LOVERS LOST AND CHILDREN FOUND
Chapter One
As the cool breeze hit Eva
Josephine Dawson, she thought about her work, which was drawing people,
animals, landscapes, and most of all, the water in the ocean. She felt like
something was missing…her father. The ocean was filled with mysteries. That was
why she loved it so very much.
"Honey, we need to go
now!" Rose exclaimed.
"Mom…"
Rose got scared when her
daughter’s voice got like that. It only meant questions, mainly about her
father. Never her grandmother or grandfather, just her father.
"Yes, dear?"
"I wanted to know why…Dad
died," Eva said, just wanting answers.
"Honey, I told you it was on
a boat. Now, come on. Let’s go."
*****
Jack was in California, watching
his daughter, Summer Rose Dawson, play with friends at the park. His ex-wife,
Nicole, had loved the name Summer, and he had needed a reminder of Rose. He had
never once talked about Rose to anyone.
"Summer, come on. Let’s go
get something to eat!"
"Dad, come on. Just a little
longer!" pleaded Summer.
"Sorry, we just can’t. I
have to get up early tomorrow!" Jack called.
*****
The next day, thirteen-year-old
Eva was about to celebrate her fourteenth birthday. As Eva drew the man with
dark hair, it kind of depressed her, not knowing who her father was, or why her
mother wouldn’t say anything about him. The California breeze was what Eva
loved so much. It just relaxed her in her thoughts.
"May I have a seat
here?" asked a poor-looking man.
"Of course," Eva
replied.
"So, what’s your name,
miss?" asked the man, his hand out.
"Oh, I’m Eva Josephine.
Please just call me Eva." She shook the man’s hand.
"Okay, Eva. It’s about 7:30,
pretty late for a girl like you, isn’t it?"
"I am not that young."
Eva got her radiant good looks from her mother. She had her mother’s
emerald-green eyes and physique. Her hair she had gotten from her father--it
was blonde, a nice golden color. "I’m actually going to be fourteen next
week."
"Oh, sounds nice. I have a
six-year-old daughter at home. She’s at her friend’s house."
"Aw…sounds cute," Eva
said.
Jack looked fondly at the girl’s
drawings. "Wow. You can draw well, like me…"
"You?" Eva asked.
"Well, yeah. I do it for a
living. As you might have noticed, I am not that rich!"
"You know, my mother says
money doesn’t matter. As long as you have love and air, you’re good to
go!"
"Really? What does your
mother do?"
"She’s an actress at the
theater down the street."
"She does make better money
than I do!" He laughed. "I’d better get going…Eva, we should really
talk again soon!" he said, walking away.
"Mister, wait!"
"Yes?" he asked.
"What’s your name?"
"Jack. Jack Dawson,"
Jack said, smiling.
*****
Eva went home that night,
thinking. "Mother! Mother! Are you here?"
"Eva, is that you? I’m in my
room."
"Mom, I know you hate me
asking these questions, but I need to know…my question is, what was Dad’s full
name?" Eva asked, afraid to know the answer.
"His name was
Jack…Dawson."