LET’S LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND
Chapter Thirty-Five
Christmas Eve
The Dawson house was again full
of activity. The tree was now fully decorated and Jolene, Richie, and Jacquelyn
were singing carols while Jack sat on the stairs sketching the scene. Rose and
Ruth were in the kitchen helping Nancy with dinner. The light knock on the door
was almost unheard. Luckily Weaver had excellent hearing. He opened the door to
a heavyset-lady who was obviously upper-class.
"May I help you?"
Weaver asked.
"I’m looking for Jack and
Rose Dawson honey." Molly Brown sat down the suitcases she was carrying.
"Excuse me?" Weaver
frowned. His nephew sure was coming in contact with a lot of upper-crust
people. He wondered what secret the young couple were keeping.
"Jack and Rose Dawson. I
believe this is their house sonny." Molly placed her hands on her hips.
"Molly!" Rose came out
of the kitchen and immediately went to embrace her friend. "you
came!"
"Of course I did. I did
promise you that I’d come on Christmas and with Jack being alive after all, I
had to come. So where is our young artist anyway." Molly pushed pass
Weaver to see Jack heavily concentrating on his drawing.
"Jack look who’s here!"
Rose grabbed his attention.
Jack looked up and his eyes
immediately lit up with surprise. "Molly!" He stood up to hug the
older woman. "It sure is great to see you! What brings you here?"
"I promised Rose I’d return
on Christmas and here I am. Bearing gifts mind you." Molly laughed, then
looked sternly at the young man. "And that was a scare you gave us all
young man, disappearing like that. But you’re back now and it’s great to see
the light in Rose’s eyes has returned."
"Molly you didn’t have to
bring us any gifts." Rose laughed.
"Oh nonsense. I see you two
as my adopted kids, and since I brought gifts for my own, that entitles you two
as well."
"So Molly, where are you
staying?" Rose asked, leaning against Jack as he came up from behind her
and wrapped his arms around her.
"The Chippewa Inn. A real
quaint place." Molly grinned. "So, tell me who this fellow is."
Molly turned to Weaver.
"My uncle Weaver. Uncle
Weaver, this is Molly Brown from Denver Colorado. She’s a close friend to Rose
and I." Jack introduced.
"Have we met?" Weaver
stared at Molly, sure that he’s seen her before.
"Nope. Sorry to say we
haven’t. But any uncle of Jack’s is a friend of mine." Molly shook
Weaver’s hand enthusiastically.
"Rose!" Ruth came out
of the kitchen and stopped in her tracks when she saw Molly. "Molly…what
are you doing here?"
"To spend Christmas with
Jack and Rose of course!" Molly laughed. "It’s good to see ya Ruth.
It really is!"
"Rose, we need you in the
kitchen." Ruth turned her attention back to her daughter.
"Yes mother." Rose
sighed, following Ruth into the kitchen, knowing that Jack would take good care
of Molly.
"Well that’s something I
never thought I’d live to see." Molly shook her head, staring after the
two women that had gone into the kitchen.
"What Molly?" Jack
asked confused.
"Ruth Dewitt Bukater in the
kitchen." Molly burst into laughter. "Wonders never cease!"
Jack had to laugh to. "No
they don’t."
Weaver sighed as there was
another knock on the door. He opened it to Bill, who held a wrapped gift in his
hand.
"Jack?" Bill peered
behind Weaver to see Jack talking to a heavy-set woman, who immediately
recognized as the Unsinkable Molly Brown.
"Bill!" Jack greeted
his friend. "Merry Christmas! What brings you by?"
"I brought a gift for you
and your lovely wife. I didn’t know you had company."
"Oh that’s quite alright.
I’d like to introduce you both since you both saved my life in one way or
another. Molly, this is Bill. Bill this is Molly Brown."
"Ah yes, I heard of you. You
were that lady who took charge of that lifeboat when that ship sank. Plus
you’re married to that fellow who struck gold out west."
"Ex-husband actually."
Molly grinned, shaking the man’s hand. "And you’re the man that took Jack
in after that horrible accident. Well I say it’s a real honor to meet ya."
"Jack your mother
wants…" Ruth stopped in mid-stride when she sat eyes on Bill, her face
went ten shades of pale. "Oh my lord."
Bill’s eyes widen in instant
recognition. He couldn’t believe she was here at the Dawsons. Ruth Dewitt was
one woman he had never planned to see ever again…not after her folks made her
marry that rich fellow in Philadelphia. After all the pleading he did for her
to just run off with him, she had refused. She didn’t want to be ousted from
her world of riches and luxury. So she broke his heart and married Albert
Bukater and Bill had left Philadelphia and made his way to Chippewa Falls where
he lived alone with his misery. He had never expected to see her again,
especially not here in the Dawson’s foyer. "Hello Ruth. Long time no
see."
"You two know each
other?" Jack asked, his eyes full of curiosity. He had a feeling that the
next couple of days were going to be very interesting.
"What a small world this
is." Molly shook her head with amusement. Bill and Ruth were now looking
at each other the way Jack and Rose look at each other. Could this be a
romantic pairing?
"Yes…we met…a long time
ago." Ruth cleared her throat. "It’s good to see you again Bill, but
this is a family gathering and…"
"Bill is family Ruth."
Jack interrupted. "After saving my life, he’s a honorary Dawson."
"Oh…you’re the one who saved
Jack’s life?"
"Yeah. But I didn’t know he
was related to you."
"Is that supposed to mean
something Mr. Davenport?"
"No. Not at all. I’m just
saying that I didn’t know he was related to you."
"He’s my son in law. Married
to my daughter Rose."
Bill’s eyes widen with disbelief.
No matter what he thought Rose looked a bit familiar. "So you’re Rose’s
mother?"
"Mother…oh Bill you’ve come
by!" Rose smiled as she saw her guest and then frowned when she noticed
the slight tension in the room. "Mother? What’s going on here? What did
you say to Bill?"
Jack laughed. "Rose, they
know each other. From where I don’t know, but something’s obviously going on
between them at the moment."
Having enough, Weaver sighed.
"Are you coming in or staying out there?"
"Coming in." Bill
frowned at Weaver. He definitely didn’t like Weaver Dawson.
"Come on in everyone."
Jack beckoned. "This is Christmas. No one should be gloomy for the next
couple of days!"
*****
The day wore on and finally it’s
the evening. Dinner was eaten and now the group were in the living room. Rose
had her head on Jack’s shoulder and was stroking her extended abdomen. She
looked up into his eyes, lost in the world that only contained them. Bill on
the other hand was in turmoil. All through the night he had observed both Rose
and Ruth and noticed that Rose had some of his mother’s looks and mannerisms,
something he hasn’t noticed until now.
He had done the math in his head
and came up with a startling theory…a theory he had to run past Ruth. He
wondered if she’ll even be honest with him, but he had to at least confront her
if he was ever going to find peace again.
"Ruth…can we talk? Out on
the porch?" He whispered in her ear.
Ruth took a deep breath. Talking
to Bill Davenport alone was the last thing she wanted to do. He was a insect. A
dangerous insect that must be squashed immediately if she was ever going to
have a relationship with Rose. But it was obvious he wasn’t going to take no
for a answer.
"Very well." She
sighed. Looking at the room full of people that weren’t paying neither of them
any mind, she followed Bill out onto the porch. "What is this about?"
"I did the math Ruth and I
want the truth. You and I were together once…six weeks before your wedding to
Albert Bukater. I want to know…is Rose my daughter?"
"You are being absurd!"
Ruth’s voice was as cold as ice. "I’m going back inside!"
Bill grabbed her arm, holding her
tight so she couldn’t get away. Everything was slowly making sense now. His
paternal feelings towards Rose…the eyes that were identical to his mother’s…her
smile too belonged to his mother. "I want the truth now Ruth. Both Rose
and myself deserve to know the truth…I think I already know the truth, but I
want to hear it from you."
Ruth’s head bowed in defeat, then
her icy stance returned. "She’ll never accept you. Albert was her father
and she loved him dearly…"
"But did Albert father her,
or were you sleeping with him at the time too?"
Ruth’s slap stung his face, but
he had to be brutal with her to get her to fess up.
"You were the only one I was
sleeping with Mr. Davenport. I had to pass Rose off as Albert’s or we both
would have been out on the streets! I’m sure you wouldn’t have wanted that for
your daughter."
"I would have liked to know
I had a daughter Ruth. You could have at least told me you were
expecting!"
"That wasn’t possible. So
what do we do now?"
"I don’t know. We’re going
to have to tell her Ruth. She has the right to know."
"No! No Bill! Rose already
dislikes me now! She’ll absolutely hate me if you tell her I lied about who her
father was!"
"That’s something you’ll
just have to risk." Bill sighed, turning to go back into the house.
"Bill wait! Please wait
until the holidays are over! Why ruin her first Christmas with Jack? What’s the
rush?"
Bill sighed. Ruth was right. Rose
could wait to learn that he was her real father. But she was going to know as
soon as Christmas was over. That was one thing he swore to himself.