IN THE ARMS OF A STRANGER
Chapter Fourteen

Six Months Later

Caledon Hockley grunted as he stepped out of the carriage that had carried him to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. This was where his detective had said he had spotted his fiancée, Rose DeWitt Bukater...Dawson. It was hard for him to believe that she had gone and married a man she had known for only a month, and a poor man at that...not rich. Ruth had begged Caledon not to go to Chippewa Falls. To leave her daughter down there to live in the mess that she called her life. But Caledon was curious. How was Rose faring, living life as a lower class citizen? She couldn't be happy, of course. Who would be, after living in luxury all their life?

Spotting the small country store across the way, he went there first. He was going to need a place to stay. An attractive blonde was standing behind the counter, her blue eyes wide with curiosity.

"Is there a hotel anywhere around here?" Caledon asked smartly. "I've had a long train ride and am in need of suitable accommodations."

"We don't have a hotel, but there's a boarding house down the way there. Mrs. Emma will let you stay there for a good price." The girl smiled. "How long are you going to be with us, sir?"

"I don't know." Cal shrugged. It all depended on Rose. "Thank you." Cal nodded before leaving the store and heading for the boarding house.

*****

Susan sat at her mother's desk, reading a book of poetry, when the dark-haired man waltzed in and brought his hand down on the table. Susan looked up and arched her eyebrows in surprise. He was a swell, of course. A handsome swell, and an arrogant one.

"May I help you?" Susan sighed wearily.

"Give me the best room this place has." The swell looked the place over as if deciding it was worth gracing with his presence.

"Sure. For how long?"

"Indefinitely." The man pursed his lips.

"It's the first room on the left." She handed a house key to the man. "My mother will be up to go over the rules of the house with you later. I hope you enjoy your stay with us, Mr..."

"Hockley. Mr. Caledon Hockley." The man snatched the key away from her and stormed up the stairs.

Susan sat in stunned silence. She had heard the name before. From Rose when she was telling Susan about her life in Philadelphia. That was the man she had been engaged to when she had met Jack. Picking up her coat, Susan raced out of the house and on down to the Dawsons. Rose needed to know that her ex-fiancé was in town, and by the look of things, he was in a bad mood.

*****

Rose was sitting on her porch in a rocking chair, happily knitting a baby booty and humming a tune while Jack sat on the stairs, sketching her, when Susan arrived out of breath.

"Hey, Susan, what's wrong with you? You look like you've run in one of those marathons." Jack laughed.

"I feel like it, too."

"I'll get ya a chair." Jack got up and disappeared into the house. One minute later, he emerged with a kitchen chair and set it next to Rose. "There ya go."

"Thank you, Jack." Susan smiled. "I just stopped by to warn Rose."

"Warn me of what? That Brianna's going to come over here again and try to pretend that she and Jack are having an affair while I'm home alone, all fat and ugly?"

"No. That a certain ex-fiancé is staying at our boarding house and he's in a sour mood. He said that he'd be staying indefinitely." Susan crossed her arms.

Rose paled and her hand flew to her mouth. "You don't mean...Cal? He can't be here. I mean...I didn't tell my mother where we were living."

"Must have been a private detective," Jack said, going to his wife's side. "Did he mention anything about Rose, Susan?"

"No. He just said he'll be here indefinitely. I thought I should warn you, though."

"Not that it makes much of a difference," a strange voice spoke up. The voice wasn't strange to Rose. She recognized it immediately. Cal. "So, there's my wayward ex-fiancée. How long has it been, dear? Seven months?"

"What do you want, Cal?" Rose coldly asked, getting to her feet. "Did Mother send you?"

"No, sweetpea. Your mother did not send me. In fact, she begged me not to come here. To let you live in the mess you've made. But I was curious. I wanted to see if you were truly happy living like a bohemian. How a girl who only knows how to shop and host parties is surviving out here in the real world."

"I'm surviving just fine, thank you. And now that your curiosity is satisfied, I suggest that you leave on the next train out of here," Rose growled.

"Oh, and I see you're in the family way. Congratulations." Cal didn't move. "You know, Rose, I would have given you everything. But you were never agreeable to anything. You always insisted on making everything hard on yourself. You couldn't even be happy boarding the Titanic. The most luxurious ship in the world..."

"That's now at the bottom of the sea." Rose crossed her arms. "Too bad it didn't take you with it."

"Okay. Let's stop right here." Jack interrupted the argument. "Things are starting to get out of hand. Listen, Mr. Hockley, Rose obviously doesn't want to see you right now, so I suggest that you go on back to the boarding house. Susan will show you the way back."

"I'm happy to oblige, but I will return, and when I do, Rose and I are going to have a little talk about proper ways of breaking an engagement." Turning around, Cal followed Susan down the dirt path.

"The nerve of him!" Rose steamed. "How dare he come here?"

"Calm down, Rose. Tension isn't good for the baby." Jack walked over and massaged her shoulders. "I don't know what he wants, but I doubt he's here to get you back."

"No. He's just here to make my life miserable. That's all." Rose collapsed in the chair. "Jack, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Rose. Wait and see, I guess."

*****

Cal and Susan had just returned to the boarding house to find Brianna waiting for him, wearing her best courting dress.

"Why, hello, Mr. Hockley. I just came over to see how you like our small town so far." Brianna smiled demurely.

"I hate it." Cal snorted before disappearing into the boarding house, leaving Susan and Brianna to themselves.

"You are so obvious." Susan shook her head in disgust.

"It's better to be obvious than an old maid, which you're going to be if you don't get yourself in gear to court. Take Mr. Hockley there. He's rich, handsome, and single. The best combination. All the girls must want him."

"You have a lot to learn, Brianna. Looks and money are not everything. And the single part of Mr. Hockley is not of his choosing. Rose found him too detestable to marry."

"What does she have to do with it?"

"She's his ex-fiancée. She dumped him like he was yesterday's news." Susan grinned. "But if you want him, go ahead. I'm sure Rose wouldn't care if you took her leftovers."

Glaring angrily, Brianna turned and stormed down the road, back to her grandmother's country store. Susan had to smile in satisfaction at getting back at her old-time enemy.

"Susan, what's going on out here? What did you do to Brianna this time?" her mother asked, appearing in the doorway.

"I just put her in her place. Where's our new tenant?"

"Upstairs unpacking." Mrs. Emma sighed wearily. "Who is he, Susan? And what does he want here in Chippewa Falls?"

"He's Mr. Caledon Hockley, son of Nathan Hockley, Philadelphia steel tycoon and Rose's ex-fiancé. He's here to see what Rose found so important to dump him for." Susan shrugged.

"My goodness." Mrs. Emma shook her head. "I feel for the man, but I hope he doesn't cause trouble for those two. That's all they need, with a baby on the way."

"Don't worry, Mother. Rose handles him pretty well. She knows how to hold her own." Susan grinned, remembering the line about Cal not disappearing with the Titanic. Her smile faded when Cal reappeared in the doorway.

"Is there a telephone anywhere in this place? I need to make a business call!" he demanded.

"The parlor," Mrs. Emma directed.

Cal just snorted and disappeared back into the house.

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Emma placed a hand to her cheek. Rose Dawson might be able to handle Caledon Hockley, but how would the rest of the town handle him?

*****

Rose woke up in the middle of the night out of a nightmare about Cal chasing her and Jack through the sinking Titanic with a gun. She glanced over at Jack and sighed in relief that it was just a nightmare.

Why was Cal here? What could he possibly want? It obviously wasn't her. If it was her he wanted, he would have insisted on dragging her back to Philadelphia. Sighing forlornly, Rose got up and stood at the window, looking up at the stars.

She remembered when she was a little girl and her father had taken her outside to look at the stars. She could still remember the little poem he had recited to her. She placed a gentle hand on her swollen stomach as she thought of her baby. She wished her father was here with her now...to reassure her that everything was going to be all right. That Cal wouldn't ruin her marriage to the guardian angel he had sent from heaven.

"Rose?" Jack asked, waking up to find her spot empty.

"I'm right here, Jack." Rose smiled.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

"I was just thinking about my father. I wonder if he's looking after us right now, Jack. Do you think he is?"

"Of course." Jack got out of the bed, went to her, and placed his hands over hers. "Both my parents and your father are probably looking down on us right now, discussing how proud they are that we found our way to each other. And now, as a reward, they've sent us this little angel here."

"What do you want, Jack? A boy or a girl?" Rose asked.

"Girl. I want her to have your eyes, your red curls, and your smile, of course."

"Jack...I'm kind of scared. I mean, with Cal here now...I don't know what's going to happen."

"Don't worry, Rose. I'm here. I'll protect you. I won't let that man harm you in any way. I promise."

Rose smiled. "Thank you, Jack. That's all I need to know—that you'll be here with me through all this."

"I'll always be here for you, Rose. Now and forever." Jack kissed her cheek gently and pulled her back to the bed. "Come on, now. It's time to turn in. We have a long day tomorrow."

Chapter Fifteen
Stories