SECRETS OF THE OCEAN
Chapter Three
After the run-in with Cal, Jack decided that
it was time to move. The thought of him even being in the same state as Rose
made Jack physically ill. So California breezed into their lives, and became as
much a part of their blood as Chicago had been. Starting over was not easy, but
then, it wasn't exactly a new thing to them.
Before, Rose had never been prepared to
marry, so soon after Cal and that experience she had been shaken, and they just
hadn't gotten around to it. Now was a perfect time for them both, and so they
married. It was a quiet service, only Jack, Rose, and two witnesses.
Afterward, they walked down to the beach and
sat in the dying light of day, as Rose's grandmother had often referred to it,
the gloaming. That was how Rose always referred to this time of day, and Jack
loved the way the phrase rolled so softly off her lips. Sitting as sunset
rolled on, he held her tight to him and thanked the Lord that they were here
for this.
As a honeymoon treat for Rose, Jack brought
her to the Santa Monica roller coaster. Rose laughed at the sheer thought of
it.
"Only you could come up with this,
Dawson. I love it," she said, between kisses.
And so, there it was, sitting at the top of
the roller coaster, ready to drop into the unknown, that Jack and Rose sat
prepared for the rest of their lives. Excitement, fear, and the unknown lay
ahead, but nothing compared to love the two shared. As the carriage dropped and
Rose's screams echoed around, she knew she was embracing life in a way that
only a lucky few could, and Jack was there to share it with her.
The End.