INTO THE SUNRISE
Chapter Five
Jack and Rose had been in
Chippewa Falls for two months now. When they had first arrived in the small
town, there had been a friendly welcome and exclamations of surprise at Jack's return.
But soon afterwards, Rose had begun to feel like an outsider. It all started a
month after their arrival. Rose was at the local grocer’s. Usually, Jack did
the shopping, but since he was out job hunting, Rose decided to give it a try
herself.
Everything was going smoothly
until it came to buying soap. There she found two older women deep in
conversation about herself and Jack. Rose immediately recognized Mabel
Forrester, an old friend of Jack's mother who had stopped by to borrow sugar
the other day. Jack had been teaching Rose how to cook a roast, and as far as
Rose had been able to tell, the woman had been impressed by Rose's willingness
to learn. But obviously, Rose had been wrong.
"Are you telling me that the
girl doesn't know how to work?" Mabel's friend giggled.
"The poor boy has to cook
for himself. Really, what kind of woman doesn't know how to cook?" Mabel's
voice was harsh and full of derision.
"One of those hoity-toity
women that they have in the big city. You know, the ones who have servants to
do all the cooking and cleaning for them." The other woman shook her head.
"You can tell that she's one
of those girls, too. Look at how she holds herself, and that accent…it's as if
she thinks she's better than the rest of us. Who knows how she treats poor Jack?
Elaine would not be pleased."
Both women were unaware that Rose
was nearby and listening in on their ridicule.
"I don't know where she's
from, but she's definitely not one of us, and I'm surprised that Jack would
marry someone like her. In fact, we were all hoping that he and your Laura
would get together. That Rose…she'll never fit in. She might as well go back to
wherever it was she came from and allow Jack to find himself a decent
wife."
Having heard enough, Rose turned
away from the conversation and went to pay for her groceries. She wanted to get
out of there as soon as possible. Walking home, the women's words kept running
through her head. She tried to forget about them, but she couldn't. What if
they were right? What if Jack really was better off without her? What if she
really was just getting in the way?
Sighing, Rose realized that they
were right. Jack did deserve so much better. He deserved a woman who didn't
have to be taught how to cook and keep house. Not some high society girl who couldn't
even boil water without burning it. The best thing she could do was to leave
and probably return to the old life she hated so much, leave Jack so he could
find the kind of wife that could take care of him, instead of the other way
around.
Wiping away her tears, Rose
hurried back to the house, hoping to be gone before Jack returned. She was
going to do the right thing…the selfless thing. She was going to go back to
where she belonged, no matter how bad it hurt.
*****
Rose wiped away another tear as she
looked around the room, making sure that she hadn't left anything behind. As
far as she could see, she had the few belongings she had packed and ready to
go. She looked at a nearby picture of herself, Jack, Tommy, and Fabrizio in New
York. They had all looked so happy there. The four musketeers. Wiping away
another tear, she looked around one last time, saying good-bye to the life she
could have had, a life full of love, laughter, and happiness. Tearing her eyes
away, Rose entered the parlor just as Jack returned home.
At first Jack smiled, happy to
see Rose seemingly awaiting his return. But soon, that smile faded when he saw
the packed bag in her hand and the tears in her eyes. Something was up. By the
look of things, she was leaving him.
"Rose? What's going on? Are
you going somewhere?" He glanced at the closed bedroom door behind her. A
chill ran through him, sensing the seriousness of the situation. Something was
indeed seriously wrong. But what? "It's Hockley, isn't it? He's here."
Rose shook her head, cursing
herself for taking so long to pack and her wistful goodbye to the bedroom. She
had hoped to avoid a confrontation with Jack, to avoid saying good-bye and the
hurt in his eyes. But she had dragged her feet, and now she had to face him.
"Cal's not here, Jack."
"Well, then…what's going on?
Why are you packed as if you're going to take a trip or something? You're
scaring me here, sweetie. Please, just tell me…what's wrong?"
Rose glared at the ground,
feeling that it was too painful to look at him…to know that she was his world
and she was taking that world away from him. That she was walking out of his
life…a life she had loved. "I am leaving, Jack."
"What? But why? Was it
something I said or did?" Jack asked, feeling as if he had been shot through
the heart. Why was she leaving him? He had thought she was happy with him. He
had thought that she loved him as much as he loved her.
"Because you deserve so much
better than I can give you. Jack…you deserve a woman who can be more of a
proper wife to you. Someone who can cook and clean…do the laundry. Someone who
can take care of you, instead of the other way around. I love you too much to
let you settle for anything less. You deserve the best."
Jack blinked back his surprise at
Rose's reasoning. She thought that she wasn't good enough for him? But that
wasn't true. She was perfect for him…his soulmate. He had known from the moment
that he had first seen her on the Titanic that they were meant to be together
forever. As for the cooking and cleaning…she was quickly learning. Even if she
never mastered it, he could do it. He didn't mind. But how could he make her
see that? That her lack of knowledge of how to run a house didn't matter to
him.
"Rose, listen to me. You are
a proper wife…the perfect wife. So you don't know how to cook, clean, whatever?
You're learning. Besides, I fell in love with you in spite of your high society
upbringing. You don't have to go anywhere." He tried to hug her, make her
see the truth of his words, but she pulled away, her tears falling freely now.
"But it will matter, Jack.
Eventually, you'll be sick of me and want someone who knows what they're doing.
It's best that I leave now…before that happens…before you end up hating
me."
"Rose…"
But she didn't give him a chance
to finish his protest. She pushed past him and ran out the door, blinded by her
tears. She ignored his calls for her to come back and didn't dare look back. If
she looked back, she wouldn't have been able to do what needed to be done. So,
with her bags and her memories, she disappeared into the darkening night.