rose smiled, feeling genuine excitement for the first time in a while for this new adventure.
"What am I going to do?—What are you going to do?" Rose asked, hugging his neck and brushed her nose against his.
With a chuckle, Cal shrugged, "I have no idea. And I don't care. We'll figure it out." His arms tightened that were around her slim waist, "You nervous?"
Rose eyed him for a long moment then shook her head, "No, just the opposite."
Running the back of his index finger down her soft porcelain cheek, Cal lifted his eyes from her mouth to meet her blue-grey eyes. "You agree with all of this… I'm not exactly sure what that says about you." He teased her. "This is pretty crazy. We're turning our backs. But we could get back to this," he gestured to the grand room, "status again."
"I don't doubt that. But I think you're right. This is our chance to do something we've always wanted to. And where you go, I go."
Her soft words pierced into his heart.
He believed her.
