𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 -𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚘𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚎 '𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎' 𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎

Chapter 38

    Meg, Amy, Mary, and Jo are all in the carriage, making top speed through the rain. They arrive at the train station, stopping at a quick halt in front of the entrance. Amy throws the door open.
"GO! Find him!"
Jo runs in the rain towards the beautifully lit station. The sisters watch her from the carriage, hoping they find him. The thunderclaps almost act as a symphony to the moment.
Jo runs into the crowd in front of the train station, looking for Friedrich. He's not there, every face isn't his. Couple after couple stands under umbrellas and she seeks for him through them. She runs into the station and then, turns around to go back out thinking she missed him.
Meg hits her sisters to which they complain but she cuts them off, "Look!"
"Jo!"
Jo sees Friedrich, also standing under an umbrella, but alone. She runs towards him. Mary and her sisters all hold hands, happy for their sister. She feels her emotions rising, she starts to cry, despite herself.
"Jo, why are you crying?" Friedrich asks, close enough to see her tears now.
"Because -- because you are going
away." She stumbles with her words.
He grins, "I would never leave if you wished me to stay."
Jo assents, "I wish you would stay."
Friedrich frowns, "But, but I have nothing to give you, but my full heart and these empty hands."
Jo puts her hands in his, and steps under the umbrella, "They aren't empty now."
They kiss one of those epic perfect kisses. The train arrives with a whistle and the sisters watch as he looks back at it. He smiles and continues kissing Jo.
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"Where is Jo?" Mary asks her other sisters.
Amy looks to Meg, "She is, you know, fretting over the flowers."
Mary raises an eyebrow, "That doesn't sound like Jo."
Meg clears her throat, "Don't worry about Jo. Let's focus on you."
Meg grabs the strings of her corset. Mary stares at them through the mirror she was facing. She watched as Amy and Meg keep glancing at each other. Mary shakes her head, annoyed.
"Oh, great." Mary sighs and puts her hand on her stomach, looking at her appearance in the mirror, "My wedding day and Jo is nowhere to be found."
"I knew she was gonna find out." Amy tells Meg.
Meg shoots a glare at Amy, "Don't worry about it. We have people looking for her."
Mary walks to the bed and slumps, "Maybe it's a sign."
"Mari, are you having second thoughts?" Meg questions.
"Of course not. I love Laurie, but..."
"It'll be okay. I'll go look for Jo right now." Meg turns to Amy, "You get her ready."
Meg rushes out of the room. Amy sits next to Mary, who is looking out the window. The Laurence residence had proven to be an amazing venue for the wedding. From the window, she could see John Vanderbilt running around and yelling orders. 8am in the morning and he's already checked on Mary five times.
He had become more invested in this wedding than the own bride. There was a point when preparing that he had just taken over and Mary was grateful. She had been too busy with taking care of her patients.
Mr. Laurence had told her that he could find another caregiver in which she replied, "You could, but there would be none willing to put up with you and your grandson." He had laughed and dropped the subject. Mary was relieved, not wanting to seem like she was overwhelmed.
"Mari, are you alright?"
Mary nods, not looking over at Amy, "Do you think Jo won't show up?"
"No, no way. I refuse to think it." Amy puts her hand on Mary's, "She knows how important this is. Even her feelings about you and Laurie wouldn't keep her away, it couldn't."
"I wish she would've just told me about the book." Mary's voice quivers, "I didn't even know about the letter."
Mary keeps looking straight. She sees her reflection in the mirror and Amy's face. A face that is filled with pity. Mary looks down again, almost ashamed of the fight that Jo and her got into.
"She didn't want to upset you and maybe it wasn't the best approach but she meant well." Amy tries to convince.
"Does she love him? I mean.." Mary's voice cracks this time, "Do you think she loves him?"
"Mari, we are too old and have gone through too much to go back to this." Amy softens as she catches a glimpse of Mary's face, "You read the book. You know that the ending was Friedrich. He is her happy ending."
"I know, Amy. I am happy for her and her book. I just wish I didn't have to find out from Annie Moffat, of all people, that my whole life was printed in a book and published, along with things I didn't even know about my sister and fiancé." Mary buries her face in her hands.
          "You know it wasn't like that, Mary." Another voice shows up in the room.
            The two girls glance to the door to see Jo. Mary turns back to the window. Amy gets up from the bed.
          "I'll leave you two alone." Amy struts out of the room after squeezing Mary's hand. "Good
to see you, Jo."
            "How was your trip to Virginia, Jo?" Mary asks.
          "Oh, come on, Mary. Can we talk about it?" Jo comes closer to her.
             "Jo, it's my wedding day." Mary gets up, now standing and staring out the window.
             Jo stays where she is, gazing at the back of Mary's head. Mary can feel the eyes on her but she would rather look outside than look to the eyes of her upset sister.
            "I never wanted to hurt you. I just knew you wouldn't like the book." Jo confesses.
           "I wouldn't like the book?" Mary scoffs, "Jo, I love the book. It was amazing. What I didn't like was that my sister couldn't even tell me about it. What I didn't like was that you kept so much from me. What I didn't like was that you  published a book to the whole world with those secrets."
          "Mary, I'm so sorry."
           "I know you are, Jo." Mary turns to see her sister.
          Mary didn't want to make her feel ashamed or even, regretful. She just was upset that her sister couldn't come to her. Mary shifts her gaze down to a letter in Jo's hand.
          "What's that?"
            Jo immediately holds out the letter to her. Mary takes it gently and looks at the label. She reads, 'To Teddy, From Jo'.
            Jo takes a large breath, "That was the letter that I put in the mailbox, you know the one that Laurie gave us those keys too."
          "I remember the chapter in the book." Mary mutters, more hostile than she meant too.
          "Well, that's the letter and if you want to read it, you can." Jo pauses, expecting Mary to read it but then continues, "Or you can read this letter."
         Mary shifts her glance. She sees Jo holding up another letter. She looks at Jo with confusion.
          "This is the letter that Laurie had sent me. It was after he had seen you in Paris at a Library." Jo elaborates.
          "Why are you giving me this?"
           "I want you to see the difference between a letter of selfishness and a letter of true love." Jo explains, "I was wrong for keeping all those secrets, like that he had come to me after you broke his heart, but I don't regret it."
           "Because you got a top-selling book out of it?" Mary tries to joke.
          Jo gives her a look, "No. I don't regret it because if all of this had happened differently, then I wouldn't be watching two people, who are obviously in love, get married today."
          Mary's eyes swell with tears, "Jo..."
          Jo stares at Mary, expectantly. Mary keeps staring at the letters, deciding if she should read them. Her eyes gaze over them and her heart beats as she analyzed Laurie's scribbling.
           Mary drops the letters and jumps on her sister. She grabs her sister with a huh that could break her bones. Jo gladly accepts it.
           "Oh Mary, I'm so sorry."
           "I know. I am too." Mary buried her face in Jo's shoulder. "I love you, Jo. I'm so sorry."
             "I love you too." Jo pulls away and looks at Mary, "Oh, you have to stop crying or Amy is going to kill us."
          "My makeup?" Mary questions, going for the mirror.
            "It'll be okay." Jo reassures.
            "I know." Mary smiles, "Well, let's go get the others. I'm getting married today!"
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