A month after they had married, Jack and Rose moved to Ireland, wishing to continue to travel the world. Leaving behind the Brookes had been harder than expected, but they had settled into their new life well.
The shop’s bell rang for the thousandth time that day. Adjusting her apron, Rose went to wait on the young man who had just come in. He was tall, with dirty blond curls and a slight beard. He smoked a cigarette and eyed the menu quickly.
It was dinnertime, so the lunch rush would soon be arriving. From the period between twelve to two PM, customers flocked into the café where Rose had worked since early February.
The young man approached the counter, seating himself on a stool. He didn’t appear to be making any sort of a decision, so Rose found a newspaper and began to flip through the pages, tucking a red curl behind her ear.
The usual tripe was in the papers, nothing that Rose found interesting. Turning the page, she saw that there was a large photograph of the Titanic. Leaning over, she put her head in her hands and began to read. The Titanic had dominated the headlines around the world since work on her had been completed in early 1911, but now the hype was back, as she was due to set sail from Southampton on her maiden voyage in less than three weeks.
“Are you sailing on her?” an Irish voice asked. The young man who had entered a few minutes earlier looked at her.
“Oh, no.” Rose smiled, closing the paper. She didn’t know why she was actually reading it. To kill time, she guessed.
The man bowed his head a little, removing his hat. “Just thought you would have been, with how interested you looked in the paper.”
Rose smiled. She took the small pencil from behind her ear and found a scrap piece of paper. “What can I get for you?”
“Er…just the omelet and a tea. Don’t want anything too heavy. The sister’s cooking dinner tonight.” Closing the menu, he put it back on the rack and turned his attention back to Rose. “So, you’re American?”
Rose turned to face him as she poured tea into a small cup. She found that people were always fascinated by her accent. “Yes, I am, and you are Irish.” She laughed, stating the obvious.
“Through and through. But the sister and I, we’re going to the States,” he told her, rubbing his beard. “We’re going on the Titanic.”
Rose frowned for a second. She wasn’t prejudiced against anyone, but this man certainly didn’t look as though he could afford a ticket aboard the greatest ship ever built. “Oh, really? What’s taking you there?”
Sighing, the man accepted his tea, taking a quiet sip. “Well, to cut a long story short, I love my country, but the sister…well, she’s pregnant. The father of the kid—well, he’s a bastard.” Rose looked around, seeing a few old women raising their disapproving faces at this man’s swearing. “He don’t want anything to do with her or the kid, and no matter how many times I threatened to paste him, he wouldn’t listen.”
Rose shook her head. “That’s awful. I do hope your sister is all right.” Rose continued to whisk an egg as she listened to the man.
“Aye. She’ll be fine. I didn’t mind staying in Ireland, but the gossips and the old folks who make comments and judge her, the narrow-minded fools, they make her life a misery. Some even suggested the kid was mine!”
“That’s ludicrous!”
“Well, she lets it get to her, so she suggested we move to America for a better life. We got third class tickets for the Titanic.” He shrugged, taking another sip from his tea.
“Well, I do hope you find peace over there.” She smiled at him, handing the omelet to him on a plate. “And what a way to travel, aboard that ship.”
“Aye. It is.” He began to stuff his face, obviously hungry. “You make a great omelet.” He grinned at her. She was relieved that someone enjoyed her cooking. She had to admit that she was all right, better than she was when she had first met Jack. “I’m Tommy Ryan.” He offered his hand to her, chewing his lunch.
“Rose Dawson.” She smiled, taking his hand.
“Dawson? Dawson? Hey, I work with a Dawson…he’s American, too. Perhaps you’re related? Jack’s the name.”
Rose smiled, feeling her heart flutter at the mention of her husband’s name. “Yes. He’s my husband.”
Tommy stopped chewing for a moment to think. Of course she was. “You’re the famous Rose Dawson. Tell you something. He was right. You’re a corker. Jackie boy tells all the lads about his lovely wife.”
Rose grinned. She took a seat, enjoying the conversation with this man. “Is that right?”
“It is.” Tommy finished his lunch, passing the plate to Rose. “I didn’t imagine Jack marrying someone as lovely as you.” He grinned.
The shop’s bell rang again, and as if on cue, Jack entered wearing navy blue overalls. He worked at the docks, lugging in the fish and coal from the boats and loading mail onto the huge liners. In just a few weeks, the Titanic would be stopping here in Queenstown to collect passengers and mail, and he couldn’t wait to get a proper glimpse. He would even try to sketch her if he had enough time. Slapping Tommy on the back, he took a seat next to his friend.
“Were your ears burning?” Tommy teased. Jack frowned, looking between his wife and Tommy. “We were just talking about you.”
“Oh, is that right?” Jack laughed. “I see you met my wife, Rose.”
“I sure did. She makes a mean omelet.” Rose smiled at the compliment. “I was just telling her that I was going on the Titanic. The biggest moving object ever made by the hands of man.” Tommy reached into his pocket and found his tobacco.
“Is she an Irish ship?” Rose asked.
“Of course. Built in Belfast. Solid as a rock. Fifteen thousand Irishmen built the ship. She’s unsinkable,” Tommy declared proudly. He lit his cigarette, offering his matches to Jack.
“I heard she was unsinkable.”
“I doubt it. Nothing’s for certain, right? I mean, she could sink,” Jack pointed out. He didn’t understand why she was dubbed unsinkable.
“It’s bullshit.” Tommy wafted away his smoke. “You two should come.”
Rose looked at Jack, who simply rolled his eyes. “We don’t have that kind of money,” Jack pointed out.
“Neither did we. Six pounds, ten shillings each for a third class ticket. It was a month’s wage, but for the going rate, I think it’s great.”
*****
Shoving another log into the stove, Jack wiped the dirt from his hands on his overalls. He needed to take a bath later.
Rose sat in her rocking chair, knitting a sweater that she had started weeks ago for Jack, but her mind was obviously elsewhere—on what Tommy had said. Since he had mentioned her and Jack joining him on the Titanic, she had thought of little else. She didn’t know what it was, but she felt a need to be on the ship to go home.
Jack sensed her absentmindedness. Stroking her head tenderly, he kissed the top of it, breaking her concentration.
“What’s wrong? You’ve been like this all day,” he whispered to her, still stroking her hair.
Putting her half-knitted sweater on the end table, she turned to Jack. “I don’t know. It’s just what Tommy was saying earlier about going to America.” Rose stood and walked to the kitchen. She didn’t know what to prepare for dinner.
“You want to go, too?” he asked her.
Turning around to face him, she leaned against the cupboard. “I don’t know. I just miss home. I want us to start living, Jack, all the things we talked about…going to Los Angeles, to the pier in Santa Monica, riding horseback on the beach. I know we’ve been married three months, but in that three months, all we have done is slave away for little or nothing.” She sighed. She felt a little better after releasing all of her thoughts.
Jack came towards her a little. “I know, darling. No one said this was going to be easy. I want those things, too, but I was there alone before. I slept under bridges and rode the railroad for free and got kicked off when they found out. I don’t want you to end up hurt. I just thought that maybe if we got some money together, we could go then.” He pulled her into his arms, but she resisted a little.
“But how can we get money together when we have to pay for a roof over our heads? I don’t want to stay in Ireland forever,” she whispered to him. “I just think this could be our chance. I know we have little money, but we have some saved away and we could dip into that for a little while. I want an adventure, Jack.”
Smiling, he kissed her forehead. The fire within her was still alive, and he hoped it never burned out. He knew that inside of her there was a woman who had been suppressed and smothered for years, but now she had a chance to live freely. Jack himself had always lived on a whim and had promised Rose the same things, so why was he so hesitant?
“All right.”
Rose looked up at him, a small smile curving her lips. “All right?”
“Yeah. Why not? We’ll get the tickets and get on the Titanic. Like Tommy said, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. We’ll go home together. Then the world is ours.”
Letting out a small scream, she jumped into Jack’s arms. He laughed hard, knowing how happy she was.