CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Two weeks have passed since the march and Rose and Jack were closer than ever. One never saw Rose without Jack and vice versa except when he was at work. And Rose missed him tremendously. It was like she was incomplete without his gentle presense in the room. That morning Rose and Kathy are up in Kathy’s room sewing a blanket for the coming baby while Fabrizio was downstairs looking at the paper, hoping to work some more on his english so he could soon get a job of his own. He knew Jack and Rose didn’t mind if they stayed with them forever, but Fabrizio was like Jack. He could only take so much charity from his friends. But he was glad that he was at the Dawson house that day because he smelt trouble in the air and sure enough trouble came knocking on the Dawson door that morning.
Fabrizio gets up and stretches before answering the door. He’s been sitting in that chair for too long. He gasps in shock when he opens the door to an old acquaintance of his and Jack when they were in Paris. He was hoping never to see her again, but sadly she was here right on Jack’s doorstep.
"What are you doing here?" Fabrizio glares at the beautiful blonde girl who nervously smiles at him, her sad blue eyes begging him not to turn her away.
"Hello Fabrizio," the blond wrings her hands nervously.
"What are you doing here?" He asked again, his voice hard and suspicious.
"Jack told me I could come here if I ever needed a place to stay…if things got too bad in Paris."
"And things got bad," Fabrizio sighed.
"Very bad," She nods. "Can I come in?"
"No."
"Fabrizio please…"
"You shouldn’t have come here Annette. You’re trouble and that’s the last thing Jack needs right now."
"Jack’s here?"
"No. He’s at work and I’m going to make sure you’re not here when he gets home."
"Fabri please…" Annette’s voice is at a desperate pitch now just as Rose and Kathy comes down the stairs.
"Fabri, who’s that at the door?" Rose comes up curiously. She gasps when she sees the young woman in tears at the door. "Fabri don’t just stand there. Invite her in! She’s obviously upset."
Fabrizio’s mouth drops open at this. He didn’t expect this from Rose. She didn’t even know Annette and her history, and she was inviting her into her house. But then again, he shouldn’t be surprised. Jack had done the same thing for her back in Southampton and obviously that had rubbed off on Rose. But still Fabrizio knew this woman and just how dangerous it was to get involved in her life. He had to convince Rose to put the woman out…especially before Jack got home.
Rose reaches past Fabrizio and pulls Annette into the house. "Come on in and set down. Tell us all about it," Rose leads her into the living room and onto the couch.
"Rose," Fabrizio hisses. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"What?" Rose turns to Fabri, then nods. "Ok. Kathy…stay with her, we’ll be back."
Fabrizio leads Rose into the kitchen and turns on her. "Rose you don’t know what you’re doing inviting that woman into your home! It’s dangerous to take her in!"
"Fabri what are you talking about?" Rose asked, confused by Fabrizio’s behavior.
"You don’t know anything about her."
"You and Jack knew nothing about me when you took me in."
"That was different. You were in trouble…"
"And obviously so is she. Look at her Fabri, she scared. She has the look that I had when those two men were trying to assault me. Remember?"
"I remember, but you don’t understand…"
"She’s staying Fabri, unless Jack says differently and knowing Jack I doubt he will."
"You don’t know what you’re doing," Fabrizio slumps his shoulders in defeat.
"I think I do," Rose sighed, then she squeezes his shoulder. "It’s going to be ok Fabri."
Fabri can just shrug and follow Rose back into the living room where Kathy was telling Annette how far along in her pregnancy she was.
"I see you’re feeling better," Rose smiled.
"Yes, Kathy was telling me about her pregnancy. Congratulations Fabrizio. I know how much becoming a father meant to you."
Fabrizio just nods and takes a seat in the easy chair watching her wearily. This of course was Rose’s and Jack’s house and he had no riegn there. He just hoped Jack was a lot smarter now than he was three years ago in Paris. He had a family to think about now.
"Mind telling us your name?" Rose asked curiously.
"Annette. Annette Dubois."
"She’s french," Kathy spoke up.
"I’m Rose and this is Kathy," Rose smiled. "It’s nice to meet you."
Annette smiled at the polite girl who had invited her in, but she couldn’t help but wonder who was she to Jack. He had never mentioned any siblings or other close relatives before. Plus the girl looked nothing like Jack. "It’s very nice to meet you."
"Why don’t I take you upstairs and you can get cleaned up. That path is really dusty," Kathy smiled, escorting Annette upstairs. Fabrizio just shakes his head at the stairs and excuses himself to go outside, leaving Rose alone in the living room. She walks to the mantle and looks at all the figurines she had brought at one of the shops in town. She’s so absorbed in her own thoughts that she doesn’t hear anyone come up behind her.
She gasps in surprise when a bouquet of roses are presented in front of her a warm voice whispers in her ear. "Happy anniversary."
"Jack!" Rose turns around and hugs him furiously. "You’re home early."
"Of course. I asked my boss if I could leave early so we could celebrate," Jack smiled, lifting his wife off the feet and twirling her around. I’m sure Kathy and Fabri won’t mind watching Becky so we can go out."
Then Rose remembers their visitor. She couldn’t go out and leave her alone with Kathy and a overly cautious Fabrizio. "Uh…Jack…we can’t go out tonight."
"What? Why?" Jack asked, looking at his wife in concern. "What’s going on?"
"We have a visitor," Rose sighed.
"Who?"
"Bonjour Jack," Annette appears at the top of the stairs along with Kathy and Fabrizio.
Jack releases Rose as he looks up the stairs at Annette, his eyes widen in shock and surprise. He had never expected to see her again after he and Fabrizio had fled Paris. But here she was, in his house smiling down at him. "Annette."
"You two know each other?" Rose asked curiously.
"We’re old friends," Jack smiled.
"Fabrizio why didn’t you tell me that she’s a old friend? You acted like she was some kind of stranger," Rose turned to Fabri who just shrugs his shoulders helplessly. He knew that Jack was going to let her stay, and then her husband will come looking for her and Fabrizio hated to think of what was going to happen after that.
"What are you doing here? The last time I saw you was in Paris at the effel tower when we said good-bye…"
"And you told me if things got too bad to come to America to Chippewa Falls and ask for directions to the old Dawson place. You said I could stay here. Remember?" Annette came downstairs. "I just never expected you’d be here though."
"Neither did I," Jack laughed. "But circumstance brought me back here to Chippewa Falls. For now at least. So things got that bad huh?"
"They did," Annette nods, a tear slipping from her hazel eyes. She bites her trembling lips. "Oh Jack he was horrible," Annette begins to sob.
"It’s okay Annette. You’re safe now here in America," Jack hugged her and letted her cry. "We’re not gonna let anything happen to ya."
"You’re always so good to me Jack," Annette wipes away her tears. "You know how to treat a lady. Louis could never understand that."
"Jack? Isn’t tonight a special night?" Fabrizio interrupts. "A anniversary of a certain wedding voyage."
"Oh Annette, have you met Rose?" Jack pulls away from the hug and takes Rose’s hand pulling her up to them.
"Oh yes," Annette nods. "She’s the one who insisted I come in."
"Rose?" Jack looks at her bewildered. He had never expected her to invite a total stranger into the house. He was impressed.
"Well she was crying and looked like she needed help. It wasn’t too long ago that I was in that same situation," Rose shruggs. "Besides, you did the same for me."
"Yes I did and I’m proud of you Rose," Jack squeezed her hand. Rose just smiled up at him, adoration shining in her eyes. The way they looked at each other was not lost on Annette.
Jack and Rose really did love each other and would do anything for the other person. She could only dream of having a marriage like that. She sighs, thinking of what could have been.
"Why don’t I get Annette settled in while you two go out," Kathy volunteers. "This is your anniversary."
"It is?" Annette’s eyes widen. "Oh I’m sorry to have intruded. You must have plans."
"Oh that’s ok," Rose smiled. "Me and Jack can always do something later on."
"Oh no. Do it now. I’ll be fine here with Fabrizio and Kathy. You two go out and have fun," Kathy insists.
"Are you sure?" Jack is cautious of leaving Annette by herself. He knew Kathy would be nice, but he also knew Fabrizio’s feelings about her. He noticed how Fabrizio wouldn’t stop glaring at Annette.
"I’m positive. We’ll talk later. Now go. Celebrate your wedding anniversary," Annette smiles.
"Come on Rose, we have to get ready. I’ve made reservations at the fanciest restaurant here in Chippewa Falls."
"You mean the Swansonette?" Rose’s eyes widen.
"Yeap. And a little surprise afterwards," Jack smiled.
Rose eyes Jack suspiciously before letting him lead her back into their room.
Later that night…
They had just finished dinner at the Swansonette and were now walking in the park, gazing up at the stars hand in hand. Rose sighs contently, stepping a little closer to her husband, wanting to feel his body heat. His presense was so soothing to her…she didn’t know how she had ever lived without it.
"Rose?" Jack asked. "Are you cold?"
"A little chilled, but I’m ok,"Rose sighed, looking into his beautiful eyes.
Jack smiled. "So aren’t you wondering what your surprise is?"
"No. Not really. But I am wondering who Annette is. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to Jack," Rose notices how quickly he looks away from her.
"No, I want to tell you. This is as much your business as it is mine," Jack nods, sorting out what he was going to tell her and what he was going to leave out. Only the things she needed to know. The rest of it…well…that all depends. "Annette…she was the first person in Paris that saw my drawings and liked them. You see, I used to draw in front of the effel tower and she was there, setting on my bench. She asked me if she could see my sketches, and of course I said sure. She thought they were marvelous."
"What else?"
"Well…she began coming to the effel tower everyday and we would set and talk about everything and anything. It didn’t take long for us to become good friends. One day she arrived first and I came upon her. I was shocked to find that her face and arms were covered in bruises. Turned out she had a very violent and jealous husband"
"Oh my goodness…did you meet him Jack?"
"A couple of times. One time when she invited me to dinner. He was polite, but I could tell he was mean just by the way he stood and spoke. I mean, he made Ed and Sal look like hansel and gretal. The second time I met him, he told me to stay away from his wife…that was after he had beaten her til she was almost at the point of unconciousness. I had begged her to leave him, but she refused. She was too scared. Then…the day before we left Paris I saw her again. And that’s when he came for her and got really bad. He told me and Fabri if we didn’t leave Paris, he’d hurt her real bad. So the next day we prepared to leave. She met me one last time to say good-bye and I told her if he ever got so violent that she thought he would kill her that she could hop a ship to America, come to Chippewa Falls and she could stay at my house. If anyone asked, say that Jack Dawson sent her. That was the last time I saw her ‘til this afternoon."
Rose had tears in her eyes and she felt a little ashamed. She thought she had it bad being forced to marry Caledon Hockley, but poor Annette. She had it much worse. Cal may have ignored her or mentally abused her, but he had never layed a hand on her. She could give him credit for that. Rose sighed again and her mind began to wonder. It wasn’t her who had needed Jack so much…it was Annette. What if things had turned out differently? Would she have met Jack at all?
"Rose? Are you ok? You’re crying," Jack’s concerned by Rose’s silence and tears. Had he told her too much?
"I’m fine Jack. It’s just that…I thought I had it bad, but Annette…her life was a living terror. And after you left…she had no one to turn to then. It must have taken a lot of courage to get away this time," Rose explained.
"Yeah, he must have beaten her pretty bad. He’s probably furious with her by now," His hand tightens on Rose’s hand at the thought. What if Louis Dubois got it in his head to search for his missing wife and ended up in Chippewa Falls? Nah, that was impossible. Louis Dubois may be big and mean, but he was no Caledon Hockley . There was no way he could know where Annette was nor whom she was with.
"Jack…I know what Annette really needs. She needs some lady friends. Susan, Kathy and I…we were going to go shopping this Saturday. How bout I invite Annette along."
"That’ll be great," Jack happily grins. He was really proud of Rose. She sure has grown from that shy lost rich girl he had rescued in Southampton. "I think she’ll like that a lot."
"Now about my surprise…" Rose grins up at her husband.
"Right this way Mrs," Jack leads her over to the lake. He points to the sky. "See that star there?"
Rose nods and is confused when he hands her a packet of papers. "What is this?"
"Documents confirming that that star belongs to one Rose Dawson. I want to give you the moon and stars Rose, this is just the start of them."
"Oh Jack I love it!" Rose laughs, throwing her arms around him. "That’s the most wonderful gift anybody’s ever given to me!"
"The Rose star," Jack smiles, looking up at the star filled night sky.
"Let’s go home Jack," Rose pulls on his hand. "I want to go visit my star…with you."
"Ok," Jack laughed, allowing Rose to lead him out of the park.
Annette sets in the kitchen with Kathy and Fabri, peeling onions when Jack and Rose return, both are obviously unaware that they’re being watched. Jack kisses Rose passionately and picks her up in his arms.
"To the stars?" he asked seductively.
"To the stars," Rose giggles as he carries her up the stars, all three people look up as they hear a door slam close and Jack and Rose’s voices disappear.
"Them two," Kathy shakes her head. "If they’re not careful, they’re going to have another baby. Mark my words."
"They’re so in love," Annette whispers her eyes showing no emotion.
"They’re soulmates. That’s what it is. You can tell just by looking at them. Rose and Jack…they complete each other," Kathy nods. "I saw the moment I saw them. That’s why I agreed to be a bridesmaid at their wedding."
"That’s way Jack don’t need big Louis Dubois coming around looking for his wife. Jack has family now. Responsibilities."
"Fabri…" Kathy warns.
"Don’t worry Fabri…Louis has no idea where I am. Or with whom. He won’t be coming around here anytime soon."
"I hope you’re right, because if you’re not…I hate to see what’s going to happen."
Rose and Jack cuddle together in the afterglow of their recent trip to Rose’s star. Each are caught up in their own world. Jack can’t help but think about the situation with Annette. He felt extremely sorry for her and wanted to help her in everyway he knew how, but he couldn’t help but be worried. He worried about what he didn’t tell Rose about Annette. She wouldn’t be happy if she did know what had happened on the day before he left Paris. In fact, she’d probably be angry with both him and Annette. He’ll have to ask Annette to keep that moment between them to herself. He didn’t know if Rose thought she was his first or not, but he didn’t want her to know about the past that Annette and him had shared. Besides, it was just one time and it had meant nothing.
Rose stared up at Jack and noticed he wasn’t really paying attention to her. Was he thinking about Annette? She knew there was more to the story then he was telling. She wondered if he had had feeling for her back then and if he did, did he still have those feelings? Did he regret marrying her and not rescuing annette form her lunatic husband?
"Jack?"
"Yes Rose?"
Rose was going to ask for the whole story but decided not to. Not tonight on their anniversary. Jack loved her, Rose was positive about that and she wasn’t going to ruin the anniversary of day they took vows to be together forever. And really, she didn’t want to know. What if it was something she wouldn’t like…like in truth they used to be lovers…Rose cringed at the thought of someone else besides her being that close with Jack. To her…she was his first love…just like he was hers.
"I love you," She had a hint of tears in her voice.
"Rose are you alright? You sound like you’re going to cry," Jack looks at her in concern, he tenderly touches her cheek. "What is it darling. You can tell me."
"I just needed to tell you that I loved you. Just in case you didn’t know it," Rose smiled weakly.
"I know that you love me Rose. I’ve always known that," Jack laughed, pulling her closer to him. "And I love you too. You’re my entire world. You and Becky."
Rose smiled as he kissed her again. She sighs happily, laying her head on his bare chest, listening to his beating heart. "I love you Jack. I really do. You’re my everything."
"Rose," He hugs her tighter. "I love you too. I want you to always remember that. Ok?"
Rose nods and sighs once more before drifting off into a comfortable sleep, listening to her husband’s heartbeat.
Louis DuBois stretches as he steps off the ship that docks in New York. This is where his wife was…he knew it. Where else could she have gone? She didn’t know anyone from this country that would take her in…did she? Then he remembered. There was that artist she was involved with three years ago. He was American. What was his name?…Dawson…something Dawson. He had told the kid if he ever caught him with his wife again there’d be trouble. Surely Dawson took him seriously because he had left Paris with his Italian friend in a hurry and he hadn’t heard from them since.
But what about Annette? Did she take him seriously? He had found the whore looking at one of those drawings the Dawson kid had given her. That’s what had caused the whole mess. He had ripped the picture from her hands and gave her a good beating. She had layed on the floor crying, splitting out blood onto the floor. That had taught her good and well. Was he surprised the next morning when he had woke up and found her gone. He had looked everywhere all over France for her. He finally ran into a old pal who had worked on the docks and mentioned seeing his wife board a ship heading to America. And now here he was right behind her. But he was still no closer to finding her than he was in Paris. America was a big country…she could be anywhere.
But he was pretty sure she was with Dawson…where ever he was…which he was going to find out one way or another. Someone in this city must know something. With a sneer, he heads for the city and begins his search for information.
Annette is in the kitchen making breakfast when Jack enters, ready to go to work. He’s surprised to see her up so early, but is glad that they have some time alone.
"Morning Jack," Annette smiles when she spots him. "I hope you slept well."
"I did. Uh…Annette…we have to talk," Jack sighed taking a seat.
"About what?"
"The night before I left Paris," Jack sighed again, not daring to look at her.
"Oh that," Annette nods. "I had a feeling that’s what you wanted to talk about."
"Annette…you do know that what happened…it didn’t mean anything. It was just something that happened."
"Of course I know that Jack. I’ve always known that, but I don’t regret it. I never will," Annette smiled.
"Rose can’t know Annette," Jack finally looks up at her. "It’ll kill her if she knew that we had been together like that. And the last thing I want to do is hurt Rose. She’s…She’s everything to me."
"Is that what this is about? You’re afraid I’ll tell Rose that we slept together? Oh Jack, I would never tell her that. I’d never do something that creul."
Jack smiled, relief shining in his eyes. "Thank you Annette."
"Rose has good taste in men you know," Annette gets up and ruffles his blond hair. "I wish I had that same taste when I met Louis."
"Well, I’m sure you’ve learned your lesson," Jack smiles, then notices the time. "Oh I better go. I’m gonna be late if I don’t leave now."
"See you later Jack, and don’t worry, I won’t tell Rose."
"Thanks!" Jack waves, heading down the path.
Louie Dubois glares out at the passing landscape. He’s on a train heading towards Chippewa Falls and should be there within the week. Thanks to a nice girl at the station, she had confirmed that a woman fitting his wife’s description had boarded a train to that exact town not too long ago. Louis had shouted in glee. He had found his wife, but another question layed on his mind as well. The girl nods at his description of a young blond man heading that way. She had confirmed that, but she said that it’s been well over a year since she saw him. The only reason she remembered him was because he had these beautiful eyes that stared right through her. Louis had thanked her and felt his anger grow. So Annette had indeed ran to Dawson. Well she was going to pay for what she had done and so will Dawson…for being with his wife if nothing else. Heck, maybe they were shacked up together now. Laughing at how well they fooled him. Pretending that Dawson was leaving her life for good…then her taking off when he least expected it. They must have thought he was pretty dumb, that he wouldn’t put two and two together, but they were wrong, oh were they wrong. He had indeed put two and two together and now he was on his way to their little safe haven and he was going to set things right.