Come Home to Me (Second Chances Time Travel Romance Series Book 1)

by Peggy L Henderson

  “Let’s go have a look,” Jake said, pulling Rachel toward the store. Several people milled around outside, looking on with curiosity. No doubt many of them had made the same journey in previous years. Jake ushered her through the door in front of him. He pulled David from his shoulder, but held him in the crook of his arm.

  “What are we doing in here?” Rachel whispered, and pulled Tommy away from a shelf piled high with knives of all shapes and sizes. He and Billy oohed and aahed.

  “Is there anything you need?” Jake asked. He didn’t know how long they’d be here in Oregon City before he met up with the reverend, and he knew most of their supplies were depleted.

  “We can come back after I make a list,” Rachel said.

  A short woman with long black hair emerged through a door that led to a back room. She wore a buckskin dress, and looked to be at least part Indian. Jake guessed she must be the storeowner’s wife.

  “Is there something I can help you find?” she asked, a wide smile on her face. Her eyes traveled over him appreciatively, then rested on Rachel. “You must have just arrived. A bath perhaps, for your wife?”

  Rachel’s head snapped around at the woman’s words. “A bath with hot water?” she asked eagerly.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Rachel’s gaze shot to Jake, a look of longing on her face. Jake’s gut clenched unexpectantly. The idea of a hot water bath did sound mighty appealing. Soon you can take hot showers again. A new wave of desire swept over him, visions of Rachel in his arms under a steamy shower at the ranch.

  “My wife would love to take a bath.” He grinned, and squeezed Rachel’s hand. The look of pure joy on her face at such a simple thing as a hot water bath melted his insides. He loved her more every day.

  The woman nodded, a pleased look on her face. “It’ll be ready momentarily,” she said. There’s soap on the shelf over there.” She pointed to the far wall. “I’ll call you to the back when the water’s hot.”

  Jake stepped up to Rachel when the woman disappeared again to the other room. “How did I get so lucky,” he said softly, and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. Rachel’s forehead wrinkled.

  “I’m the lucky one, Jake.” She reached up and kissed his cheek.

  “The boys and I’ll clean up later. Take as long as you need.”

  After the woman returned and beckoned Rachel to follow her, Jake lingered in the store with the kids, and handed them each a piece of licorice from the candy jar on the counter.

  When the woman came back into the store, he said, “Please tell my wife to pick out some new underclothes and a dress.” He pointed to the rack of dresses hanging in the corner. He reached into the pocket of his shirt, and produced several coins, handing them to the eager merchant. “When she’s done, send her to the boarding house up the street. Tell her I’m getting us a room there.”

  Jake left the store with the boys in tow. He headed for the boarding house he’d glimpsed before they entered the dry goods store. Tonight, Rachel would sleep in a real bed. He was looking forward to that himself. After securing a room for the night, he returned to the dock. Jeb Miller had taken charge of bringing the wagons to shore after finding the men who had herded the livestock to the city. Jake drove the wagon through town, and a short distance downriver. Finding Mary and Ben Holland camped along the shore where good grass for the animals grew in abundance, he asked if they would watch the boys for the night. The couple had both grinned at him and exchanged knowing glances. Jake merely shrugged sheepishly.

  After a quick dip in the river and a shave, Jake headed back to town. Rachel would probably be finished with her bath by now, and might be waiting for him at the boarding house. This was the closest he could offer her to a day of pampering while they were still here in the nineteenth century. The owner of the boarding house had said that supper would be on the table at five o’clock sharp. Rachel wouldn’t have to cook for once, and she’d get to sleep on a real mattress.

  Jake couldn’t help but grin, his steps light as he moved down the main street of Oregon City. He’d never felt happier. Rather than lose interest in Rachel, the way he’d done with so many girls in his past, he fell in love with her more each and every day.

  “Jake Owens,” a man called loudly from behind him, and Jake wheeled around. He recognized that smooth voice instantly. His heart began to race inexplicable.

  “Reverend Johnson,” he said, and held out his hand. He hoped his voice didn’t give away his sudden apprehension. The reverend shook his hand, a pleased look on his face. His icy blue eyes shimmered in the late afternoon sun. A sudden smile brightened his face even more.

  “So, you’ve made it, I see,” the reverend said, and motioned with his hand for Jake to walk with him. “How was the journey?”

  “Long.” Jake chuckled. “Dusty. Not much different than a cattle drive, really, in some ways.” He peered at the man walking beside him. The reverend’s hands were clasped behind his back. “No doubt the hardest thing I’ve ever done, or will ever do, in my life,” he added.

  “Did you find what has eluded you for so long?”

  Jake stopped. He faced the reverend and stared into his expectant face. “I know I want to return to Montana,” he said. “I realize now where my true calling is. Experiencing life like this . . . it was eye opening. Running a cattle ranch and teaching folks about what life was like in this time is what I want to do. My folks were right all along. I don’t know why I thought I could find happiness in the city, living the fast life, with fast women.”

  “Glad to hear that, Jake.” The reverend nodded in approval. “And I’m sure your folks will be happy about your decision as well.”

  “Most folks got here safely,” Jake said hesitantly. “There were a few casualties.” He’d been held responsible for the safety of the people of the wagon train, and to get them to their destination. Now, Jake wondered if he had failed because not everyone made it.

  “Sadly, that is to be expected. But you kept the people together, and did your best. You have nothing to worry about, Jake. You’ve succeeded here, and I promised you I’d make your problems in the future go away. Consider it done. You passed your test. With flying colors, I might add.” The reverend’s teeth gleamed when he smiled widely. “Rachel Parker is safely here in the city, I take it?” His eyebrows rose.

  “She is.” Jake grinned. Now he could ask the question that burned in his mind.

  “Did you learn anything from a woman who is so unlike any of your preferred female company?”

  “I don’t know what I ever saw in all those women,” Jake confessed, shaking his head. “Rachel is the most wonderful girl I’ve ever met. The girls I used to go out with; none of them were real. They all pretended to be something they weren’t. Rachel is real. She’s honest, and beautiful, and natural. I want to thank you for her, reverend. Your plan couldn’t have played out better.”

  “My plan?” Johnson’s eyebrows rose.

  Jake laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Yeah, your plan. You wanted me to keep an eye out for her, remember? Your plan worked brilliantly.”

  An uneasy look passed over the reverend’s face. “What plan, Jake?”

  Jake chuckled. “You knew I’d fall for her. It’s what you wanted, ain’t it? Get us together? I love Rachel. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  The reverend’s distinctly stricken look brought a sinking feeling to Jake’s chest.

  “You fell in love with Rachel Parker?” For the first time, the reverend didn’t project confidence and happiness. His perpetual smile had turned into a frown. “That can’t be possible.”

  “Why not?” Jake’s voice rose, his eyebrows drawn together. “Why would you go through all that trouble to get me to her time, and tell me I had to protect her on this journey? From the first moment I saw her, I knew she was destined to be mine. It’s why you sent me here. We love each other.”

  The reverend stared at him in silence. He looked as if someone ha
d died.

  “Say something, dammit!” Jake gritted his teeth. His hands started to shake, and every muscle in his arms tensed.

  “In all my time, granting second chances, something like this has never happened before,” the reverend spoke softly. “This shouldn’t have happened. You and Rachel weren’t meant to be together. Your journey, it was not about finding Rachel. It was about finding yourself. Rachel was merely a prop to help you find your way.”

  “A prop?” Jake boomed. “You consider Rachel a prop?” He ran a hand through his hair. Why was he getting all worked up over this? It didn’t matter if this wasn’t the reverend’s plan. “I’m taking her with me to the future. You have to arrange that.”

  The reverend’s eyes widened. He slowly shook his head. “Do you remember when I told you that Rachel was where she belonged? She can’t go to the future. Her life is here. She will meet her future husband when the next wagon train arrives here in Oregon City.”

  Jake laughed. “That’s where you’re mistaken, reverend. She’s already married. To me.” Jake stared directly into Johnson’s eyes. The warm and sympathetic man he’d met five months ago had vanished.

  “You married Rachel?”

  Jake’s forehead wrinkled. “I thought you knew. Don’t you know everything that happens already?” He was met with silence, so he continued. “I love her, reverend. She loves me. If you’re saying that she can’t travel to the future, then I’m staying here in the past.”

  The reverend slowly shook his head. “You can’t stay in the past, Jake. This is not where you belong.”

  Rage consumed him like a wildfire out of control. He grabbed the reverend by the shirt. “Like hell you’re gonna tell me I can’t stay here,” he growled, his face inches from the old man’s. “One way or the other, Rachel and I are staying together. Make it happen.” He unclenched his fist, and shoved himself away from Johnson. Panic engulfed him. His heart was being ripped from his chest strip by strip. It was unthinkable that he would lose her.

  Reverend Johnson placed a hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Your journey here has ended. You’ve fulfilled all of your requirements. By morning, you will be back home in your own time. I can neither control it, nor prevent it from happening.”

  Jake jerked his arm away. “I belong with Rachel. How can you toy with people’s emotions like that? What gives you the right? With every breath I breathe, I can feel that she is supposed to be with me. Her home is with me, dammit. She’s supposed to come home to me in the future.”

  “I’m sorry, Jake. This is unprecedented. It’s not possible.”

  Jake stared at the reverend. There was no hint on the man’s face that he wasn’t telling the truth. In a way, he looked remorseful. If ever he was close to tears, now was the time. His body trembled. He was going to lose the woman who meant the world to him. The reality of it sank into his brain like an anchor. He had no reason to doubt what the old man was telling him. Slowly, quietly, he turned away from the reverend, too numb to speak, to feel.

  “You can’t run away from this. You’ll be back in the future by morning. Where are you going, Jake?” Reverend Johnson called after him.

  “To be with my wife,” he whispered. He didn’t care if Johnson heard him or not. Like a robot, he moved one foot in front of the other, heading toward the boarding house. What did it matter if he returned to the future a changed person? He was worse off now than when he sat in jail with the prospects of rotting on death row.

  ****

  Jake slowly opened the door to the room he had rented at the boarding house. The proprietress of the place had informed him that Rachel had arrived a little over a half hour ago. How would he break the news to her? What could he possibly tell her? He was still in shock from it all. His dreams, his life, it was all over. By morning, you will be back home where you belong.

  His unfocused eyes drifted through the room. Rachel stood by the window. She turned, and a warm smile lit her face. Her long dark hair cascaded down her back, shimmering in the filtered light in the room. A soft scent of lavender drifted to his nose. Jake stood under the doorframe, staring at her. She would no longer exist in his life in less than twenty-four hours. The thought was inconceivable.

  “Jake?” Rachel’s smile vanished, replaced by a concerned look on her pretty face. She took a step toward him. Jake pushed the door shut behind him, and in two swift strides, rushed to her, clasping her face between his hands. He brought his mouth down on hers like a man dying of thirst, starving for food. He walked her backwards and pushed her against the wall, the length of his body pressed against hers. His hands raked through her hair, the scent of lavender stronger than before, driving him mad.

  Jake’s breath became labored, his fevered actions more urgent than a moment ago. Rachel wrapped her arms around his back, and kissed him with the wild and sweet abandon with which she always gave herself to him. Fumbling with the buttons on the new blue dress she wore, he pushed the garment from her shoulders with trembling hands. He bent and scooped her in his arms, and carried her to the bed. The mattress squeaked when he laid her on the covers, and leaned over her.

  “I love you Rachel,” he said, his voice strained. Pulling his shirt off over his head, he eased himself over her. Forcing himself to calm down, he kissed her slowly, deeply, his hands exploring the curves and contours of her body, etching everything about her into his mind. Rachel sighed and wriggled beneath him, and together they removed the rest of each other’s clothing. Jake joined with her, knowing it would be the last time he made love to her. It would have to last a lifetime.

  When he rolled to the side and pulled her into his arms, Rachel stared up into his eyes.

  “Was it the lavender soap, or the fact that I’m clean for the first time in five months?” she asked teasingly, a dreamy smile on her face. Her hand caressed his chest, and Jake shuddered under her touch.

  “I love you, Rachel,” he said again, huskily. “God, there’s no describing how much I love you.” He kissed her, and crushed her to him. He had to tell her. She had to know why he would suddenly be gone from her life come morning.

  “I love you, too, Jake,” Rachel said, her forehead wrinkling. She studied his face, then leaned up and kissed his lips. Her fingers slid along his clenched jaw.

  “I have to tell you something,” Jake said slowly, and pulled himself to a sitting position, leaning against the bed’s headboard. He pulled Rachel up with him, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

  “What is it?” Concern etched her voice.

  “I should have told you this a long time ago. I was going to tell you under different circumstances today. I was hoping . . . I saw the reverend.” Each thought that came from his mouth made no sense in relation to his previous one. He didn’t know where to begin.

  He ground his teeth, and cursed. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I thought you were meant to go with me. If not, I would have stayed here with you.”

  “Jake, you’re not making any sense,” Rachel sat up, and cupped his face between her hands. “I am going with you. To Montana, right?”

  “Rachel,” he grabbed her wrists. He swallowed hard. His heart was about to explode. “I’m from the future. One hundred and sixty-four years in the future, to be exact. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be gone from here, from this time. From you.”

  Rachel blinked, and stared. The silence between them was deafening. “You’re leaving me?” she finally asked, her eyes wide. She pulled out of his embrace. “You brought me to Oregon. You kept your promise to look out for me. You even married me. And now you’ve tired of me, and you’re leaving?” She turned her back to him, her voice sounding more bitter with each word she uttered.

  Jake rushed up behind her, and pulled her up against him. “I love you, Rachel. I’m not leaving you because I want to. I have no control over this. I didn’t know. I want to take you with me. That was my plan all along. The reverend says it can’t be done. He sent me here, to this time, to lead the wagon train and to protect you. I t
hought he wanted me to meet you because we were destined for each other.”

  Rachel turned, the tears shimmering in her eyes ripping at his heart.

  “Why are you telling me a lie, Jake? Why not just be honest and say you’ve grown tired of me? That it’s time for you to move on.”

  Jake grabbed her arms, and forced her to face him. If someone wrenched a knife into his heart, it couldn’t have hurt more than the look on Rachel’s face. “I don’t want to leave you,” he said forcefully between gritted teeth. “You have to believe me. I come from a time in the future. We don’t travel by wagons anymore. The journey we just finished from Iowa to here takes less than a day by airplane in my time.”

  Rachel scoffed. “Now I know you’re lying. What you’re saying is impossible.”

  “No, it’s not, dammit. Men have walked on the moon. I wanted to give you the kind of life you deserve, where diseases like cholera are treatable. Rachel, I don’t want the last night I have with you to be spent in anger. I love you. You’re all I ever wanted. I begged the reverend to let me stay here if he couldn’t send you to the future. You have to believe me.”

  Jake wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him. His entire body shook. A feeling of helplessness such as he’d never known swept over him. Slowly, Rachel returned his embrace.

  “I love you, Jake.” Her sad tone told him she didn’t believe a word he said. “You promised you’d never leave me, that you’d hold on to me forever.”

  He would rather take a bullet to the chest than hear the pain and disappointment in her tone when she spoke those words. His world spiraled out of control, and he was completely powerless to stop it. All this time, he’d made the assumption that his future was with Rachel, regardless of what century they were in. How could he make her understand?

  “You’ll always be with me, Rachel. Always. I’m sorry I failed you. I know I can’t make you believe that I’m from the future. I just hope you’ll forgive me one day.” Jake pulled her on top of him. He held her tightly to him, as if it would bring her to the future with him. He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Was this what a terminally ill person felt? Just waiting for it to end? In his heart, he was already dead.