CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Chapter Thirteen
The Next Morning
Rose stretched and yawned
contently. What a wonderful dream. Her Jack had returned to her and had asked
him to marry him. She hated to wake up. She groaned and opened her eyes to the
most wonderful vision in the world. Jack sleeping next to her, his arms tightly
wrapped around her. How extraordinary…it wasn’t a dream after all. In just a
couple more hours, she’d be Mrs. Jack Dawson and would be heading out for the
horizon with the man she loved.
Suddenly, Molly popped into
Rose’s mind. Her aunt would be thrilled to hear that Jack was alive and well
and that he was going to make her his wife. In fact, she was going to get up
and write the letter right this minute. With the whole house still asleep,
there was nothing else for her to do.
Pulling herself out of Jack’s
warm embrace, she went to her bag and took out a pen and some stationery. Not
wanting to disturb Jack by turning on the light so she could write, Rose headed
down to the kitchen, where she could write the letter without disturbing anyone.
Sitting down, a slight smile on
her lips, Rose began her letter.
Dear Aunt Molly,
Hello. This is my most recent
letter, dated October 15, 1912. Aunt Molly, so many extraordinary things have
happened to me today, my first day in the little town of Chippewa Falls,
Wisconsin…Jack’s hometown. Now, before you grow all concerned and worried about
my emotional state, I just want you to know that this visit has brought nothing
but happiness to me. I have found out so many wonderful, in fact extraordinary,
things.
First of all, I met a
wonderful girl by the name of Caitlin Dawson. That’s right. Dawson. She’s
Jack’s twin sister. Oh, Aunt Molly, she looks so much like him. Same blond
hair, blue eyes, and dazzling smile. She even has his personality. So kind-hearted,
generous, and easy-going.
Well, anyway, when I first met
her, I suspected she was Jack’s sister, but I didn’t want to say anything about
Jack or his death. It just didn’t seem to be the right time. Well, anyway, she
took me in, since the boarding houses were all filled up.
Well, she took me in, and I
found myself trusting her completely. I couldn’t help myself. Plus the fact
that she reminded me so much of Jack…and there were reminders of him
everywhere, Molly. Everywhere I turned, I could see something that had once
belonged to him. But that wasn’t enough. She kept talking of her brother…her
very much alive brother that was going to get married the next day. Despite my
suspicions, plus Jack had never mentioned another brother and since Jack was
dead, it couldn’t possibly be him, I asked her questions. It was when she said
that her brother’s name was indeed Jack Dawson and that they were twins did I
finally catch on.
And Aunt Molly, you won’t
believe what happened next. It was like something out of a dream. He came right
through that door. The most beautiful man in my life…the only one who could
make my heart do somersaults and cause my spirit to soar above all the hurt and
pain of the past several months. His face was deathly pale and his blue eyes were
opened wide in shock and disbelief, but it was indeed him…my Jack. Oh, Molly,
it was Jack, and he’s alive and well and right now sleeping quite peacefully up
in the bed we shared last night. But anyway, we were in each other’s arms in
minutes, declaring our love for one another and delight to discover that
neither of us were lost in the terrible Titanic tragedy.
And he’s thrilled about the
prospect of becoming a father. You should have seen his eyes light up with
complete and utter joy when I made my condition known.
More happened after that, but
I would rather tell you in person, whenever we get to Denver. I’m sure Jack
would like to see you again and express his thanks for taking such good care of
me after the Titanic when we had gotten separated. That, in itself, is a whole
other story. I’ll fill you in when we come to visit. Right now, I leave off. I
hear Jack or Caitlin walking about upstairs, and I don’t want to seem rude or
preoccupied, especially with my future sister-in-law. So I’ll leave off here.
Oh, Aunt Molly, I’m so
deliriously happy. I’ve finally gotten my Jack back, and we’ll never be
separated again.
Love,
Rose
"Rose?" Caitlin asked,
entering the kitchen. "What are you doing up so early? I thought that most
definitely you’d still be in bed with Jack. He’s always been a late
riser."
"So I’ve noticed." Rose
giggled. "I just wanted to write a letter to my Aunt Molly, telling her
that Jack survived. She’ll be so happy, Caitlin. Do you know, it was she who
made sure that I’d see Jack again on the Titanic? She knew we were meant for
each other from the very start."
"She sounds like a very
smart woman." Caitlin smiled, her interest in the woman that had captured
her brother’s devotion and had the power to make his eyes light up with joy
again growing. Rose was indeed very different from the other society girls she
had come in contact with. "So, what’s the first thing you and Jack are
planning to do today?"
"Well…we’re going to head to
Eau Claire and get married. Then, hopefully, we’ll head out to Denver to visit
Aunt Molly. After that…I don’t know." Rose sighed. "We didn’t really
get further than that."
"I can’t believe it, Rose.
When Jack returned to Chippewa Falls…I never thought he’d have another happy
day in his life, but when he saw you…it’s like he came back to life."
Caitlin grinned. "I can’t tell you how thankful I am to you for that. I
just wish we had more time to get to know each other, but with Carly and her
group…it’s best that you and Jack leave today."
"You and Cory are going to
accompany us to Eau Claire, aren’t you? I’m sure it’ll mean a lot to have you and
Cory there at the ceremony, even though it’s not going to be much."
"Of course we’ll come. We
wouldn’t miss Jack marrying the woman that he loves. Wild horses couldn’t keep
us away."
"Morning, Caitlin."
Jack walked down the stairs, his face downcast, his blue eyes dimmed. Having
awakened alone, he knew that yesterday was just a dream…a last ditch hope to
avoid marrying Caroline. Rose really hadn’t come back…she was dead and gone.
Probably buried somewhere in Philadelphia. He was so deep in his despair he
didn’t even bother to look up.
"Jack?" Caitlin asked,
wondering why her brother was so melancholy.
"Darling?" Rose stood
from her chair, concern shining in her green eyes. She hated seeing him look so
dejected. "What’s wrong?" Then, Rose’s eyes filled with horror and
despair. "You haven’t changed your mind, have you? You haven’t decided
that you don’t want me and the baby after all, have you?"
Jack looked up quickly, his eyes
lighting back up. So it wasn’t a dream after all. She was still here.
"Rose…it’s really you." Jack swooped her up in a tight embrace.
"When I woke up alone this morning, I thought yesterday was just a dream.
I couldn’t believe life was being so cruel."
"Oh, Jack." Rose
couldn’t help but giggle. "It’s no dream…we’re here together…at last. This
time, nothing will break us apart."
"Well, I guess I’d better go
on up and help get Jack’s things together for your trip. I’ll leave you two
alone now. Jack, you can cook breakfast. Let Rose have a sampling of what’s in
store for her." Caitlin smiled, exiting the kitchen, leaving Jack and Rose
alone together.
They just stood there for a
couple of minutes, just looking into each other’s eyes. Then, Rose kissed him
long and deep. He held onto her shoulders for dear life. She was never going to
let him go again.
"Rose." Jack smiled,
coming up for air.
"Yes, darling?"
"What do you want for
breakfast?" Jack laughed at the look of shock on her face. She wasn’t
expecting that question.
"Well, that’s easy.
You." Rose grinned, going in for another kiss, but Jack pulled away.
"Something edible."
Jack laughed.
"Eggs and coffee will be
fine." Rose smiled. "I’m not all that hungry."
"But our little one must be
starved." Jack broke an egg into a skillet. "You know what? I should
make you the famous Dawson omelet. It’s a Dawson specialty."
"Okay. That sounds good. How
do you make it?" Rose came and stood behind Jack. The idea had just
occurred to her that she and Jack wouldn’t have servants to cook for them. They
had to fix meals themselves, and it’d be good to watch Jack and learn how to
cook herself so all the burden wouldn’t go on him.
"Well, you have your basic
eggs. Then you add your ham, onions, black olives, lots and lots of cheese, and
sausage," Jack explained, adding the ingredients. "You’re going to
love this, Rose."
"Not as much as I love
you." Rose kissed his cheek gently.
"You’re sweet." Jack
smiled. "Rose, we’re going to be so happy. Trust me."
"You know I do." Rose
placed her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his back as he
finished making the omelets. Five minutes later, they sat down to breakfast.
"Bon appetit." Jack
smiled.
Rose took a bite of the omelet
and was in heaven. This was the best tasting omelet she’d ever had in her life.
"Jack, this is delicious. You’re a wonderful cook."
Jack blushed at the compliment.
He wasn’t used to getting compliments from the woman he was going to marry.
This was an entirely new thing to him. He thanked God that he had found Rose,
not only on the Titanic, but also here in Chippewa Falls.
"Thank you, Rose. But that’s
not the only thing I can make. You can say that I spent a lot of my time in the
kitchen with my mother. I picked up on all the dishes she cooked."
Rose smiled and looked down at
the table. She was going to be such a burden to him. He should be warned.
"Jack…there’s something I have to tell you." Tears sprang to Rose’s
eyes as she thought about the possibility of him not wanting her because of her
inexperience.
"What is it, angel? Why are
you crying?" Jack asked, taking her hand, his eyes shining with concern.
He hated seeing Rose sad. He wanted all her days to be filled with happiness.
"Because I’m useless. Jack,
I don’t know anything about being a lower class wife. I mean…I can host any
party and play bridge with the best of them. I can host a tea gathering and
even a dinner party. I can play hostess to any business meeting. But when it
comes down to cooking, doing the laundry, raising children, and keeping house…I’m
totally clueless." Rose began to cry. "You want to leave me now,
don’t you? You want to leave me."
"Oh, Rose, no. I don’t want
to leave you. I’ll never leave you. Listen, you’ll learn all those things, and
they’ll be like second nature to you. Trust me. And even if you don’t learn
them, so what? I can do them. I don’t mind. Just as long as we’re together,
that’s all that matters to me." Jack squeezed her hand.
"Really?"
"Really." Jack smiled
reassuringly at her.
Rose smiled happily, those
insecurities put behind her for now.