NOBODY SAID LOVE WAS GONNA BE EASY
Chapter Two
The path to the house was dark and a bit
rocky, but Rose was fine as long as she held onto Jack's arm, making sure she
didn't stumble among the numerous rocks and branches. It had been a long yet interesting
day, and now she wanted nothing more then to snuggle into bed against Jack and
drift into a comfortable sleep. She looked at her lover and then back at the
house , frowning as she noticed a slender figure sitting on the porch. Who
could that be? Surely not that horrible Matt O'Connor. Surely he'd know to stay
away after her little performance. She blushed, thinking of the satisfying
sound of her hand slapping his smug face. She had only felt that satisfied once—when
she had spit in Cal's face after he had tried to stop her from getting to Jack.
"Jack? Who is it?" Rose asked
nervously.
"She looks familiar." Jack frowned,
tightening his hold on Rose's hand. "I'm sure she's means no harm."
"Jack?" The figure got to its feet,
meeting Jack and Rose halfway up the path leading to the house. Jack gasped as
he finally recognized the girl, who had brown hair that was tied up in a braid
and friendly brown eyes that glowed with happiness.
"Anna? Is that you?" Jack looked at
her in disbelief, letting go of Rose's hand to go get a better look at the
visitor. She looked like his old friend, but he couldn't be for sure. He'd been
so busy that he hadn't even given her a second thought.
"I heard you were back in town. I didn't
believe it at first. But something told me to come here and see." The
girl's smile widened. "I never thought I'd see you again."
Jack smiled gently, happy to be reunited with
his friend. It had been so long since they'd seen each other. So much must have
happened in her life, just like so much had happened in his. "It has been
a long time. How have you been?"
"Married. I got married two years ago.
We have a baby…oh, Jack. I wish you could have been there."
"Wow. A baby." Jack was speechless.
This was the last place he had expected Anna to be. When they were kids, they
used to talk about growing up and going on adventure after adventure. Anna had
wanted to be a teacher, while he had wanted to be a doctor. Now it looked like
neither of their childhood dreams had come true.
"Jack?" Rose placed a quiet hand on
his shoulder, curious about the girl who was on their porch. Obviously, Jack
knew her.
"Oh, Rose." Jack wrapped an arm
around her, pulling her to his side. "This is Anna. She was one of my best
friends before I left. Anna, this is Rose. My fiancée."
Anna looked at Rose with shock in her eyes.
Engaged? That was the last thing she had expected Jack to be upon his return.
"Wow, Jack. You're just full of surprises." Anna shook Rose's hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Rose."
Rose could only smile, feeling a small stab
of jealousy. She was about to open her mouth to answer when a very familiar
voice hollered out angrily.
"I knew you'd be here, woman! Get over
here now!" Matt O'Connor stormed up the path and roughly grabbed Anna's
arm, pulling her away from Jack and Rose, who stood there in shock and
disbelief. They now knew who Matt's girl was.
Jack wasn't really surprised. Anna had been
dating Matt when he had left. In fact, she was the main reason that they were
rivals. Matt didn't like the fact that his girl was friends with handsome Jack
Dawson, and he had made it known loud and clear. They had always competed for
Anna's time. Jack had hoped that she would have opened her eyes and gotten away
from Matt, but obviously she hadn't. Now she was worse than Matt's girl. She
was his wife, and the mother of his child.
"Matt, please. Jack's my friend. I
wanted to greet him upon his return," Anna pleaded with her husband,
hoping that he wouldn't make a scene.
Rose gasped as Matt slapped Anna, snapping
her head back with the force. "Don't talk back to me, you whore! You're
mine! Meaning you will not talk to Jack Dawson ever again! This little
friendship you say you have is over! And you, Dawson, stay away from Anna, or
else. Wouldn't want the same thing that happened to your worthless parents to
happen to your pretty girl there, would you?" Matt growled.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Jack asked, glaring at Matt.
"Nothing. Just a warning. Anna's mine.
Stay away from her. Besides, why would you want her when you have a pretty
woman of your own, anyway?" Matt smirked before dragging Anna off, not
even looking back.
"Oh, my." Rose raised a trembling
hand to her lips. "Poor Anna…how could she marry that…horrible person? She
looked smarter than that."
"She's always had bad taste in
men." Jack sighed, worried for his friend. He knew Matt was no good, but
never had he thought that he was so violent. This was bad. His friend was as
trapped as Rose used to be.
"Thank God for you, Jack." Rose
sighed, laying her head on his shoulder and remembering all the slaps she had
received from Cal. "That was almost me. If I hadn't met you…"
"But you did. And I promise you, Rose,
I'll never lift a violent hand to you. I swear."
"I know. Now, let's go. I'm so tired
that I could fall asleep on my feet."
Smiling, Jack lifted her up in his arms.
"No need to worry about that, my love. I'll carry you to bed, and then,
tomorrow…it's a surprise."
Rose lifted an eyebrow. She loved surprises
and wondered what Jack had in store for her. "What is it?"
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told
you. Now, would it? Now, just relax and let me take you to bed."
Rose giggled, delighted at the turn her life
had taken. "To the stars?"
"To the stars." Jack grinned.
Laughter rang through the night as Jack and Rose disappeared into the house and
up the stairs.
*****
That night, as Rose lay beside him in a
peaceful slumber, Jack was awake, thinking of his parents’ deaths, trying his
best to remember that day. There had been a barn fire on the O'Connors’
property. His parents had been there, visiting the O'Connors, who were friends.
He had been with his friends at the time. All he knew was that there was a fire
and the O'Connor family had came out safely, but his parents, who were there
seeing about some horses, had perished.
He wondered about that day for the first time
in years. What had Matt meant about that threat? Had the O'Connors had
something to do with his parents’ deaths? Was it all some kind of elaborate
scheme? But why? What would be the purpose of killing Jack's parents? Why
hadn't they tried to kill him, too? Maybe they had been planning to, but Jack
had done the smart thing and left before anything could happen. Was it really a
good idea to come back here with Rose? Were they in danger now? Maybe they
should leave. But then again…maybe he should try to find out what had really
happened to his parents. Maybe it was just an accident…but then again, it was
rather fishy that not a member of the O'Connor family had been harmed. Not even
smoke inhalation.
Pulling Rose close, Jack made a silent
promise to both his parents and himself. He was going to find out what had
really happened that awful day, and if the O'Connors had had anything at all to
do with his parents’ deaths…he'd make sure that they all paid, one way or
another. Kissing Rose's neck, Jack drifted off to sleep, the next day’s events
taking over his dreams.