CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Chapter Fourteen

Eau Claire

Rose and Jack stood before the justice of the peace happily. Jack looked at his sister and made eye contact.

She couldn’t be happier for her brother. It was so funny. She’d thought that on this day, at this time, she’d be staring daggers at her brother’s new bride, but that wasn’t the case. If someone had told her that she’d be filled with joy on Jack’s wedding day, she would have laughed in their faces. But now, here she was, happy that Jack was marrying the woman he loved.

Jack looked at Rose with all the love he felt right now. He squeezed her hand and held her gaze. He loved her so much. Rose felt the same about Jack.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join these two special people in holy matrimony. Does anyone here today have any reasons why this marriage should not take place? Speak now, or forever hold your peace," the justice of the peace said, looking at Caitlin and Cory, who remained silent. The old man just nodded and continued on with the vows, having Jack and Rose repeat after him. After five minutes, they were announced man and wife. Jack and Rose kissed passionately, knowing for sure now that nothing on earth could come between them ever again.

Train Station

Jack, Rose, Caitlin, and Cory stood in front of the train that would take Jack and Rose to Denver, Colorado. Jack was saddened to be separated from his sister and best friend, but he was elated that it was Rose he was leaving with. Rose hated that she wouldn’t get the chance to get to know Jack’s sister better, but she knew that there would be other times, and she looked forward to them. Caitlin hated losing her brother just as she got him back, but she was glad that Caroline Simmons was no longer going to be a part of her family.

"You take care of my brother, Rose." Caitlin hugged her sister-in-law. "And when he acts like a jerk, just give me a ring, and I’ll talk some sense into him."

Rose laughed. "I’ll remember that."

"It was nice meeting you, Rose." Cory hugged her.

"Jack, you treat her right. And stay in touch. I’m coming to visit when that baby gets here." Caitlin hugged her brother tightly. "And Jack…Ma and Pa would be very proud of you, and they would absolutely love Rose."

"I love you, sis. Don’t worry. We’ll keep in touch." Jack hugged his sister twice as tightly.

"All aboard!" the conductor yelled out.

"Well, that’s us." Jack took Rose’s hand. And waved good-bye to Cory and Caitlin. "See you guys!"

"Bye!" Both Cory and Caitlin waved as the train departed and disappeared into the distance, taking Jack and Rose to their future together.

Five Days Later
Denver, Colorado
Brown Mansion

Molly had just gotten through reading the letter that Rose had sent to her, and smiled with joy at her niece’s good fortune. Things were finally going right for Rose and that baby. Now, all Molly had to do was get a room ready for Rose and her new husband. She was about to go and make arrangements when there was a sharp knock on the door.

"Now, who can that be?" Molly grumbled, not liking to be interrupted when she was about to do something. She opened the door to Ruth DeWitt Bukater, her head held high and her glare cutting into Molly like ice. "Ruth. What are you doing here?"

"May I come in, Molly? I’ve had a very long trip and I need to sit down." Ruth entered the house.

"Sure. Make yourself at home." Molly’s voice was flat. What did Ruth want? Why was she here? One thing was for sure--she had to get rid of her before Rose and Jack arrived. She didn’t want this woman to mar Rose’s happiness.

"The place looks gaudy, but it’ll do, I suppose." Ruth took a look at her surroundings. "Really, red, Molly? You could choose another color for your interior here."

"I like red, Ruth." Molly stood in front of her sister-in-law. "Now, do you want to tell me what you’re doing here?"

Ruth fell back against the couch and sighed forlornly. "Well, ever since Rose’s death, things have been falling apart. There was no way for me to pay Ralph’s debts, so they came and took the house and everything in it. Then they took Rose’s trust fund. Plus, I discovered when I got home that the Heart of the Ocean was missing. That belonged to your grandmother, you know. She’d be terribly hurt if she knew it was lost."

Molly smiled to herself. The necklace wasn’t lost. Rose, the person it was meant for, had it. If only Ruth knew.

"Well, I had nowhere else to go, so I came here. Since we are family and all, I knew you’d take me in." Ruth smiled. "You’re all I’ve got now, Molly, with Rose gone and all."

"Rose is in a better place now, Ruth. She’s with people who love her." Molly walked away from Ruth.

"We loved her. I just wanted the best for Rose." Ruth stood up.

"Your actions spoke otherwise, Ruthie," Molly grumbled. "I’ll go have Gertrude prepare your room for you."

"Don’t bother, Molly. I’ll go have her do it. The servants are going to have to learn to follow my orders, anyway. I know how you told them that they didn’t have to listen to me. That’s going to change, Molly…including this ghastly interior. I see royal blue. Don’t you?"

Molly just glared at her. Ruth shrugged and went in search of Gertrude. The nerve of that woman. Coming up into her house and trying to rearrange everything. Ruth DeWitt Bukater was staying in her house over her dead body!

Molly jumped at the ring of the doorbell. Not bothering to wait for her butler once again, she opened the door to reveal Rose and Jack, brilliant smiles on their faces.

"Rose! Jack! I wasn’t expecting to see ya this soon! I just got Rose’s letter today!" Molly exclaimed, hugging her niece. "My, Rose, you’re as big as a house now."

"I know. I keep telling Jack he’s going to divorce me for a nice, skinny vaudeville girl." Rose laughed, hugging Molly tightly.

"And Jack Dawson. You are a sight for sore eyes." Molly gave Jack a big hug. "Come in, both of you. I want details. The details Rose didn’t tell me."

"Well, I don’t know all she told you, so I’ll let slugger here tell the story." Jack laughed, sitting on the loveseat next to Rose.

"Slugger?" Molly arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, that’s Jack’s nickname for me." Rose giggled. "I’ll tell you how I got it, but first let me tell you about what happened on the Carpathia. Caroline found Jack and me when they brought us aboard. She told the officers that Jack was her fiancé, so she had them bring him to the infirmary in third class. Then, Caroline told Jack that I was dead, and changed their names to Jack and Carly Dahl."

"I should have known that girl had something to do with this." Molly shook her head. "I was wondering why she wasn’t attached to Ruth like she was on the Titanic."

"Yeah. She was too busy keeping me and Rose apart," Jack said, a little bit of anger flaring in his blue eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came. "I just thank God that Rose showed up in Chippewa Falls when she did."

"Yeah, he was going to marry her the day after." Rose squeezed his hand.

"What? Jack, Why?"

"Because I had lost Rose and my best friend, Fabrizio. At that time, I felt that life wasn’t worth living, but I didn’t want to be a hypocrite to Rose. So I just let Caroline do whatever she wanted."

"Well, I’m certainly happy that Rose decided to take a trip to Wisconsin for the baby’s sake. I would hate to see you saddled down with that horrible shrew." Molly shook her head. "And Rose. How about that nickname of yours?"

Rose and Jack laughed at the memory of the look on Caroline’s face when Rose had hit her.

"Well, Caroline stopped by Jack’s house, and began insulting him, like always. I had had enough, so I broke her nose." Rose smiled. "Ever since, Jack’s called me slugger."

"Good for you, Rosie!" Molly laughed so hard that she fell back in her chair. "I wish I had been there to see the look on that girl’s face!"

"Oh, Aunt Molly, you would have loved it!" Rose laughed.

"Molly, what’s all the racket down here? You know, that maid of yours can’t hear a thing…" Ruth came down the stairs, and stopped when she saw Rose. "Rose?"

Rose got up and put on her coldest face in order to face her mother. She was not going to let this woman hurt her anymore. "Mother," Rose coldly replied.

"We thought you were dead." Ruth came and stood toe to toe with Rose. Jack got up and placed a supportive hand on Rose’s shoulder, giving Rose the strength and courage she needed.

Rose smiled coldly. "How inconvenient for you."

"Inconvenient, indeed! Do you know how selfish you’ve been, putting all of us through this, and then suddenly deciding to show up alive?"

Rose crossed her arms and shook her head in amusement. Her mother had no idea that Molly had known that Rose was alive all this time. "And is that my necklace you’re wearing?"

"No, Mother. It’s not your necklace. It’s the necklace Daddy’s mother wanted me to have and that you stole. Molly made sure to give it to me before we went our separate ways."

"You knew?" Ruth turned on Molly. "You knew my daughter was alive, and you didn’t tell me? You stood by and watched them take everything away from me, and never told me that the one thing that could get us out of debt was still alive?"

"Oh, Ruth, you don’t get it! Rose is not a possession you can sell to the highest bidder! She’s your daughter! You’re supposed to love and cherish her unconditionally! Since you hadn’t been doing that, I thought it best that she remained dead to you so she could go on with her life in peace and happiness!" Molly growled at Ruth.

"And look at you!" Ruth ignored Molly. "You’re with child, and I can just guess who the father is! You are a little slut, aren’t you!" Ruth raised her hand to slap Rose, but suddenly Jack caught the hand in midair. He wasn’t about to let her hurt Rose in any way. How she had just talked to Rose was the last straw. "Let go of me!"

"You are never going to raise another hand like that to my wife. Do you understand me?" Jack angrily glared, moving in front of Rose. "In fact, you are never going to come near her or talk to her ever again!"

"How do you plan to support my daughter, Mr. Dawson? From what your now ex-fiancée told me, you haven’t worked an honest day in your life." Ruth glared at Jack.

"Don’t believe everything Carly tells you, Mrs. DeWitt Bukater. She was the one out for your money. Not me. I couldn’t care less about how rich you are. All I wanted was Rose." Jack let go of Ruth’s hand. "Now, if you excuse us, it’s been a long trip, and Rose is tired."

"It’s the room on the right, Jack." Molly smiled, proud of the young man for how he had just stood up for Rose.

"Thanks, Molly." Jack smiled, leading Rose up the stairs.

"Wait! That’s my room!" Ruth turned to go after them.

"No, it’s not, Ruth. You’re not welcome in my house, and I want you to leave," Molly coldly replied.

"What?"

"You heard me. You are a hateful woman, and you never cared for Rose. In fact, you’ve always been jealous of her youth and beauty. And now it’s her that has everything, and you have nothing. Now, get out of my house before I have one of the manservants throw you out!" Molly angrily pointed to the door.

"Very well then, Molly. I just guess I have to depend on the kindness of strangers and friends." Ruth held her head up high before storming out of the door, walking out of Rose’s life forever.

Epilogue
Stories