by Zoe Matthews
Justin sighed at her words. “I’m just trying to adjust to all the changes, just like my parents are. I am glad you came. It’s been fun to get to know you and it’s nice to talk to someone face-to-face about how Nicky and Kimberly are doing.”
“If your parents will let me, I will try to talk to them and let them know Nicky and Kimberly are very happy,” she offered.
Everyone was silent for a while as they finished eating their bread. Then Bridget spoke. “I am thinking I should go back to my time tomorrow. I didn’t plan on being gone very long and it has already been three days.”
Justin looked at her intently, and she wondered what he was thinking. After a few moments, she started to feel uncomfortable. Why was he staring at her in that way? Maybe he agreed with her that it was time for her to leave.
“Why do you need to go back?” Garrett asked. “I think you should stay. I have a soccer game tomorrow. You could come watch me play.”
Justin smiled at his son. “That game is a pretty important one, isn’t it? It will determine whether his team goes on to play at the state level.”
Bridget nodded her head, although she had no idea what they were even talking about. “I’ll think about it.”
Soon the three of them were in Justin’s car and on their way to his parent’s house. The longer they drove, the more nervous Bridget felt. From what Justin had told her, his parents weren’t going to be very receptive to her. She wished she hadn’t agreed to come, but at the same time, she was curious about where Justin had grown up. She quietly prayed and hoped she could help ease his parent’s fears about Nicky’s and Kimberly’s whereabouts and how they were doing.
Bridget watched as Justin maneuvered his car onto a long driveway that led to what looked like a small cottage. It was a single-level brick home with shutters on the windows and a brick path making its way through luscious green grass. There were rose bushes and other flowers lining the whole path. Bridget took in a breath, feeling refreshed. This was the first time she had felt comfortable in the future. Although the house was very different from the cabin in which she lived, there was a definite peaceful feeling surrounding the home. The moment the car stopped, Garrett jumped out and ran up to the front door. The door opened just as he touched the doorknob and Bridget saw a dark-haired woman step out and wrap her arms around him in greeting.
She followed Justin from his car and towards the woman whom she assumed was his mother. As they approached, her eyes widened and then looked confused as she looked at the flowered skirt Bridget was wearing.
“Hi, Mom.” Justin greeted her with a kiss.
“Grandma, this is Bridget. She is from…” Garrett stopped as Justin laid a hand on his shoulder to quiet him.
“Why don’t you go find Grandpa, Garrett? We can introduce Bridget to both of them at once.”
Garrett nodded and ran into the house, the screen door slamming behind him.
“Come in,” Justin’s mother invited. “We can talk in the family room. Doug is out back in the garden.”
Justin led her into a large room that had two huge brown leather sofas. A large rug filled the space between the sofas and a brick fireplace on the far side of the wall. Behind the sofa, Bridget could see an odd table with what looked like a soft green fabric on it, and holes lining the side. She couldn’t imagine what that could be for. She noticed a large rectangular flat box that was mounted on one of the walls and she knew this was a television, just like the one that was in Nicky’s townhouse, although this one was quite a bit larger. She wanted to look closer at it. It fascinated her that these TVs were so important to people in the future. Bridget stood next to Justin as Garrett ran in with an older man following behind.
“Mom and Dad, this is Bridget Callaghan,” Justin said as he introduced her. “Bridget, these are my parents, Doug and Michelle Foster.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Bridget tried not to stammer as she looked at both of them in their eyes. She knew Justin was going to tell them who she really was and she wanted them to know they could trust her.
“Let’s sit down, shall we?” Doug asked as he gestured to the two sofas.
After they were seated and comfortable, Michelle asked, “Where are you from, Bridget?”
“I live on a ranch in the mountains,” Bridget started to explain but stopped when Justin placed a hand on her knee.
“She is from the ranch where Nicky and Kimberly are living now,” Justin told them.
There was a moment of silence. “What did you say?” Michelle asked suspiciously.
“Bridget traveled through time,” Garrett said with a huge grin. “She just appeared in Nicky’s living room right in front of me!”
“Oh, Justin,” Michelle started to say, but Bridget interrupted her.
“Nicky and Kimberly are doing fine. They are happy being married to my brothers, Patrick and Shaun.”
For the next few minutes, Bridget told them all she could about their life on the ranch. She talked about Colleen, Richard and Katherine, and how fun it was to have the children around.
Once Bridget started to talk, both of Justin’s parents started to ask questions. She could tell that they both wanted as much information as she could give them and over the next hour she freely answered any questions they had. After a while, Michelle and Doug relaxed, and seemed very pleased she had the information they so desperately wanted. While they talked, Bridget heard a loud buzzing sound and Michelle stood.
Michelle seemed to sense Bridget’s alarm at the strange noise and smiled gently at her. “That’s the stove saying dinner is ready. Should we continue to talk while we eat?” she suggested.
They all moved into the kitchen. Bridget offered to help, but Michelle told her she could finish on her own, so she sat at the table with the others. There was a large roast with potatoes and carrots, along with mashed potatoes and gravy. Michelle also offered homemade rolls, and Bridget was thrilled at how soft they were. She enjoyed how everything reminded her so much of home.
After the blessing was said and the food passed around, Doug asked, “So what are you going to do now, Bridget? Are you going to stay here in our time or go back?”
Justin and Garrett both stopped eating and looked at her, waiting for her answer.
“I only came to experience the future. I’ve heard so much about it from Nicky and Kimberly, that I had to see it for myself. I’ve been here for three days and I’m thinking I should return soon, maybe tomorrow,” Bridget admitted.
“Bridget snuck here,” Garrett told everyone as he took a drink of milk. “She didn’t tell anyone she was leaving.”
Bridget felt guilty. “There is an evil man who is after the keys so my family hid them in a cave a few miles away from our ranch. I knew if I told anyone, especially my brothers, they would have prevented me from coming.”
“I, for one, am glad you came,” Justin told her with a smile. “I think we needed some closure here, and to hear how Nicky and Kimberly are doing.”
“Can you explain how the keys work?” Doug asked.
Bridget told them what she knew about them, including how they brought her to the future and how they worked together delivering the letters back and forth between their two time periods.
The rest of the evening was spent in pleasant conversation. Garrett wanted to watch a movie called Star Wars and the family gathered around the large television. Michelle popped a huge bowl of popcorn and served a slice of chocolate cake to each of them. Bridget enjoyed the evening, especially watching her first movie, although she had no idea what was going on. Most of what happened didn’t make sense to her at all. Justin tried to explain it to her as a fictional story that was supposed to take place hundreds of years in the future.
Halfway through the movie, Bridget felt Justin take her hand into his. She quickly glanced at his parents, but since they didn’t seem to have noticed, she relaxed and decided to enjoy this last evening in the future, sitting beside Justin holding his hand, thinking that movies we
re so interesting and bizarre. She found it fascinating to see real people and make-believe creatures on the television, but the noises were loud and startling, which put her on edge.
After the movie, Justin insisted that they leave because Garrett had school in the morning. Once they were in the car and on their way home, Justin asked Bridget if it would be all right if they went to his home first to get Garrett in bed, and then he would walk her back to Nicky’s home, to which Bridget agreed.
Justin’s home was in the same layout as Nicky’s. The colors of the carpet and walls were the same. The only thing different was the furniture. Everything was darker and much simpler. Justin invited her to wait for him on his sofa while he helped Garrett get into bed. When he returned, she noticed that he looked very serious.
“I have been thinking about something all evening,” Justin began. “I have something to ask you.”
“How do you think things went at your parents?” Bridget asked him. He looked so serious, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what his question was. “They seemed to accept what I told them. I hope it helped that I was able to talk to them.”
“They were relieved, but I don’t want to talk about them. You said you want to return to your time tomorrow. I want to go with you.”
“What?” Bridget asked with surprise. Did she hear him right?
“It’s possible for us to go with you, right? I want to see Nicky. I will only stay for a few days, but I want to come.”
“What about Garrett?” Bridget asked.
“He can come, too. I’m sure he’d enjoy the trip and I promise I will make sure he knows he can’t tell anyone. School is almost over for the summer so missing a few days won’t cause any problems in that area.”
Bridget leaned back against his sofa in disbelief. She knew her brothers could not have been happy once they found out where she’d gone. What would their reactions be if she returned with Justin and Garrett in tow? But at the same time, she could understand Justin’s concern for his sister. Wouldn’t Patrick or Shaun want to do the same if the situation were reversed? After a moment, she nodded.
“Okay, I guess it would be alright if you came back with me,” she agreed, trying to keep her voice steady.
She felt she needed to return to her time as soon as possible, but there was one person who was holding her to the future, and that was Justin. She knew a relationship with him wouldn’t work. They both were from different times, and neither of them wanted to leave their own time for good, but it would be fun to show Justin her life. She didn’t like that she felt so much relief when she realized she didn’t have to part company with him for at least a few more days. She hadn’t planned on getting so close to him. Then, after he returned to his time, she would make arrangements to move to Denver. She knew Victoria and Collins would be more than willing to let her stay with them as she looked for a job to support herself. And just maybe she would be able to find someone who would help her make her forget all about Justin and his son.
“How would this work?” Justin asked. “You have both keys, correct?”
“Yes. The best way to do this would be that we will both hold onto one of the keys with Garrett between us. We will all hold hands. I will picture the cave in my mind while saying my time out loud. The keys should do the rest.”
“So we’d go to the cave? Why not directly to your ranch?”
“The cave is where we are hiding the keys. They need to stay there. We can’t take them to the ranch. It’s too dangerous.”
“Because of Golin.”
“Yes. We don’t know where he ended up or if he would be able to use his own key to travel back to our time again. He definitely wanted those keys and seemed to be doing whatever he could to get them. That’s why we hid them.”
“Should you have used the keys to come here if it was so dangerous?”
“Probably not. I know it was selfish of me, but I wanted to see the future. The things Nicky and Kimberly talked about fascinated me, and I just couldn’t imagine not seeing it for myself. I wanted to learn and experience everything, at least for a few days. And I wanted to…” Bridget stopped talking, not wanting to admit what was deep in her heart.
“You wanted to what?”
Bridget shook her head, suddenly feeling shy.
“Come on. You might as well tell me.” Justin smiled as he took her hand. It was almost like he knew what she was going to say.
She took a deep breath. “I wanted to meet you.”
Justin’s eyes softened at her confession.
“I enjoyed the letters we exchanged. Nicky told me so much about you and Garrett. I wanted to see if you were…real.”
Justin touched her face with his hand and leaned to touch his lips to hers. And the world faded away. Her hands started to tremble as he deepened the kiss. She knew then that although she planned to move to Denver when she returned, she wasn’t going to be able to forget Justin any time soon, if ever. He pulled away, but he had a soft and tender expression on his face as he gazed at her.
Justin leaned back against the sofa but kept an arm around her shoulders. “If you can wait one more day, let's plan on leaving the day after tomorrow. There are a few things I need to do tomorrow and I want to tell my parents where I’m going. I don’t want to suddenly disappear like Nicky and Kimberly did.”
“Do you think they will be okay with you and Garrett leaving?” Bridget asked. She didn’t think they would. During her evening with Doug and Michelle, she could tell it had been very difficult for them to have Nicky and Kimberly leave like they had.
Justin shrugged. “I will promise them that I will return. They’ll have to accept that. And I will point out that I can make sure Nicky and Kimberly really are doing well.”
“Okay. Let’s plan on leaving in the morning the day after tomorrow. That way, we will have plenty of daylight to walk to the ranch.”
Justin agreed to her plan, and they spent the next few minutes solidifying their plans. Justin told her it would take most of the next day to arrange for him to be gone for a few days, and he needed to make sure Garrett’s school year was wrapped up. He wanted to allow Garrett to play one last soccer game. He also wanted to make sure his deal with his video game was solidified before he left. It wouldn’t do him any good if they wanted to contact him, but could not, for several days. He figured it would only take one more meeting, at which he would sign the final set of papers.
Justin walked Nicky home when she was ready to leave, promising to be in touch with her by the next evening. He left her in Nicky’s home, making sure she had enough food to eat. Bridget offered to box up what she could of Nicky’s and Kimberly’s belongings, and Justin took her up on her offer, looking relieved that she was willing to help. He showed her where the empty flat cardboard boxes were and how to fold them into a box, using a very sticky substance he called packing tape.
After Justin explained how to make the boxes and what to pack, he left. Bridget quickly readied herself for bed. She looked forward to laying in Nicky’s comfortable bed, wanting to think about the day’s events, especially Justin’s kiss, but she quickly fell asleep instead.
Chapter 12
Bridget woke up early the next morning, determined to enjoy her last day in the future. She ate some oatmeal and a slice of the bread she’d made the day before for breakfast. Then after dressing for the day, she started in Kimberly’s room, putting her belongings into the boxes. Although it took a while for her to figure out the easiest way to put the cardboard boxes together, once she did, filling each box was easy. As she went through Kimberly’s things, she marveled at what she saw and found. What caught her attention first was a small black box that was sitting on top of the dresser. She saw that there were several buttons with different symbols on it, and decided to try a few of the buttons to see if she could figure out what it did. After a couple of tries, she was delightfully surprised to find music somehow came out of the box. The songs were soft and feminine, and like nothing she had hear
d before. After listening intently to the first few songs, she started filling boxes, but had to stop again soon when she found something else that interested her.
There was a lot of jewelry, all held in a beautifully painted box, with special drawers and a glass lid to help organize and display everything. She couldn’t imagine owning this much jewelry. She only owned a necklace that had once been her mother's. She would get it out every now and then, but was afraid of ruining it if she wore it every day. As she reverently looked at them before packing them away, she also found a stack of Kimberly’s old sketchbooks and spent some time admiring those as well. Some were done with colored pencil, and others with more solid colors, that looked like paint.
Bridget spent all day packing. In reality, she could have been done in just a few hours, but Nicky and Kimberly both had so many beautiful, interesting things that she had to take her time and admire everything. When she was almost done with Kimberly’s room, she suddenly had an idea. She would choose one thing that belonged to Kimberly and one thing to Nicky to take back with her, something that meant something to each of them, something to remind them of their previous life.