AFTER TITANIC
Chapter Forty-Seven
Five Days Later
Boston
Kathy and Rose were out taking the children
for a walk at the local park when Kathy met the love of her life. Rose had just
taken the children down to the lake to feed the ducks, leaving Kathy alone,
when Kathy was approached by Cameron's friend...Mitchell Humphrey.
"Why, Miss Katherine Dawson! What a
pleasure to find you here." Mitchell Humphrey smiled. "Even though
Cameron said I could find you here...well, you know Cameron."
"Yes, I do." Kathy openly glared at
the man. Oh, why was Cameron insisting on this match? She had already told him
that she hated the man. Maybe if she made him believe she was here with another
gentleman, maybe he'd leave.
"Are you here alone?" Mitchell
looked around.
"No, I'm not, Mr. Humphrey. I'm here
with another gentleman."
"Oh, really? Where is he? If I were him,
I wouldn't be leaving the lady I'm escorting to the park by herself."
"He didn't leave me alone, Mr. Humphrey.
I wandered away. In fact, it's best that I get back to him." Kathy turned
to leave.
"Well, let me escort you back to the
fellow. I'd like to meet him myself. He must be pretty special for you to be so
loyal to him."
Kathy searched the park, looking for the
perfect man who would be willing to pose as her date on the last notice. Then,
she spotted him--a handsome young man with light brown hair and broad shoulders
scribbling in a notebook. He looked nice enough, though he was dressed rather
poorly. But that didn't matter. She was desperate. Thinking quickly, she ran to
him before Mitchell could follow her.
"Do me a favor." She quickly took
the stranger's arm. The man looked at her in confusion. He had never seen this
woman in his life. "Put your arm around me and pretend that we're here on
an outing together."
"You mean like I'm courting you?"
the man asked, his brown eyes lighting up with amusement.
Kathy nodded. The stranger did so just as
Mitchell came up.
"So, this is your date?" Mitchell
looked the man up and down with distaste. This boy obviously wasn't of high
society. No gentleman would dress like that, except Cameron's cousin. But he
hardly was a gentleman. Cameron would be interested in hearing about this.
Katherine nodded, scooting closer to the kind
man who agreed to help cover for her. "We've been courting for a couple of
months now."
"Oh, really? Funny your cousin didn't
mention that. What's your name, sir?"
"Jake. Jake Matthews." The man
grinned and held his hand out for a handshake. Mitchell didn't accept the
handshake. He only nodded.
"Well, I'll be off. I'll see you later,
Katherine." Mitchell nodded, walking out of the park.
Katherine sighed in relief. "Thank you,
Mr. Matthews. You've done me a big favor. I don't know how I'll ever repay
you."
"Oh, it's no biggie. I was glad to be
able to help out such a beautiful woman." Jake smiled again, his brown
eyes sparkling. "So, why did you want to dodge that fellow, anyway?"
"Oh, he's a friend of my cousin,
Cameron. Cameron has this idea that he'd be perfect for me, but I can't stand
Mr. Humphrey. He's the most arrogant man on this earth. He thinks he's God's
gift to women."
"Well, you obviously don't think
so." Jake grinned.
"How did you guess?" Kathy giggled,
beginning to enjoy Jake's company.
Jake moved closer and looked in her eyes.
"Intuition, I guess."
"Kathy?" Rose approached them with
the children.
"Oh, Rose, there you are. You've just
missed my little adventure." Kathy grinned, not taking her eyes away from
Jake.
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. Mr. Humphrey came by and Mr.
Matthews here rescued me." Kathy turned to her cousin.
"He did? How?" Rose glanced at the
handsome stranger. He certainly wasn't upper class. He reminded her of Jack
when they had first met.
"I just posed as her date for the
day." Jake shrugged. "It was no big deal. I better be going. It was a
pleasure, Miss Dawson." Jake took her hand and lightly kissed it.
"Good day, Miss..."
"Dawson." Rose smiled. "Mrs.
Dawson. I'm married to one of Kathy's cousins."
"Oh, yes. Well, it was nice to meet you,
Mrs. Dawson." Jake nodded before disappearing out of the park.
"Kathy, who was that?" Rose
excitedly asked. She had noticed the sparks flying between the two.
"Jake Matthews. I don't really know him.
He was just the nearest man around, so I grabbed him and asked him to act like
we were together, and he did."
"Well, we better get home. It's time for
the twins to eat and Lindsey's nap." Rose picked up the little girl and
let Kathy control the stroller.
"Rose...how was it when you met Jack?
Did you instantly know he was the one? Or did you have to get to know him
first?" Kathy asked.
"It was an instant connection. I felt
him staring up at me on the ship, and I looked back. At first I ignored him,
but somehow his gaze drew me back. Is it like that with this Jake?"
"I don't know. But I think I have to see
him again. I wish I had asked him more about himself." Kathy sighed.
"Don't worry, Kathy. If it was meant to
be, you'll see him again. I mean, look at Jack and me. I was a first class
passenger aboard the Titanic, and he was third class. We weren't ever supposed
to be together, but we did meet again, and we did talk, and fell even deeper in
love. So don't worry...you'll see Jake again."
"You sound so sure." Kathy laughed.
"Jack's been wearing off on you."
"I hope so." Rose smiled.
Dawson Mansion
Rose and Kathy came in to see Jack and James
standing in the corner, while Cameron was in deep conversation with Mitchell
Humphrey. Cameron and Mitchell descended on Kathy as soon as they came in.
"Where have you been, and who were you
with?" Cameron demanded angrily.
"I was at the park with Rose and the
children," Kathy explained. "Stop yelling. You're going to scare the
children."
"Mitchell says you were at the park with
some street trash named Jake!" Cameron didn't calm down. "Who is
Jake, and where did you meet him?"
"I told you I was with Rose."
"She wasn't there when I saw you with
that Jake fellow." Mitchell crossed his arms.
"That's because I had taken the children
down to the lake to feed the ducks," Rose replied. "Kathy wanted some
time to herself."
"Rose...did you see this Jake fellow
they're talking about?" James asked, getting between the girls and
Cameron.
"This is absurd." Rose sighed.
"I don't see what the big deal is."
"We're just trying to get behind who
Kathy was with." Cameron glared at Kathy.
"There was a Jake, but he was a..."
Rose looked at Jack, who looked twice as confused as James. "An artist. He
wanted to draw a sketch of Kathy, the children, and me. But I told him no thank
you. He gave us his name and said if we ever wanted a portrait drawn to let him
know. That's all."
"She's lying, Cameron! He had his arm
around her and confirmed that they were together!" Mitchell angrily
exclaimed.
"Are you calling me a liar, Mr.
Humphrey?" Rose asked angrily.
"Rose, it's time for Lindsey's nap and
the twins need to be fed." Jack immediately came to Rose's side and took
Lindsey. "Let's go on up."
"Will you be okay?" Rose turned to
Kathy, reluctant to leave her alone.
"I'll be fine," Kathy said.
"In fact, I'll join you and Jack. I like to read the twins to sleep after
they've been fed."
"This isn't over with, Katherine,"
Cameron growled as his cousin followed Jack and Rose upstairs. "This isn't
over by a long shot."
"So, do you mind telling me who this
Jake fellow is?" Jack asked once they got upstairs.
"He's just a guy I used to get rid of
Mitchell. That's all." Kathy shook her head. "I didn't know he'd come
back here and make a big ruckus over it. I just asked Jake to act like we were
at the park together so Mitchell would leave me alone, and he did. I think it
was a very nice thing to do for a woman he didn't know."
Jack just shook his head in amusement.
"Gee, Kathy. You sure know how to stir things up, don't you?"
Kathy just laughed. "I sure do. But,
Jack...I wouldn't mind seeing him again. I think you'd like him. He reminds me
of you a lot."
"Well, I'd like to meet him someday,
since you fancy him so much."
"I'd like that, too, Jack." Kathy
nodded. "I'd like that, too."