TITANIC ROSE
Chapter Twenty-Seven
"Well…" Rose shifted from one foot
to the other. "Aren’t you going to say anything? I’d hate to think I’ve
hurt you so much it made you speechless."
"Not speechless," Thomas replied.
"I don’t know what to say. It’s obvious you suffered a terrible
loss."
"The thing is, Thomas...that’s not the
half of it..."
"Do you mean to tell me there’s
more?" Thomas asked, surprised.
"John Wilkes," Rose began. "I
met him after Titanic sank. Oh, don’t give me that look as if we were lovers.
We weren’t. But he thought we should be. He...he tried to...to..."
And as she began to cry at the memories
flooding back. Suddenly, she felt Thomas’ strong arms wrap around her. He
didn’t hate her? What was all this about? Surely, he hated her for what she had
done. Thomas couldn’t possibly still love her. Could he?
"You don’t have to say anything,
Rose," Thomas told her, kissing her forehead gently. "Don’t you
understand? I still love you, more than anything. And now that it’s all out,
you don’t have to be so secretive about your past. Lora was quite worried about
you, and..."
"She told me you thought I had a secret
lover hidden somewhere."
"I got somewhat suspicious," Thomas
answered, looking into her eyes. "But I still trusted you not to love
another man. I know I haven’t been home very often, and I’ve been trying, Rose.
Truly, I am trying."
"I know you are, sweetheart," Rose
said, a small smile forming on her lips. "I know you still love Andrew
more than anything. As a matter of fact, if you threatened to divorce me
because of my past, I was going to use our son to bind me to you. I know how
much you care for us."
"Then why did you think I would leave
you?" Thomas asked. "You are sometimes so pessimistic, but given your
past, I can now understand where you’re coming from. And I have all the more
reason to dislike your mother, although it does explain the Jack incident she
hinted about back in Cedar Rapids."
"I have wanted to tell you for so long,
now," Rose stated. "And the words have been on the tip of my tongue
so many times. But every time seemed too soon. Now, it seemed right. I just
wish I hadn’t caused such a scene about it downstairs. Lora must have been
dumbfounded when I up and left in tears."
"And dumbfounded she was." Thomas
laughed. "I walked in from work tonight, and there she was on the sofa,
head in hand, trying to think of what had upset you. If you would like, we
don’t have to tell her anything about what just happened."
"She knows some of it," Rose said
shyly, knowing Thomas would wonder why she hadn’t told him herself. "Not
quite so much about Jack, though. She knows about the Heart of the Ocean,
and..."
"The what?" Thomas exclaimed, breaking
away from her, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "She knows about the
what?"
"Cal gave it to me on Titanic,"
Rose said slowly, walking toward her jewelry box and turning the key.
"Why?"
"Do you know how expensive that thing
is?"
"Well, yes, I do. Cal is a very wealthy
man, and he tried to buy my love. Would you like to see it?" Rose held up
the jewelry box, wondering why Thomas was acting so eager. He was like a child
on Christmas.
"I can’t believe I married a billionaire
who I thought was a homeless girl when I first met her!"
Rose laughed and reached into the wooden box
where she kept all her treasures, wondering when the last time was that she had
looked at the priceless diamond. It must have been months, at the least. Once
extracted from the pocket, Thomas grabbed it, in awe at its size and beauty.
"Why have you kept it?"
"What?"
"Why haven’t you pawned it somewhere?
Think of the money you could receive from the sale!"
Rose, hurt by his comment, snatched it from
his hands and looked into its deep blue, seeing Jack’s face in her reflection.
"This necklace is very dear to my heart. Cal may have given it to me, but
it holds purpose, and logic, somehow. It is all I have to remember of..."
"...of Jack?" Thomas finished with
a sigh.
"Yes. Of Jack. And of all the love lost
on Titanic. Just so I don’t go off with my nose in the air, looking down at
everyone I see. That night, everyone was on the same boat...literally."
"Well, now," Thomas said, pulling
Rose next to him on the bed. "You know that I love you. But the question
here is, what with Jack and all, do you still love me?"
Rose sighed deeply, fingering the necklace,
memorizing its shape as she had done many times before. "I knew this would
happen; that you would question whether or not I still had feelings for Jack,
stronger than the ones I have for you. The truth is, Thomas, that I still love
Jack. Nothing will ever change that, not even a wonderful marriage to you. But
now, you are the man I love dearly. More than anything at this moment."
"Do you mean that?"
"Of course I do, silly." Rose
laughed. "I have no reason to lie about anything anymore. And I’m quite
glad I’ve shared everything with you. For the longest time I’ve thought of
nothing but what you might do when I told you about my life and what a train
wreck it has been."
Thomas walked over to Andrew’s crib, pulling
the infant out and holding him in his arms. "Do you see what your life has
produced?" Thomas asked with a smile, the baby gurgling. "Aren’t you
glad you are around to have seen the birth of our son?"
"Oh, yes, I am grateful for that,"
Rose replied, taking Andrew from her husband and placing him into her lap,
noticing he was looking more and more like Thomas with each passing day.
"And for God allowing me to love again. After Titanic, I never thought I
would meet anyone, or go anywhere, and love someone as much as I love my
family."
A knock on the door shook Rose from her
reverie, and Thomas opened it. Lora stood outside, a worried look on her
tear-stained face. She burst into the room, hugging Rose. "I thought I had
done something terrible to you to make you run from me so! And I did, I did!
Oh, you poor child, what with Jack, his baby, and John Wilkes, and oh...how
horrible it must have been for you."
"You know, Lora," Thomas
interrupted, an annoyed look on his face. "You really must cease listening
in through the door. This is, what, the fifth time this has happened?"
"I had good intentions," Lora
defended herself. "I wanted to make sure Rose didn’t hold a grudge against
me for whatever reason. And I hope she doesn’t...do you?" She directed the
question at Rose, still playing with her son on the bed.
"I couldn’t possibly hold a grudge
against you, Lora," Rose replied. "How could have known what had happened
to me throughout my life? And you are such a wonderful friend that I’d hate to
lose you."
"Not the most wonderful sister,"
Thomas stated sarcastically, shooting angry glances at Lora from across the
room.
"As if you have been the greatest
brother all your life, Thomas," Lora joked. "Now, anyway, you two. If
you want any dinner at all tonight, I suggest you come downstairs while what’s
left of the shepherd’s pie is hot."
"What do you mean by--what’s left?"
Rose asked.
"Well, with all the distractions today,
I somewhat--kind of--burnt the entire thing."
"I think that perhaps we’ll skip dinner
tonight." Thomas winked at Rose, who smiled back.
"As if I don’t know what you’re up
to." Lora smirked. "How about I take Andrew downstairs with me, then?
Maybe he would like something to eat, even if neither of you do."
"That’s a capital idea," Thomas
said, Rose placing Andrew in Lora’s arms. "Well, off you go, now.
Good-bye."
"But, Thomas, what does--" Lora was
asking. But Thomas had already closed the door behind her. He sat next to Rose
on the bed and kissed her.
"What’s that for?" Rose asked,
blushing for some reason, but she didn’t know why. After all, she had been
married to this man for almost a year; so shouldn’t she know him by now? Yet,
there was something about him that made her weak in the knees whenever he was
around, and she couldn’t believe he was her husband. And to think she had
almost refused him.
"For being you," Thomas replied,
kissing her again. As they collapsed onto the bed together, Rose couldn’t help
thinking about how wonderful Thomas was...and yet wondered what her life might
have been life with Jack and their daughter.