Rose of Anzio - Moonlight
Chapter One
* * *
It all began in the rose garden.
A dark blue Buick convertible pulled up to the entrance of the driveway leading to a limestone mansion. The mansion itself was barely visible from the street, but from there, the passersby could catch glimpses of the magnificent rose garden in front of the house.
Anthony Ardley got out of the car, said goodbye to his friend who had driven him, and walked toward his home. It was only the end of May, still early in the summer, but the Chicago heat had already started to swell. He didn't mind though. With the heat, his summer vacation had begun.
Home at last.
Exams, over. No more term papers. No more endless debate team meetings. His first year at the University of Chicago, finished.
He slung his duffle bag over his shoulder. In the familiar front yard ahead, the roses in the garden should be in full bloom.
Indeed, the blossoms were as spectacular as he expected. What he didn't expect was a teenage girl kneeling on the ground, chopping away at the flowers surrounding the tiered water fountain. Her brown hair, cut just below her shoulders, fell forward down her neck. Her arms were lithe and quick as she gathered the cut roses. He had never seen her before.
Vandal! He walked closer. She was an unusual-looking girl. She wore her hair straight. Girls didn't usually wear their hair straight. Her bangs were dampened by perspiration and her hands and slender fingers were covered in soil. She wiped the sweat dripping down the side of her face, leaving a dirt mark on her left cheek. So immersed in her task of ravaging the roses, she didn't look up when he approached.
"Who are you?" he demanded to know. "You're trespassing."
"Who are you?" she asked him back, surprising him with her British accent. "Why do I have to answer to you?"
"Because this is my home," he said. A large patch of the flowerbed was now in disarray. "What have you done? You're destroying private property."
The girl barely raised an eyebrow. Without answering him, she picked up the cut flowers and put them into a bag next to her, then got up and walked away.
"Hey!" he called out after her. "Come back here! I'm not done talking to you."
Ignoring him, she disappeared onto the street, leaving him with no answer except the gurgles of water flowing down the fountain.
He looked at the ravaged scene she left behind. His family had set aside this part of the garden as a dedication. They had planted the most beautiful species of roses here. Several home and gardening magazines had even printed feature articles about it. Now, patches of leaves and shrubs were crushed. Headless stems stuck out from what was once an enchanting arrangement of flowers. The garden's beauty was ruined.
Their gardener would surely have a fit tomorrow.
He crouched down and removed the leaves that covered the small memorial plaque on the ground. Designed in the shape of a rock, the plaque was placed in an inconspicuous spot of the flowerbed to naturally blend into the garden's landscape. Engraved on the plaque were the words, "Anthony Browning, 1903-1919 ~ Gone but not forgotten." He had never met the person named on the plaque. He did, however, feel a special kinship with the deceased. Anthony Browning was his father's cousin and had passed away before he was born. His father had named him in memory of Browning. Growing up, many people had said he and Browning looked alike, with the same blond hair and athletic built.
The memorial garden. What a mess it had become. Who was that girl? Was she a neighbor's kid? Perhaps a British family had moved into the neighborhood? He needed to tell his mother and ask her if she knew the girl. They should tell the girl's parents what she had done. He hurried up the lane toward the circular driveway in front of the house.
Inside his home, his Uncle Leon was visiting with his parents in the parlor. Actually, Leon Caldwell was his father's other cousin. But as far back as he could remember, he had always called him Uncle Leon.
His mother, Sophia, rose from her seat when he walked in. "Anthony! You're home."
"Mother." He threw down his duffle bag and gave her a hug. "Father," he said to his father.
His father, William, also got up to greet him. "Welcome home."
"Did you see what happened outside? A girl stole roses from the memorial garden. She made a total mess of it. Do you know who she is? Is she a neighbor's kid?"
"She's not a neighbor." Sophia took his arm and walked him into the room. "That was Tessa. Tessa Graham. She's staying with us."
"Staying with us?"
"Come. Take a seat," William said. "We'll tell you all about her later."
Anthony sat down next to his mother. "Uncle Leon, what brought you here today?"
"Came to talk to your father about trade opportunities in Latin America," Leon said. "Europe is having widespread shortages of everything with that war they got themselves into. Oil, metals, sugar, everything. If all I care about are profits, we should absolutely invest more in South America, for access to raw materials if nothing else. As it is, though," he said and rubbed his chin, "I have a lot of misgivings about putting my money into anything that might get us more involved with that pot of trouble in Europe. A lot."
"What's happening with the war?" Anthony asked. "I haven't kept up with the news. Been buried with exams the last few weeks."
"Things aren't looking good," William said. "The war, it's spreading like a disease through the Continent."
"Tell me about it," Leon said. "It's a plague. They better keep their sickness in quarantine. Don't let us catch a whiff and infect us with it." He finished the last drop of his brandy. "I don't understand those people. Wasn't the last time bad enough? Wasn't it supposed to be the war to end all wars? But no, they're at it all over again. Well I say, let them stew in their own juice this time. Keep us out of it."
Neither William nor Anthony disputed him. They knew well how vocal Leon could be with his anti-intervention views. Few people were as well-versed as he when it came to the political and economic arguments against American involvement, and he would be the first to debate anyone on the subject. As his family, though, they knew the real reason why he felt this way. His brother, Lex, had been an air force pilot. Lex died in the Great War twenty-two years ago. Before he died, they had been close.
William Ardley, Leon and Lex Caldwell, and Anthony Browning. The four cousins had grown up together and were very close.
"But Juliet and Dean are over there in London," Sophia said. Her mention of Juliet piqued Anthony's attention. Juliet was an unspoken taboo in the Ardley household. He didn't know all the details as to why. Juliet had left the family before he was born and he had never met her. All he knew was, Anthony Browning's father had adopted her after his son passed away, and as a result, she became part of their extended family. Something happened afterward and led to a fall-out. The fall-out was so bad that his late grandmother Helen Ardley had absolutely forbidden anyone from mentioning Juliet in her presence when she was alive. Even now, with his grandmother no longer here, his parents and uncle became somber at the mere mention of Juliet's name.
"Since we're on the subject, Anthony. The girl you asked about before, Tessa, she's Dean and Juliet's daughter," William said.
"Dean and Juliet's daughter? Are you serious?"
"We didn't tell you earlier because you were busy with exams and there was no reason to disturb you. I went to London last month to see Juliet and Dean. London's unsafe. I invited them to come back with me but they didn't want to. They did agree Tessa should come live with us until they're sure England is safe."
"Oh." He couldn't believe his father had gone to London. No one in the family had spoken to Juliet in years.
"It must be tough for Tessa," Sophia said. "She's young. She's in a foreign country away from her parents, living with people she never met before she came."
"I don't know about that, Sophie," William smiled at his wife. He always called her "Sophie" as a term of affection. "If she's anything like her mother, she won't be fazed by any of this." He spoke with the tone of fondness he used whenever he talked about Anthony Browning and Lex. Anthony had never heard his father speak this way about Juliet before. It seemed his trip to London had brought them closer again.
"She's been good with Alexander," Leon said, referring to his ten-year-old son. "I wish she and Katherine could be friends though. They're the same age. I thought they would become best friends." Katherine was Leon's fourteen-year-old daughter.
"You want them to be the way we used to be with Juliet," William said. Leon smiled and didn't deny it.
"Sometimes, you just can't go back." William looked over at a framed photo on the display cabinet. In the photo, he, Leon, Lex, and Anthony Browning were still teenagers. They had their arms around each other's shoulders.
"At least Juliet is back on speaking terms with us," Sophia said. "Anthony?"
"Yes, Mother?"
"Try to make Tessa feel welcome and at home, will you? We must all try."
"Of course." Feeling a little ashamed, he shifted his eyes away from her. Maybe he shouldn't have been so confrontational with the girl earlier. He would have to properly introduce himself and make it up to her later. "But why was she picking the flowers in the rose garden?"
"She takes them to the hospital. Apparently, Juliet planted a rose garden in London in memory of your uncle Anthony too. Juliet's a nurse now. When the flowers bloom, she brings them to her patients. In the summer, she always took Tessa with her." Sophia took a sip of her tea. "Tessa asked us if she could take our roses to the hospital and I told her yes. I guess it's a way for her to keep something consistent in her life."
"Isn't it strange to take flowers away from a memorial garden?"
"Not for Juliet," William said. "Anthony and Juliet used to bring roses to the hospitals every week for the Great War veterans. They started doing that after Lex died. As for taking roses from the memorial garden…" He glanced at Leon. "She said that's what Anthony would've wanted." He turned back to his son, "You know, our rose garden was originally her idea."
That their rose garden was Juliet's idea was news to Anthony. The garden had been there since before he was born. He had never thought to ask how it came about.
"Leon, why don't you and Anna bring Katherine and Alexander over this Sunday?" Sophia asked. "Now that Anthony's home, we can have a nice family reunion and Tessa can get to know everyone better."
"Sure. I'll tell Anna."
"How about we make it a pool party?" Anthony said. "Katherine and Alexander can invite their friends."
"That's a wonderful idea," Sophia said. "Tessa can meet some new friends. What do you think, Leon?"
"I'm all for it."
"It's settled then." She sat back into her seat. A gush of admiration rose in Anthony's heart. His mother was always so thoughtful and considerate. She knew exactly how to make everyone around her feel important. His father's success owed no small part to her ability to make his clients feel special when she accompanied him to social functions.
"What?" she asked, noticing her son staring at her.
"Nothing," he said. "Just, it's good to be home."
* * *
When Leon left in the late afternoon, Anthony finally had time for the swim he had been looking forward to all day. Back in high school, he had been a swimming champion and the captain of his academy's swim team. He competed at the university level now, usually with excellent results.
He couldn't wait to dive into the pool. His parents had built this swimming pool especially for him. In the water, he could move around with the kind of freedom he had nowhere else. For him, swimming felt like flying in the air.
On his way to the pool, he saw Tessa lying under a tree. The girl didn't tell anyone she had come back and no one knew she had returned. So aloof, he thought.
Remembering what his mother had said, he decided to take a detour to reintroduce himself. Beneath the tree, she lay with her eyes closed and a book by her side. He couldn't tell if she was asleep or if she had heard him coming.
"Hello, Tessa?"
She opened her eyes. Standing under the tree, he towered over her. He thought she would get up but she didn't. Without acknowledging him, she closed her eyes again.
"I'm Anthony." He crouched down to be closer to her level. She opened her eyes again. He smiled and made an effort to be friendly.
"You're Uncle William and Aunt Sophia's son."
"Yes. I heard you'll be living with us for a while."
"Apparently so."
"Sorry about before. I thought you were one of the neighbors' kids vandalizing our property."
"Apology accepted."
Her answer put him off. He didn't expect her to say that. He wasn't really apologizing to her. It was only a polite way to break the ice. She ought to know that. After all, he hadn't known who she was and she had made a mess of the garden. And now, it was as if he had done something wrong and he was apologizing to a kid.
"You should talk to Mr. Miller. He's our gardener. He can teach you how to handle the roses properly."
She didn't answer him, only frowned. She closed her eyes again. Her attitude was beginning to annoy him. Still, he held his tongue. "What are you reading?"
"A book."
He might as well be talking to a wall. He picked up the book next to her. Damian, by Herman Hesse. An unusual read for a girl, he thought. Definitely not a book of choice for any girl he knew. Not even for the older girls at his school. More popular with them would be something by Jane Austen or Edith Wharton. Maybe poetry by Wordsworth or Emerson, or Charles Dickens if they liked something deeper.
"I prefer to be left alone if you don't mind," she said.
She preferred to be alone? Did she think he didn't have better things to do? He tried to be nice, and all she did was give him a bad attitude.
"All right. Suit yourself." He put the book back on the ground and walked away. He had told his mother he would welcome her. He tried. It was not his concern to waste time befriending a sulking teenage girl.
He walked to the pool and jumped in. In the cool refreshing water, he gave no more thought to the girl under the tree.
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