AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY
Chapter Twenty-Six
Three weeks later…
Jack had been throwing himself into his job,
trying to get Rose off of his mind. On his days off, he could be found in the
bar. His family’s concern for him had grown increasingly. They had tried over
and over again to get him to open up to them, but he had remained silent about
Titanic…and Rose.
He was sitting out in the grassy field behind
his house, once again trying to draw. He was failing miserably. Will I ever
be able to draw again? he wondered. He had tried drawing everything.
Everything but Rose. It hurt too much just remembering her face. He didn’t know
if he could handle drawing it. But maybe I should try, he thought as he
started to draw the outline of her face. He could see it clearly in his mind.
He was shocked to see her face come alive on the paper. He was finally drawing
again!
He was so engrossed in his drawing that he
didn’t hear when Diane came up behind him. She stared at his drawing in wonder.
She hadn't seen him draw like that for years. She took a closer look at the
image he was capturing. The woman was very beautiful, probably the most
beautiful woman she had ever seen. Who is she? she wondered. Was she
just a face in Jack’s creative mind…or was she someone he knew?
"Jack, the drawing is beautiful!"
she said finally, making her presence known.
He turned around abruptly. "Geez, Diane.
You scared me!" he said as he discreetly turned the drawing over so it
couldn’t be seen. Rose’s memory was something that he wanted to keep to
himself.
This didn’t go unnoticed by Diane. She came
to the conclusion that the woman in the picture must have been someone special
to Jack. She just hoped that this mysterious woman didn’t turn up in his life
anytime soon. I’m going to be the only woman that is in his life, she
thought determinedly.
He gathered his stuff up from the ground.
"You want to go for a walk? The weather sure is nice today." At
hearing his own words, a not too distant memory surfaced in his mind. It was
the day that Rose had wanted to thank him for saving her life the night before.
He remembered how they had talked about the weather. He shook his head, trying
to clear his mind. Diane watched him curiously. She wished that she could read
his mind. His mind seemed to wander a lot lately. He'd get a faraway look in
his eyes.
After they had been walking for a while,
Diane decided that she would try to get him to open up to her. After all, she
had known him all her life. "Jack, will you tell me about your travel
experiences?"
He felt a lump form in his throat. He hated
talking about his time in Europe; it just reminded him of Rose. But he couldn’t
blame her for being curious; he had been away for five years. "Okay, where
do I start? Well, my favorite place was Paris. I didn’t do very well as an
artist there, but I loved the city. Fabri loved it, too. That’s where we
met." The minute the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them.
Fabrizio had lost his life on Titanic. But Diane’s curiosity had been sparked.
"Who’s Fabri?" she asked.
He could have kicked himself. How was he suppose
to tell her about his friend without telling her how he had died? "Well…he
was my best friend while I was traveling."
She looked at him quizzically. "Where is
he now?"
This was the question that he dreaded. How
could he tell her what had happened to his friend without revealing what had
happened on Titanic? "Um, he…died." He prayed that she wouldn’t pry
anymore.
She sensed that he didn’t want to talk about
it. Could his friend’s death be the reason that he has been so sad? she
wondered. But she felt that there was something more to the story. But,
nevertheless, she dropped it. She didn’t want to upset him. She was just glad
that he had told her something about his life while he had been away. "I’m
sorry to hear that, Jack. He was lucky to have had a friend like you."
Jack laughed as memories of Fabrizio edged
their way into his mind. "I was lucky to have him as a friend. He had so
many dreams, so many plans. He couldn’t wait to get to America. He was
Italian," he explained. They continued to walk, not really caring where
they were going.
"I wish I had the guts to leave like you
did, Jack. Just head out to the horizon, go wherever fate takes me."
His face went pale at her words. Head out to
the horizon. That was exactly what Rose had wanted to do. Now she was dead. All
of her dreams had gone with her. So had his, for that matter. But she had died
loving him. He felt lucky to have had her love. I just hope she knows how
much I loved her. I still love her. Why didn’t I ever tell her? He wished
with all of his heart that he had said those three words to her.
Diane noticed that he was in his own little
world again, lost in his thoughts. If only I knew what he was thinking and
feeling. But he remained silent. They continued the walk back to the Dawson
house; not one of them spoke another word.