Inherit the Past
Page 33
CHAPTER THIRTY
SOFIE STILL COULDN’T believe they were married. She smiled, looking over at Max sleeping beside her in the lumpy bed at the gasthof in the village of Senden. His hair was tousled and his beard was growing thicker, making him look more and more like he belonged in this century.
They’d known each other for such a short time, yet it felt as though they’d already shared a lifetime.
Max rolled over and opened his eyes, then smiled at her affectionately.
“Hello, sleepyhead,” she whispered.
“Good morning.” He yawned and stretched, propping himself up on one elbow. He studied her face for a long while, then suddenly leaned in and kissed her. Smiling, he lovingly pulled aside stray strands of tousled hair from her eyes.
“What have you been thinking about?” Max asked.
“I was thinking about our first meeting in front of my house. I had no idea that the man with dirty shoes, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, was going to sweep me off my feet and right into the eighteenth century.”
“And are you sorry you took that scruffy man in?” Max asked, tucking more loose strands of Sofie’s hair behind one ear.
She smiled and said, “Hmm. We’ll have to wait until you finish building that house. If it’s a disaster, I may have to duck into the time portal and escape.”
“Oooh, you’re mean. I may have to seal that damn thing up for good. I can’t have you leaving me, especially since I have two left hands and have no idea what I’m doing. Hell, maybe that’s why the bathroom ended up underground, at the end of a stairwell leading nowhere.”
They both broke up into laughter, and then Max leaned in and kissed Sofie again, and then rapidly began tickling her mercilessly. They laughed and tussled on the bed for a few moments, enjoying the carefree intimacy, before laying back spent.
When Sofie looked over, Max looked thoughtful and said, “I must admit I really don’t understand the implications of time travel.”
“Well, I’m not sure I do, either,” Sofie said. “Maybe in time we’ll figure it out.”
Max groaned, and it took Sofie a minute before she realized the pun she had made. “Maxie, no,” she objected, laughing, as he began tickling her foot again. They laughed and cuddled and kissed, enjoying their time as husband and wife. Max gazed over into her eyes and Sofie felt loved.
Max whispered, “I don’t know what brought us together, whether it was fate or my grandmother’s spirit as Birgitta had thought, but I’m grateful to whomever or whatever it was.”
“So am I.”
“I love you, and I know we’ll have a good life together wherever we end up.” He tilted his head, and Sofie again wondered what he was thinking.
Suddenly, he said, “You know, it’s kinda ironic. I came to Germany looking for that house and now I’m stuck building the damn thing. Who would have thought?”
She smiled. “Maybe you would have been better off never seeing the house in the first place.”
Max shook his head looking at her. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“You aren’t sorry that you are stuck here in Germany, away from your daughter?” Sofie asked.
Max looked pensive. “I’ll miss her, sure, but she’s almost grown up now and with any luck I may yet figure out this portal and see her again. I consider myself very lucky. I have you, Ryan, and Tobias, and our future children, plus an entire extended family I didn’t even know about. I feel a little guilty for saying this, but I think it’s a pretty good trade off.”
Sofie nodded. “Where do you think Lotte went?”
“Good question. I wonder if Vikktor actually took her back. We may never know. I’m sorry you lost her. If you want to look for your real family,” Max said, “we’ll find them, too. I’ll help you, the way you helped me, even if it means we have to travel throughout Germany, Europe, this century or any other. We’ll find the answers, I promise.”
Sofie gave him a brilliant smile, not because she might find her family, but because she already had the best family she could have ever hoped for. She couldn’t believe that by taking a chance and risking everything, she’d found such happiness. Finding her ancestors would be wonderful, but it would only be frosting on an already delicious cake.
She pulled Max to her, and without saying a word, kissed him again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
LOTTE LANDED WITH a loud thud on the floor of the tunnel in Margrit’s cellar. She rubbed her bottom and left leg, both of which had taken the brunt of the fall. At least nothing seemed broken. She’d been sure her leg had broken—or at least a bone cracked—based on the way the portal had expelled her, throwing her bodily up against the wall. She suddenly thought of Margrit’s cracked antique dishes in the cupboard upstairs, and then remembered the newer set packaged up and stored in one of the boxes down here in the cellar. Well, she smiled to herself, Margrit will not ever need that new set now. Neither will that grandson of hers. She smiled. Ja, she would hunt for them and take them home.
All she needed to do was get out of this darn tunnel. She changed position and tried to look around, but it was pitch black. Vikktor had kept his word and gotten her back home. But why couldn’t he have sent through a different tunnel—one easier to navigate? The old curmudgeon was as bad as Karl—always making things difficult. Carefully, she crawled in the darkness to the door, pulled herself up to a standing position, and reached for the doorknob. Her hand scratched and clawed all over the door. Where was the doorknob? Then she remembered how Margrit had overheard Karl and Monika talking about sending her back in time. Oh, mein Gott! There isn’t one on this side. How could I have forgotten? That’s how we trapped Karl and Monika in here.
She sank back down on the floor. Now what am I to do? Will I get transported back, or will I die here? She covered her eyes with her hands and sobbed. Please let someone come searching for me and Max and the others.