10 Timeless Heroes; A Time Travel Romance Boxed Set

by P. L. Parker, Beth Trissel, L. L. Muir, Skhye Moncrief, Sky Purington, Nancy Lee Badger, Caroline Clemmons, Bess McBride, Donna Michaels

  “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 sashayed 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 sa
t 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.

  “Oh,...uh...soon...that is...um...when I return.”

  “I see,” Stephen murmured. “I must extend my congratulations. How fortunate for you.”

  “Yes, very fortunate indeed.” Robert chimed in with a narrowed gaze at Stephen.

  “And what does your affianced do, Ellie?” Stephen ignored Robert. Ellie swallowed hard.

  “He’s a-an...investment banker.”

  “A banker?” Robert snapped. At his harsh tone, Ellie jerked her head in his direction.

  “How interesting.” He eyed her with a curious glint.

  “What exactly does an investment banker do, Ellie?” Malcolm had no idea how much further he dug Ellie’s hole by pursuing the subject.

  “He manages investments for clients. You know, stocks and bonds?” She couldn’t remember. Did stocks and bonds exist at this time? Surely they did. The stock market crash would occur in thirty years.

  “Ahh,” Malcolm nodded. “Yes, of course. I was not familiar with that term.”

  Ellie discovered she could tilt her head slightly and dip her hat in Robert’s direction to block him from her line of sight, and she promptly did so. She looked over at Constance, who pressed her twitching lips together and raised a linen napkin to her mouth. By tipping her hat, Ellie exposed herself to Stephen more, but he didn’t seem to be a problem.

  Stephen gave her a regretful smile. There was nothing she could do, short of jumping up and announcing she was a fraud but return his smile and resume eating.

  “And how long has your betrothed been an investment banker, Ellie?” Robert asked.

  Ellie acquiesced to good manners and turned her head slightly to allow him to see her face. He looked irritated with her ploy to avoid him, and she bit back a smile.

  “About five years, I think.” She tilted her hat once again.

  “I see. I must say, Ellie, that is quite a fetching hat you are wearing. It certainly shades your face well...from the sun.”

  “Thank you,” she murmured on a gurgle, with a raised eyebrow in Constance’s direction. “I just bought it yesterday.”

  “Yes, you will remember I saw you and Constance shopping. Is this part of your trousseau?” he needled.

  The man was impossible! Trousseau, indeed! Was she living in some gothic novel?

  “Yes,” she said shortly.

  Stephen leaned in to speak in a low voice. “Well, it is lovely, Ellie. It matches your eyes perfectly. Your future husband is a very lucky man.”

  Ellie blushed. “Thank you, Stephen.”

  A small commotion occurred on her right, and she turned ever so slightly to see Robert pick up his chair and move it to his right, toward Constance. All eyes turned to him, and he smiled pleasantly at the group and sat back down. She watched a muscle in his jaw working and wondered how pleasant he really felt at the moment. He’d moved into Ellie’s line of sight, and she could no longer avoid meeting his eyes short of laying her head flat on the table.

  “The sun...was in my eyes,” Robert looked skyward.

  No one commented on the fact that the day had grown cloudy as Pacific Northwest days often did.

  He turned bright green eyes on Ellie who dropped her own gaze to her plate.

  “And will we have the good fortune to meet your fiancé, Ellie? Will he visit Seattle in the near future?”

  Ellie’s head shot up. She couldn’t remember where she was in her sequence of lies, so she took a chance.

  “No,” she replied evenly, fed up with the harassing line of questioning. “He will remain in Chicago. I’ll be returning shortly.”

  “No, Ellie! When?” Constance’s mournful note tugged at Ellie’s heart. She was echoed by an equally saddened Stephen and Malcolm who joined in the chorus of “no.” But it seemed Robert was finally silenced! His tightened lips and angry glare gave Ellie a small measure of satisfaction...or so she thought. She swallowed a lump in her throat the size of an apple.

  She had to continue. “Soon, I’m afraid. I’m not sure exactly when, but it will be soon. My parents should send word any day now.”

  “I hoped you would stay longer,” Constance murmured. Ellie watched Malcolm reach over to pat Constance’s hand. “How can you face that long train trip again so soon, Ellie? Are you sure you cannot stay for a while?”

  Ellie avoided Robert’s eyes.

  “Well, as you know, I lost all my things on the train, so I am just waiting for my parents to send money for my fare.” Did that sound plausible, she wondered? “I must return to Chicago, where my fiancé is waiting for me.”

  Ellie’s uneasy eyes passed over Robert’s face. His jaw relaxed and his eyes softened. A gentle smile played on his lips.

  “I am afraid this is the first I am hearing of this. Did you lose your luggage on the train?” Stephen turned to her with interest.

  “I did not hear, either, Ellie. What happened?” Malcolm asked.

  Ellie panicked for a moment. She couldn’t remember what happened exactly. Involuntarily, she turned to Robert.

  He came to the rescue. “Ellie’s tickets, money and luggage were misplaced on the train, and I—my family and I, that is—had the good fortune to take her into our home until she could secure funds and other accommodations.” He blithely ignored Ellie and Constance’s startled looks.

  “Ellie, how awful for you,” Stephen said sympathetically. “Have they found your things yet?”

  Ellie tore her eyes away from a complacent Robert and shook her head.

  “No, I am afraid not.”

  “And how are you managing...that is...do you need...?” Stephen hesitated delicately. “May I offer some financial assistance in your time of trouble?”

  “Well, of course...goes without saying.” Malcolm cleared his throat. “Certainly, Ellie, if you need anything, I would be more than happy to help.”

  Ellie’s face burned. She felt like a homeless beggar stomping her feet over a heated grate with a cup held out to passersby.

  “No, I’m fine. I-I...uh...sold something, and I have enough money to cover my needs. I’m fine, thank you.” She didn’t miss the sharp look Robert gave her, but she kept her eyes on Malcolm and Stephen. Stephen nodded understanding and discreetly returned to his food. Constance looked mortified for Ellie.

  “And what brought you to Seattle, Ellie? I am afraid I did not hea
r?” Malcolm seemed to have no idea that Ellie wished the earth would swallow her up.

  She coughed on a sip of water and put her napkin to her lips before scanning the seemingly hundreds of eyes turned in her direction. Had she said?

  “Umm...I...uh...” Ellie drew a blank. Was it possible for her to stand up and just start screaming? She would feel much, much better, though she wasn’t certain where she would end up. Bedlam? Where was Bedlam, anyway? Probably England.

  “Apparently, Ellie was on her way to Wenatchee to visit a favorite aunt. She fainted just as she descended the train. Unaware Wenatchee was her destination, we brought her back to our carriage, resulting in an unintentional kidnapping as we dragged her to Seattle...thereby stranding her here.” Robert shook his head with a glance at Constance. “Isn’t that correct, Constance?”

  Constance nodded slowly, her brow furrowed, confusion clouding her lovely eyes. “Yes, I do believe that is what transpired, though I did not know Wenatchee was her final destination. Is that so, Ellie?”

  Ellie bit her lip and nodded, refusing to look at Robert. Although he’d rescued her once again, she thought his talent and ease with lying far surpassed her own abilities.

  “Yes, that’s about it.” She pressed her napkin to her lips once again. “Well, Malcolm, I must say this has been a very pleasant meal. Thank you.”

  Ellie successfully moved the conversation away from herself, and Constance picked up the thread and moved into talk of the mundane.

  The picnic ended within the hour, and Malcolm, Constance and Ellie said goodbye to Robert and Stephen as they made their way to Malcolm’s carriage. Ellie remained silent on the ride home, exhausted from being under the interrogatory spotlight so long at lunch. She was fairly sure she’d managed to cross a few lies, though she couldn’t remember which, and she hoped no one had noticed.

  ****

  “Robert, surely you are not serious!”

  Robert stared out the window of the parlor with his hands clasped behind his back.

  “Oh, I most certainly am, Grandmother.”

  “But why this woman? There are so many others who are more...suitable.”