July 2, 1912
Exhausted and in need of a bath and a real bed, Rose stepped off the train and looked around, taking in her surroundings. Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, the town where her Jack had grown up. The town where her new life will hopefully begin. She just didn't know where to begin it. It definitely wasn't a big town, not by Philadelphia standards anyway, but Rose kind of liked it. It wasn't overwhelming like New York was.
First thing on the agenda. Find a place to stay. But how? She had no experience in this at all. She felt like a lost little lamb about to face the slaughter house.
"What do I do now, Jack?" She questioned aloud, not caring who heard her.
She looked around confused until she spotted a kind looking woman just at the exit of the station. Asking for help never hurt. She ran up to the woman, who had blond hair and green eyes and cleared her throat, wanting to get the stranger's attention. "Excuse me, Ms. Do you know where I can find a place to stay here?"
"You're new to town, aren't ya?" The woman asked, her voice curious yet friendly. Rose could only nod. "Well, down the ways there is a bed and breakfast. If you have the money, you can stay there. Just walk down the street to my right and then turn left. You'll run right into it."
"Thank you," Rose sighed in grateful relief. The people here so far were friendly. Just like Jack. She felt the ache in her heart again at the thought of Jack. She wondered when it'll stop hurting to think about him?
Clearing her thoughts, Rose followed the girl's directions and indeed, she found herself in front of a bed and breakfast, a three story red brick building with a wrap around porch. It had a friendly atmosphere and Rose could see herself making this her home, at least temporarily. Gripping her handbag full of money in hand, she entered the building and approached the counter, where a kind-looking elderly lady was smiling at her.
"Hello. I am looking for a room."
"Of course. We do have one room left. ten dollars a week," the elderly lady replied.
"I'll take it," Rose counted out the money and handed it to the clerk, who stepped out from behind the desk.
"Come along. I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."
Rose followed the woman up to the third floor and opened the door. She gasped. The room looked like it was a attic converted into a bed room. It was rather modest, something that Rose wasn't used to. She loved it.
"Breakfast is at eight. Keep your room clean, because I will not be cleaning up after you. No gentleman callers after five. And definitely no men upstairs in your room. I run a respectable establishment here."
"Yes ma'am," Rose nodded, taking everything in while noting that even the low classes had their rules of respectability.
"My name is Mrs. Rainer, but you can call me Louise," The woman's smile was warm and kind as she handed Rose the key to her room. "Welcome to Chippewa Falls, Ms…"
"Just all me Rose," Rose interjected. She was going to use the last name Dawson, but thought better of it. That name may still be familiar around here and she didn't want questions that she wasn't ready to answer yet.
"Rose. My daughter Lisa is about your age. Maybe she can show you around town tomorrow. It's a busy time of year for Chippewa Falls. The Fourth of July picnic is to take place soon. I advise that you go. It's a great way to introduce yourself to the town."
Rose had to agree. Independence day was a great way to introduce herself and make new friends. She just hoped that it wasn't too hard. If only Jack was with her, it wouldn't seem so difficult.
"Well I'll let you settle in. If you need anything, just call my name and I'll come running," Louise smiled, leaving Rose to her thoughts.
Rose sat down on the nicely made bed with a pink comforter with little embroidered roses on it. She snorted when she saw them. "How typical."
Exhausted, she laid down and thought of Jack, wishing that he was here to help her settle in to her new life and get used to things. But he wasn't. He'll never be with her again. He was gone and nothing will ever bring him back. Hot tears sprang to her eyes at that thought. Closing her eyes, she fell into a restless sleep, where she dreamed of Jack teaching her how to fly on the bow of Titanic.
…..
The woman that had given Rose Dewitt Bukater, now Dawson, directions entered the house and went into the kitchen where he dumped some of the groceries she had just brought at the market onto the table.
"It's a busy day in town today," she stated, looking at her husband, a man of 28 with blond hair and blue eyes. "I was hoping that I would have some help."
"You should have told Jack to accompany you. You know he would have. All you had to do was ask," The man gruffly replied, taking a sip of his coffee as he continued to read the paper.
"I don't know, Charlie. He's been so sad since he came back except for when he's with Lily. She's the only one that can get a smile out of him. I didn't have the heart to break that up today," she shrugged, referring to her 5 year old daughter Lily Dawson. She had been married to Charlie Dawson for a good ten years now and Lily was the apple of all of their eyes. Jack Dawson, Charlie's cousin had been no exception. Lily had quickly wrapped the young man around her finger.
Charlie sighed at the thought of his cousin Jack. They hadn't really been all that close. In fact, Charlie hadn't even been in town when the fire that had killed Jack's parents began. He had been living his own life in Michigan. But he heard of the fire and since it was family, he came with his wife Hope and their infant daughter Lily to see what help they could be. Sadly, he found that his Aunt and Uncle had perished and his cousin Jack had disappeared. The death of his aunt and Uncle had saddened Charlie and he was near devastated by Jack's disappearance. But he pulled himself together to realize that his wife had fallen in love with the small town and that his aunt and uncle's home could be repaired. So they had stayed, with Charlie making the needed repairs and making sure that there was room for Jack if he should decide to come back.
They were just about to give up hope of that ever happening when at the end of April of that year, Jack showed up on their door, tall, with the Dawson good-looks, yet deeply sad and not about his parents deaths…by something that he had yet to talk about. He was glad to see his cousin. That was obvious by the way he had hugged Charlie, seeming to cling to him as if there had been a chance of never seeing him again. But he hadn't smiled, not until Lily came up, introduced herself and gave Jack the sweetest hug. From then on out, the only person who could get his sad cousin to genuinely smile was Lily. The child obviously had his heart . It was also a great help, because they knew that if Lily wasn't with them, she was with Jack. The two were almost inseparable.
"Still, he would have helped you gladly. Probably would have taken Lily with you. Would have done them both good to get out of the house," Charlie kept his eyes on the paper.
Hope smiled. Charlie liked to hide it, but he knew the soft heart that he had, especially for family. He was worried about his cousin. Jack was a young man who had his whole life ahead of him. He should be happy-go-lucky and fancy free. Probably even courting a few of the pretty girls she's seen around and about town. Instead the only girl she's seen Jack with has been Lily. He never even flirted with some of the girls that had stopped by to welcome him home and it had been obvious that such attention would have been welcomed.
"You worry about him."
"I should have worked harder at finding him. Or I should have been here before he had a chance to take off. Jesus, he was only a kid," Charlie sighed. "Whatever this deep sadness is, I bet it's a girl. That's the only thing that I can think of that could cause this deep of a hurt."
Hope sighed and glanced outside where Jack was busy sketching in the portfolio he had brought in town just a few days ago. Lily of course was by his side watching with big fascinated blue eyes.
"Maybe the picnic will cheer him up. Who doesn't love a picnic?"
Meanwhile, Jack Dawson himself was putting the finishing touches on his newest masterpiece. A picture of a smiling Lily. The child looked happy and carefree, which she was and he loved her almost as much as he loved Rose. It was fair to say that Lily Dawson was the only bright spot in his life.
"Can I give this to daddy to remember me by?" Lily looked up at Jack with wide happy eyes.
Jack had to laugh. "Of course sweetie. Go on ahead."
Lily happily squealed and ran back to the house, picture in hand to present to her daddy. Jack had to smile. She was such a daddy's girl, just like little Cora Cortmell had been. He winced at that thought. He tried not to think of the people he had met aboard the doomed ship Titanic. But he couldn't help it. Each one of them haunted him constantly. Fabrizio, Tommy, Cora and her family…Rose…his beautiful Rose who he had somehow failed.
He didn't even know how he had failed her. He had gotten her on a lifeboat. Her efforts to jump back on the sinking Titanic had been stopped by her fellow passengers. She had been safe, heading away from danger, or so he had thought. He had left Cal to gloat, thinking he had won.
Jack knew that he had to find a way to survive. He had to get back to Rose before Hockley did. There was no telling what would happen to her if the worse happened and he didn't. Cal would probably force her back into that life she hated so much. Jack had to stop it. He was determined. Hockley may think he had won, but Jack was going to make sure he didn't. First thing was first. Staying on the ship for as long as he possibly could. So he ran to the stern of the ship, the spot he had met Rose and held on for dear life. Climbing to the other side after the ship had broken apart, h e rode the stern down into the freezing North Atlantic and then kicked for the surface and began to swim until he found a large door that had come off the ship and was large enough to hold his weight and keep his body out of the freezing waters until help finally arrived too late for most of the people in the freezing waters.
On the Carpathia, he had avoided giving his name, not sure if he'd get in trouble for not actually having purchased a ticket but winning one in a game of poker. But he still checked the lists, looking desperately for her name, but to his horror, there was no Rose Dewitt Bukater on the list. He had thought that maybe it was some kind of trick..some kind of sick joke that Cal was playing, hiding Rose from him so they couldn't be together. Then again, why would Cal do that? Cal didn't know that he had survived. To Cal and Ruth, Jack was a gutter rat that had gone down with the Titanic with the rest of the steerage passengers. So why bother playing games to keep a dead man away from his former fiancée? It didn't make sense, just like Rose's death didn't.
Even now, months later, Jack couldn't understand it. What had happened to her? Was it the cold? Was it too much and she succumbed to hypothermia? Did she jump out of the boat, trying to uselessly swim back to him and ended up freezing? What the fuck happened?
He didn't have an answer…he probably never will. He just knew that the love of his life, his soulmate was gone forever. He didn't know that she had just arrived in town looking to start a new life, despite the fact that she was mourning him just like he was mourning her.