****
Luke looked disconsolate. “Please. Don’t give up,” he said. “I know you still love me.”
She’d never been able to deny him. If she didn’t walk away now, while she still could, she’d fall into his arms.
Would that be such a bad thing? He said he loved her. Why couldn’t she just take what he offered?
She swallowed the pain. Someday, when the sparkle wore off, he would hate her for coming between him and his father. He wouldn’t be able to help himself. She refused to put him in that position. “I’m sorry.” Her voice caught. “I’m doing this because I love you.”
Luke’s face hardened.
Annie realized he finally understood.
“Then at least have the guts to come back with me and tell my father to his face that you’re paying back the money.”
She shuddered. Her empty stomach churned at the thought of facing Arnold Maxwell in his moment of triumph over her and her grandfather.
Luke was right. She had to face the consequences. Perhaps her confession would speed his recovery. Luke would have his father for a few more years. It was the least she could do make things right.
With a slow nod, she agreed. “Okay.”
****
“It’s about time you two showed up again,” Arnold Maxwell said as they entered the room. “I was beginning to think I’d have to come and get you.” He looked at Luke.
Luke glared back.
Arnold looked at Annie for a moment, then at Luke. “What’s happened?”
Luke crossed the room and stood at the foot of his father’s bed. “Annie has something she wants to tell you,” he said, gesturing for her to stand beside his father.
Making her face his father was cruel. What she was doing to him—denying him a lifetime of love with her by his side—was just as cruel. Couldn’t she see that?
He hoped she lacked the courage to confront his father. Or by some miracle, his father would relent on the property issue. Unfortunately, he knew that neither was likely happen and he lose the only woman he’d ever truly loved to some stupid trick of fate.
“Well?” his father said to Annie.
“You were right, Mr. Maxwell.” She swallowed and looked his father squarely in the eyes.
As badly as Luke hurt, he knew Annie was hurting too. He admired her strength. Pride swelled in his chest at her demonstration of courage and honesty.
“We’ve been through all the paperwork,” she said. “There is nothing to contradict your claim. My grandfather owed you the debt and he never repaid it.”
She glanced at Luke.
He swallowed hard, feeling the pain of her confession.
“The property at White Rock wasn’t mine to sell.” She gave a sad smile and looked back at Arnold. “I’ve used some of the profit to pay debts, but most of the money is in my savings. If you’ll allow me to make payments, I’ll return all the money your company paid for the property.”
Arnold turned to Luke. “You went through all the paperwork?”
Luke nodded.
A thoughtful look crossed his father’s face. “All of it?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He smiled. “Taxes were fully paid. Right?”
“Yes,” Luke answered.
“How much?”
“About a hundred thousand.”
“Sounds about right.” His father pursed his lips. “Subtract it from what we paid her,” he told Luke.
Arnold gave Annie his business smile. “You’ll owe the company the balance.”
“I won’t owe the entire purchase price? Only the balance after taxes?”
“That’s correct.”
“What about interest?”
“No interest.”
A mix of relief and elation crossed her face. “Once I’ve paid the loan, the debt will be cancelled?”
“One hundred percent.” Arnold agreed. He held out his hand. “Deal?”
Annie took it and they shook. “Deal.”
“Dad!” Luke exploded. He’d tried to keep out of this bizarre negotiation, but couldn’t believe his father twisted things around to suit his own selfish needs. “What you’re doing is wrong, and you know it. I signed that contract. You can’t go back on it.”
“Sorry, son.” Arnold looked at Annie. “Deal’s done. Isn’t Annie?”
“Luke?” Her eyes begged him to accept the deal.
Her plea stopped him cold.
He suddenly realized that if she believed she was free and clear of the debt, then they could be together.
He didn’t know what game his father was playing, but as soon as the old man was well enough, the two of them would have some words.
For now, if meant Annie would remain in his life, he’d accept deal they’d worked out. “It appears I have no choice.” He nodded resignedly.
Annie and his father both smiled. Luke didn’t like what had transpired, but he’d just made the two people he loved most in the world happy.
“Now, about seeing my son…” Arnold said.
The smile fled from Annie’s face. “But you said the debt was cancelled. I don’t owe anything more—”
“Not so. You owe me quite a bit actually.”
“Dad…”
“Don’t interrupt, son,” Arnold said. “I have a story to finish and you’re both going to hear me out.”
Arnold scooted up a little on the bed. His heart monitor beeped.
They all stared at the door expecting the nurse to usher Luke and Annie out the room.
The nurse peeked in, waggled her finger at Arnold, but then returned to her station.
Arnold grinned a bit sheepishly. “I promised her you’d leave me alone for the rest of the day if she’d give us a bit of time. This can’t wait.” He took a sip of water from his cup. “Damned oxygen dries me out.”
Annie glanced at Luke and offered him a tentative smile.
His breath stalled. He hoped whatever his father had to say would be quick. He was anxious to pick up where he and Annie left off during that wonderful moment in the cafeteria when they’d rediscovered each other.
“What part of the story was I in when you showed me the cards?”
Annie glanced over at Arnold. “You said my father and you were playing poker and he’d lost the property to you.”
“Ah, right. Well, that’s when the fire broke out. It started with a lightning strike. Even as drunk as we were, we rushed to help. There was chaos everywhere. Then rain started falling. We climbed up behind the mill to get clear of all the smoke.” He cleared his throat. “Then next thing we knew we were back in our own time. Right underneath the tree, like we’d never left.”
Luke waited for him to continue, but he’d just stopped.
“That’s it?” Luke asked. “That’s all you had to tell us?”
His father took a deep breath. “Well, the rest is sort of unbelievable. Even for me.”
Annie frowned. “What can be more fantastic than going back in time?” She glanced at Luke. “We did it.”
“Yeah, well…it’s this next part I’m not sure you’ll understand…but…” He took another sip of water. “Just keep an open mind, okay?”
Luke shrugged. He agreed with Annie—what would be stranger than time travel? “Sure.”
“You see, I never spoke to Rick again after we came back. I was pretty damned angry at him. He’d lost the game and reneged on the bet. Yet there was nothing I could do to prove it.”
“It’s okay. We did prove it and I’m making it right again,” Annie said.
The affectionate smile Arnold gave Annie took Luke off guard. “I know. Rick said you’d want to do that. In fact, he insisted I let you.”
****
Annie blinked. “My grandfather told you…But you just said you never spoke to him.”
“I didn’t,” Arnold replied. “Until yesterday.”
“Yesterday was when you…” Luke started.
“Almost died.” Arnold grimaced slightly.
“Actually, I did die.”
Annie’s gasp caught in her throat.
“It’s okay,” Arnold said. “You, young lady, brought me back from the grave. But not before Rick and I finished our business. He told me to let you pay back the debt. He said he’d felt badly all these years and couldn’t rest properly until it was done.” Arnold scratched at the day’s growth on his chin. “I have to say, he knew you pretty well. You reacted just like he said you would.”
Tears burned in her eyes. “You spoke to my grandfather?”
Arnold reached out and she took his hand. “He knows you love and miss him.”
“But I sold his heritage—our heritage—for money.”
“To pay off a debt he placed on you. He doesn’t blame you and certainly doesn’t want you to be sorry. He hopes you’ll forgive him.”
Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. “Of course,” she whispered.
Arnold squeezed her hand. “Rick’s proud of you. If it weren’t for you, he’d have been a crotchety old man, like me. You’ve made him very happy. Me too, as a matter of fact.”
“Because I paid back the debt?”
Arnold shook his head. “Because you’ve made my son happy.”
Luke came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her. “That she has, Dad.” He placed a kiss on the top of her head that sent heat zinging all the way to her toes.
She felt pulled in two different directions. “Yesterday you wanted me to stay away from Luke.” Even if Arnold had met her grandfather in a near-death experience, how could he change so dramatically?
“I thought I knew what was best for my son.” Arnold shrugged. “Turns out, I was wrong.”
“Good,” Luke said. “Because we’re getting married as soon as you’re well enough to attend a quick ceremony.”
Annie turned in Luke’s arms and gazed up at him. “Really?”
He nodded. “Sorry. I’m not waiting for a big wedding.”
“I’m not sorry,” she said.
He gathered her into a long, distracting kiss. She almost forgot where they were until Luke’s father cleared his throat.
Annie never believed she’d feel this happy. Luke still wanted to marry her, but his father—
She looked at the elder Maxwell. “So, if it’s okay that Luke and I are together, what do I still owe you?”
“Ah, that’s the part I’m not sure you’ll believe.”
Luke’s arms tightened around her as though she might disappear on him again. “What are you trying to tell us, Dad?”
Arnold’s eyes lit up with a fire from within. “I want you to take the money from the property sale and put it in a trust fund.” He paused. “For my grandson.”
****
The tremor started at Luke’s feet and worked its way up.
Annie was shaking all over.
“Don’t let her faint,” his father said.
Luke ushered Annie over to the chair and gently lowered her down. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Her eyes were wide and her lovely skin had turned pale with bright patches of pink staining her cheeks. “I’m…I’m pregnant?” she asked. She looked at Luke and then to Arnold.
His father nodded.
Luke’s grin was so broad he couldn’t speak. A wealth of emotion ambushed him. He was going to be a father! Annie was the mother of his child. The only time it could have happened was while they were in White Rock.
In 1891.
What would the baby’s due date be?
He looked over at his father.
The old man beamed from ear to ear as happy about the news as Luke.
He pulled Annie into his arms and held her until she stopped trembling.
When she finally pulled back, she had more tears in her eyes. “Are you okay with this?” she asked.
Luke laughed. “I’m ecstatic,” he replied. “How could I not be? I have you.” He placed a protective hand over her stomach. “And a bonus all wrapped up together.”
Behind them, his father cleared his throat. “Now that I’ve done my part,” Arnold said. “I’d like to get some rest. I understand from Rick, that being a grandpa can be pretty exciting at times and I’m looking forward to it.”
Annie stood and crossed to the bed. She leaned over and placed a kiss on his father’s forehead. “Thank you, Mr. Maxwell,” she said quietly.
“No, Annie. Thank you,” he said in a rough voice. “You better start calling me Arnold.”
“I’ll just call you Gramps,” Luke said as he took Annie’s hand.
He and Annie walked out of the room leaving the happy old man inside. They had a lot to discuss and their lifetime to plan.
They got as far as the hallway outside the intensive care unit before he pulled her to him. “Have I told you that I love you?” he said.
The light in her eyes shown brighter than the full moon they’d made love under while in White Rock. “I love you too.”
“It’s for real,” he whispered. “I don’t know how it happened—why we had to go through a science fiction adventure to find each other, but I’m glad we did.” He swung her around and then planted another kiss on her upturned face. “I’ve gone through the past and present for you.” He cradled her face in his hands. “Please say you’ll marry me, Annie Crawford. Be my future.”
Epilogue
The scary part was over.
Regardless of the marvel of modern medicine, Annie carried the fear of Elizabeth’s death during childbirth inside her from the moment she went into labor. Now that she held the tiny bundle in her arms, she relaxed.
A thrill shot through her as her husband tenderly brushed the hair from her damp forehead.
“He’s perfect,” Luke breathed. “And you’re amazing.”
She blinked away tears of joy and gazed with wonder into her husband’s eyes. He loved her. He loved their son. She couldn’t have been more complete than at that moment.
A knock sounded at the door. Arnold poked his head around the corner. “The nurse said I could come in. Is it okay?”
“Of course,” Annie said.
The new grandfather walked to the bed.
She held out her son for him to hold.
He gathered Richard Arnold Maxwell into his big hands and placed a tender kiss on the infant’s forehead. When he looked up he said, “This is just like the shaman said it would be.”
Both Annie and Luke stared at Arnold.
“What shaman?” Luke asked.
“You know. The one who sent us back to our own time,” Arnold said.
“You met the shaman, too?” Annie asked.
“Well sure,” Arnold said. He grinned down at his grandson. “He gave us the gold medallions.”
Luke frowned. “But you gave me the medallion in a knife and Annie’s grandfather gave hers on a necklace.”
Since that day in Arnold’s hospital room almost nine months ago, neither Arnold nor Luke brought up the subject of time travel again. Now this comment, right out the blue.
“Yeah, we didn’t realize at the time the significance of those medallions.” Arnold shrugged. “He must have found them again after you returned from 1891. You don’t still have them, do you?”
Luke and Annie shook their heads in unison.
“No matter. The shaman told me and Rick that we had to stop our families from coming back or he’d make us stay there permanently. At the time, we didn’t understand what he meant. We just figured he was a little crazy. He let us keep the medallions, though.” Arnold glanced at Luke. “Now that I know what really happened, it seems like he made a mistake. Guess it’s a good thing you cut down that tree.”
“Why?” Luke asked.
“Something about the tree...” He looked from Luke to Annie. “Well, think about it. When Rick and I went back, we saw your initials carved in the trunk opposite Paul’s family. So we decided to carve our initials under yours.”
“We never saw your initials in the tree.” Luke said.
Arnold laughed. “T
hat’s the part that always gives me a headache,” he said. “In our own time, Rick and I go back before you and Annie, but we arrived eight years after you’d already been there. Sure is something to give the brain a tease.”
He looked down at his grandson and cooed. “And you, little Ricky…you’ll just have to live in the present. No time travel for my grandson.”
A word about the author...
Stanalei’s love of writing romance stems from reading unlikely favorites such as Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Barbara Cartland, and Alistair MacLean. She has over twenty years in the martial arts and holds the rank of Sandan, a third-degree black belt, in aikido.
After a taste of life on both U.S. coasts, she now resides in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her hero, who is also her best friend and husband. Together they enjoy the open road astride a Harley, visiting museums and exploring ghost towns.
Visit Stanalei at
www.stanaleifletcher.com
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Lightning Only Strikes Twice Page 27