“I’m only two hours away if you need me,” Jamie said. “And I’ll be back soon to visit.”
Jamie stood up from the table and her mother and father stood then, too. They followed her out the front door to her car. Jamie put her suitcase in the back seat and turned around to hug her parents goodbye. “I love y’all,” she said.
“We love you, too, honey,” her father said. “Thanks for coming to take care of me. Be careful on the drive back.”
Jamie got in her car and backed out of the driveway. She waved at her parents, who still stood in the driveway. She headed down the road, past the spot where Tommy had been killed, past Tommy’s family’s house and farm, and then she was on the road to Grahamville. She had no idea what to expect when she got there.
The highway seemed the same. The scenery along the side of the road seemed the same. Jamie thought about nothing but what had happened to her in the last few months as she drove down the road to Grahamville, a place that she no longer wanted to be. She tried to figure out how the time travel worked.
She had started her journey on the day before graduation, giving her time to stop Tommy from picking her up. She had called Nate, but he didn’t know who she was because it was 2001. She had saved Grandpa’s life because she was a doctor, even if no one else knew that. Those events, probably mostly saving Tommy, had changed the course of history enough to change the 2013 she had traveled back from.
For some reason, Jamie had gone to college and divorced Tommy. She remembered when she was living her first timeline that she told Tommy if she went to college, she didn’t know what might happen. In another timeline with Tommy, she had obviously gone to college, and then to medical school.
Jamie knew one thing for certain. She would never have left Tommy to attend medical school after she went back in time. Not after she had gotten Tommy back through the miracle of time travel. There was no way she could have done that. But she might have left him in another timeline, where she had married Tommy young and he had never died. She might have been tempted by the prospect of college and a whole world waiting for her away from the farm.
She would have been a very different person if she left for college with Tommy alive and not dead. She wouldn’t have been haunted her entire life about Tommy and his accident and blaming herself for it.
It was so confusing. Jamie couldn’t figure it out. She went round and round in circles in her mind, trying to determine how everything had happened.
Somehow, though, in that quagmire, she had still ended up at the clinic in Grahamville. Nothing made sense. She didn’t know what to do but keep driving. A couple of hours later, Jamie drove into her driveway. She looked at her key ring and saw the key that she thought would open the door. If not, she didn’t know what she would do. She might not even live in this house.
The key did open the door, and Jamie stepped in and turned on the light. The room was painted an off-white color and not the pale gold she had painted it on her first time around. She walked into the kitchen. It was an emerald green color and not apricot. The bedroom was a sage green color. In that other timeline, Jamie had chosen completely different colors than the colors that greeted her now.
Jamie looked in the closet. She saw vividly colored blouses and skirts and not the more subdued colors she had worn before. She didn’t recognize the clothes in her closet, but she knew they were hers.
She sat on the bed and stared at the floor. Her cell phone made an unfamiliar signal that sounded like a train. She looked at the screen and saw it was Stacie. At least that much was familiar.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” Stacie said when she answered. “I’ve been dying to tell you my news.”
“What news?” Jamie asked.
“I’m sorry,” Stacie said. “I’m being selfish. How is your father?”
“He’s doing very well,” Jamie said. “He’s adjusting to a new way of eating. But what news?”
“Nate and I got engaged!” Stacie practically screamed. She was breathless and excited. This new 2013 was really screwed up.
“What about Dustin?” Jamie asked.
“Dustin? Why are you asking about him? I haven’t seen him for years.”
There was silence on the line then. Jamie couldn’t think of what to say to Stacie.
“I’m sorry,” Jamie managed to croak out. “I thought that you thought he was the one for you. I guess I’m a little surprised.”
“I guess I did say I hoped to see Dustin again,” Stacie said. “But that was just late-night girl talk. I’m in love with Nate.”
“Congratulations!” Jamie said, hoping she sounded sincere. “I was just surprised, that’s all. But I’m so happy for you.”
“I was wondering if you’d be my maid of honor,” Stacie said, but she sounded uncertain about that. Jamie must have really thrown her for a loop when she mentioned Dustin.
“Of course. I’d love to,” Jamie said with an enthusiasm she didn’t feel. Even though she was completely in love with Tommy, it wasn’t easy to come back to a world where she was no longer the most important person in Nate’s life. She had lost out all around. She had lost Tommy and she had lost Nate.
“We were wondering if you and Clay could go out Saturday night to help us celebrate,” Stacie said.
Who the hell was Clay? What had Jamie been doing in this timeline. She didn’t know how to answer Stacie or how to find out who Clay was.
“That sounds like fun,” Jamie said. “Let’s do that.”
They ended the call and Jamie took off her shoes and lay back on the mattress. She had no idea who Clay was, but it was going to become a problem very quickly, she thought. She had nothing to do but cry then. Cry for Tommy and Nate and herself. She had no idea how to navigate this timeline.
She checked the fridge and found two containers of banana cream pie yogurt. She guessed that would be her supper that night because she was too tired to go to the grocery store. The TV seemed to offer the same syndicated shows and news programs as before, and she watched mindlessly for a while as she ate the yogurt. And then her phone rang with that annoying train sound.
She looked at the screen and it said CLAY. Her heart raced, but she decided to answer to see what she could find out about this new life. “Hello,” she said.
“Hey, babes. I’ve been trying to call you for days,” a deep male voice said.
“Clay?” she said.
“Of course, babes. Who else?”
She hated the word “babes.” She hated him calling her that. How dare he, really? She was a married woman.
Jamie faked a laugh. She was in no man’s land with this conversation, traveling by the seat of her pants. She had to figure out who Clay was and what her relationship with him was.
“Stacie called me and said she and Nate are engaged,” she said.
“You’re kidding?” Clay said. “I was wondering when that was gonna happen.”
“Clay,” she said. “Do you like your job?” She was trying to find out what Clay did for a living, how she might have met him.
“I like it all right,” he said. “I’ve got my issues, but you know about that.”
No, she did not know about that.
“I was just wondering if it had gotten any better,” she said. She was falling without a parachute.
“Well, I was going to wait until I saw you to tell you this. They’ve offered me the director job of the ER.”
So, he was a doctor, too. She was finally getting somewhere.
“But, I wanted to talk to you before I accept it,” he said. “Since we’ve been talking about making things permanent. I thought we should make the decision together. You might not want to live in Knoxville.”
So, he was in Knoxville. And, she’d been having serious discussions about the future with this person that she didn’t even know.
Jamie didn’t say anything.
“Jamie?” Clay said. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here,” she said. She didn’t know
who Clay was, but there was no way she was going to see him, let alone get into a permanent relationship with him. She had to find a way to end this.
“While I was at home, I had a lot of time to think,” she said. “And I realized that I’m not ready for a committed relationship. I’m sorry if that hurts you. I know you’re a good person. But I’m just not ready. I need to take some time to reassess everything. I need to take care of my parents right now.”
“What are you saying, Jamie?” Clay asked. “I thought we were going for the long haul here. What’s changed?”
“I can’t explain it very well,” Jamie said. “But I know that I’ve got to be on my own for now. I don’t really want to be in a relationship. It’s not you, it’s me.”
Clay chortled sarcastically. “That’s the most famous kiss-off of all time,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make light of it. And I don’t want to hurt you. But I’ve made up my mind. I need to be alone right now.”
“This isn’t making any sense,” Clay said. “But I’m going to give you some time and then I’ll get in touch. This just isn’t right.”
Jamie just wanted to get off the phone with this stranger. “Thanks for understanding,” she said. “I wish you the best of luck. Goodbye.” She ended the call. Clay called back a few minutes later, but she didn’t answer the phone. There was no way she was going to fake through a date and certain discomfort when that date wanted to go home with her and get in her bed. She was married to Tommy, and she was not an adulterer.
Jamie had no idea the level of intimacy she had with Clay, but whatever it was, it had to stop immediately. She got her phone and blocked his number. It was cruel, she supposed, but the kindest thing to do under the circumstances.
As she did every night when she went to bed in the last couple of days, Jamie prayed she would wake up in bed with Tommy. Prayed she could resume her life with Tommy and not make any mistakes that would change their future. She was learning as she traveled through these timelines. She hoped she was learning.
What had triggered her going back to 2013 into an unrecognizable world? She had thought it was the overhang that held the secrets. But she had been catapulted out of 2001 while she slept in the bed with Tommy in their cottage. She had tried to go back to 2001 in the overhang, but it had not worked. Jamie didn’t know what the secret was. She just knew she had to get back to Tommy.
Jamie drove to the clinic the next morning, but her heart wasn’t in it. She felt she was in the wrong place, the wrong time. As much as she cared about people and wanted to help them with their medical problems, she just wanted to go back to Baker. She wanted to find her way back to Tommy. She wasn’t going to be able to do that in Grahamville.
Tiffany greeted Jamie with a hug when she opened the door to the clinic.
“We’ve missed you!” she said. “It’s been so busy, but I really missed seeing you here.”
Jamie hugged Tiffany back. “Thanks, Tiffany,” she said. “It’s good to be missed.” And it was good to be missed, to have people who cared enough about you to miss you.
Stacie came in a few minutes later. “He put a ring on it,” she said, laughing, holding out her hand. “We’re getting married!” Tiffany rushed over to Stacie and oohed and ahhed over her ring. Jamie decided there was no reason not to be happy for Stacie. She wasn’t going to be with Nate no matter what.
“It’s gorgeous!” Jamie said admiring the emerald-cut diamond on Stacie’s finger. “Just gorgeous.” She gave Stacie a hug and Stacie hugged her back. “Thanks,” she said. “I know I’m going to irritate the hell out of y’all, but I’m just so happy!”
The waiting room was starting to fill up, and Tiffany called the first person back. “Mr. Owens,” she called. And old man got up from his chair and walked back through the hallway. Tiffany led him into exam room one. Stacie went in to take his vitals and find out why he was there. Then Jamie walked in, holding Mr. Owens’ chart in her hands.
“Mr. Owens, I understand you’ve been having some headaches,” she said.
“Yes. I’ve had headaches before, but not like this.”
Jamie talked to Mr. Owens for a while and decided to send him to the hospital for CT scans on his brain. “Just to be on the safe side,” she said. “In the mean time, we’re going to prescribe some mild pain killers. I’ll give you some samples today. You let us know if they don’t help.”
She went into the supply room to find the samples. Nate walked in while she was rooting around in the cabinets. Jamie turned to look at him and was surprised at the emotion she felt. She had loved Nate, deeply. She had been living in a world where Tommy didn’t exist when they got engaged, a world where Tommy was never coming back. She admired Nate. She wanted to give him a hug, but that was not appropriate given their new relationship in this new world.
“I understand congratulations are in order,” Jamie said. She walked over to Nate and gave him a chaste hug. “I hope you and Stacie will be very happy,” she said.
“Thanks,” Nate said. Clearly, he didn’t relish the attention.
“I’m looking for some samples for Mr. Owens,” she said, turning back to the cabinets.
At the end of the day, Stacie came up to Jamie. “Can you and Clay go out with us on Saturday?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, Stacie. Clay and I broke up last night.”
“You’re kidding!” Stacie said. “I can’t believe that. You seemed so perfect for each other.”
“I know,” Jamie said, though she didn’t know. “But I needed to do it for me and for him. I realized I wasn’t ready for a commitment, and I just had to do it.”
Stacie frowned for the first time that day. “I’m sorry, Jamie. I hope you’ll talk to me if you feel like it.” Jamie would love to talk to Stacie about it, if she had any idea what she would be talking about. She wished she could tell Stacie about the mixed-up life she had been living. How she had been walking on quicksand. But she couldn’t.
“Thanks,” she said. “You know I’ll talk to you when I’m ready.”
Jamie kept working at the clinic every day, and went home every afternoon to an empty house. No one came to visit and she was lonely. She cried herself to sleep every night thinking about Tommy and how she had somehow screwed everything up with her second chance with him. She had no memory of that. She only knew that she loved Tommy.
Then, one night as Jamie lay in her lonely bed, she decided she might need to quit the clinic. Even if she did have a contract. She needed to find a way out of that so she could get back to Baker. That was where the key to her life with Tommy was.
The next day, she talked to Nate. “I need to see my parents,” she said. “I need to check on my father. I know it’s not convenient for the clinic, but I still need to go.”
Nate looked at her with his kind gray eyes. She could see why she had fallen in love with him, but that was a different life.
“Of course, Jamie,” he said. “Take all the time you need.”
“What if I decide not to come back?” she said. “Is there a way that I could get out of the contract if I need to stay with my parents?”
“Why don’t you go back home before you decide that,” Nate said. “Don’t cut your ties yet until you’re sure.”
Jamie hugged him, even though that was kind of weird under the circumstances. She hugged him anyway. He was a good guy.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”
Chapter Ten
As she drove home, Jamie thought about her options. If she couldn’t get back to Tommy, she would keep trying. But how long could she keep doing that if it didn’t work? What had caused her to go back in time to the day before her graduation from high school? She believed it was the overhang, but why? She had clearly heard a little girl’s voice when she was in the overhang telling her not to fall asleep. She knew now that it was Darma speaking to her across time. But why shouldn’t she fall asleep there? Would it send her back to 2013? She had
gone back anyway, without being in the overhang. Why?
Jamie had no answers to the questions that went around and around in her mind.
Her mother was waiting on the front porch for Jamie when she drove up. Even though it was eight, it was still light outside in the late June day. She got her suitcase out of the backseat and hoped it would be the last time she did that.
“I’ve got some soup on the stove, honey. Dad and I already ate.”
“Thanks, Mom,” she said. She felt so weary.
“You look tired,” Mom said. “Are they working you hard at the clinic?”
“It’s always busy. I just wanted to see you and Dad for a while. Get away from it.”
They walked inside and her father got up from his recliner to give her a hug. “We’re glad to see you, hon,” he said.
“You go on up to your room,” her mom said. “I’ll bring you a tray.”
“You’re the best mother ever,” Jamie said giving her mother a hug.
Jamie went upstairs and put her suitcase on the paisley covered bed. She unpacked it and put on her gown. A few minutes later her mother came in the room and put a tray of chicken noodle soup and crackers in front of her. Jamie took a tentative bite of the soup. Her mother had made it, and it was better than hers. She felt comforted for the first time in a long time since her last time journey took her to back to a clinic that she didn’t know anymore. Where Nate was engaged to Stacie and she was dating someone named Clay.
She set her tray on the floor and lay back on the bed. It wasn’t long before sleep took her. When she woke up the next morning, she didn’t remember having any dreams. Her cell phone told her it was June 23rd, her wedding anniversary date to Tommy. Maybe that would be a good omen, she thought. Maybe I can get back to him today.
Her mother was already in the kitchen making oatmeal for her father and eggs for Jamie.
“I think I’ll take a walk after breakfast,” Jamie said. “I haven’t been out in nature for a while.”
“I know how much you like being outdoors,” her mother said. “I couldn’t get you to come inside when you were growing up. You just wanted to spend all of your time in the woods.”
Come Down In Time (A Time Travel Romance) Page 10