Chapter 12
Cora walked around the town square before it started to get dark. Where would she go? She couldn't go back home, she couldn't stand to face Jack. Her next instinct would be to stay with Molly, but her mother was there. But then she remembered she could just stay with one of her friends.
Hoping to arrive before dark, Cora quickly walked to her best friend Stephanie's house. She knocked on the large wood door, waiting for someone to respond.
"Coming," said a voice. A moment later, the door opened, and it was Stephanie's mother. "Cora. Is everything okay?"
"Hi Mrs. Dwyer," Cora greeted with a polite smile. She hugged herself for warmth; it was getting quite cold out. "I was wondering if Stephanie is home."
"Yes, she is," Mrs. Dwyer smiled. "Come in, dear." Cora slowly stepped inside, the warmth of the house immediately hitting her. "Stephanie, come here please!"
Stephanie walked down the stairs. "Cora, did I know you were coming over?"
"Not exactly," Cora sighed.
Both Stephanie and Mrs. Dwyer could see that there was something going on. "Does your father know where you are, dear?"
Cora nodded, putting a fake smile on her face. She had to sell this act if she didn't want Mrs. Dwyer to call her father. "He knows," Cora lied. Lie better, she told herself. "He actually suggested I come here. Yeah, my original plan was just to spend the night in. But he suggested I be social."
"Oh," Mrs. Dwyer nodded. "Well, you're more than welcome to stay the night."
Cora smiled. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Dwyer." She followed Stephanie upstairs and into her room. "Thanks for letting me stay."
"Of course," Stephanie replied. She crossed her arms over her chest. "What's really going on?" She asked. Cora gave her a perplexed look, asking for explanation. "That act may have fooled my mom, but it's not fooling me. Now, why aren't you home, and why doesn't your dad know where you are?" Cora filled Stephanie in on the whole story. She talked about how Rose hadn't died, how she had simply disappeared, and how she had just returned. She explained that Jack had been lying to her her entire life, and that she couldn't even look at him anymore. "So he doesn't know where you are?"
"I doubt it," Cora sighed, wiping her tears. "I just left. I didn't tell him where I was going. But he knows that I walked out and that I didn't want to be found. He doesn't think I was kidnapped or anything."
"Cora!" Stephanie scolded. "He's probably so worried about you!" Cora looked down, not meeting Stephanie's gaze. "Can you please call him and let him know you're alright?"
"No, Steph. I can't talk to him. I don't even know when I'll be ready to talk to him again. I mean, what he did was horrible." Cora couldn't even believe he had done something like this. It was so cruel, so unimaginable. It didn't even make sense to her: how could someone like Jack do something so terrible? She hugged herself for warmth, still not warmed up. "I can't."
"It's okay," Stephanie smiled. She hugged Cora tightly, feeling bad for her friend. Cora had been through so much in her life, and it was just continuing. She knew she had to support Cora, but she knew Jack well, and she knew how worried he would be about her. "You're still freezing. Why don't you go and take a warm shower? I'll give you some pajamas you can borrow."
"Thanks, Steph," Cora smiled. She took the pajamas and towel that Stephanie held out for her. "You're a really good friend."
•••
Jack was sitting on the couch next to Rose. His hands were in hers, and they were facing each other. Molly had left to go look in some more places, with no luck. "So what happened?" Rose asked.
"I told her everything," Jack sighed. He looked into her eyes and saw how much fear, curiosity, concern, and love were behind them. "And I explained why I made the choices that I made."
"And she didn't understand?" Rose asked. Her heart broke to see Jack in so much pain. She knew how much he loved Cora and how close they were.
"I think she did, actually," Jack sighed. He held Rose's hand tightly. It was the only thing keeping him grounded. "She understood that I was trying to do what was best for her, but-" He cut off and covered his eyes, crying. "She looked so betrayed, Rose. I hate the fact that I did that to her. I hate the fact that she feels like she can't trust me."
"Jack," Rose whispered. She took his head between her hands and eased it onto her shoulder, holding his hand and stroking his hair. "She'll forgive you, Jack. I know she will."
Finally, after a few minutes, Jack picked himself up and stopped crying. Rose held his hands tightly, stroking them with her thumb. "All I need right now is to know that she's safe," he said. "I just need to know she's okay."
"I know," Rose whispered. "Me too." They sat there for a moment, quietly, just both hoping and praying that either Cora would return or that they would hear from her. All of a sudden, the phone rang. Both Jack and Rose looked up and at each other. "Go, go answer!" Rose told him.
After a moment, Jack stood up and answered the phone. "Hello?" Please be okay, please be okay, please please please, Jack begged.
"Hi Mr. Dawson," the voice said. It was a young girl, around Cora's age, but Jack didn't recognize the voice. "This is Stephanie Dwyer, Cora's friend."
"Stephanie, I know who you are," Jack chuckled, but then the sadness hit him again like a ton of bricks. "Um, Cora's not here right now."
"I know. I called to tell you that she's here with me." As soon as she said that, Jack exhaled in relief. She was alright. "She didn't want to call you but I knew you'd be worried."
Jack reached for Rose's hand and squeezed it. "Thank you so much for calling."
"Of course. Is it okay if she spends the night here?" Stephanie asked.
"Sure." Jack nodded. "I won't tell her that you called me."
"I appreciate that. Good night, Mr. Dawson."
Jack hung up the phone and looked at Rose in relief. "She's okay. She's at her friend's house." He covered her face with his hands. "Oh, thank god she's okay." Rose slowly reached over, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. Jack looked up at her and smiled. He took her hands in his, pulling her closer. "Thank you for being here."
"Of course," Rose said quietly. "Where else would I be?" Slowly, Jack pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. He leaned in, starting out with a light kiss that turned unexpectedly and wonderfully deep. Rose pulled away a moment later. "I… I should go."
"Don't." Jack told her. He pulled her back against him, kissing her again. "Stay." They held each other close, unable to tear themselves away from each other. After all, they had sixteen years to make up for.
•••
It was a little while later. Jack and Rose were still together in the house. Jack had offered to cook dinner for the two of them, and Rose accepted. Jack had poured them each a glass of wine, and Rose was sitting at the kitchen island while Jack cooked.
Rose was a bundle of nerves. Sure, she and Jack had spent plenty of time together, but this was different. She thought back to that afternoon, when they had first kissed and confessed their love to one another. Jack loved her, Rose knew that for sure. But did he want to be with her? To spend the rest of their lives together? It sort of seemed to her that Jack had done this on a whim. "Jack?" Rose began, catching his attention. "Are you sure this is what you want?"
Jack looked at her for a moment, sensing her concern. "I'm very sure." He smiled and put his hand on top of hers. Was she having doubts? "Why do you ask?"
"It's just that… it was very… sudden," Rose stammered. "We weren't even talking about getting back together or working on our relationship, and then you just ran over to me and kissed me." Rose looked down at her wine glass and ran her index finger along the rim. "I guess my question is, what changed?"
Jack stepped closer, leaning on the other side of the kitchen island so that their faces were only a foot or so apart. "I always knew," he whispered. "I knew I still had feelings for you. But you were in a vulnerable state, and I didn't know if you'd be okay after the memories or if you'd run away again, and I was worried about how it would affect Cora. And then, that night that you came over, you asked me about a divorce." Jack shrugged. "I thought that you didn't want to be with me, that you wanted to move on, and just be in Cora's life without being in mine.
"I hadn't even admitted it to myself. I didn't let myself entertain the idea because I really didn't think it was an option." Rose looked down, sad that Jack had thought she didn't want to be with him. She did, she wanted to be with him from day one. But it was okay that it had taken some time. Now they were together, and they were both sure that they wanted this. "Then today, Molly came to my office and told me she knew I was in love with you. I denied it at first, only because I don't think I had truly admitted it to myself at that point. Finally, I admitted it, but I told her that it didn't matter because it wasn't what you wanted. Then, she told me that you felt the same way, and then she gave me a talk, encouraging me to tell you how I feel. And you know the rest."
Rose smiled. She finally felt so close to Jack, like she always wanted to be. When she imagined what it would be like to be with Jack, she couldn't fathom that it would be this wonderful. "Molly's just the mastermind behind our relationship, isn't she?" Rose chuckled. "I had a very similar conversation with her, but I didn't know that you felt the same way. So I told her that I wasn't going to do anything about my feelings." Rose looked down, embarrassed that she wasn't strong enough to take a risk. "I want to explain that it wasn't just about taking a risk and having you turn me down. It was more about the fact that you've been so good to me since I've come back, letting me talk to you, promising me I could see Cora. I just didn't want to overstep."
"It's okay," Jack smiled. He looked at her, still unsure of how the sixteen years that passed hadn't changed her one bit, inside or out. She maybe looked four years older, just like a more adult version of who she was before. He stroked her soft cheek. "Maybe it's better that we waited. You have yourself back, and you can be your own person, not just someone who's attached to me. You deserve that."
Rose sat there, looking into Jack's beautiful blue eyes. They both were so sublimely happy, both feeling so in love with each other. Yet, they were both ignoring the glaringly obvious: Cora was extremely angry, and neither of them knew what the future would hold with her. "Jack, what are we going to do about Cora?"
Jack stopped and looked at her. He knew that she was worried about it, and he was too. "I honestly don't know," he sighed. "I'm just going to try to talk to her again tomorrow, and hope she gets over this. And I guess tomorrow night the three of us could have dinner. You could really meet her, for real."
Rose's heart beat faster at the thought. "I really want to have a relationship with her, Jack," she said quietly. "I know she's going to be angry at me. I know that. But I just… I need to make up for lost time, I guess. I know I can't fully make up for it, but I want to try."
"I know," Jack leaned over and gave her a light yet wonderfully loving kiss. "I'm going to do whatever I can to make that happen. I promise." He smiled, but the smile faded when he saw Rose look down sadly. "What is it, Rose?"
"I just can't believe I left," Rose sighed, unable to look at him. "I can't believe I missed my daughter's whole life! There's nothing I can do about it. There's no way I can make up for that. I'll only be half a mother to her, if that."
"Come here," Jack quickly walked around the kitchen island and sat down on the chair next to hers. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her in his embrace. "I know, Rose. I know." He pulled away and looked at her, wiping the tears from her cheek. "But you know what? I bet you and Cora have a relationship and that you can make up for that time. She's going to love you. Okay? I know that it doesn't make up for that lost time, but it's a start."
Rose nodded. "You're right." She wiped her tears from her eyes and looked at Jack. He had such concern in his eyes; he hated seeing her like this. "I also feel terrible that you're the victim in this situation, and you're here, coddling me."
Jack took Rose's hand and held it tightly. "You have to stop blaming yourself. No one's to blame for this, other than those bastards at the white star line. So from now on, we're going to stop placing blame, because it's not anyone's fault." Jack tucked a red curl behind Rose's ear. "And as for me taking care of you, you're my wife. And I'm your husband. We take care of each other."
Rose nodded and gave Jack a kiss before wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," Jack smiled, stroking her cheek. For the rest of the night, Jack and Rose ate dinner, talked, and sadly, Jack walked Rose back to the hotel. They said good night to each other, and Jack promised he'd call her the next day.