LOVERS LOST AND CHILDREN FOUND
Chapter Two
It was Sunday. Jack took his
daughter to the nice lady down the street, Mrs. Winslet. Then he was off to his
job at the Santa Monica Pier, where he sketched people for twenty-five cents a
picture.
Out of the blue, he saw a man who
looked familiar.
*****
Eva was in awe. She had thought
her father had died. Was her mom lying? Had he cheated on her, abused her? No.
She seemed way too much in love with Jack Dawson.
"Mom, I am going to the
pier. All right?"
"All right, hon. Be careful!
Oh, be back for lunch. We need to talk."
"All right, Mother."
And with that, Eva ran down to the pier.
*****
Jack couldn’t believe it. There,
right in front of him, stood Cal. Caledon Hockley! The man who had been engaged
to Rose.
"Is that you, Dawson?"
Jack suddenly awoke from his
thoughts. "Yeah. How are you, Cal?" Jack asked, as if nothing had
happened fourteen years before.
"Where is Rose?" Cal
asked.
Jack had to hold back tears. He
had to tell the truth. "Honestly, I don’t know. I think she died that
horrible night," Jack said, holding back tears.
Cal felt the blow in his heart.
Although he had been nasty to Rose, he still had had love for her. "Oh,
anyway, Jack, my two daughters want themselves drawn. See, we are on vacation,
and we want to remember it here," Cal said, trying to act like what he had
heard hadn’t hurt him.
"Okay, Cal," Jack
replied.
Behind the Hockleys was Eva. She
really needed to ask Jack questions.
"Thank you, Dawson, and I’m
sorry for your loss," Cal said, walking away into his own perfect picture
life.
Did Cal say my loss? Wow! I
guess some people do change.
"Mr. Dawson!" Eva said,
walking into the little tented area on the boardwalk.
"Eva? Please, call me Jack.
No need for formality."
Eva giggled. Jack couldn’t help
but laugh himself.
Eva just couldn’t get the nerve
to ask about where his wife was.
"Hey, are you okay,
Eva?"
"Yeah…" Here I go, thought
Eva. "Jack, do you have a wife?"
"Eva, if this is your way
asking me for a date, I am way too old for you!" Jack said.
"No, no…" Ew…that
could be my father, she thought.
"Then what is it?" he
asked, not knowing what was coming.
Eva sat next to him. Somehow, he
felt like this was serious, so he put his sketchpad down next to him. "All
right, Jack, not to be too personal, but what happened to your wife?"
Jack really didn’t know how to
respond. Why was this girl he had just met asking him this? "Well, she
left me and my daughter two years ago."
"Oh, Jack! You know, I have
to go. My mom needs me at lunch. When I get back, you’d better be here."
Then she ran off, leaving a
confused Jack.