A ROSE BLOWING IN THE WIND
Chapter Twelve
It was two weeks after Jack’s
memorial. Rose stood on the Dawson porch watching the sunrise, reminding
herself of the time Jack had shown her how to fly on the Titanic. She closed
her eyes, still hearing him sing Come Josephine to her. She even began
to hum the song, bringing the memory even closer to her.
"Mrs. Dawson?" a timid
voice asked, causing the memory to dissipate into nothingness. She opened her
eyes and stared into a pair of nervous brown eyes covered by framed glasses. It
was Jack’s friend Fredrick. The one they called Horn-eyes. She remembered his
offer two weeks ago to share more stories of Jack. But she couldn’t bear to
hear them now. Not with the memory of her time on the bow still so near, yet
gone.
"May I help you?" she
asked, looking at the man like he had two heads. She knew she was acting
unfriendly. But it was early in the morning and the sunrise had made her miss
Jack immensely, plus she was hungry. She hadn’t eaten yet.
"Um…my ma…she wanted to
invite you and Mrs. Brown to dinner tonight. She makes a right tasty
roast." Fredrick smiled, trying to seem confident and sure of himself,
like his friend had once been, but of course he failed miserably. Fredrick
sighed in resignation. He was not sure and confident like the other men about
town. He was meek and a pushover. Like he always been.
"Why, we’d love to
come." Molly stepped out of the house, a huge smile on her face. "And
maybe you can tell us some of those stories. That’s okay with you, isn’t it,
Rosie?"
No. It wasn’t all right. The last
thing she wanted to do was go to a stranger’s house and be bombarded with
questions about Jack or hear stories about Jack. She wasn’t ready for that yet.
Not when the very essence of him was still with her. "That’ll be fine,
Molly." The long suffering lady of high society spoke up. "I can’t
wait to hear all the stories about Jack. I’m sure they’re quite
interesting."
"You’ll be over around six,
then?" Fredrick asked, his brown eyes shining with anticipation.
Rose weakly nodded, afraid her
voice would betray her displeasure.
"Very well. I’ll tell Ma.
Good day, ladies." Fredrick tipped his hat and went back the way he came.
As soon as he was out of sight, Rose turned on Molly.
"Would you mind explaining
why you did that? Why did you set up that appointment without consulting me
first?"
"I did consult with you,
Rosie." Molly turned and went into the house, closely followed by a livid
Rose.
"No, you didn’t. Not really.
I couldn’t possibly say no after you accepted, and right in front of him."
"What’s going on?"
George and Samantha came downstairs.
"Rosie’s mad at me. I
accepted a dinner invitation for the both of us," Molly answered.
"Rose, I accepted it because it’s time. It’s time that you began what we
came for. To find out more about Jack so you’ll have something to tell your
child when it’s old enough."
"I was going to, Molly…in my
own time…"
"Darling, by time you got to
it, the child would be having children of its own."
"Molly…you’re right. I do
need to talk to them about Jack…but I can’t. Not now. I don’t know why…I guess
I’m scared. I feel like I’m losing him. That by talking about him, and sharing
him with others…I’ll lose him."
"Oh, Rose." Molly
pulled her friend into her arms in a comforting embrace. "You’ll never
lose Jack. He’ll always be with you and the child. And those memories you’ll be
hearing will keep him alive. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did this."
"You’re right. It’s time to
stop moping and get to listening. I’d better go pick out a dress to wear. I’m
sorry for my behavior, Molly. Yelling at you was uncalled for."
"Don’t be sorry, darling. I
understand you’re hurting. Now, go and get things ready. And then come back
down for breakfast. It’s not good for the little one to go without food."
Smiling one last time at her
friend, Rose darted upstairs to get ready for the evening’s activities.
*****
Rose and Molly returned home that
night in good spirits. Fredrick and his mother had a plethora of stories about
Jack. They had confirmed what Rose had always known. Jack was a fun,
mischievous, loving, caring, loyal person. He had lit up the lives of everyone
he touched. He was a man Rose was proud to say was her baby’s father, and she
hoped that her child grew up to be just like him.
"Well…did you two find out
what you wanted to know?" George asked, putting down the paper he was
reading.
"Quite a man, your cousin
was." Molly nodded. "Quite a man."
"He was more wonderful than
even I knew." Rose sniffed back a tear. "I think I’ve fallen even
more in love with him than before."
"I told you Jack was
something out of this world." George sadly smiled, getting up to hug Rose.
"Well. Rose, I’m beat. I’m
going upstairs to bed." Molly yawned. "Big day tomorrow, since we’re
returning to Denver."
"What?" George frowned.
"You’re leaving?"
Rose nodded. "It’s time.
George. We’ve intruded on you and Sam’s hospitality long enough. It’s time we
moved on."
"But Rose, this is your home
more then it’s ours. You have every right to stay here. This is that baby’s
legacy. Please stay. Don’t go."
Rose’s heart broke at the
pleading sadness in George’s eyes. She knew why he wanted her to stay so badly.
This child was his only link with his late cousin. If Rose disappeared, so
would the link with Jack. She was going to have to reassure him that she planned
to have him be a big part of the child’s life. No matter where they called
home. "George…you don’t understand. If I stay here, I’ll be breaking my
promise to Jack. He made me promise to go on…to live life without him. To do
all the things we’d talked about and more. As much as I love it here…as close
as I feel to Jack just by being here…I can’t break that promise, because I
loved him too much to do so. But I promise, no matter where I am…or what I’m
doing, you will be a part of this baby’s life. You’re the only family this
child has on its father’s side, and I want it to know you. Understand?"
George nodded, wiping away his
tears, trying to cheer up for Rose’s sake. It wouldn’t do for him to make her
feel worse than she did already. "We’ll miss you, Rose. You’ve became a
fixture here. A part of the family. Whether you were married to Jack or
not."
Rose’s eyes widened. "Excuse
me?" How did they guess?
George laughed. "It’s
simple. Jack and I had made a promise. When we found the women we were going to
marry, we’d get each other’s approval. Well, I kept my end of the bargain. Jack
had met Sam a year ago. But Jack had never even sent a picture of you. And you
know Jack. He never broke a promise."
"Oh, George." Rose’s
voice was full of tears. He knew the truth, yet still he was still accepting
her into his family. "I don’t know what to say."
"Say nothing. Both Sam and I
know that if Jack had not died, you’d be on his arm right now, prancing around
town making wedding plans. So, in a way, you are family, and that’s the way
you’ll remain."
"Thank you." Rose
hugged him tightly. She was truly going to miss both him and Sam. "Thank
you so much."
"You just keep that child
healthy and tell it all about Jack. And bring it here for holidays, as well. We
do plan to see you at Thanksgiving and Christmas."
"You’ve got a deal."
Rose sniffed, wiping away her tears.
"Now, come. It’s time you
get to bed. You have an early train tomorrow." George escorted her to her
room.
That night, Rose had a wonderful
dream. It was Jack and her wedding day aboard the Titanic, spiritually being
wedded.
"I’ll be with you
forever," he whispered, before she awoke with the sun streaming through her
window.
*****
Rose hugged both Sam and George
tightly as Molly loaded their bags onto the train heading for Denver. Her heart
broke at the thought of saying good-bye to the couple who had accepted her into
their family. It was funny. At first, she was alone in the world, and now here
she was with a family to go to on holidays and other occasions. Jack had given
that to her, and she was going to be forever grateful for that.
"Now, don’t forget to write
and send pictures when the little one is born." Sam wiped away her tears.
"I won’t forget. Thank you.
For everything. From all three of us. Me, Jack, and our baby."
"It’s the least we could do
for family." George grinned. "We love ya, Rose. Don’t forget that. If
you need anything at all, just give us a call."
"Thank you." Rose wiped
away her own tears. She really hated to leave, but she had a promise to keep
and she was determined to keep that promise.
"All aboard!" the
conductor called.
"Hurry, Rose! We must be
going!" Molly called, boarding the train.
"Good-bye, Rose!"
George and Samantha hugged her one last time and watched her disappear into the
train.
Rose sat at the window, watching
George and Samantha grow smaller as the train pulled out of the station,
leaving both Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls behind. She faced forward, trying
not to think of all the memories she was leaving behind.
"Don’t worry, Rosie. You’ll
see them again." Molly squeezed her hand.
"I know. I just hate
leaving…but I have no choice. I have a promise to keep." Rose sighed,
examining her pale hands.
"To make each day
count." Molly nodded.
"Yes. To make each day
count." Rose looked up towards the sky, knowing that Jack was looking down
on her with pride. She was keeping her promise, no matter what. The train
continued on its journey to Denver, just as Rose was continuing the journey of
life. No matter what happened, or how hopeless things seemed, she was going to
go on and make sure that Jack had not died in vain.