Cal and his fiancee looked upon the town of Chippewa Falls with distaste as they disembarked the train that had brought them from Pennsylvania. The small town was not to their liking at all. It was nothing like the fashionable cities like New York City or New Orleans. Even Cincinnati Ohio had more flair than this small farming village. Cal couldn't believe that Sarah had chosen to run away here. What could she possibly find interesting in such a small sleepy town as this one? And according to his research, there were only a few well-off families here. The Flowers and the Bakers. Both families were obviously new money. No one that the Hockleys would deem worth knowing.
"Did we really have to come here, Cal? I mean...why? All I see is a whole of trees and a whole lot of cows!" Isabella complained, screwing up her face in disgust. "I can already feel my skin drying out, to be honest."
"Yes, we have to come here. You know that I have to collect Sarah and bring her back home. Do stop complaining, dear. It does not become you," Cal scolded, his annoyance clear in his voice. Honestly, he did not know why Father had insisted on him bringing Isabella with him. He really couldn't stand her on the best of days. She was nothing like Rose, who also annoyed him, but her beauty and grace often softened that annoyance some. Isabella...well her beauty was nothing like Rose's and there was no grace about her. But she seemed to like him, whereas Rose had despised him and she was obedient...most of the time, unlike Rose.
It didn't take long to find a small hotel and check-in. He had no idea how long they were to be in this town. Hopefully, it'll only be a day or two. He really didn't want to be gone from the office for too long. Isabella looked around their modest hotel room with a face of disgust.
"This is so second class. Really, where are the first-class accommodations? Cal, I don't do inexpensive!"
"Sweet pea, will you please work with me here. This is the best suite in the place. Most likely in the town. Not every place is like New York and Paris, my dear," Cal snorted, before turning to tip the bellhop who had helped them with their luggage.
"Shall we find Sarah now so we can go back home?"
Cal frowned, standing at a window that looked out onto the street below. His frown deepened as he spotted a familiar figure talking to what looked to be a well-dressed gentleman. Jack Dawson. The very man that he hated most in the world! It was he who had cost him Rose. He would still be alive instead of frozen solid at the bottom of the North Atlantic.
Cal froze, realization hitting him like a train. Wait a minute. If Dawson was still alive and well...did that mean that Rose was too? And if she was alive, that meant that his necklace was not at the bottom of the ocean either! Bloody hell! Perhaps he can have two of his possessions back at the same time….
"Cal, what are you looking at darling? I do need your attention. I do think this country air is giving me hives," Isabella's ramblings interrupted his thoughts.
Inwardly Cal cursed, realizing that he couldn't get Rose back. He was freshly engaged to Isabella now and it would be too much of a scandal. Not to mention that his father would never allow it! Bloody hell! It made him furious to know that Dawson had won after all! If Rose was still alive, society's expectations had saved her from his grasp. But that didn't mean that he'd allow them to keep his necklace. No sir, he wanted that back. Even if he had to kill to get it.
…..
"Again, I'm sorry Harold for not getting in touch with you earlier. After the sinking, thinking that I had lost Rose...I was a hollow shell. You wouldn't have recognized me at all."
Jack and Harold Flowers were walking down one of the main streets of Chippewa Falls, just catching up as Jack did some shopping for the house. Rose was at Harold's house giving tutoring Harold's sister in French. It was a job she seemed to love and flourished at. Jack was glad that she had found something that she was good at and made her happy.
News about Jack and his friends surviving the Titanic disaster and their small memorial had spread through the town like wildfire and now the five of them were almost like celebrities in the small town. Harold had been shocked to the core that Jack had almost died in the disaster that had filled all the papers at the time.
"Listen, if I had gone through what you did and thought that I had lost the love of my life, I wouldn't want to talk to anyone either. There are no hard feelings. Honestly," Harold chuckled. "I'm just glad that we've reconnected. I missed you, man. And I wasn't the only one. We all wondered what had become of you after that fire."
"I traveled. Saw the world...met different people. It was an experience that I wouldn't have had if the fire never happened and my parents survived. I probably would have never left Chippewa Falls. Wouldn't have met my Rose…"
"Hmm...yeah. I guess everything happens for a reason. You had to meet the love of your life."
Jack nodded and then frowned, remembering Rose's suspicions. He felt a little sad if what she suspected was true. Not only was he happily married and straight, but it also meant that Harold could never be himself and live his own true life. It wasn't fair.
"How about you, Harry? Have you found a special someone yet? Or is your mother going to try to pick you out a wife?"
Harold looked at Jack with soft eyes. He couldn't help but wish that Jack had been a girl instead of a boy. His life would have been a lot simpler. But then again, if Jack had been a girl, he wouldn't have these feelings. "No. I haven't found that someone special yet. Mother will probably have to pick me out a wife. Just as long as she's kind, I don't mind."
"Harold…"
"Yeah?"
"You deserve to be happy too, you know. You deserve to find someone special like I had Rose and spend your life with them in any way you can. It doesn't matter what you're attracted to. I just wanted you to know that."
Harold blinked, surprised. Did Jack know? Did he suspect? If so, why wasn't he disgusted like any other guy from their town? Did he dare ask? "Sometimes, it's not that simple to get what one deserves."
Jack's blue eyes shone with sadness for his friend. "I know and I'm sorry."
Looking into those grim blue eyes, Harold could swear that Jack knew the truth of how much he felt for him and was sorry that those feelings could never be returned, but he was too afraid to find out if Jack did know because if he didn't and held the same views as so many others in their small town, he knew that not even a friendship could be salvaged. So he let the moment slide.
"So, how is your friend Fabrizio? Did he make any headway with that one girl that is interested in him?"
Jack allowed the subject to change with a chuckle. "He and Sarah are growing closer and closer. Thankfully, that memorial was just the thing Fabri needed to let go of the past and move on with the future. Which is good, because he deserves to be just as happy as I am with Rose. If not more. After all, it was my fault that he was on that ship anyway. I guess me getting my friends into trouble is another habit I can't seem to break.
"Hey, we all know what we're doing when we follow you. It's not like you don't get us out of it somehow," Harold chuckled.
"I suppose that you're right there," Jack laughed, his eyes falling on the town's only hotel. His eyes drifted up to one of the windows and he frowned as he saw what looked to be a familiar face glaring down right at him. A cold shiver ran up and down his spine as he blinked once and opened his eyes to see that the figure was gone. "What the hell?"
"Is there something wrong?" Harold asked, noticing how pale Jack's face went.
"What? Oh, um….no. Nothing's wrong. I just thought...I thought that I saw someone that I used to know."
"Who?"
"Someone that would cause trouble for all of us if he happened to be here. But maybe it's my imagination...there's really no reason that he would come to…," Then Jack remembered who Sarah's brother was. But Cal couldn't have found her, right? Why in the world would he look in Chippewa Falls? It didn't make any sense.
"Who is it? Maybe I can help if it's someone looking for Rose."
Jack frowned, not sure if he should pull his friend into this. After all, Caledon Hockley was rich and powerful...but so was Harold. If anyone could help them, it was him. "Do you know of Caledon Hockley?"
"Son of steel tycoon Nathan Hockley, due to inherit millions after he's married. Why?"
Jack sighed and looked at Harold dead on. "He was engaged to Rose when we met. Let's just say...we don't get along."
Harold's eyes widened in alarm. "Fuck, Jack! You stole Hockley's girl?!"
"He treated her like shit, Harold! Like she was some ornament or something! She didn't love him and he certainly never loved her! Anyway...I thought I had just seen him in the window of that hotel there...but that would be impossible…"
"Except?" Harold frowned, getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Except...his sister ran away...she ran away here...and now...Fabri likes her. What if Hockley somehow found out where his sister ran off to and is here to collect her?"
"Fuck, you really know how to make friends don't you, man?" Harold shook his head in disbelief.
Jack just smiled wryly and shrugged. "It's not like I had set out to steal the man's girl. It just...happened."
Harold just laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, if he is here...then you and Rose are probably in a whole lot of trouble."
"Do you think that you can find out for me? People might find it strange if I walk around asking…"
"Sure. Maybe I can meet up with him. Talk him into going back home without his fiancee...or former fiancee without bothering you two."
"You'd do that? Not that he would probably listen…"
"Hey, us rich fellas have a way of communicating with each other, yeah? Leave it to me."
"Ok. But just so you know, it's not that I'm afraid. I'd face off with Hockley any day. I just...I don't want him bothering Rose. I rather he not be anywhere near her, you know? He's not a good man, Harry."
"I understand. After all, if he had treated her right, you wouldn't have been able to steal her, right?"
"Right," Jack chuckled.
"Don't worry about a thing, Jack. I'll find out about Hockley for you and see if I can get him to leave you guys be."
Little did Harold and Jack know, it would probably take a lot more to get rid of Caledon Hockley for good.