AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY
Chapter Thirty
"You should have seen the look on her
face!" Diane said, her eyes shining with laughter. She and Nora were in
the dining room sharing breakfast. They had been best friends since they were
small children. Jack and David had left earlier that morning for work, and
Katherine was in the sitting room nursing her infant daughter. Elizabeth was
only four months old. "I never thought that Sandra would ever embarrass
herself in public like that!" Diane said, referring to their other friend.
Nora laughed at her friend’s story.
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock
on the front door. By the time they entered the sitting room, Katherine had
already answered the door. A young woman stood in the room; her eyes seemed to
be taking in the whole room and everyone in it. Nora looked at the woman
curiously, wondering who she was. She noticed that she was extremely beautiful.
"Nora, this is Rose. She says that her
parents were friends of your mother and father," Katherine explained.
Rose looked at Nora. "My parents died recently,
on the Titanic. They always talked about your parents. I was just curious, I
guess. But I shouldn’t have come," she said as she turned to leave.
"No, please, don’t leave. Any friend of
our parents is a friend of ours. I’m Nora, and this is my friend Diane. I
assume that you have already met Katherine, my brother’s wife."
Rose looked at Diane, then Katherine. She
felt uncomfortable. She wished that she hadn’t come, not so soon, anyway. What
if they asked her too many questions? And why had she told them that her
parents had died on Titanic? She had not planned on telling them that lie. It
had just slipped out. Well, as far as I’m concerned, Mother did die on
Titanic, she thought.
Diane looked at the mysterious young woman. Why
does she look so familiar? she wondered. She studied Rose, watching as her
blue eyes darted around the room nervously. Her long red curls hung around her
shoulders freely. Diane’s eyes widened as a memory came to her mind. It was a
day not too long ago; she had seen Jack drawing a beautiful woman. Diane
couldn’t believe it. That’s the woman he was drawing that day! Who is she
and what is she doing here? Diane knew that she didn’t like this girl. I
won’t let her come between Jack and I, she thought determinedly.
She watched as Rose sat down on the couch.
She looked like she was about to get sick. "Are you feeling all right,
Rose?" Katherine asked, a concerned expression on her delicate face.
"I’m fine, really," she said
weakly. This is just too overwhelming, being here in Jack’s house. He’s
probably sat on this exact couch a million times, Rose thought as she
desperately tried to fight back tears. She looked at the three women in the
room. Katherine and Nora looked at her in concern, but Diane glared at her. Why
is she looking at me like that? she thought as she avoided the glare of her
eyes.
"Rose, are you sure that you’re all
right?" Katherine asked. Rose nodded, but her face was pale. Katherine
looked at her worriedly. "Have you eaten breakfast yet?" she asked.
"Yes," Rose replied. She wished
that she had not come. She was feeling very sick.
Nora and Katherine continued to look at her
in concern. Diane continued to glare at her, wishing that she would leave
before Jack got home.
"Maybe you need to get some rest,"
Nora suggested.
Rose nodded weakly. She knew that she could
use some rest. She’d barely gotten any sleep on the train.
"Here, let me show you to my brother’s
room. He’s at work right now, so he won’t be back for a while. You can get some
sleep before lunchtime," Nora said.
But Rose shook her head. "Oh, no. I
couldn’t impose."
But Nora shook her head. "Nonsense.
Follow me," Nora said as she headed out of the sitting room.
Rose gave up, then followed her, taking in
every detail of the house. A moment later, she was being ushered into a room.
It had a bed against the far wall. There was a desk and a dresser, also.
"Thank you. Are you sure that I won’t be
imposing?" Rose asked.
Nora nodded. Rose noticed that she had Jack’s
eyes. They were just as blue and caring as his had been. She knew that she
would have to tell his family the truth eventually, but right now she couldn’t
think straight. She felt so tired.
"I’m positive. Our parents taught us to
be kind and caring to people in need, and it looks like you could desperately
use some rest, Rose."
She smiled gratefully at the girl who would
have been her sister-in-law. Oh, Jack, we would have been married. This
would have been our life. She once again found herself thinking about what
would have been. If only I had made you get onto that board with me. Why
didn’t I try?
After Nora left the room, she crawled into
bed, not knowing that Jack had slept there the night before. She thought that
she smelled his scent, but figured that it was her imagination. After all, he
had died. She would never be able to smell his scent again, or feel the warmth
of his embrace. She fell asleep soon after. Her dreams were of her and Jack,
and the life that could have been theirs.