A Summer in Time (Train Through Time Series Book 6)

by Bess McBride

“No, it’s much more distant than that.”

  “I see. Grandparents?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “It must be. He never mentioned you.”

  “Should he have? To you?” Gem asked pointedly.

  Sarah’s supercilious smile wavered.

  “I have known John for a long time. And his brother, Harvey.”

  “Really? How long is that?”

  “Oh! Years!”

  “But he only moved to Livingston two years ago, so you haven’t really known him that long then, have you?”

  “Just two years ago? It seems much longer. Nevertheless, I’m very fond of him. He’s terribly shy though.”

  “John? Shy?” Gem quirked her own eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware of that. I know he’s reserved, but I didn’t notice that he was shy.”

  “Perhaps reserved is a better word. I have invited him to several dinner parties, but he has made his excuses every time. I shall win him over soon though. I’m very persistent.”

  “Mmmm...” Gem bit her tongue but couldn’t hold back the wince. If history didn’t change, Sarah Stewart didn’t have a chance. If it did, then she might very well be the one to coax John into marriage. Gem’s stomach lurched at the idea.

  “As John’s cousin, I am sure you wish him well. He has been a bachelor far too long and is in danger of growing old alone, don’t you think?”

  “I do wish him well,” Gem said. “I’m not sure he plans to marry though. It’s likely he won’t.”

  Sarah smiled evenly.

  “Frankly, I hope to change that.”

  At that, Gem set her glass down sharply on a nearby table and jumped up.

  “No! Not you, not ever! Excuse me!” She fled from the lounge car, her heart pounding at the thought of Sarah Stewart pursuing John. She was wrong for him. She would bring him no happiness. None.

  Bursting through the moving connector, Gem hurried through the empty dining room and into the sleeping car to return to her compartment.

  She slammed her door shut, dropped onto the bench seat and wished herself anywhere but on the train. Sarah was a hideous woman, and she didn’t deserve John. Gem hated leaving John to the woman’s claws.

  As if she conjured the woman up, she saw Sarah’s red hat pass her compartment. Gem averted her face, hoping Sarah wouldn’t see her. It should have come as no surprise that the wealthy widow had a sleeping compartment, though she wasn’t going that far.

  When Gem looked again, the aisle was clear, and she returned to contemplating the scenery, her future and John.

  The gentle rocking of the train lulled her, and she fought against closing her eyes, but her body began to fall off the precipice that was sleep.

  “Stop!” a baritone boomed. “Wake up! Wake up, Gem!”

  Gem bolted upright, her eyes popping open to see John shaking her.

  “John!” she cried out.

  “Oh no, you don’t,” John said, sliding down beside her and pulling her against his chest. “No,” he breathed against her ear. “You are not leaving me. Stay awake. Do not sleep. I cannot lose you.”

  Stunned, Gem lay limply in John’s embrace, his hold every bit as tight as if he had two arms. She heard his words and tried to understand their meaning.

  “I love you. I love you,” John whispered. “Please do not go.”

  Those words, Gem understood. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around John’s neck.

  “No! I’m not going anywhere. I love you too. I love you so much,” she said, lifting her head to look into his blue eyes, soft now with emotion.

  “I did not know,” John murmured in her ear. “I did not know. I could not believe you could love someone like me.”

  Gem pulled back to look at him. She took his face in her hands.

  “Someone like you? Someone like you? Oh, John, it breaks my heart to hear you talk that way. Don’t you know that I have loved you forever? Long before I met you. What you survived is beyond belief. You are my hero.”

  John blinked, his cheeks bronzing. He dropped his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers. They stayed that way for a moment, as if communicating silently, before John slid his lips down her cheek. He kissed her softly, delicately, and Gem melted against him. She curled her fingers through the back of his silky hair and held him as if she would never let go.

  John finally raised his head and met her eyes.

  “Come back with me,” he murmured. “Come back.”

  Gem nodded, tears of joy slipping down her cheeks.

  “Yes, of course.”

  He looked up and out of the window.

  “We must hurry. We will get off at the next station. I am terrified that you will be taken from me.”

  Gem shook her head.

  “Not unless I fall asleep, I think. I’m not sure.”

  “If you do not know for certain, then we must get off as soon as possible. You cannot reach Seattle without sleep. Did I not find you dozing off only moments ago? You gave me quite a fright!”

  “I didn’t sleep well last night,” Gem said. “Not at all, actually.”

  “Nor I,” John said. “I missed you terribly, and you had not yet gone.”

  “I missed you too. I just couldn’t bear to see you. It hurt too much.”

  “We will marry,” John said. “We will have children. You shall have your descendants.” His lip parted in a smile, the first that Gem had ever seen from him.

  Gem marveled at the change in John’s face when he smiled. Years dropped away from him. His expression lightened.

  “You are so handsome,” she breathed. “Your children are going to be beautiful!”

  “Because they will be your children as well.”

  Gem laughed and caressed his face.

  “I can’t believe I can actually touch you like this...finally.”

  John’s upper cheeks reddened again.

  “I welcome your touch.”

  He lowered his face to hers again, kissing her in earnest.

  “My love,” he whispered against her lips.

  Through closed eyes Gem felt the train rocking, the world spinning. She realized that she had been holding her breath. And she knew no more.

  Chapter Twenty

  Gem opened her eyes, still dizzy. She saw, not John’s face but an impression of silver and blue. Steel and fabric. In no need of explanation, she realized she was in the sleeping compartment of a modern train. Alone.

  “John!” she cried out, as if he would come dashing into the compartment. She jumped up and ran to the door, sliding it open. The train swayed gently as she raced down the hallway, scanning all the compartments for sight of John.

  “Hello there!” a young blond uniformed steward said. “Are you in one of the sleeping compartments?”

  “What year is it?” Gem whispered. “What year is it?”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “The year. Can you tell me the year?”

  “2017, ma’am. How did you get in here?”

  “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter,” she said hurriedly. “Where are we?”

  “Well, ma’am, actually it does matter. Do you have a ticket?”

  “Where are we?”

  “We’re just outside of Spokane. We should arrive in about ten minutes. Can I see your ticket, ma’am?”

  “I’m pretty sure I don’t have one,” Gem said, pressing a hand to her forehead. She needed to think...she needed to think. The steward was coming between her and thinking.

  “I’ll get off at the next station. I don’t know how I got on here. I don’t feel like answering questions. Throw me off the train or whatever. I just need to get off the train at the next station.”

  “Are you some sort of historical reenactor, ma’am?”

  “What?”

  “Your costume.” He nodded at her skirts.

  Gem looked down. A shaky smile broke out on her face. Yes, she had been in 1905. It hadn’t been just a dream!

  “I wasn�
�t dreaming,” she said, tears running down her cheeks. She grabbed the steward’s hand and pumped it gratefully. “I wasn’t dreaming! He’s out there. He’s out there somewhere!”

  “Who’s out there? Ma’am, I don’t know how to help you. I know you don’t have a sleeping compartment because I’ve checked all the passengers. You shouldn’t have been able to get here from coach. And I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I know! I know! I’m going back! I’m getting off at the next station, and I’m going back!”

  The train’s whistle blew, and Gem almost jumped up and down.

  “I’m never riding another train. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Ma’am, I’ve got to sort through some luggage downstairs before we arrive. Why don’t you come with me? I don’t know what to do with you, but if you promise to get off at the next stop, I won’t worry about it.”

  “I will! I promise! I’m getting off at the next stop! You bet!” Gem grabbed his hand again and shook it. The steward pulled his hand away gently and signaled for her to follow.

  They descended the stairs, reaching the first level as the train began to slow. Gem almost imagined that John would be waiting for her at the station, but that wasn’t possible. No matter what kind of clothes she wore, she was in the twenty-first century, and no matter how much she loved the conveniences of the twenty-first century, she loved John more. She had to get back to him.

  As the train’s brakes screeched to a stop, Gem realized that she had no money—no money for a train ticket going the opposite way. No credit card. No identification. Nothing. She remembered her earlier plan to call a neighbor for help, but she didn’t want to return to Seattle. She had to get back on the train going east!

  The steward, who had been pulling suitcases out from a rack, moved toward the door in preparation for opening it.

  “I don’t have any money,” Gem said. “I don’t have any money to get back on the next train. Where am I going to get money?”

  “What happened to your money? Did you lose your purse or...”

  “Purse?” Gem repeated frantically. “I don’t even remember when I last saw my backpack. Days ago. Centuries ago.”

  “Do you want me to check lost and found? How long ago did you lose it? Besides centuries ago. I don’t think we keep lost items that long.”

  The steward smiled, as if Gem had been joking.

  “Sure,” Gem said hopelessly. There was no way her backpack would be in lost and found on that particular train. No chance at all.

  “I can look in a few minutes after I unload this luggage. You can wait on the platform if you want, but you can’t wait in the train. Not without a ticket. You have to get off.”

  “And I want to get off! John will be looking for me, wherever he is.”

  It occurred to Gem that John might have gone on to Seattle. But the year was 2017. In reality, he had died. She couldn’t stand the thought and blocked it from her frazzled mind.

  The steward slid open the steel door, picked up the heavy step stool and carried it off the train. Setting it down, he held out his hand for Gem. Disembarking passengers lined up behind her. She heard their comments as she gathered up her skirts and stepped off.

  “Oh, cute outfit!”

  “What’s she dressed up for?”

  “Is it Halloween?”

  “She looks lost in time.”

  Gem glanced over her shoulder to see who had made the last comment, but most of the passengers looked away when she turned. She pivoted in a circle, scanning the station, wondering if she should beg for money. The small remaining functioning part of her brain reminded her though that even if she had money, she probably couldn’t buy a ticket without identification.

  She took two steps toward the station when the steward called out.

  “Wait! Let me check lost and found. It’s probably a long shot though.”

  “When does the next train come through? The eastbound train?”

  “Half an hour,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Gem paced the concrete platform in a small circle, trying to ignore the stares of people around her. It wasn’t like she was wearing a medieval suit of armor, after all.

  She looked beyond them for any other visible time travelers. Surely she couldn’t be the only person who had ever fallen through time. But no one stood out as particularly out of his or her element.

  She checked the clock on the platform. The steward had been gone for ten minutes. She didn’t think she could wait much longer if she had to beg for money, never mind how she was to get some identification in a hurry.

  The steward finally reappeared and stepped off the train. He shook his head regretfully.

  “I didn’t see any backpacks in lost and found. Look—you seem a little lost, ma’am. I don’t know what happened, but I do believe that you lost your bag with your stuff in it. I don’t feel right about just throwing you off a train here without any money. I talked to the conductor about you. I didn’t tell him everything because some of the stuff you said is kind of strange, but the eastbound train has an empty sleeping compartment between here and Whitefish. It’s full after that though, so you’ll have to get off there. Here’s a ticket.”

  Gem stared at the small slip of paper in the steward’s hand.

  “Really? Really? You did that for me?”

  “It’s empty anyway, and they didn’t sell any tickets at this station.”

  Gem grabbed the hapless steward and hugged him tightly.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  The steward chuckled and set her from him.

  “You have to get off in Whitefish. You have no choice. I hope you can find help there—family, friends, your backpack.”

  “I hope I do too, but that’s where I need to go. I have to go eastbound.”

  The steward blinked.

  “Well, that’s a weird way of putting it.”

  “I know.” Gem waved the ticket. “Thank you so much!”

  “No problem. I’ve got to board some passengers, so I’d better get going. Good luck. The eastbound train will be here soon.”

  “Thank you!”

  Gem stepped back and looked around. She made her way into the station to use the ladies’ room, then grabbed a drink of water from the fountain. She tried to see the station, the people, the modern amenities as if she were viewing them for the last time, but terrified that she would hex her hopes of traveling back in time again, she stopped.

  The westbound train pulled out, and Gem stepped onto the platform again to await the eastbound train.

  “Is this one of those themed trains where they’re going to pretend to rob it or something?” a woman asked. “I know the National Park puts rangers on some of the trains, but I didn’t know anyone did a historical thing.”

  Short, plump, with a similarly sized man at her side, the gray-haired woman eyed Gem with interest.

  “I don’t think so,” Gem said slowly, knowing that the friendly woman was on the verge of asking her about her clothing.

  “My husband and I haven’t been on a train in years. Thought we’d take the train to Chicago to see my kids. If I’d known it was a costume thing, I would have dug out some of my great-grandmother’s things. She had some dresses that look like your outfit, though hers are kind of musty now. They’re packed away in a trunk.”

  Gem smiled and fought the urge to hurry away.

  “Your great-grandmother,” she murmured. “How nice of you to keep her things.”

  “Well, ya gotta love the ancestors, right?”

  Her husband beamed but said little. Most of his attention was on the track, awaiting the train.

  “Yes, you do,” Gem said with feeling.

  “So can I ask why you’re wearing that costume?”

  “This?” Gem stalled, looking down at her brand-spanking-new ivory blouse and chocolate-brown skirt.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m...I’m writing a historical novel, and I need
to know how it feels to wear turn-of-the-century clothing. So here I am!”

  “You’re a writer! Well, look at you!”

  “Look at me,” Gem murmured helplessly.

  “What’s the book about?” the woman asked.

  “A woman who travels back in time, a romance.”

  “I love romances!” she exclaimed. “What’s your name? Could I buy some of your books?”

  A whistle sounded in the distance.

  “Oh! Look! The train is coming!” Gem exclaimed with anticipation and relief.

  “Come on, honey!” her husband said, obviously much more interested in the train’s arrival than in Gem’s novel.

  “It was nice to meet you! Maybe I’ll see you on the train!” the woman called over her shoulder as her husband maneuvered her down the platform to where people had lined up for coach seating.

  With a racing heart, Gem watched the train switch tracks and hiss its way into the station. She had no idea how she was going to get back to John, whether she could travel back in time or even if she could travel back to the correct time, but she had to try. The love of her life was out there somewhere, and she had to find him.

  The train came to a stop, and Gem paced back and forth impatiently while passengers disembarked. Still more stares and comments came her way, and she suspected she would have drawn less attention if she had taken a seat on one of the benches. But she couldn’t sit. She had to take action, to move, to get back to John.

  After what seemed like hours but was probably only ten minutes, a speaker announced boarding, and Gem saw the conductor waiting by the sleeping compartment door to check tickets. She dashed over to him and presented her ticket with bated breath, hoping all was in order.

  “Welcome aboard,” he said. “The steward will show you to your compartment.”

  If the conductor cared about her appearance, he said nothing and just helped her step up into the train. Gem grabbed her skirts and climbed the steep stairs to the second level, the scene now familiar.

  A steward, this one short, dark haired with a buzz cut, was speaking to passengers already on the train. He saw her and moved toward her.

  “Good afternoon,” he said. “Can I see your ticket?”

  Gem held up her ticket.

  “Oh! Just a short hop from Spokane to Whitefish. Okay!”