by Bess McBride
“Morning?” Emily gasped, pushing herself upright. “Morning? What time is it?”
“Nine o’clock. Dr. Cook thought you needed to eat. I have brought you some oatmeal and blueberries.”
“Nine o’clock!” Emily wailed. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, wobbling as she did so. Mrs. Jackson hurried to her side.
“I missed breakfast!” Emily said, leaning on the housekeeper as her head spun.
“No, dear. I have brought it to you,” Mrs. Jackson said. She led Emily to the table.
“No, not this breakfast! The one at Martha’s house. I was supposed to go to work this morning.”
“Oh!” Mrs. Jackson said. She guided Emily into a seat in front of the food. “I do not think you were expected at Martha’s this morning.”
“I expected to go there!” Emily stared at the oatmeal, wondering how Luke was and whether he had eaten breakfast that morning, or even dinner the previous night, for that matter.
“I’m sorry, dear. No one said anything about waking you up early, not after what you’ve been through.”
Emily’s shoulders slumped. “No, I guess not.” It wasn’t like she had been scheduled to perform brain surgery, the only specialist in the state. “I wanted to go though.” She heard the childishness in her voice but couldn’t pull herself together.
“And that is to your credit, dear. Do eat up. Leigh is with the baby right now, but Dr. Cook wants to examine you when you are dressed.”
“Didn’t he examine me last night? I don’t remember.”
“Yes, I believe he did, and you had already fallen asleep.”
“Okay,” she murmured docilely. She had every intention of going to the boardinghouse that evening for the dinner shift.
“Mr. Damon came by last night to see how you were, but as I said, you had already fallen asleep.”
Emily’s heart soared. “Really?” she breathed. “He came?”
“Yes, he was quite the sight, I must say, as muddy as you were. He apologized for not changing before coming but wanted to reassure himself that you were all right.”
“He came here before going home?” Emily repeated. “He must have been hungry.”
“That is so strange you should say that. I did ask if he wanted some supper, as Dr. Cook and Leigh had just finished, and he said he’d eaten a sandwich. Why would you think he would be hungry, of all things?”
Emily smiled broadly, feeling very happy with the world. “No reason.” She spooned her oatmeal. “Have you heard what will happen because of the mudslide?”
“Some loggers are at work clearing it up now. They have experience with mudslides, as they are common around here.”
“Erosion,” Emily murmured. “No tree roots to hold the soil.”
“I have heard something like that,” Mrs. Jackson said. “I will leave you to your breakfast. Do you want Dr. Cook to come to you here, or do you want to go down to his office?”
“I’ll go down there,” Emily said, a silly grin on her face. Luke had eaten her sandwich...whatever was left of it.
Mrs. Jackson left the room, and Emily ate her oatmeal while she looked out the window over the lake. She wondered if Luke had gone to school that day, if he had missed her at breakfast and if he would ever call her “my love” again. She hoped so with all her heart.
Summer solstice could come the following year, and she wasn’t leaving. She was staying put in Kaskade, right near Luke. Even if he had called her “my love” in a moment of heightened emotion, it was a beginning. He could learn to love her as she loved him. She did love him. He was gentle but strong, complicated but natural. She saw in him the reputation he had for being kind and tolerant, though he had struggled with the supernatural concept of time travel. She saw that he had evolved, and she loved him for it.
She remembered again Luke’s words. “Perhaps we should ask Emily what she wishes. What do you want to do, Emily?” Between her mother and Carl, she didn’t think she could recall anyone asking her what she wanted to do.
She couldn’t wait till late afternoon when she could go over to Martha’s house and see Luke. The day seemed as if it would drag on. With a sense of anticipation, she dressed and combed out the unruly hair that had dried in the towel. She carried her tray downstairs to the kitchen before going to Jeremiah’s office and tapping on the open door.
“Come in, Emily,” he said, rising from his desk. “How do you feel this morning?”
“Weak and tired, to be honest, but all in one piece. Did I fall asleep on you all last night?”
He smiled and nodded. “You did. Leigh worried that she did not have a chance to comb out your hair, but I see that you have managed.”
Emily put a self-conscious hand to her hair. “Does it look all right?”
“Yes, of course. Please, sit here.”
Emily had never been in Jeremiah’s office as a patient, having only peeked in. She sat down on a steel stool and let him check her pupils, temperature, heartbeat and lungs. He asked her a few questions, such as her name and the date.
“I’m not sure what the date is, but I know it’s 1909,” she said with a wry grin.
“Do you have any bruising? Any areas of pain?”
Emily nodded. “I do have a few bruises on my arms, but that’s about it. Nothing hurts.”
She chewed on her lip for a moment. “So, I’m okay to go back to work, right? No one is going to fuss if I go to work this evening?”
“Mrs. Jackson mentioned that you were unsteady on your feet upon arising this morning. Do you feel dizzy?”
“Not anymore,” she said honestly. “What do you think about work?”
“If you feel well enough to go, I see no harm in it. I am certain that Martha would not mind if you were to take more time to recover. Your body took quite a beating, your mind a great deal of trauma.”
“I’d like to get back to work,” she said.
Jeremiah nodded and put his stethoscope down.
“You must enjoy your work very much,” he said with a knowing smile.
She nodded. “I do!”
“And the people?”
“What do you mean?” Emily suspected Jeremiah already knew why she was so keen to return to the boardinghouse. Hadn’t he listened to her heartbeat?
“Luke came to ask after you last night, but you were sleeping.”
“So you’re asking me about Luke?” Emily’s grin wavered. “Yes, Mrs. Jackson told me he came. And yes, I do want to see him.”
“Did Kaskade choose well again?” Jeremiah asked.
Just then, Leigh tapped on the door but hovered outside as if unwilling to enter. “Good morning!”
“Good morning, Leigh,” Emily said. “Your husband was just asking me if Kaskade chose well again. I don’t know if it chose well when it picked me, but for my part, I’m happy that it chose me. I needed Kaskade more than it needs me.”
“Oh, Emily!” Leigh said with an affectionate smile, leaning on the doorsill. “That is so sweet. What brought this about?” She looked from Emily to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah smiled but only shrugged. “I suspect Emily will confide in you.”
“Nothing to confide,” Emily said with a confidence she didn’t feel. “I’m in love. I can’t help it, but I am. And I’m sure you know with whom.”
Leigh’s smile broadened into a happy grin. “Luke!” she sang out. “Or Jefferson! Either way! One of them!”
Emily’s eyes widened. “Jefferson? Oh, no! It’s Luke. Isn’t Luke the reason Kaskade brought me here? Wouldn’t I have ended up at Martha’s boardinghouse in the beginning if Jefferson were the man for me? Or at his office?”
“Maybe!” Leigh crowed. “Who knows? This is great! I’m so happy for you!”
Emily rose, her knees still a bit shaky. “Welllll, it’s not like Luke knows how I feel about him, and I’m not sure how he feels about me. So let’s not send out wedding invitations just yet.”
“Oh, I think we know how he feels about you
,” Leigh said.
“How?” Emily asked.
“Well, for one thing, he ate that mashed-up sandwich you took to the school for him...you know, when you got buried under a mudslide.”
Emily’s cheeks burned. “How did you know about that?”
“He told Jeremiah and me about it last night. He felt so bad that you had been hurt bringing him food, and so thrilled that you had gone to such lengths for him. He said it was the best food he had ever eaten.”
“Oh!” Emily responded. “He said that?”
Leigh nodded. “Yes, he did. If you’re in love with him, then he’s in love with you.”
Emily noted that Jeremiah listened to their exchange with interest but offered nothing. She felt a bit self-conscious discussing her romantic interests in front of him.
“And even if you weren’t in love with him, he’s in love with you,” Leigh added.
Emily felt lightheaded again, but she didn’t think it was due to the events of the day before. Well, not entirely. She sank back down onto the stool.
“Thank you,” she said to Leigh.
“For what?”
“For telling me what I hoped to hear.”
“You’re welcome,” Leigh said with a grin. “Jefferson will have to wait his turn, I guess.”
“Awww,” Emily said with a chuckle. “He’s a good man.”
“He is,” Jeremiah finally said. “But I do not know if he is the marrying type.”
“Really?” Leigh asked. “Why do you say that?”
“You know as well as I that he does not profess an interest in marriage.”
“Well, I think he just hasn’t found the right girl yet. It might even be someone from this time.”
“Indeed,” Jeremiah said.
Mrs. Jackson came to stand beside Leigh at the doorway and announced that Jeremiah had a patient. Emily joined Leigh, and they passed through the parlor, both nodding to the tall, thin man sitting in the foyer waiting for the doctor.
Leigh returned upstairs to tend to the baby, leaving Emily at loose ends. She returned to her room to stare out the window. The road appeared to be still dark from moisture, but she saw no standing water in the usual ruts.
She was curious about the condition of the mudslide, and she wanted to go up to see it. She knew Leigh wouldn’t approve. She slipped into the boots that had kindly been cleaned and restored to her room. She didn’t want to disturb Leigh or Jeremiah, so she stopped by the kitchen to talk to Mrs. Jackson.
“Mrs. Jackson,” Emily began.
“Yes, dear.” The housekeeper was cutting potatoes. “How can I help you?”
“I’m thinking of going up to the mudslide to see what’s going on.” Emily winced, expecting a protest. She wasn’t wrong, but it was milder than she expected. She supposed that as an employee, Mrs. Jackson didn’t dare say more.
“Have you told Leigh or the doctor?”
“No. They’re both busy. So I thought I’d let you know, in case anyone asks where I am. If I don’t return in a few hours, then I’ll go on to Martha’s to get ready for dinner.”
“It isn’t even lunchtime yet.”
“Okay. Well, I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to walk up there, so I didn’t know how to budget my time.”
“Probably not more than twenty minutes, I should say. Kaskade is very small.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll be back for lunch then.”
“I will let Leigh and Dr. Cook know.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Jackson.”
Emily left the kitchen and eased her way out of the front door furtively. She didn’t want Jeremiah to stop her from leaving, though she couldn’t imagine that he really would. He seemed very reasonable.
Instead of walking through town, Emily took the road up the hill on the opposite side of the house, past the timber mill. As she imagined, the dirt was still moist from rain but not that horrible sucking mud she had experienced the day before. Apparently, Kaskade’s ground had very good drainage.
She thought she might come out on Kaskade Road, and she did some time later. There were no houses on the road, just the school with small hills behind it. She had realized that she would have to walk past the school to get to the mudslide, and that idea didn’t make her unhappy.
Her heart beat faster as she neared the school on the off chance that Luke might be looking out the window at the moment she passed. She kept her eyes straight though, in case he thought she had deliberately gone up there to see him.
The mudslide was much larger than she had suspected. Dozens of men worked on clearing the debris, most of them digging with shovels. Other people had the same idea as Emily and had come to check out the mudslide and watch the men work. Emily deduced she must have gotten caught up near the top of the flow because she couldn’t have been dug out in time to survive had she been buried much deeper. She moved to stand at the edge of the crowd, hoping that no one recognized her as the bedraggled woman Jefferson had toted through town the day before.
As she watched, she couldn’t help but remember the sensation of entrapment when she couldn’t move her arms and legs. Thankfully, she’d covered her face with her arms, but the mud had encased the top of her head, and she had struggled for air. Emily felt lightheaded at the memory. Her legs buckled, and she would have plopped down onto the ground if she hadn’t thought a kindly stranger might have tried to come to her rescue.
She crossed her arms, braced her feet wider and imagined herself kept vertical by a string suspended above her. She would not faint. The sweat on her upper lip and forehead would dry. She had experienced panic before when rendered powerless by her mother and Carl. She could manage. Black spots danced in front of her eyes.
An arm slipped around her waist, and Emily felt immediate disappointment.
“I’m fine, thank you,” she said to the stranger at her side. She looked up, and through the haze of spots in her vision, she saw Luke’s face looking down at her.
“Luke,” she breathed. “Have you come to save me again?”
Emily hadn’t realized she’d said the words aloud until he responded.
“You are safe, Emily. You do not need saving.”
Emily blinked and cleared her vision.
“I am safe, thanks to you...and Jefferson. I thought I would come up here and see how the cleanup was going, but I got a bit lightheaded.”
“Yes, I saw you wobble a bit, and I quickened my step to reach you.”
“Thank you.”
She fully expected him to remove his hand, but he didn’t. She didn’t know if he would mind, but she reached across her waist with her left hand and covered his. His fingers interlaced with hers, and Emily knew then that Luke loved her. She wasn’t sure why or how, but he loved her as she loved him.
“You are welcome,” he said.
Emily glanced up at Luke, wondering if they should exchange romantic words. He gazed not at her but at the workers clearing the mudslide. They weren’t in the right place for declarations of love. Too many people stood around them. She squeezed his hand, and he responded in kind. She leaned against his chest, hoping the other bystanders wouldn’t notice and stare at the newcomer and the bachelor teacher. She wasn’t ready to share her love with the world just yet, and apparently neither was Luke.
Without looking down at her, he spoke. “Emily, I applied for and accepted a teaching position in Tacoma. I begin work there next week and must move to the city right away.”
Chapter Twenty
Luke cursed himself as Emily swayed in his arm again, no doubt due to the information he tactlessly blurted out. So consumed with love was he that he could not think straight, could not form his words or thoughts, could not tell her that he loved her before telling her that he must leave her.
“What?” she whispered. “You’re leaving Kaskade?”
“Yes,” he said, keeping his gaze averted from her upturned face. He felt her eyes boring into him. “I accepted the position. They offered me accommodations.”
>
“When did you decide to apply for other teaching jobs?” she asked.
“Last week,” he said.
Emily withdrew from his arm. The sidestepping movement was gentle but decisive.
“After you met me,” she said flatly.
Luke finally looked down at her, but Emily had crossed her arms and stared resolutely ahead at the activity on the mudslide.
“Yes.”
“Because of me?”
Luke dragged in a deep breath. His chest ached from strong emotion, and he regretted his decision. He regretted all his decisions over the past week. But he would not lie to Emily, now or ever.
“Because of the time traveling, because of Kaskade, because I wanted to run from you.”
He turned to look at Emily, whose rigid stance told him that she fought for control. She nodded and pivoted to turn away from the slide.
“Thank you, Luke, for everything. Good luck to you!”
She grabbed up her skirts and strode away, her back ramrod straight. He could not see her tears, but if she felt anything like he did, her eyes flooded with grief.
Luke let Emily go. He did not pursue her. How could he with no words of comfort? He had signed the contract accompanying the offer of employment, and he could not extract himself from his obligation.
Had he realized that he had been in love, he never would have sent the contract back to the school board, but that realization had come too late. When he saw Emily’s small hand reach up from the mud, he had known then that he loved her with all his heart. It mattered not that she came from a different time, through supernatural methods, for mysterious reasons. The only thing that mattered was that he loved her, and he had come to believe that she loved him.
He gave the mudslide one last glance before turning away to walk back to the school. Earlier, he had seen Emily go by from the window, and he had run down to see her. The students were at lunch, and he had been free to watch the efforts on the slide from his classroom. He’d had no intention of blurting out his plans in such an appalling way, but the touch of Emily’s hand on his made him want to confide in her, to tell her what was on his mind. Just one more decision he regretted.
He returned to his empty classroom and gazed out the window. In the distance, he thought he spotted Emily walking back down the road toward the Cooks’ house. He closed his eyes and imagined a different scenario—one in which he had spoken articulately and thoughtfully, and Emily had embraced him and promised that she would go with him to Tacoma. Her cold reception of his announcement revealed that she would not even consider such a thing. Had she not said that she intended to stay in Kaskade?