Rose was frozen in shock, not knowing what to do or say. The last person she had ever expected to see here in small Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin was Cal's sister and her best friend! What were they doing here? Where was Cal? Was he somewhere in town, looking for her? Were they going to try to make her go back? All these questions were at the forefront of Rose's mind, giving her the urge to run away somehow. Just take Lily and flee the cafe, go back to the safety of the Dawson farm, and hide. But seeing that the way to the door was blocked, there really was no escape. She was going to have to see this through.

"Rose Dewitt Bukater? How? It can't...I...you're supposed to be dead! We had your memorial last year...I...I don't understand," Sarah Hockley's brown eyes shone with hurt and maybe a bit of anger. That morning, she and Leah had decided to enjoy some tea time before going looking for a job. She had no idea she'd find her brother's dead fiancee, alive and well and looking like a deer caught in some kind of spotlight.

"You three know each other?" Cindy looked at the three women curiously.

"She was supposed to marry my brother," Sarah quietly replied, crossing her arms over her chest, waiting for some kind of reaction from Rose. "We thought she was dead. Cal…" What could she say about her brother? That he had pretended to mourn Rose when what he had really mourned was the loss of a certain necklace? That didn't seem to be the right thing to say.

"What? But how can that be when she met her husband Jack on a…," Cindy then gasped, her eyes widening in delight. "A love affair! How...interesting!"

Sarah blinked in surprise. "Husband?"

"That is what the kind lady said, Sarah," Leah finally managed to get out, reeling from the shock of discovering Rose Dewitt Bukater alive and well herself.

"Rose, dear. You have a lot of explaining to do."

Lily then spoke up, tugging on Rose's hand. "Mommy, can I still have my milk and cookies?"

"Oh my god, who is this?" Sarah again was knocked for a loop when she took notice of Lily. With her red hair, she could indeed be Rose's, but Sarah knew for a fact that was impossible.

"It's a really long story," Rose nearly mumbled.

"Well it is a good thing that we are in a cafe to sit down and we have nothing but time," Sarah beckoned to one of the empty booths. She wasn't going to let this go. Rose may disappear again if she did and then she'll never get a proper explanation.

"I'll get little Lily some milk and cookies and then take your orders," Cindy helpfully lead them to the booth, gave the three adults menus and ruffled the copper curls on top of Lily's head as she handed the child some crayons and a picture to color.

"Thank you, Cindy," Rose tried to smile, wondering what the waitress must think of her now. She must seem like such a liar and soon the rest of the town will know it too.

"Ok, Rose. Spill," Sarah sat back in her seat once Cindy had disappeared. "What happened? Why didn't you come back home? Why did your mother and Cal say that you had gone down with that ship when we see now that wasn't true?"

Rose swallowed down her nervousness and licked her suddenly dry lips, feeling as if her words would fail her. She glanced outside, searching for Jack, wondering what he was doing and if he'd come to find her soon and what would happen if he did that? Or worse...what if Cal was here with Sarah and ran into Jack? What if Jack was in trouble? Cal had tried to kill him once and she was sure he'd try to do it again. She paled and got up from her seat.

"Oh my god, if Cal finds...I have to go...I have to stop Cal from…!"

"Rose wait! Wait, Rose!" Leah reached out and grabbed Rose's arm, not liking how pale the redhead suddenly went and the horror in her eyes. She couldn't help but notice that Rose's whole body was trembling with fear...fear of Sarah's brother? She had never thought that Rose had been afraid of Caledon, but looking at her now, she most certainly was. "Hey, don't worry. Cal's not here. Trust me, we left him behind in Pittsburgh with his money and his new fiancee. You don't have to worry about him."

"What? I…I don't understand. They keep such a close watch on you. How?"

"We ran away," Sarah admitted, her eyes falling down to her gloved hands then she looked back up at Rose. "Daddy thinks it's time for me to marry someone of his choosing. So I chose to leave."

Rose's eyes widened in shock and then she nodded, understanding the situation and even admiring it, because back in the days of her engagement to Cal, running away had never occurred to her. Not until she had met Jack anyway.

"So you see, Cal's not here. It's just me and Leah. Now, will you please explain to us why you're here and not at the bottom of the North Atlantic like Cal had claimed?"

Rose winced at the impatience and hint of anger in Sarah's words. She sat back down and picked up a napkin, twisting it in her hands, not knowing where to begin. "It is a long story...and not an easy one to tell. In fact, I don't know if I can get through it all."

"Try."

"Damn it, Sarah, you wouldn't be so harsh if you knew what I had gone through on that ship, what that brother of yours did to not only me but people who even dared to care about me…"

Sarah sighed and pushed back her anger over the situation. She wasn't stupid. She had known from the moment Rose was introduced to her family that Rose had not wanted to marry Cal, that she had been beyond miserable. It had been one of her greatest concerns. But Cal had never done anything dangerous or outright mean to Rose, at least not in front of her.

"How about we order some tea. That should relax all of our high-strung nerves, right? I mean...forgive me Rose but finding you alive is a shock," Leah placed a gentle hand on Sarah's shoulder and another over Rose's arm. "We can have a civilized conversation without raised voices. Wouldn't that be best, especially for the child here?"

"That would be wise, I suppose. Even though, I may need something stronger than tea to tell what happened onboard that ship," Rose sighed, her eyes again drifting to the town square in search of Jack, feeling that she'd be okay if he was by her side. She'd be able to tell her story with no problem, but he was obviously immersed in the store, looking at the different art supplies. She sighed and shook her head. Her artist. She loved it when he got in the zone when it came to his talent, but right now, she needed him here with her.

Cindy returned with a plate of milk and cookies for Lily, who dived into the treats right away. "Are you ladies ready to order?"

"Three chamomile teas and a plate of your best ham and cheese sandwiches and a platter of fruit please," Leah went ahead and ordered, blushing at the sound of her grumbling stomach.

"On the way. Rose, should I get something for Jack if he should drop in?" Cindy asked.

"Um, a glass of orange juice I suppose. I have no idea when he'll be finished in Mr. Traver's store. It's been a good half hour by now."

"He's been like that since we were kids. Mr. Traver's artistic supplies were his favorite place to go and he would just get lost in a world of his own. It'd drive his parents crazy."

Rose's smile was soft and loving. "Really? However, did they manage to keep him from going over there all the time?"

"Oh, they just made sure that he was too busy to accompany them to town whenever they were on a hectic schedule."

Rose couldn't help but laugh. "I bet they had a hard time saying no to those blue eyes."

"Oh most definitely. Do you want me to go fetch him?"

Rose thought about it, then shook her head no. Why drag Jack down memory lane if she didn't need to? "No, let him have his fun. I'll just continue to visit here with….friends I haven't seen in a long long time."

"Yeah, we thought she was dead," Sarah bluntly replied.

"Sarah!" Leah gasped.

Cindy just chuckled. "Well, if it makes you feel better, you weren't the only ones."

Once the waitress was gone to fill their orders, both girls turned to Rose, their curiosity at an all-time high.

"So who is Jack? How did you get past Cal to meet him? How did you come in charge of this little girl? How did you come to be here and why did you not tell anyone you've been alive all of this time, Rose? We had a memorial and everything!"

"Your mother had even gotten some money from the white star line. Mind you, not Hockley money but it had been enough to take care of the debt your father had left," Leah chimed in.

Rose felt a little relief that something had come from her disappearance. That somehow, her mother had been saved from the life of poverty that she had feared. "Well...I'll explain everything. Well, as you know...I did not want to marry Cal. I disliked him more and more by the day. Well...by the time we boarded the Titanic to head home...I had enough. Enough of my mother...enough of Cal...enough of my whole life. They had completely taken it over and there was nothing I could do about it….not even scream."

"Oh Rose," Sarah gasped, feeling awful. When Rose had left on that European trip with her brother, she knew that her friend had been on the brink of depression, but there had been nothing that she could do. She could only watch and hoped that her brother managed to pull off something that would have lifted Rose out of her melancholy.

"Well...for the first few days, I was okay...but by the night of the 12th...everything came crashing down and I couldn't take it anymore. In a fit of rage, I tore up my room and ran to the stern of the ship, climbed over the railing, and was planning to jump...and that was when I met him," Rose couldn't help the smile that curled her lips and the light that appeared in her eyes at just the thought of him. "Jack."

"Jack?" Sarah and Leah gave each other an amused look then went back to looking at Rose.

"Jack Dawson. I mean, just picture it. Me looking my worse...on the wrong side of the railing ready to let go when this voice tells me not to do it and when I turn around... there was this handsome guy there, only a few years older than me and he's talking me out of throwing my life away…"

From there, Rose told Sarah and Leah what had happened between her and Jack on Titanic. From the excuse about looking at the propellers to the first class dinner invite, to the real party, to the making love in the backseat of a Renault. About feeling so free, that she had promised to get off the boat with him. Then seeing the iceberg, their nonconcern at first then the realization that it was indeed serious. About Cal planting the necklace on Jack…

By that time, Cindy had returned and was listening and nodded in agreement when Sarah exclaimed that her brother was an unbelievable bastard. Then Rose went on and told them about realizing what Cal had done by having Jack locked down below while the ship was sinking. Her escape from him and finally finding and freeing Jack so they both could try to find safety onboard a lifeboat. She told them about her refusing to get on a lifeboat without Jack until Cal had promised that there was one letting men on, to her jumping back on because she didn't trust Cal and she refused to be without Jack. Then went on to tell the rest of it, unaware of the audience she had drawn, all listening with rapt attention. She didn't even notice when Jack had returned and just stood in shock that Rose was telling seemingly two strangers the truth about how they had met.

When Rose was done, she was beyond exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Her eyes were on the table, as she remembered the people she had lost but would never forget.

"And my oh-so gentleman of a brother just left that poor child after using her to save his own sorry behind. I could just...oooh! I want to give him a piece of my mind," Sarah ranted, horrified by her brother's actions and thankful that Rose was able to escape a life with him and that she had found Lily and was able to give her a better life than what her good for nothing brother had abandoned her to. "I'm so sorry, Rose and Lily. I apologize on the behalf of my rotten family."

"Oh Sarah, it was not your fault. You have nothing to apologize for. In fact, if it wasn't for your presence, my whole time with Cal would have indeed been miserable. It was only after we left you for that horrible trip that things went downhill and fast."

"That's so romantic, though," Cindy sniffed, dabbing a handkerchief at her eyes. "Thank goodness the angels were looking out and reunited you both. Everything is so much clear now."

"Rose?" Jack slowly approached, not knowing what to say. He hadn't been expecting to find his wife holding a town meeting to tell their story.

Rose's eyes widen as she got up and took Jack's hands. "Jack, there you are. I want to introduce you to the two girls that had been my best friends before...well you know. Sarah Hockley and Leah Greenfield. It turns out that Sarah and Leah are a lot smarter than I was. Instead of trying to jump off the back of a ship, they simply ran away from home."

"Hockley?" Jack arched a brow, a little alarmed.

"It's wonderful to meet you and I do apologize for my neanderthal of a brother. He is absolutely the worse," Sarah got to her feet and took Jack's hand in a friendly handshake.

"Oh, there's no need to apologize. You didn't do any of that stuff."

"I can see why Rose went for him instead of Cal," Leah eyed Jack, taking note of his blond hair, blue eyes, and how much taller he was than Rose. He is cute and from what she's seen very kind and friendly. Cal didn't have a chance after Rose and Jack had met most likely.

"Leah!" Sarah laughed, rolling her eyes. "Too bad, he's taken. Besides, you liked that Tommy guy from yesterday. Remember? You liked his Irish accent."

"You two are the girls Fabri and Tommy met," Jack grinned, putting two and two together. "You had definitely made an impression on them."

"Where are you staying?" Rose asked, growing more and more curious.

"At that boarding house up the ways there. Mr. Ryan and his friend escorted us to the place. It is very comfortable."

"Oh, I know that place. Lily and I had stayed the night there ourselves before we ran into Jack. I would invite you to stay with us...but I'm afraid that some of society's rules are the same everywhere," Rose sighed, really wishing that she could invite the girls to stay at the house.

"You can come to dinner tonight, though. It's Fabrizio's turn to cook and he makes a great pasta. Plus, I think he'd be pleasantly surprised to see you. Tommy would be too."

Both Sarah and Leah looked at each other, remembering the two kind men that had assisted them the day before, and knew instantly what the answer was. "Okay. Count us in."