Thunder boomed over Chippewa Falls. Rose looked out the window for the hundredth time. William had fallen asleep hours ago after eating a little bit of Anne’s casserole, but Rose couldn’t sleep at all. Midnight had passed and she felt sick to the bottom of her stomach with worry. She kept telling herself that Jack had simply gone to the graves of his parents, but Jack didn’t know where his parents were buried. The idea of him being in a graveyard so late and alone made Rose shiver. He wasn’t by the lake, because Rose could see from the window. He had been gone for six hours. She hoped he wasn’t hurt or lost. The rain battered the windowpane heavily. Rose touched the window, feeling how cold it was. Jack was somewhere outside in this.
Hearing loud footsteps, Rose rushed to the door to see if it was Jack coming back. It was. There he stood, soaked from head to toe, his eyes red from crying. Rose didn’t know what to do. She feared that if she went to hug him he would back away from her like he had earlier.
“I’m so sorry, Rose…” He trailed off, knowing he had been difficult earlier. He had stormed out, thinking that he needed to deal with his father’s death alone, but it turned out he needed Rose more than ever. “I thought I could do this alone, but…I can’t.”
Rose came to him and hugged him, not caring how wet he was. He hesitantly put his arms around her, feeling comforted and not wanting her to let go.
“I’m here, Jack. Forever and always, I’m here. You’re not alone,” she whispered to him before leading him inside.
William’s gentle snores could be heard. Jack walked to his son’s bed, leaning over and kissing his blond hair gently, careful not to wake him.
“You need to get out of those clothes or you’ll catch your death. You should take a bath.” Rose opened the door to the bathroom and indicated to Jack to follow her before closing the door behind her. “I don’t want to wake Will running the bathwater.”
Jack removed his shirt, which clung to him. He watched as Rose ran the bath for him and felt like such an idiot for walking away earlier. Here she was, running a bath for him after he had doubted she could help him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. She didn’t say anything as he looked at her, their faces a few inches apart. He stroked her loose curls gently, feeling her body pressed against his. She wore just a nightdress.
Rose ran her hands over his bare chest and saw his eyes sparkle with unshed tears. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.
Jack shook his head. “I just can’t believe how I acted earlier with you. I shouldn’t be ungrateful to you. You have come here with me so I can come to terms with the past. I acted like an ass and you ran a bath for me when I came home drenched to the bone.”
“It’s nothing, Jack…”
“Well, it’s something to me.”
He smiled, and she saw the young man within him, the one she had met almost ten years ago, when he was just eighteen. She remembered when they had almost made love in the bathroom. Something within them snapped and they leaned forward to kiss. The water continued to run, steaming up the small bathroom.
Jack put both of his arms around Rose’s waist, kissing her deeply. He tugged at her nightdress, but Rose pulled away, breathless.
“We can’t do this here. What about Will?”
Quietly, Jack opened the door and saw their son sound asleep in his bed. “He’s out. He’ll be out for a while. He’s exhausted.” Jack closed the door again, locking it. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
From nowhere, Rose found the courage to simply pull off her nightgown, revealing her naked body to Jack. Since giving birth to Will, her body had changed, and when Jack made love to her, she felt a lot more self-conscious than before becoming pregnant. There were a few stretch marks around her stomach and thighs, but Jack had never seen her more beautiful. He came towards her, kissing her face and neck.
He felt her tug at the buttons on his pants, attempting to undo them. Jack hadn’t felt like this in a while. Since Will had been born, they had been lucky to catch a moment to make love, but now they had the time.
Rose pulled Jack’s pants down the best she could. Jack kicked them off. The feeling of their naked bodies together, mixed with the heat of the bathwater running and the steam in the room, made them want each other more than ever. Jack lifted Rose up and she leaned against the door, wrapping her legs around his waist. Neither of them had done this before, and they knew they had to be quick in case Will woke up.
She felt him throbbing against her and couldn’t wait for him to make love to her. As he thrust inside of her, both of them moaned and felt the passion overtake them. They kissed passionately as they made love, feeling things neither of them had ever felt before.
The pleasure they felt was overwhelming. Rose clung to Jack for dear life. She nibbled his neck in places before sucking slightly, causing the areas to darken. This caused Jack to drive himself deeper into her. He opened his eyes for a moment and came face to face with Rose. He saw that her lips were swollen. They curved into a smile before he moved his mouth to kiss her once again.
Rose felt her orgasm and Jack, too, began to shake. Hearing her moans spurred him on. Seconds later, he felt himself explode and shake like never before. Rose clung to his body, feeling his heat. He pulled away from her, seeing her face. He smiled a small smile, kissing her cheek once before whispering the words to her that made her heart soar.
“I love you, Rose.” He caressed her face with his thumb.
She closed her eyes, feeling just how tired she really was. “I love you, too, darling.”
*****
The town center was full of faces that looked curiously at the newcomers. Rose kept her head down, not wanting them to judge her, Jack, or least of all, Will, in any way. Rose wasn’t used to being somewhere so close knit, where everybody knew everybody else’s business, but this was the town her husband had grown up in, so she had to learn to tolerate it.
They hadn’t done any socializing at all since they arrived, except speaking to Anne, who owned the hotel, and a few of the people who stayed there. Rose felt Will begin to drag on her arm as they walked towards the market to pick up a few essentials. The sky promised rain and Rose wanted to hurry back before the rain started falling heavily.
“My legs hurt, Mommy.” William looked up at his mother.
She smiled, picking him up and balancing him on her hip. She grabbed Jack’s hand and he pulled her through the throngs of people towards the market.
“I used to buy all of my art supplies from there when I was a kid.” Jack beamed, pointing to a store.
The smile on his face was contagious. Rose could imagine him here as a kid. They came to the shop, which had leather portfolios laid out, along with stacks of paper.
“Holy shit! It’s still the same.” Jack pointed, but Will fidgeted.
Rose figured he was bored. “What’s wrong, darling?” she asked her son, but he was transfixed by something behind them. He pointed, and Rose looked to see a butcher shop with rows of dead rabbits hung up by the ears, blood dripping from them. “Oh, Lord. Don’t look, sweetie.” Rose touched his head and moved around the other side of Jack so he couldn’t see them.
“Why are the bunnies hung like that?”
Rose paused, not knowing what to tell her son. “Because they are. Don’t look at them. They aren’t very nice.”
“Is it the bleeding? Are they feeling poorly?” William questioned Rose.
“No, darling. They’re dead.”
Rose felt Will shiver and bury his face in her hair. She hugged him. Jack was selecting some art supplies, so Rose told him she was going to step away from the store for a moment, not wanting her son to see the rabbits.
A small girl ran into her legs as if she was eager to get somewhere. Rose looked down to see a small blonde girl around Will’s age. She looked up at Rose with large brown eyes and appeared frightened.
“Chelsea, what have I told you about running away?” a man’s voice followed. A tall, dark man accompanied by a blonde woman who she assumed were the girl’s parents pulled her back. “I do apologize, ma’am. She never looks where she is going.” The man scooped the girl up. She began to chew on the ends of her hair while looking at Rose.
“Chelsea, don’t eat your hair, darling,” her mother scolded, removing the hair from the child’s hands before turning back to Rose. “I’m sorry, but are you new around here? I just don’t believe I have seen your faces around here before.”
Rose smiled. “No, you would be correct. My husband, Jack, and I came here for a vacation.” A vacation? Well, it was better than explaining the real reason they were there.
“Oh, right. Well, in that case, I’m Abigail Stevenson. This is my husband, Mark, and our daughter, Chelsea.” Abigail held out her hand to Rose, who shook it.
“I’m Rose Dawson, and this is Will. He’s a little shy around strangers.” William smiled a small smile at the new family. “Are you going to say hello to the little girl?” Rose asked, but he shook his head.
“Hello,” Chelsea said, smiling at William. He looked at her with an expressionless face, not having any intention of talking to the girl.
“Don’t be rude, Will. Say hello.”
“No,” Will told her firmly. “She’s a girl.”
They all laughed at his words. “I’m sorry. He does get a little shy. He doesn’t really like little girls, except to tease them or steal their hats and run away with them,” Rose explained. She looked back, trying to see where Jack was. He certainly was taking his time.
“Did you mention a husband?” Mark asked, eyeing her wedding band.
“Yes, I did. He was at the art store, but he is taking his time. My husband grew up in these parts, so I think coming back here is a little strange for him.”
Mark frowned for a moment. “I’m sorry. Did you say your husband’s name was Jack?”
“Yes. Jack Dawson,” Rose told him, still looking around, but seeing no sign of Jack at all.
Mark’s lips curved into a huge smile. “Jack Dawson has returned to town?”
Rose moved her eyes to Mark. “Do you know my husband?”
“Know him? We were like brothers back in the day, before his father died. He’s really back in Chippewa Falls? With a wife and a son? By golly, I should have known this little fellow was Dawson’s son. He’s his absolute double.”
Rose began to laugh, hoping that Jack would hurry up. She couldn’t believe this man had known Jack as a child. “Yes, he is like his father. We arrived here last week.” Rose stroked Will’s hair.
Finally, Jack emerged from the store with a satisfied look on his face. With him, he carried three bags, and Rose knew he had bought almost half of the store. “Darling, I wondered where you went off to…”
Jack looked at the people who Rose had been talking to and stopped in his tracks as he saw Mark. His childhood friend stood before him with a huge grin on his face.
“Holy…” Jack almost swore, but then realized that Mark was holding a small girl. “Mark?”
“It’s me, Jackie boy.” Jack dropped his bags to the ground before giving his friend a hug. He couldn’t believe that Mark was there—and married, by the look of it.
“Oh, my God. Is this your daughter?”
“Yes. This is Chelsea, and this is my wife, Abigail.” Jack shook hands with Abigail. Chelsea said hello in her own sweet way.
“I cannot believe this. After all these years, Mr. Wandering Jack has returned. Where have you been?”
Thunder boomed in the sky and Jack looked up, knowing that soon the heavens would open.
“Oh, Christ. We’d better get home, honey,” Mark told Abigail, picking up the shopping they had done. “Do you fancy dinner at our house? We have to catch up.”
Jack looked to Rose for an answer, but Rose knew that Jack wanted to go. In a way, so did she. They needed to make friends in this town, and it would be better than walking back to the hotel to sit and eat dinner with complete strangers.
“Of course. We’ll follow you.”