Chapter 14

Jack walked Rose back to the hotel and wished her a good night before returning to the house. He went straight upstairs to Cora's room and knocked on the door.

"What?" Cora asked angrily.

"Can I come in?" Jack asked. He begged her to say yes, to think rationally for a moment.

"No," Cora replied. He could hear the anger in her voice as it echoed out her door and through the halls.

Jack paused. "Because you're getting changed or because you really don't want to talk to me?" He asked, bracing himself for the answer.

Cora paused. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"I'm coming in," said Jack, fed up with her attitude. He walked in and stood against the doorframe. "Do you want to explain to me what happened down there?" Cora shook her head, not looking at him. She felt too awful about everything: she hated Rose for leaving, she hated Jack for lying to her, and she hated them both for uniting against her. "Okay, then I'll talk." He sat down on Cora's bed, looking at her. "You know how we met, how she left everything for me. She had a life arranged for her full of riches and jewelry and everything she could possibly need. She gave all of that up for me, when all I had was my art and a five dollar bill.

"None of it mattered to her. She never cared what I had or what I could give her, as long as we were together. She didn't even know we had any money, Cora. And she didn't come here tonight for me, or to get money, or anything." He looked at her, though she didn't look back at him. "She came here to get to know you."

Cora looked up at Jack now. "How is it that she's the one who left, and you're the one who lied. And I'm the one who's being treated like I did something wrong."

"This isn't about you doing anything wrong, Cora," Jack tried to explain. "I'm trying to explain to you that she has no bad intentions here. And I appreciate the fact that you're trying to protect me in some way, but you don't need to."

"How can you so easily accept the fact that she's back, and that she won't leave again?" Cora asked.

Jack sighed. "There's a difference in the way she's acting now, as opposed to the way she acted before. Before, it was almost like there was a dark cloud over her head. Everything was dark, everything was blurry, and you could tell that there was something going on inside." He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering how awful it was. "Now, she's… normal, in a sense. She can smile, and laugh, and joke, and she doesn't constantly go back to the ship.

"I can't really expect you to understand how awful it was, Cora, because thank god, you've never experienced something so traumatic that it literally haunts you," Jack continued. "But I have, and it's awful. Every time you close your eyes, you experience it all over again. You feel the freezing water, you hear the people screaming, you see the people dying. I mean, Cora, I lost my best friend on that ship. And it was far worst for your mother than it ever was for me."

Cora looked down. She felt awful now for both of them, understanding a little more what happened. "But she still left, Dad. I grew up without her. And I'm not ready to forgive that."

"And that's okay," Jack explained. "But I want you to understand that she didn't leave on purpose, and she's not here for money. She's here because she genuinely wants to get to know you and have a relationship with you." He looked at Cora and sighed. "You don't have to forgive her, at least not now. But just try to tolerate her, okay? She's gonna be spending time here now, so all I ask is that you don't yell and scream. And if you have any questions about anything, you can ask her. Do you think you can do that?"

A few seconds passed before Cora nodded. "Fine. I'll be civil."

Jack grabbed Cora and kissed her cheek. "Thank you."

•••

It was the next morning. Rose woke up to the sun shining into her room, like it always did. But it didn't make her happy today. It made her want to roll over and go back to sleep. She grumbled as she put her pillow on top of her head and tried to sleep some more, but something interrupted her. "Rose, are you awake, darlin'?" Molly called. Leave me alone, Rose thought to herself. Even Molly seemed to irritate her today. "Jack's on the phone for you!"

Even hearing that Jack was on the phone didn't make Rose feel any better. "I'm awake," she grumbled. She slipped out of bed and walked outside, where Molly and Ruth were sitting and drinking their tea. Molly was holding the handset up in the air, a smile on her face. Rose took the phone and forced a smile. "Thanks." She waited a moment, expecting Molly and Rose to leave. After a moment, she waved her arms in a shooing motion.

"Oh, we'll go," said Molly, and she nodded at Ruth. They left the room, and Rose sat down and put the handset to her ear.

"Good morning," Jack said cheerfully.

Rose squeezed her eyes shut, inwardly wincing at Jack's cheerful demeanor. "You're chipper, all things considered."

"You sound…" Jack struggled to find the words.

"Is it possible to be hungover without drinking at all?" Rose asked. "Almost like a hangover from another person?"

Jack chuckled. "I'm sorry," he said, and his voice cleared her of some of her anger. "How about I make it up to you?"

Rose smiled. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, you could come here, I could make you breakfast," Jack began.

"I don't know, Jack," Rose interrupted him. "After everything with Cora last night, I just don't feel comfortable being there."

Jack sighed. "I'll be right there." He hung up the phone and stormed up to Cora's room. He swung the door open and walked inside. "She doesn't feel comfortable-"

"Can you knock?" Cora asked.

"She doesn't feel comfortable coming here!" Jack yelled. "You did that! You told me to invite her over, and then you treated her like shit."

"I was the one who was treated like shit," Cora yelled back. "How can you seriously blame me for this?"

"Who was it that started screaming at dinner last night?" Jack asked.

Cora shook her head. "But-"

"And who was it that ran away, scaring us both to death?"

"Who was it that lied to me my whole life?" Cora yelled back. "And who was it that abandoned me? It doesn't matter the reason. I grew up without a mother because of her!"

"Just tell me what you want, Cora," Jack said finally. "Tell me what you want me to do. Do you want me to get down on my knees and apologize for lying? Do you want to run away again? Just tell me what you want me to do!"

"I want you to evaluate whatever issues are going on right now, and why you're taking them out on me!" Cora yelled. "We had this conversation last night. We resolved this. So why are you here, screaming at me? I know why. It's because you're angry at the way you handled things, and you're angry that she left. You're choosing to take it out on me, and it's not fair."

Jack paused for a minute, Cora's words sinking in. "I'll be back later," he said absentmindedly, walking out of Cora's room and right out the door.