by Bess McBride
Constance laughed. “Oh, yes, I do. First date, indeed! I would much prefer it if I had a female companion there. Please come. You cannot stay cooped up in this house all day.”
“Are you sure, Constance?” Ellie wrinkled her nose uncertainly.
Constance gave her a firm nod. “Yes, I am sure. I would be grateful if you could...facilitate my first...date as you say...with Malcolm. I fear I shall be too tongue-tied to say a word.”
“All right, then. I owe you a lot. I’ll come.”
“Wonderful!” Constance rose and turned toward the door. “We will pick you up tomorrow at noon.”
“Tomorrow,” Ellie echoed as she watched Constance leave the room. She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep, but its merciful oblivion eluded her.
Mrs. McGuire popped her head in shortly to see how Ellie fared and to inquire about her desires for dinner. Feeling extremely guilty about running out on the hospitable woman’s tea party as she had, Ellie agreed to come down to dinner.
Dinner with the girls was a panacea for any depressed woman. Their lively chatter, occasional bickering and genuine friendship left no room for miserable faces at the table. Mrs. McGuire ran the boarding house much like her personality—bubbly, energetic, full of warmth and love.
“Dorothy, did you know that Mr. Chamberlain was here today?” Mrs. McGuire grinned and cast a sly glance in Ellie’s direction.
Dorothy’s eyes widened. “Oh, my goodness, really?” She drew her brows together for a quick moment. “Did I do something wrong?”
Ellie watched the exchange with confusion. What were they talking about? Did Dorothy know the man, too? Was there one woman on the planet who had not yet met that aggravating man?
“No, dear, he did not say anything about you. He said he was in the neighborhood and came for tea. Miss Standish...Ellie knows him, as well.” Mrs. McGuire nodded in Ellie’s direction. “This is such a small world!”
Ellie held her fork in midair. What?
All three girls turned curious eyes on Ellie.
Dorothy cocked her head in inquiry. “Do you know Mr. Chamberlain, Ellie?”
Ellie stuffed food in her mouth and nodded—now unable to discuss the matter since her mouth was full.
“Oh.” Dorothy turned an inquiring look on Mrs. McGuire.
“She met him on the train to Seattle.” Mrs. McGuire happily supplied the details.
“Really?” Dorothy continued to eye Ellie with a curious stare.
Ellie nodded and attacked her plate for another large mouthful of food.
“That would be when he took his sister and her friends to Spokane for her birthday,” Dorothy said.
Ellie looked up in surprise.
“Mr. Chamberlain is my employer. He is the head of the bank where I work. Mrs. McGuire recommended me to him, and he hired me as a clerk.”
Ellie’s cheeks burned, and she chewed her food with a nod.
“Well, perhaps you know, then, Ellie. He has hardly been at the bank lately, and people are wondering where he has been.” Dorothy bit her lip. “I mean he is always at the bank. Every single day. The first person in to work and the last to leave. But for the last few days, he has only been in the bank for a few hours. Today, he dashed out of the bank as soon as he got there, and he never returned.”
Ellie froze and threw a glance at Mrs. McGuire.
“Well, that is very interesting, Dorothy,” Mrs. McGuire said. “Of course, you know he stopped by here for tea, but he said he was just in the neighborhood looking for an old friend.”
“Do not misunderstand,” Dorothy said earnestly. “I do not wish to gossip, but some people in the bank are talking about his unusual behavior.”
Ellie’s face burned.
“Dorothy, dear, are you sure this is not Mr. Chamberlain’s private life and best not discussed at the dinner table?” Mrs. McGuire regarded her with a kind smile but her eyes brooked no argument.
“Yes, Mrs. McGuire.” Dorothy smiled sheepishly and returned to her food.
“Oh, please tell us what they have been saying at the bank, Dorothy. Now, you have us all agog to hear,” Samantha piped up, seconded by Martha.
Dorothy glanced at Mrs. McGuire, who looked as if she, too, couldn’t wait to hear the story.
Ellie wondered if she could just crawl under the table and die, but first, she had to hear the gossip.
“Well,” Mrs. McGuire drew the word out, “if it is nothing disrespectful, I might like to hear.”
“Oh no! It is rather curious, in fact. The other clerks say that he has fallen in love!” Dorothy delivered the sentence as if she’d dropped a bomb and waited for the fallout.
Samantha and Martha stared for a moment, then resumed eating, the matter of Mr. Chamberlain’s love life obviously not of great importance. Ellie swallowed hard, a dry piece of bread lodged in her throat threatening to choke her. She grabbed for her glass of water and gulped. Mrs. McGuire threw her a quick glance.
“Really?” the older woman murmured. “How do they know such a personal detail?”
Dorothy warmed to her audience. “Well, another clerk’s mother said they saw him at the park the other day with a woman...and that he appeared quite infatuated with her. I have never heard of Mr. Chamberlain doing anything so frivolous as to stroll about the park in the middle of the day. I think that is very significant.” Dorothy quirked an eyebrow.
Ellie didn’t miss Mrs. McGuire’s quick glance in her direction, but she smiled and resumed eating, though she felt slightly nauseous.
“That does sound promising. Well, if he has finally met someone, I am happy for him. I began to think he was a confirmed bachelor.” With a last lingering look at Ellie, Mrs. McGuire returned to her food.
“We all did,” Dorothy murmured. “I hoped he was waiting for me.” She grinned unexpectedly and dug into her food with bright pink cheeks.
“Oh, he is too old for you, silly!” Samantha and Martha giggled and poked her teasingly in the ribs, and Dorothy snickered along with them. Ellie knew how the young girl felt. Robert was hard to resist. She averted her eyes from Mrs. McGuire, who’d already given her several curious looks during the conversation.
The following day, Ellie dressed in her new clothing, a white shirtwaist with a soft lace collar and a conservative, tailored suit in dark chocolate brown. She surveyed herself in the small oval mirror. The color flattered her brown eyes. She loved the lace at the sleeves and the way the skirt fell away from her hips to the floor. The fitted jacket trailed down to her knees like a brown tuxedo, and she wondered how comfortable it would be when she had to sit down. She’d done her hair as best she could in an upswept Gibson and perched a matching brown velvet hat with harvest gold ribbons on her head. She twirled and preened in front of the mirror, very satisfied with her first Victorian era purchase.
Ellie went downstairs and told Mrs. McGuire she was going to the park with Constance for the afternoon. Mrs. McGuire looked up distractedly from the stove, smiled and wished her an enjoyable outing. A carriage pulled up outside at noon, and Constance and Malcolm Stidwell presented themselves at the door. On closer inspection, she saw that the silver-haired gentleman had eyes of a peaceful sky blue and his smile held a note of gentle humor.
“Miss Standish, it is very nice to meet you at last. I am afraid we were not introduced the other night at the dinner party.”
Ellie stuck out her hand. He blinked and took it in his own.
“Mr. Stidwell, thank you for taking me along on your outing. I hope I’m not in the way.”
“Not at all, Miss Standish. We are happy to have you along, isn’t that so, Constance?”
“Yes, Malcolm. I was very pleased when Ellie accepted my invitation.”
“Shall we, ladies?” Malcolm indicated the waiting carriage. Ellie climbed in first, followed by Constance and then Malcolm, who sat on the opposite seat. He kept up a pleasant running commentary on the city as they made their way to the park. The carriage dropped them off in the sa
me location as before when she’d come with Robert, and she tried to block the memory from her mind. Unsuccessful, she settled for blocking Robert from her mind—just for the day.
Malcolm held out both arms, and Constance took one while Ellie reluctantly took the other. They promenaded along the boardwalk by the lake, and Ellie kept silent while the other two chatted. She allowed the tall Malcolm to guide them as she strolled mechanically, lost in memories of handsome dimples and dark-lashed green eyes.
“Isn’t that right, Ellie?” Constance’s voice broke through.
Ellie returned to the present. “I’m sorry. What?”
Malcolm laughed. “She has been daydreaming, I see. A penny for your thoughts, Ellie.”
She tossed him a quick grin. “Oh, that’s way too much money for one of my scatterbrained thoughts.”
“Malcolm, Constance, Miss Standish,” a familiar male voice hailed them. “How do you do? May I join you for a moment?”
“Robert! How nice to see you out of the bank! What brings you out on such a fine day?” Malcolm nodded jovially.
Robert eyed a stunned Ellie for a moment. “The same as you, I expect, Malcolm. Warm sunshine and pleasant company.”
Malcolm laughed. “Well, as you can see, I have my hands full with pleasant company. Ellie, would you care to walk with Robert?”
Chapter Fourteen
Ellie gritted her teeth and smiled up at the innocent Malcolm. Other than causing a scene, she had little choice except to release Malcolm’s arm and take the one that Robert proffered. They fell into step behind Malcolm and Constance, who threw a quick glance over her shoulder to meet Ellie’s stricken eyes.
Ellie attempted to stay close to Malcolm and Constance, thereby avoiding an intimate conversation, but Robert thwarted those plans by lagging a few steps behind them. With her hand tucked in his arm, there was little she could do.
“It is nice to see you, Ellie.”
Ellie locked her eyes on Malcolm’s back. “Thank you, Robert. It is nice to see you,” she replied mechanically.
“How is your head today?”
She blinked and looked up at him. His eyes almost caught hers in a lock, but she dropped her gaze quickly. “My head? Oh, yes, my headache. That’s fine, thank you.”
“I am glad.”
“How is it that you are at the park today, Robert?”
“Oh, I stopped by the boarding house...to see Mrs. McGuire...and she informed me that you and Constance had come to the park with a man,” he replied airily. “I thought it a fine day for an outing myself. I was pleased to see that Malcolm was taking good care of you two.”
Ellie tipped her head to raise a skeptical eye in his direction, but she remained mute.
He dropped the airy note, and his voice grew quiet. “I must say I was surprised to read of your engagement, Ellie. I wonder that you did not share the news with me when we first met.”
Ellie faltered for a moment. Robert steadied her and she recovered.
“I-I...it didn’t come up. It didn’t seem important at the time.” She avoided eye contact.
Robert gave a short mirthless laugh. “Not important? How is that possible?”
“When should I have told you, Robert? The moment I met you? When I realized I was lost on a hundred-year-old train with no money and no phone? When you took me into your home? When...” She couldn’t say anymore.
“When I kissed you...and you returned the kiss?” Robert squeezed her hand against his arm. Her heart rolled over. Against her will, she welcomed the warmth of his body. “That would have been an opportune moment to tell me, Ellie.”
“I know. I’m sorry, Robert. You’re right.” She peeked up at him to see that now it was he who stared straight ahead.
“Tell me about this...fiancé of yours. He is from your time, is he not? You have not gone and engaged yourself to Mr. Sadler already, have you?”
“Robert!” She almost chuckled. She didn’t want to talk about Kyle. He seemed like a lifetime ago...unless she woke up with him next to her in bed tomorrow morning. “I don’t want to talk about him. He doesn’t seem to belong to this time,” she murmured, forgetting whom she was talking to for a moment.
Robert paused and turned her to face him. “You are right, Ellie. He does not belong to this time. He belongs to a past life. You are here now—in my time—with me.”
She stared at the disarming cleft in his chin, unwilling to meet his eyes, to drown in them and throw herself into his arms. She needed to stay strong.
“Robert, it’s time we woke up. Both of us. There is no past life, no other time. This is just a dream, and a very bittersweet one at that.” She finally met his eyes and fought against the love he allowed her to see. “What if we wake up tomorrow, and I am home alone in my bed, and you are here alone in yours? Then what? What is the point of falling in love in a dream? To wake to a painful, lonely reality?” Her voice cracked, and she was only vaguely aware that Malcolm and Constance had paused to look back at them but had moved on again.
Robert grabbed her hands in his, uncaring of who saw.
“I love you, Ellie. I do not care if it is a dream or whether you have come to me from the future. I love you, and leaving me is not going to change that.”
Ellie longed for nothing more than to move into his embrace and bury herself against his chest. In a perfect dream, she could have done just that. Why couldn’t she just throw caution to the winds and give in? She couldn’t remember her reasons for leaving. What were they? They had seemed valid and necessary at the time.
She pulled her hands from his and walked on. He caught up to her and tucked her hand under his arm once again.
She glanced up at him, grief forcing a confession from her. “I miss you, Robert. You are the only person who truly knows me here, the only one who knows where I come from.”
“All the more reason to return to me, Ellie.” His voice was husky.
“If I knew why I was here... If I knew that I wouldn’t suddenly wake up one morning in my time, and be unable to recapture the dream to get back to you... If I knew for certain that I had traveled in time and would not return...” She stopped and turned to him. “What makes you think I won’t simply disappear? Do you want to risk that?”
Robert nodded grimly. “I would risk anything for you, Ellie, for the way I feel when I am with you.” He gave her an ironic smile. “And perhaps you have forgotten. You did simply disappear from my home.”
She grimaced and shook her head. “You’re infatuated with a creature of your imagination, a character from a science fiction novel who travels back in time.” She dropped her head. “That’s not me. I’m just a regular woman who has hardly ever incited a great passion in any man. In fact, I never have.” She looked up at him with a rueful smile.
“Miss Standish, Robert! How do you do?” Ellie turned a startled face toward Stephen Sadler. She smiled weakly and cast a quick glance at Robert hoping he would behave. He gave Stephen a brief nod, but Ellie saw a flash in his narrowed eyes.
“Sadler, how do you do?”
“I am well, thank you, Robert. It is a fine day at the park, isn’t it? How have you been, Ellie?” Ellie saw the blue of his eyes harden for a moment in response to Robert’s curt greeting.
“Fine, thank you, Stephen.” Ellie stood between the two men who exchanged unspoken words, and she wondered if there was a shortage of women in Seattle at the moment. Or was her dream prepared to indulge her in every possible fantasy, including the jealousy of two very handsome Victorian men?
“Ah, there you are, Ellie! We are about to have a late lunch. Good day, Stephen. Won’t you join us, gentlemen?” The irrepressible Malcolm arrived with Constance in tow to make matters worse.
“Certainly, I would love to,” Stephen murmured.
“My pleasure,” Robert responded, taking up Ellie’s hand once again. Constance cast her a sympathetic look, but Ellie was sure she saw the other woman’s lips twitch ever so slightly.
The group sasha
yed off the boardwalk and toward the picnic area. Malcolm’s driver had laid out a sumptuous feast on a linen-covered table, much as Robert had supplied two days ago. Ellie found herself seated between Robert and Stephen and across from a twinkling Malcolm and apologetic Constance.
Malcolm served food while Constance, Robert and Stephen chatted about innocuous matters such as the weather. Ellie kept her lips sealed as she surveyed the faces of the people at her table. Was it possible that she actually sat in the company of three men and a woman from the turn of the century? In her time, they would all be dead long ago. She shuddered for a moment. The thought was too horrible to contemplate.
“Ellie, you look cold. Would you like my jacket?” Robert spoke low near her ear.
“Oh, I’m fine,” she murmured.
Stephen beat him to it by whipping off his outer coat and settling it on her shoulders.
“There you are, Ellie.”
“Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.”
Ellie stared hard at Constance who watched the exchange of glances between the men with wide eyes and a lift at the corner of her mouth.
“You were telling me about your engagement a few moments ago, Ellie. When is the happy day?” Ellie turned a startled eye to Robert who threw Stephen a challenging glance over Ellie’s head. She shot Constance a harried glance. Malcolm raised his eyebrows.
“Many felicitations, Ellie,” Malcolm murmured.
“Ellie. I did not know,” Stephen’s voice rose an octave. “Is it true? Are you engaged?” He turned a frank, disappointed face to Ellie.
“I-I...uh...why yes, I was...I am...I think.”
“Yes, Ellie is engaged. She told me so herself...to a young man back in Chicago,” Constance offered helpfully, unaware that to Robert and Ellie, “Chicago” meant something other than just a city.
“Yes, Chicago. That is true, isn’t it, Ellie?” Robert reaffirmed in a low voice.
She turned to him for a moment. His eyes glittered as he stared at her.
“Umm...yes...Chicago.”
“And when will the marriage take place, Ellie?” Stephen’s somber eyes met hers.