Chippewa Falls was everything that Rose thought it would be. It was early in the afternoon when the train pulled into the station and Rose and Lily disembarked. Rose held the child tightly in her arms as they left the station. Her eyes drank everything in as she looked around the small town. It was quaint, sweet, and warm. Cozy. It was the perfect place to raise a child. It was the perfect place for a beautiful artist to originate from.

Rose took a deep breath, her thoughts going to her first love. It was funny, his presence was strong here. It was like he had never died, that he was in this town somewhere, just waiting for her to find him. All she had to do was look, but first thing was first. She wanted to just walk around town. Visits places like Lake Wissota. See all that Jack had once seen. Go to places where he had once stood. Breathe the air that he had once breathed. Then, if she was lucky, she could go to the very house he had grown up in. His presence would probably be the strongest there.

"Momma Rose, I'm hungry," Lily whimpered, resting her head against Rose's shoulder, a small thumb in her mouth.

"It's okay, Lily. I'll find a place where you can eat, okay? Then we'll find a place to stay. Maybe we can make this town home," Rose kissed the girl's red curls as she stepped out of the station. She was relieved to see a small corner just across the street. "Looks like we won't have to go far after all."

Humming the familiar tune of Come Josephine, Rose made her way to the diner and entered. She settled both herself and Lily into the nearest booth and waited to be served. Looking at it, the diner was not all that crowded. There were only three occupied tables and a waitress with brunette hair and warm green eyes.

"Just a minute, Miss," The waitress waved.

"Can I have ice cream, momma Rose?" Lily asked, her blue eyes bright and eager.

"Maybe after you eat some food, love. Remember, we need to be careful with the money we have. We still keep enough to rent a room," Rose smiled. Of course, she still had a great deal of the money that she had found in Cal's coat pocket along with the heart of the ocean that rainy day when they had arrived in New York, but she tried to use as little of that as possible.

Looking around the small diner, Rose's mind returned to Jack. Had he ever eaten here? What had been his favorite dish? Did the waitress or the few customers happen to know him? Could they perhaps share stories of the young man who had fled town six years ago after losing his parents? What stories could they share, or would they? Why would they? After all, she was a newcomer. A stranger. Why would anyone tell her about Jack and the life he had led here?

Well, she had to try. Her whole purpose in coming to this town was to find out more about Jack. If they didn't want to talk, that was fine. But if they did...what a wealth of information that would be!

"Welcome to Rebecca's diner. I am Rebecca's daughter Cindy. I will be your waitress for the day," The waitress was at their table, placing a menu before Rose and what looked to be a coloring book and colored pencils in front of Lily who happily accepted the gift and opened the book to begin coloring.

"Hello, Cindy. I am Rose and this is my daughter Lily," Rose smiled, again wondering if this girl knew Jack. She looked just about his age.

"I'll give you a minute to look at the menu and I'll come back and take your order," Cindy winked, heading off to take care of another customer.

Five minutes later, Cindy the waitress returned and Rose had made the decision on lunch.

"Have you made up your mind, sweetie?"

"Yes. I'll have a BLT platter and a grilled cheese and tomato soup for Lily. Tea for me and milk for her and we'll both have the bowl of vanilla ice cream for dessert."

"Yay!" Lily happily cheered, looking forward to the ice cream.

"You have to eat all of your food first, Lily," Rose warned, not wanting Lily to get any ideas on skipping to the ice cream.

The girl just happily smiled and continued to color in her coloring book, while Rose dug a book out of her bag that she had been working on finishing for the past few days.

One hour later, the food, including the ice cream was finished and Rose was ready to move on, but first she needed to talk to the waitress Cindy. She needed to at least ask if the woman knew of the Dawsons. Maybe she could point her where to find out more about Jack and his family. Seeing that the girl wasn't busy, she waved her over, hoping that she came away from this conversation with results.

Cindy's smile was friendly, yet curious. Normally, the customers didn't talk to her after paying the bill. Usually, they just left, but this young mother obviously had something to say. "May I help you with something?"

"Yes. A friend of mine is from this town. I was wondering if perhaps you knew him, or at least of him? Jack Dawson?"

"Why of course I know Jack Dawson! Why everyone my age, does! We all grew up together you can say! Sweetest boy around these parts he was. A bit mischievous, but not too much. Grew up to be quite a looker, if I do say so myself," Cindy giggled, her cheeks turning pink.

Rose forced a smile, realizing that this girl could have been a girlfriend back before Jack had left, or had at least fancied him. Hmm...she bet a lot of girls not only realized that they liked boys, but found a certain blond, blue-eyed boy was indeed rather pleasing on the eyes. "Is his house near here?"

"It's a walk from here, I tell you that. But it's a rather pleasant day. It's right on the edge of town where all the farms are located. If you get lost, just ask someone and they'll point the way. I'd take you myself, but I have to work," Cindy explained. "In fact...I wonder...go to Sokup's market next door. They sometimes do deliveries out that way. Maybe Joseph can give you a ride out there."

Rose glanced at the clock, not sure if she should head for what was once Jack's home or not. Maybe it'd be wise to find a room at a boarding house and get herself and Lily settled first. Was there really a hurry to go to the Dawson place? Rose didn't know what the right answer would be. Perhaps it would be better to wait. Lily looked to be exhausted and honestly, so was she.

Making up her mind, Rose smiled, grateful for the information that she had received. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. So does Lily. By the way, where can I find a room to stay in for a few days?"

"Gloria's Bed and Breakfast is just around the corner," Cindy directed, happy to be of some help. She had to admit, she was curious about this stranger and the little girl. The little girl's voice sounded like she could have come from Ireland, yet the girl's mother had a fanciness to her like she was a lady from high society, yet she was dressed like she was from the working class. Both mother and child were walking contradictions to each other.

"Thank you so much," Rose smiled, gathering her belongings before lifting a sleepy Lily into her arms.

"My pleasure! Have a nice rest of your day!" Cindy waved. Watching the strange redhead leave, she wondered if she should send word to the occupants of the Dawson place that they may have a visitor on the way, but that thought left her mind as the diner began to fill up with more customers to serve.

….

Fabrizio sighed as he followed Tommy into the house. It had been another long day at the brewery and he was bone tired from standing on his feet all day. He didn't mind though. The work was busy and it kept his mind from wandering back to that one April night, when he had lost the love of his life, Helga...or rather he thought of her as the love of his life. He knew that he had never felt as strongly for another woman as he had felt for her. He couldn't believe a year had passed already. A year of mourning for both himself and Jack. Both of them had lost the woman they had loved. Tommy was the lucky one. He had lost no one. He was not haunted by the clouds of grief like Fabrizio and Jack were. Tommy had a bright outlook on everything. Every dollar they made was one dollar closer to the bar he wanted to open. Every day was one day closer to citizenship and making his dream come true. Fabrizio in a way looked forward to citizenship too, and perhaps opening a restaurant someday, or at least that had once been his dream...before Helga. Now he couldn't even think of those dreams, knowing that Helga would never realize hers.

Jack came out of the kitchen as his friends returned home. Since his friends worked at the brewery, Jack had taken up cooking their meals and taking care of the house and land. He wanted to make the place a working farm like it once had been before the fire had taken his parents. The work was hard, but it kept him busy enough so his mind wouldn't dwell on Rose so much. Like Fabrizio, he wore his grief like a cloak and if he didn't keep busy his mind would replay the all-too-short love affair that had taken place onboard the doomed ocean liner.

When they weren't working, the boys would spend the evenings together, talking about their days and their plans for the future. They tried to stay away from the subject of the Titanic and those that had perished. Those memories were best left alone, especially for Jack and Fabrizio's sake.

"Dinner's ready fella's. It's my mom's roast chicken this time. I think it came out okay," Jack announced, standing in the doorway, wiping his hands with a dishtowel.

"Boy-o, I don't know why you're acting nervous. Not only are you a talented artist, but you're very good in the kitchen as well," Tommy grinned, happy to be home and among his favorite people.

Jack blushed. "Well it's all thanks to Fabri, I believe. He taught me everything he knows...well everything but his momma's spaghetti recipe."

"Family secret, amico," Fabrizio winked. Even though cooking was Jack's chore, he also loved cooking and would at make an Italian dish once a week, something that both Jack and Tommy looked forward to.

"Well let us set the table and dig in," Tommy grinned, having shed his coat already and heading into the dining room, just as there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get that. You guys go on ahead," Jack replied heading to for the door as Tommy and Fabrizio headed into the dining room to prepare for dinner.

Jack opened the door to Cindy Sheffield, an old schoolmate, and daughter of his father's best friend. She smiled brightly, holding a pie in her hand.

"Hey, Cindy, what's up?"

The brunette blushed and held the pie out to Jack. "Mother wanted to send this to you. She thought you guys could use something sweet."

"Aww, that's nice. Thank you," Jack chuckled, accepting the dessert. "It's just in time, we're sitting down to dinner."

"Oh really? Is it just you and the boys?"

"Um, yeah. It's just the three of us. Who else would be here?" Jack arched a brow, feeling a little amused. Cindy was a sweet girl, but she had a tendency to gossip. It was never anything malicious though. He also suspected that she had a crush on Tommy, who had no interest in her, sadly.

"Oh, someone came into the diner asking about you today. She seemed to be curious about you and where you lived."

"Really? A girl?"

"Yes. She had a small child. It was strange because the child's accent reminded me of Tommy's, but the girl sounded as American as apple pie, you know? Anyway, I thought for sure that they were going to stop by here…"

"Hmm, well no one stopped by at all today. I don't even know any young women with a child."

"That's strange. She was really nice though. And pretty. She knew who you were. I know that."

"Maybe she was someone I met from my travels. I've told everyone I had ever met I was from Chippewa Falls. So if anyone out there wanted to find me, they'd come here…"

"She had a child though...oh my god!" Cindy gasped and leaned in with a curious whisper. "Did you have a love affair, Jack? That child could be yours! Even though she looked nothing like you, but still…"

Jack winced at the mention of a love affair. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, wishing that Cindy would just go away now. "I had a love affair, but no children could have come from it…it was brief and the girl...she's...she passed away. So no. It couldn't be someone I had a love affair with."

Cindy gasped, horrified. Sometimes she had a big mouth. She really did need to stop gossiping. "Oh Jack, I'm so sorry...I...how rude of me...I don't know what to say…"

"It's alright. You didn't mean any harm. Well, I better take this to the guys. They'll be excited for something sweet after dinner."

"If you ever need any help with anything, anything at all, let me know, alright? I can cook, clean, knit, mend things…"

"That's alright, we have everything under control over here. Goodbye Cindy."

"Goodbye," Cindy waved as Jack shut the door.

Jack sighed in relief, his mood now a little dampened by the mention of his love affair. He carried the pie into the dining room where the table was all set and the chicken and vegetables were ready for consumption.

"Cindy Sheffield brought us a pie, guys. A pie and gossip."

"Gossip?" Fabrizio frowned, dipping some vegetables out onto his plate.

"Someone came to town asking about yours truly. A girl and child. I don't know who it could be."

"We never came across any single mothers," Fabrizio frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. "At least none from America. Can it be someone before you met me?"

"I don't think so," Jack shrugged. "I don't know who it can be, but perhaps we'll find out tomorrow."

Meanwhile, back in town, Rose Dewitt Bukater, now Rose Dawson, and her adopted daughter Lily were settling down for the night at the bed and breakfast that they had just rented a room at. Rose had decided that it would be best for Lily to spend the rest of the day settled down in an actual bed, resting from the long days of traveling on a train. Tomorrow they will head for the Dawson farm to find out more about the man she had loved and lost.