by Zoe Matthews
Michelle turned to Kimberly and hugged her. “I want to see those sweet babies I’ve been hearing so much about from Bridget.”
“They are taking a nap, but I will get them up,” Kimberly told her as she turned to hug Doug. “I’m so surprised to see you.”
“When Bridget told us it was time for her to go back, I decided to travel with her to see how you and Nicky were doing, and they insisted on coming,” Justin explained.
Bridget noticed that Colleen was standing watching the scene. She gestured to Garrett. “Garrett, why don’t you come and meet Colleen. She’s about your age.”
Garrett walked slowly towards her. “You’re dressed funny.”
Colleen’s smile faltered. “So are you.”
“Garrett,” Justin said, correcting his son. “Greet her properly.”
Garrett looked down at the ground, not understanding why all the adults were smiling at the two of them. “It’s nice to meet you.” He offered his hand to shake.
Colleen glared at him, but she accepted the handshake. “It’s nice to meet you, too,” she muttered when Nicky nudged her.
“Why don’t you take Garrett and go find your Pa and Uncle Patrick,” Bridget suggested.
Colleen’s eyes lit up. “Okay, Aunt Bridget.” She turned to Garrett. “Pa is probably working in the paddock training a horse.”
“Horses?” Garrett asked, with interest in his voice.
“Sure, we have lots of horses. Come on!”
As the two children ran off together towards the barn, Colleen started to chatter, doing her best to show Garrett the ranch as they went.
Victoria and Collins approached the group, and Bridget noticed an immediate cooling when Nicky’s parents were introduced to them.
“Are you the one who started this whole mess?” Michelle asked Victoria.
“If you mean using the keys to bring Kimberly and Nicky here, then yes I am,” Victoria said using a formal voice.
“Now Michelle, remember what we talked about,” Doug commented to his wife.
Michelle waved her hand. “I know. You don’t want me to accuse anyone of using the keys to mess up lives, but really…” She quieted when she noticed her husband’s frown.
“Why don’t you come into the cabin,” Bridget offered, quickly changing the subject. “It is cooler in the living room.”
“Mom,” Nicky whispered to her mother as they walked. “Let’s not bring the keys up now. We can talk about them later.”
“All right, dear,” Michelle agreed as she studied her daughter. “You do look very happy.”
Nicky smiled. “I am. I love it here.”
Kimberly disappeared into her small cabin and Bridget knew she was getting the twins up from their nap. Everyone else settled in the living room, many conversations going on between them. Kimberly arrived, holding the hands of Richard and Katherine. Michelle and Doug enjoyed their role as instant grandparents and the twins warmed up to them immediately.
“They are so sweet, Kimberly,” Michelle said as she held Katherine on her lap.
“We have a lot of fun with them,” Kimberly answered as she handed Richard to Doug.
Just then the front door opened and Colleen ran inside, with Garrett behind her, followed by two men. Bridget immediately stood to greet them.
“Hi, Sis,” Shaun said as he gave her a hug. “Glad you made it back safely.”
“And you are going to stay,” Patrick added firmly, letting her know he wasn’t going to agree to her going back to the future, ever.
“I’m staying,” Bridget agreed with a smile.
“Mom, Dad, this is my husband, Shaun Callaghan,” Nicky said as she grabbed Shaun’s hand in her own.
Kimberly quickly introduced Patrick, and Nicky was glad to see that he welcomed the visitors to the ranch with an easy smile. She knew Patrick was struggling with the way Bridget disappeared, but she was glad that he was welcoming to Nicky’s family.
“What do you have in your backpacks?” Nicky asked her brother. All of them, except Bridget, arrived with a bag on their backs, and she was curious what was in them.
“Just a few things that we thought we’d need, a change of clothes, stuff like that,” Justin told her.
“I brought something back for both you and Kimberly,” Bridget spoke up.
“What is it?” Nicky asked curiously. She watched as Justin handed her his backpack. Bridget opened it, reached her hand in, and then stopped.
“I helped Justin pack up your belongings so he could rent out your home,” Bridget explained. “I decided to bring you each one thing that looked like could have been important to you.”
Bridget pulled out a stack of sketchbooks. “I found these in your room, Kimberly.”
Kimberly reached out and slowly took the books. “Oh,” she breathed. She opened one of them, and tears gathered in her eyes. I didn’t think I’d ever see these drawings again.”
Patrick went to sit by her and she pointed to one of the drawings. “This is my mother. I drew her when I was 12 years old. It’s not very good, but…”
“It’s perfect,” Patrick told her as he reached out a hand to touch the page.
“Thank you so much,” Kimberly told Bridget. She gave the sketchbooks to Patrick and stood to give Bridget a hug. “This means so much to me.”
Bridget gave her a hug back and then gave Nicky her gift. “I spent some time reading this. I was thrilled to find that this book is still around in the future.”
Nicky accepted a leather-bound copy of Pride and Prejudice. “This is my favorite book. My grandmother gave it to me when I was twelve years old.”
“It’s also my favorite. I read part of it while I was staying in your home. I loved reading the notes you’ve made,” Bridget explained. “I could tell you loved it. I thought it would be an appropriate choice to bring back with me.”
Nicky also gave Bridget a hug. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
Chapter 13
Bridget was thrilled with Kimberly’s and Nicky’s reaction to her gifts. One of the things she had done when she was staying in their townhouse was try to imagine what it would be like to go from her time to more than 100 years in the past. What would she want to take with her if she knew she would never return to her time ever again? She obviously had chosen well for Kimberly and Nicky.
She was smiling at Kimberly as she watched her continue to show Patrick the drawings from her childhood when Justin stood and grabbed his backpack.
“I also brought something for you,” he said, looking a little uncomfortable. “Both of you left your bank account information with me, and well, it added up to be quite a bit. I didn’t feel good about spending any of the money myself and didn’t have any idea what to do with it. When Bridget came, I came up with an idea. I combined all the money to buy these.”
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small brick of gold, and a larger brick of silver. Everyone in the room gasped, while Patrick sat with his eyes wide in shock.
“I figured I would send it back with Bridget for you two to use. It was the only way I could think of getting the money to you.” He handed it to Nicky, who took it gratefully.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m sure this will last us all a while,” Nicky said with a smile.
“A very long while,” Shaun pitched in. “Thank you.” He shook and shook Justin’s hand earnestly, then turned to Nicky. “Let’s find a safe place to keep that.”
The rest of the day was spent getting to know each other as one large family, a group of people who were brought together from the present and from the future, all because of two golden keys. At first, the conversations were stilted, but soon everyone started to feel comfortable with each other. Patrick and Shaun took Doug and Justin to show them around the ranch. Michelle refused to go anywhere without Richie or Kathy and she was constantly holding one of them.
When Doug was shown the family garden, he was thrilled with what he saw. He spent most of his time in the futur
e growing his own garden and he asked many questions about how they did things. He picked a few pods of peas and opened them up to taste them, announcing them delicious.
Colleen and Garrett stayed together. Colleen seemed thrilled to be with someone her own age and she chattered constantly. Garrett didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed a bit fascinated with the girl with black braids in a flowered dress.
Later in the afternoon, Bridget started to cook a meal for everyone. With Nicky’s and Kimberly’s help, a simple but delicious dinner was soon on the table. While everyone ate, Bridget watched and listened to the conversation around her. She suddenly felt very tired. So much had happened in the last week; traveling to the future, meeting Nicky’s family, traveling back to her time, walking to the ranch after hiding the keys in the cave. She was ready to get a good night’s sleep.
Nicky had baked a cake the night before, and she served everyone a piece. Bridget wasn’t very hungry, so she just took a few bites and then pushed her plate away. Then she felt a hand slide into hers. Justin had chosen the chair next to hers, and Bridget tried to keep her eyes from his throughout the meal. She could tell that Patrick suspected that something was going on between her and Justin. Every once in awhile, Patrick would look at her, a question in his eyes. She knew her brother was going to corner her with questions as soon as he got a chance. Bridget loved her eldest brother, but she sometimes wished he didn’t feel so responsible for her.
She glanced at Justin when he took her hand and squeezed it. “Let’s go for a walk after dinner,” Justin whispered to her.
Bridget glanced at Patrick and noticed that he was watching both of them, a frown on his face. “I need to do the dishes.”
“Don’t worry about the dishes,” Nicky told her, letting Bridget know that everyone had heard Justin’s suggestion even though he had whispered it to her.
“Okay,” Bridget finally agreed, and a few minutes later, they were practically pushed out the door. It seemed that everyone was perfectly fine with the two of them going for a walk - everyone except Patrick, that is.
“Show me your favorite place,” Justin requested as they slowly walked away from the cabin.
Bridget glanced at him, sighed, and then started to walk towards the river that was located just beyond the ranch boundaries. Justin again took her hand.
“Your brother didn’t seem too pleased that we left together,” Justin commented.
Bridget smiled wryly. “He’s just acting like an older brother, that’s all.”
“I guess I can understand how he feels,” Justin said. “I’m also an older brother. I had a hard time with Nicky falling in love with Shaun until he showed up in my time and declared his feelings for her.”
“I guess love changes everything,” Bridget tried to say offhandedly.
“So where are you taking me?” Justin asked.
“My thinking place,” Bridget told him. “I don’t go there very often, but when I need to think through something or make a big decision, this is where I go. It is a bit of a walk, though.”
“I don’t mind how long it takes,” Justin responded.
They walked in silence for a few minutes and Justin took a deep breath. “I’ve always loved being in the mountains. I do quite a bit of hiking and I’ve done some rock climbing in my time.”
“My ranch, this land my family owns, is heaven to me, but…” Bridget stopped talking, not sure if she should tell him her plans of moving to the city after he left for good.
“But?” Justin asked when she didn’t finish her sentence.
“I’m thinking about going to stay with Victoria and Collins in Denver after you leave.”
“Why? I thought you loved living here.”
Bridget stayed silent. What could she tell him that wouldn’t sound selfish about her desire to leave this family to start her own? Would he even understand?
Justin pulled her to a stop with her hand still in his. “Why do you want to leave?”
Bridget sighed. “I’m turning 25 years old this summer. I’m considered an old maid because I’m not married yet. I haven’t cared much until last fall. Watching Nicky and Kimberly with my brothers and seeing how happy they were, I started to see what I’m missing in not having my own family.”
“In my time, it’s not unusual for young women to not be married at your age,” Justin told her with an understanding smile.
“But I don’t live in your time,” Bridget pointed out.
They started to walk again silently, each thinking their own thoughts until they arrived at her favorite spot. Part of the river flowed into a small shallow area that looked like a pond. Trout liked this area of the river and would stay in the pond, growing big and fat.
“Keegan likes to come here and catch trout around mid-summer,” Bridget told Justin as they sat down by the river. “Sometimes one trout is large enough to be a full meal for all of us.”
“It is beautiful here,” Justin told her. “I’d like to taste some of that trout you're talking about.”
Bridget grinned. “Let Keegan know. He’ll use any excuse to go fishing.”
****
Justin watched Bridget as she held her face to the sun. The ground that they sat on was in some shade from a huge pine tree, but sunlight broke through some of the branches. The sunlight shone onto her red hair, which created the illusion that she was on fire. Justin again thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
He was uncomfortable with her plans to move to Denver. He understood her desire to have a family, but he had a hard time picturing her with another man - any man. He knew he was developing some strong feelings for her, and that wasn’t fair to her. He was only planning on staying a few days, long enough to make sure all was well with Nicky and Kimberly.
He toyed with the thought of inviting her to stay in his time with him. He knew he didn’t want to stay in the 1800’s. He had a job he was good at and enjoyed doing in 2007. He also would hate taking Garrett away from his school and friends. Garrett was so smart and could use all the advantages of the modern school system. As he thought about it, though, he knew he couldn’t ask Bridget to leave her time. She felt the same about her time period as he did about his. It would be cruel to ask her to give up what she loved to move to the future where everything was new and different. He sighed, knowing for certain there was no future for them. He would need to find a way to back away from her and their relationship, if he could.
Justin glanced at Bridget again. He saw that her eyes were closed and he could see she was enjoying the calmness around them. He decided to learn from her and try to find the calm in the mountains. He looked around and took everything in. The leaves of the trees rustled in the cool breeze, and there were plants just starting to sprout all over the earth. He could see some mountains around him that still had their tips covered with snow. The river flowed by them with clear sparkling water and a comforting babble. This land was like heaven on earth.
He remembered the few kisses they’d shared. He wanted to lean closer and hold her, but he couldn’t. He needed to bury his feelings for her. He had no right to them. He needed to allow her to make her own decisions, to live her own life in her own time.
“Tell me how your family came to own this ranch,” Justin asked, trying to change the subject and get his mind off of kissing her.
Bridget opened her eyes and smiled. “It’s a fine story,” she said. “One that I heard over and over at my Pa’s knee as a young girl.”
“I’d like to hear it.”
Bridget started to talk and he wondered if she realized she told the story in a slight Irish accent. “My grandparents lived in Ireland during the potato famine. Grandpa was there for nearly five years, as he didn’t have any funds to leave, and his employer watched over him carefully, making sure they had barely enough to live off of, but not enough to save even a penny. Luckily, Grandpa had buried some china before everything started. He was able to sell the dishes in order to buy tickets to America
for himself, Grandma and my father. They traveled to Boston to settle down, and Grandpa worked himself to the bone to educate my Father. After Father married mother, and with the help of the Homesteading Act, they moved here. It was always his dream to own his own land, so he was very passionate about this ranch. You can probably tell that it has rubbed off on my brothers as well. This land is a part of us now. Even after I move to Denver, I will always consider this land my home.”
Justin was entranced, listening to the love Bridget had for her ancestors and the land she lived on. He took her hand and held it tight while smiling at her. “Thank you for telling me. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be so passionate about your ancestors. Most people in my time are so busy and distracted, they hardly have time to think about things like their roots.” He knew then, that Bridget would be leaving a mark on his soul long after he went back to his own time.