"It isn't as if you are to say yes."

Emily sat across from her father at the small coffee table in their cabin, a cup of tea warming her hands. "Daddy, just yesterday you told me I needed a man to take my hand."

The older man nodded his head, his eyes trying to keep themselves open. It was past two in the morning. "But I cannot pick for you. Your mind is your mind."

The young woman bit into her lip.

"Darling no one is forcing you to marry him."

Shaking her dark head of curls, Emily could feel tears stinging her eyes. "He loves me," she whispered frightenedly.

Carlton Prentiss nodded his head. "And you him?"

"Daddy, I do not," she said sadly. "I thought I could, such a sweet man like him, but I do not."

"What are you to tell him?"

Emily let her delicate shoulders shrug. "I do not want to hurt him."

"But you do not love him."

The twenty-two year old woman shook her head once more, her sad eyes on the dark liquid in her tea cup.

Watching as his daughter did her best to sort out her feelings, the business man did his best to hold back his disdain. "Is this about that Jack fellow?"

Emily's head shot up.

"Daddy," the young woman breathed. "That is not why I cannot find myself to love Aaron."

He slowly nodded his head. "Are you sure?"

Emily held her breath.

"I may not like the boy but if you love him."

"Besides you and mother I love nobody," the brunette spoke softly. Looking to the older man, the privileged girl bit her lip. "What does it feel like?"

Carlton made a face.

"To fall in love."

He found himself making a noise in the back of his throat, smiling gently at the picture of his wife in the diner they had first met. "Scary," he grinned. "It was as if I were having multiple heart attacks when I first said those words to your mother."

Emily smiled at the look of happiness on her father's face.

"But it was fun. I've never had as much fun as I did while falling for your mother. Lizzie has another side," he said softly. "I haven't seen that side in a while."

"Why don't you take her out once we're home?" the brown eyed girl suggested hopefully. "Remind her of that feeling."

Carlton shared a grin with his daughter before he stood, a groan leaving his lips at the ache in his knees. "You should get to bed," he gently ordered his daughter, walking over to her and kissing her head. "If this still bothers you in the morning then you tell him. If he loves you, he will understand he has to let you go."

With watering eyes, the brunette watched her father disappear back into his bedroom. Setting down her tea, Emily could feel her heart racing in her chest, and she stood.

What her father felt for her mother, she felt for Jack.

She clipped her hair up and rushed from the cabin, her small feet heavy against the floor.

The cold immediately hit her as she ran out to the top deck, her body slamming into the railing as she looked for the golden haired man. "Jack?"

Turning, the man in question took his cigarette from his mouth and blew out the black smoke. "Emily?"

Emily felt a grin spread over her face from ear to ear. "Jack!" She ran to the staircase and practically fell down each and every step trying to get to the young man on the deck. Her dress plastered against her as she sprinted across the floorboards, she could feel the tears running down her cheeks when their eyes met.

He caught her as she jumped into his arms, the lower class passenger cupping the back of her head before their lips crashed together.