Christopher, Barbara - Keeper of Key.txt

by Keeper of Key. txt (lit)

  roof last month.”

  “Why are you doing the repairs? Aren’t you selling the

  land to a commercial developer?”

  “Well, yeah. It started out that way, but Aunt Lilly doesn’t

  want to sell. And I met this guy and…”

  “Hold it,” Meg ordered, spinning around to face Becci

  while keeping one hand on the squirming infant. “Guy? What

  happened to Michael? I thought you two were engaged?”

  “I was...am. But I’m having second thoughts. I don’t know

  if I love Michael. He’s nice enough, and he has helped Aunt

  Lilly and me plan a good budget to help eliminate the financial

  problems that mom and dad left behind, but...” She raised her

  shoulders in a shrug.

  Through the glass enclosure Becci watched a maintenance

  man push his cart down the hall. Love—she’d never known

  two people who really loved each other. Although her parents

  hadn’t divorced, they certainly didn’t share an undying love.

  Becci sighed. Her grandmother had been a widow by the time

  she’d been born. If anyone had been happily married, it was

  Granny.

  “Does your heart flutter?” Meg asked.

  “What?” The question startled Becci, snapping her out of

  her reflections.

  Meg turned back to the baby. After changing his diaper

  she carefully lifted the infant off the changing table and cuddled

  him against her shoulder. “When Michael kisses you, does your

  heart do funny flips? Or does just looking at him take your

  breath away?”

  Caleb does that to me, she wanted to say. Instead she said,

  “Well, no. It’s not like that between us. It’s comfortable and

  relaxed and...and kind of quiet. I guess that’s why I’m

  questioning our relationship.”

  “Have you slept with him?” Meg asked as she laid the

  baby in his crib.

  Becci laughed. It was just like Meg to ask questions that

  everyone else would think too personal.

  “No. We decided to wait until our wedding night.”

  “You decided or did he? I mean it’s not like you’re a virgin,

  right?”

  Becci couldn’t look directly at her friend, and she inwardly

  cursed the hot blush she could feel coloring her face.

  “Heaven help me, you are! Does Michael know?”

  Becci shook her head and raised the baby to her shoulder.

  “No. We’ve never discussed it.”

  “Michael is supposedly madly in love with you. You’re

  engaged. Haven’t you ever had to fight off his advances?”

  “Meg, that’s none of your business.”

  “Okay. Let’s put it a different way. Number one, he claims

  to love you. Number two, he never takes you out to dinner or

  to a movie. And number three, unless things have changed over

  the last month, you’re paying him to help you with your

  financial problems, but you haven’t seen a cent of the pennies

  he’s pinching for you. I’ve told you all along I had my doubts

  about his credibility.”

  “Don’t you start, too,” Becci snapped. “We went out last

  week. Granted, I paid for the tickets. The function was a

  fundraiser for the people trying to get aid from Ascomp, but it

  was definitely a date.”

  “You paid?”

  “Michael forgot his checkbook. He promised to pay me

  back.”

  “You had a lousy time, didn’t you? And I’ll bet you ten

  bucks you’ll never see one dime of your money.”

  Shoving herself out of the rocker, Becci thought about her

  date with Michael. She couldn’t stop the smile from sneaking

  to her lips. That had been the night Caleb had discovered car

  alarms.

  “From your smile, I’d say I’m wrong.”

  “No. You’re right, but Caleb has a way of turning every

  situation upside-down and making it fun.”

  “Caleb? Wait…one…minute,” Meg said, separating each

  word with exaggerated flare. “I thought you went out with

  Michael.”

  “I did. Caleb is the guy that has me questioning my feelings

  for Michael, but Caleb’s only here for a short time.”

  “Uh huh. How does he make you feel?”

  “Oh, dear. I’ve got to go. Look at the time,” Becci said,

  glancing at the clock.

  “Not so fast. Let me get this straight. Your date with

  Michael turned out badly.”

  Becci nodded.

  “I assume that something happened after the date, and that

  something has to do with this Caleb guy.”

  Becci nodded again.

  “Tell me about him.”

  “No time,” Becci muttered. “I promise to explain tomorrow.

  I should have been out of here five minutes ago. Caleb’s having

  dinner with Aunt Lilly and me.”

  “I’m not working tomorrow,” Meg declared. “I’ll let it slide

  for now, but you mark my word Mary Rebecca, I won’t let you

  off the hook. Next time I see you, I want a full report.”

  “You’ve got it,” Becci said as she placed the baby in its

  portable bed, noting the time and the amount of the feeding for

  the nurse to add to the chart.

  Grabbing her purse, she raced to the elevator. Was she in a

  hurry to escape Meg’s continuous questions, or to rush home

  to Caleb? She didn’t know. Besides, if Caleb found the key to

  the time lock, he would be gone. Or would he? From what she

  could tell, he didn’t love her namesake, so would he really

  choose to go back?

  He might not have a choice. Aunt Lilly’s words haunted

  her. She knew he hadn’t had a choice in coming here. Fate had

  played a dirty trick on him. Or was the trick on her? Had fate

  sent him here to make her understand what losing the manor

  really meant or to steal her heart?

  Becci tugged on the car door. It made a horrible creaking

  sound as it opened and again as it closed. She turned the key,

  and the old car’s engine did its usual grind before it finally

  started.

  Through the copse of oaks, she could see her house. In

  less than five minutes she would be home. She exited the

  parking lot, and her heart began to flutter. Was this the sensation

  Meg had spoken of? Did she actually have deeper feelings for

  Caleb than she wanted to admit?

  She rested her head against the steering wheel and waited

  for the light to change. Yes, she did care for Caleb, and she

  couldn’t wait to see him. Her heart pounded like a drum, and

  her pulse fluttered with expectation.

  Would Caleb be waiting to greet her? Or would he still be

  clearing away the brush from around the lake? With the

  attraction between them simmering on the edge of combustion,

  she knew she should keep her distance. At least until she broke

  up with Michael.

  Becci turned into the drive. Maybe she’d talk to Aunt Lilly.

  She might be able to give her some advice to straighten out her

  confusion.

  After parking the car, Becci caught her purse by the strap,

  slid out of the car, and hurried in the front door. She entered

  the dining room and came to an abrupt halt.


  She had a perfect view of the kitchen table. Caleb was

  placing the flatware at a precise angle beside each plate. She

  waited for him to glance up. He worked his way around the

  table, keeping his gaze riveted to the task he performed.

  His normally shadowed chin held no stubble. Moisture

  shimmered in the dark hair hanging over his shirt collar. He

  looked as if he’d just stepped out of the shower. She’d seen

  him clean-shaven with a thin sheen of water glistening in his

  hair before, yet, something didn’t seem right. He

  looked...different.

  Unable to discern what it could be, she shrugged off the

  strange feeling and took another step into the kitchen.

  Caleb didn’t move from behind the table. Slowly he laid

  the last piece down and glanced up.

  “Hello.” He wedged his fingers into his pockets. “I hope

  you had as good a day as I did.”

  “It was nice,” Becci stated casually as she made her way

  to the alcove by the back door. “What did you do today?”

  “I ate lunch with Miss...with Lilly,” he corrected. Lilly

  told him that most people today didn’t put Miss in front of

  people’s given names. “After that, she suggested I read or watch

  the television while she went shopping. I’m not much of a sitter

  unless I’m reading, so Lilly gave me a couple of books, and I

  sat outside under the oak until she came back.”

  “What era did you study today?” Becci asked, hanging her

  jacket on one of the hooks. She then took off the pillbox cap

  and stuffed it in the pocket of her lab coat. One by one she

  removed the pins holding her hair in a twist and shook it out.

  When she turned back Caleb’s face had turned a deep crimson

  under his dark tan.

  “I—it—Lilly called them romance novels. They

  were...entertaining.”

  Becci felt the heat creeping up her neck to her cheeks. She

  knew the types of romance novels her aunt preferred. “Yeah, I

  bet. But that stuff is fiction. Take us for instant. If we were the

  characters in one of those books, we would already be lovers

  and falling irrevocably in love. We’re not. We’re friends,

  nothing more,” she stated flatly, her cheeks growing hotter.

  “You enjoyed the books?”

  He remained silent as he eased out from behind the table

  and cupped his palm to her cheek. He brushed his thumb over

  her lips. “Yes. I did.”

  With his index finger, Caleb tucked a strand of hair behind

  Becci’s ear, letting the back of his hand slide slowly down her

  neck. He knew he shouldn’t be touching her like this, but

  according to the books he’d read, touching in this era wasn’t

  as taboo as it was in his.

  “I like your hair down,” he told her, his voice oddly husky.

  “I dream about how it would look draped over a snow-white

  pillow. That’s what the guy in the book said, but it’s true. I

  dream about you like that. Do people today really do the, uh,

  things that, uh...”

  “It’s fiction, Caleb,” Becci interrupted, her breath catching

  at the feel of his fingers massaging her nape. “Fables, stories,

  tales, untruths. Things like that don’t happen in real life.”

  “People don’t move through time, either,” he murmured

  softly. He lowered his head. His lips hovered over hers, his

  words nothing more than a warm, faint tingle of air.

  “No. They don’t,” Becci whispered. “And people thrown

  together like we’ve been don’t become lovers, either.”

  A shiver rippled through her. They weren’t lovers and they

  wouldn’t be, could never be. Meg’s questions about her feelings

  had her wondering if she did feel more for Caleb than friendship.

  He did make her heart race.

  She silently chanted, “We’re not in love,” like a guru

  repeating a meditation. She couldn’t deny the attraction, but it

  wasn’t love.

  Caleb inched closer, his breath touching her cheek. “Fiction

  or not, the book I read had a very emotional impact. With what

  I’ve learned, everything seemed...plausible.”

  One second mixed with the next until time became

  irrelevant. Becci feathered her hands over Caleb’s chest, and

  caught him by the shoulders to keep from melting into him.

  A cabinet door snapped closed in the dining room. The

  noise ricocheted through the kitchen, jolting them apart.

  Caleb stared at Becci, feeling confused. She’d said they

  were friends, and they were. But what he felt went deeper than

  just friendship. He wanted to kiss her and tell her he’d missed

  her today, but he’d lost whatever composure he had when she

  slid her hands over his shoulders and gazed up at him. He

  expelled a long, weary breath and backed away from her.

  Becci sucked in a shaky breath and took another step

  backward, too. “You...you said Aunt Lilly went shopping. What

  for?”

  Caleb held his arms out to the side and shrugged. “These.”

  “Clothes!” Becci exclaimed. She hadn’t noticed that

  Caleb’s long-sleeved, plaid shirt had been replaced by a blueknit

  golf shirt that brought out the color of his eyes. His jeans

  had been swapped for denim shorts. No wonder he’d looked

  different to her! Her gaze fastened on his bare legs and slowly

  moved upward. Her mouth went dry. By the time her eyes

  reached his lips, butterflies were doing double-time in her

  stomach.

  “Lilly bought me two outfits. When I refused them, she

  said the work I did more than paid for the clothes and that I

  reminded her of Nick on her favorite soap. I don’t know who

  Nick is, or why he’d be on soap, but she assured me it was

  good.” He shrugged. “She said these clothes are what he would

  wear.”

  Slowly Becci realized what he’d said. Lilly bought…

  “How did she p-pay f-for them?”

  Caleb glanced at Lilly over Becci’s shoulder. “She said

  she didn’t need anything but a small piece of plastic.”

  “Damn it, I don’t have money to clothe you!”

  Caleb flinched. He hadn’t expected Becci’s angry

  explosion.

  “Whether you pay cash or charge them, they eventually

  have to be paid for. I already have more bills than I can pay

  now.”

  Becci whirled around at the sound of her aunt shutting the

  oven.

  “How could you? You know how tight money is. First

  Michael waltzes me into that fund raiser and orders me to write

  a check for fifty dollars a plate, and now I have to pay for

  clothes I can’t afford.” Tears blurred her vision. She battled to

  keep them from falling but failed. As they rolled down her

  cheeks, she batted at them impatiently and said, “Don’t you

  understand we can’t pay the bills? There is no more money.”

  Lilly set the biscuits on a trivet. Her shoulders sagged.

  “I’m sorry, Becci. I didn’t think you’d mind.” She drew in a

  deep breath. “Everything will be just fine. You’ll see. Now

  you just go wash-up. We’ll discuss this later.”

/>   Caleb kept his eyes trained on Becci until she ran from the

  room. Her tears squeezed at his heart. He hadn’t realized that

  accepting the clothes would create such a problem. Why had

  he let Lilly talk him into them? He’d never accepted charity

  before. This would be the first and the last time. And he’d caused

  a problem between Lilly and Becci.

  He hadn’t hurt the clothes. Maybe the storeowner would

  take them back. If not, he would find a way to pay for them.

  Lilly set a steaming bowl of potatoes on the table and cast

  a quick glance toward the doorway. “I’m sorry. I guess I should

  have asked, but I really didn’t think she would mind.”

  “I don’t want to cause trouble between you and Becci.”

  “Pooh. You didn’t do anything. I’m the one who upset her

  by going shopping without consulting her. Her and her foolish

  rules. We can’t buy this or that. Watch what you spend. You

  can’t do this because there’s no money. When will all this end?”

  “Maybe if I talk to the storeowner he’ll take them back?”

  “Oh, that won’t be a problem, but I don’t want to take

  them back.”

  “I insist. I don’t need them, and if returning them helps

  make things right, it’s what should be done.”

  “You love her,” Lilly said quietly.

  “I don’t know if it’s love, but I do know that what I feel is

  wrong. As Becci said earlier, this isn’t one of those romance

  novels or television stories you’ve introduced me to. I’m an

  honorable man, Lilly. I would never do anything to hurt either

  of you, no matter what’s written in those journals.”

  “Heaven forbid,” Lilly gasped as she pressed her hand to

  her chest in a theatrical gesture. “You mean you’re not the

  murderer they claim you are?” Her voice became serious again.

  “Where Becci is concerned, all I ask is that you not break her

  heart when you decide to return to your own era.”

  Caleb shrugged. “The heart is a funny thing. It gets hurt

  real easy. I don’t plan on letting anything hurt Becci, but it

  would be best if I left soon. I’m beginning to care more than I

  should. She’s already taken, and I still have a promise to keep.

  And that means I must go back. Just know that where Becci is

  concerned I won’t act on my—”

  “Desires,” Lilly supplied the word for him.