THE CHIPPEWA FALLS DAWSONS
Chapter Eleven
Rose woke up that morning, not sure how she
felt. It was very early; the sun was barely up. Yet everyone else in the house
was up. She knew that today was going to be her wedding day, and she lay in bed
thinking. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. "Come in,"
Rose said.
"It’s Katrina and Thomas Junior, Rose.
Can we come in?"
Rose sat up and said, "Yes."
"I came to ask you if you need anything
today. I noticed that you don’t have much clothing, and I thought that maybe
you’d like to borrow a dress."
"Katrina, that was very nice of you, but
I want to get married in a special dress. Let me show you." Rose got up
and walked over to the small wardrobe. She pulled out a very common-looking
dress. It was white, with big patches of pastel blue, pink, and purple. The
dress was very long, and it even had a train. Rose turned and looked at
Katrina. Even though she hadn’t even talked to Katrina, she could tell she had
hurt the girl’s feelings by refusing. "Katrina, sit down. Let me
explain." Rose waited while Katrina sat, watching how easily she moved
Thomas from her hip to her lap. Will I be as good a mother? Rose
thought. She smiled. No time for that now.
"Katrina, this dress is very special to
me. It was in this dress that I first realized that I could be with Jack. My
mother had engaged me to a man of her choosing, and I didn’t like him. I put
this dress on when I decided to run away with Jack. I had to wear this dress
for a week. When we got to New York, I found a lady who was willing to repair
all the damage for very cheap. Jack thinks I threw this dress out. It will mean
so much to me to wear it today."
"Rose, of course you should wear your
dress, then. I had no idea. You say that Jack thinks that the dress was thrown
out?"
"Yes."
"Then, maybe…I think I have an idea that
you might like. If you’re as mischievous as I think."
Rose sat next to her on the bed, and listened
to what she had to say. Slowly Rose began to smile, and nod. Katrina’s plan was
an excellent one.
Meanwhile, in another room in the house:
Jack was pacing the floor in the room he was
sharing with Michael. Michael had gone to hunt up his tuxedo. He had worn it
for his brother’s wedding, and wanted Jack to borrow it. When he heard the door
open, he looked up. Michael was coming into the room, carrying a big box.
"I had to go all the way to Eau Claire
for this tuxedo. I worked odd jobs on other farms to get the money to pay for
it. It was high fashion two years ago. The man at the store said it came all
the way from France."
Jack took the box and laid it on the bed.
Michael watched as Jack opened the box. Jack carefully took out the jacket, and
held it up to look at it. He wasn’t sure, but he thought it look a lot like the
one he had worn on Titanic. He glanced at Michael, smiling. "Now, if I can
only get into it."
"If we can’t figure it out, I’ll get my
mother. She had to help me, too. Us farm boys don’t wear these too often."
There was a knock on the door and Michael
opened it. Mrs. Leary came in, and smiled when she saw what Jack was holding.
"Good. It’s not every day you get married. I brought you something."
Jack noticed that she had a small box in her
hand. "What’s that?"
"Before you left, you gave me this. It’s
your mother’s wedding ring. Do you remember how you decided that you wanted
your own wife to wear it? I saved it for you."
Jack took the box from Mrs. Leary. He opened
it and looked. When he saw it, he had to close his eyes. He could still picture
his mother, and his father. But today was not a day for sorrow. He quietly said
a prayer for his parents, and looked up at Mrs. Leary. "I think I need
your help getting this thing on."
"Of course, son."
No one mentioned the silent tears that rolled
from Jack’s eyes. Not even seeing the home his parents had built had brought
their memory back. It took the beautiful ring he had never seen off his
mother’s finger to do it.
Jack waited at the bottom of the stairs for
Rose. He felt uncomfortable in the tuxedo, not at all what he had felt on
Titanic. He looked at himself in the mirror, again. He couldn’t tell the
difference. He thought he looked the same. It probably was in the cut of the
tuxedo. He thought Rose would be surprised. He had slicked back his hair, and
was trying to look the same. Although Titanic had some bad memories, he wanted
Rose to remember the good ones, too. After all, that was where they had met.
The Learys were waiting outside. For some reason, Rose had taken a long time to
get ready. They were going to ride in the Learys automobile. It was a newer
Ford, and it had room for the entire family. Jack felt that someone was looking
at him, and he glanced up the stairs. There was Rose, waiting at the top. Jack
took the sight of her in, and realized that she was wearing the same dress she
had been wearing that last night on Titanic. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
As she slowly walked down the stairs, he studied all of her. Her hair had been
washed, and it was flowing down around her, free and as beautiful as ever. He
found her captivating. She smiled, and walked the rest of the way down the
stairs. Jack took her offered hand, and kissed it. "Your car awaits,
Miss."
"Thank you, sir. Shall we go?"
"After you."
Rose felt like her knees were going to give
out. She was so nervous about this. She thought Jack was pleased. Her heart was
beating fast, and her palms were sweaty. She let Jack lead her out to the car,
and open the door for her. She was barely able to pay any attention to her
surroundings.
Jack had butterflies in his stomach. He had
been reminded of how beautiful Rose was. He sat down next to her, and took her
hand in his. In less than an hour they would be Mr. and Mrs. Dawson.