Christopher, Barbara - Keeper of Key.txt

by Keeper of Key. txt (lit)

  It wasn’t until later that I learned that he’d had to use my money

  for food because he drank and gambled all his money away.

  “That’s one of the reasons why the nursery is so important

  to me. I want to give those new mothers a safe place to keep

  their babies. Especially those women who have a hard time

  paying their bills and can’t afford top dollar for day care.”

  She sighed again and leaned against the newel post. “When

  my parents died, I inherited this house and all their debts.

  Michael stepped in to help me.”

  She felt Caleb tense and said, “Michael thinks he loves

  me, and his intentions are honorable. But when I met you I

  realized that what I felt for Michael was only gratitude, not

  love. In case you’re interested, my relationship with Michael

  was not an…intimate one. We weren’t, uh, like those romance

  novels you read.”

  Shifting sideways, Caleb reached up to tuck a loose strand

  of hair behind her ear and slowly let his knuckles glide down

  the contour of her jaw.

  His touch sent a shiver shooting through Becci. His

  expression grew serious, and he leaned closer until the heat of

  his breath dusted her cheek. “And what do you feel are my

  intentions?”

  Becci wasn’t sure how to respond, so she said, “You’ve

  been honest from the beginning. You need this mysterious

  medallion everyone keeps talking about to get back to Rebecca,

  and you’ll do anything to get it.”

  He backed away. His eyes dimmed. “Not anything. What

  has happened between us has nothing to do with your damn

  gold, this house, or my leaving.”

  He closed his eyes and swallowed hard before confessing,

  “If you let me, I’m going to make love to you. Not for the gold,

  or payment, or any other reason except that it’s what you and I

  both want. When I leave—and I know I have to go—I’ll take

  only the medallion to get me back where I belong. If there is

  any gold here, it will be yours to do with as you please.

  Hopefully there will be enough money for the taxes and your

  education. And maybe even enough to set up your nursery

  should you decide to keep this house.”

  “I’m not sure there is any gold. If there is, it’s been buried

  for years.”

  “It’s real. I’ve seen it.”

  “You’ve seen it?” she repeated, eyeing him dubiously.

  He nodded. “Rebecca didn’t believe in banks, and Saul

  once showed me where she’d hidden it in case something

  happened to them and I needed it to care for Luke.”

  “Then you know where it is?”

  “No,” he said, telling himself it wasn’t really a lie. He had

  an idea where the gold might be, but he didn’t know for sure.

  “After Saul died, Rebecca told me she’d moved the money and

  that she’d show me where it was hidden. She never got the

  chance before…I ended up here.”

  Becci’s shoulders sagged in disappointment. “Aunt Lilly

  thinks the secret to finding the gold is in Rebecca’s journals.

  I’m not sure. But it can wait until after the party. Once I know

  for sure I have to sell the house, I won’t mind tearing up the

  place to look for it.”

  He wanted to tell her nothing needed to be destroyed, but

  what if he was wrong? What if the gold wasn’t in the furniture’s

  hidden compartments? What if Rebecca had hidden it elsewhere

  because she didn’t trust him? Caleb brushed his hand over a

  tiny booklet he’d found in Obadiah’s top hat. Maybe Rebecca

  had hidden the gold she hoarded in the linings of dresses long

  since given away.

  Caleb leaned closer and closed his eyes just as he brushed

  his lips against hers. “It can wait, but this can’t.”

  Becci circled her hands around his neck and pulled him

  closer. He felt his own pulse thrum against her palms. He sank

  back, drawing her between his thighs. He’d never wanted a

  woman as much as he wanted Becci. When her tongue slipped

  between his lips, he groaned. Her kiss was unlike any he’d

  ever experienced. The women he’d had in the bordellos didn’t

  kiss, they just submitted with as little contact as the act allowed.

  “How long will Miss Lilly be gone?” he asked, his voice

  shaking with emotion.

  Before Becci could answer, a loud ring shattered the

  moment. They jerked apart and sprang to their feet like children

  caught misbehaving.

  Caleb searched for the source of the racket. It wasn’t the

  doorbell or car alarm. This was something new.

  He watched Becci pick up a plastic rectangle off the table

  and speak into it, saying Lilly’s name as if she spoke to the

  woman.

  A telephone. He’d seen them on television, and Miss Lilly

  had shown him the one Becci held and suggested he read about

  them in the encyclopedias. But he was usually outside, so he’d

  never heard this one ring or talked into it.

  “May I?” Caleb asked, taking the receiver before Becci

  could refuse and bringing it to his ear.

  “And make sure Caleb hangs the pants and shirt up so

  they won’t wrinkle,” he heard Lilly say.

  “Lilly? You sound like you’re standing right here with me.

  I’ll be real careful with Obadiah’s things. I promise.”

  “Caleb, I don’t have much time, so please put Becci back

  on the line.”

  “What line?” Caleb glanced at Becci’s feet and frowned.

  “She wasn’t on a line, so I can’t put her back on it.”

  “Give her the phone.”

  He held the receiver out to Becci. “Lilly wants you to get

  back on the line.” He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. Becci

  covered her lips with her fingertips to keep from laughing. She

  shook her head and took the phone. She couldn’t believe the

  emotional roller coaster they’d been on for the past thirty

  minutes. From serious to sensual, and now Caleb’s eyes were

  full of laughter, glittering like stars.

  He reached up and traced the smooth surface of the receiver

  to the shell of Becci’s ear and down the curve of her jaw. There

  was no mistaking the teasing grin as he continued his taunting

  caress. Slowly, he drew an invisible mark down her neck to the

  lacy trim, around the cameo and on down the row of tiny buttons

  to the swell of her breast.

  Becci slapped at his hand and turned away until she finished

  talking to Lilly. When she placed the phone in its cradle, she

  glanced back at Caleb. “Aunt Lilly wanted to let us know

  everything is in place. She’s spending the night at her sister’s.

  Aunt Maude volunteered to help Aunt Lilly prepare most of

  the food, and since her kitchen is bigger, they decided to prepare

  most of it over there. Aunt Lilly also wanted to make sure the

  clothes didn’t need any mending. She said to handle them

  carefully when we take them off.”

  Caleb couldn’t stop the grin at the image Lilly’s words

  created. The pink that tinged Becci’s cheeks told him he wasn’t

  the only one who wa
s reading more into Lilly’s instructions

  than she’d meant.

  “The material is old, and as much as I’d love to slip each

  of those tiny buttons free, I’m afraid I would destroy the dress.

  Maybe we’d better meet here in ten minutes.”

  “Five minutes,” Becci said, already removing the cameo

  and slipping the first of the tiny buttons free.

  Stunned by her straightforwardness, Caleb swallowed hard.

  “Ten,” he repeated. “It will take us that long to properly take

  care of these clothes. I’ll lay Obadiah’s things neatly on Miss

  Lilly’s bed, take Jacobs his supper, and be waiting for you

  down here.”

  He backed up a step, hooked his suspenders with one hand,

  and lifted the top hat a fraction with the other. He resettled it in

  a simple farewell gesture and left.

  ***

  Caleb shut the shed door, sailed his hat in the direction of

  his bed, and set Jacobs’s dinner on one of the boxes lining the

  walls. He needed to get rid of some of the emotional turmoil

  boiling inside him before he returned to Becci, and he knew

  exactly what would do it.

  He knelt down beside his cot and pulled out a canvascovered

  packet. He carefully laid out the finely honed and oiled

  tools on the cot. He’d returned last night with several small

  pieces of oak and pine that would be perfect for the little trinket

  box he planned to make for Becci.

  He’d laid aside the box he’d started for his Bible and started

  working on his gift for Becci. He’d worked almost all night

  and all his spare time during the day carving and buffing until

  the wood glowed with perfect, satin smoothness.

  Caleb checked the box for stray splinters, then turned it

  over and ran his finger over her name. The entwined letters

  flowed over the whole lid from one side to the other—Becci.

  Taking the smallest knife, he turned the box over and carved

  his initials on the bottom. The box would give her something

  to remember him by once he returned to his own time. He would

  give it to her tonight, after they made love.

  He worked the lid off and checked the padded lining made

  from a piece of silk Lilly had asked him to throw away. After

  carefully storing his tools, he took another piece of silk and

  wrapped the box. He set the gift beside his hat and reached for

  his journal.

  Before Caleb turned around, Jacobs slammed through the

  door. “Ya gotta help me,” Jacobs pleaded. “This is all yore

  fault. I thought I’s dreamin’. Or that the whiskey done rotted

  my thinkin’. So I decided to head on back to Raleigh cause the

  whiskey’s bad here. An’ I discovered this ain’t no dream.”

  Caleb stuffed his journal back into his saddlebags and faced

  the drunk, as Jacobs continued, “That man in that fancy ridin’

  thing, well, he ain’t the only one that has one. I took on down

  toward town, and I found a whole bunch of them. You said you

  knew the way back. Jist tell me how to git there. I can’t take no

  more of this.”

  “What’s wrong?” Caleb shouldered his way around Jacobs.

  “Are you out of whiskey?” He set the plate of food on the

  makeshift table and handed Jacobs a fork.

  “No. I got plenty. But it ain’t good. I’m seein’ things. And

  not jist those fancy ridin’ things, either. Daylight in dark rooms

  by touching a square on the wall. And other things I’s can’t

  explain.”

  “Hold on. I told you this wasn’t a dream. If you have

  whiskey, what’s the need to go back to Raleigh?”

  “I’m scared.”

  Something didn’t sound right. As long as Jacobs had

  whiskey, he didn’t care what went on around him.

  “I understand that, but we have to take things a day at a

  time while I look for the medallion. I told you it’s the key to

  doorway home. Don’t you remember?”

  Jacobs nodded. “I remember all right. But what’s to keep

  ya from changin’ yore mind? Especially since ya is soft over

  this filly.”

  “I...” He couldn’t lie. Going back was inevitable, but a

  part of him would remain with Becci forever. She filled a hollow

  spot in his heart that he hadn’t known existed. For the first

  time in his life, he felt whole.

  He roped his emotions and tied them securely in his heart.

  Becci was the dream the nuns had promised he would find.

  But they were wrong. He and Becci lived a world apart. This

  dream could never come true. It was a life fated to end before

  it flourished.

  “I have a promise to fulfill, and if I can’t save Rebecca,

  I’ll have a murderer to find.”

  “You git me the gold and I’ll go back and save the widder

  for you.”

  “I just bet you would.” Caleb tipped his head in the direction

  of the food he’d brought Jacobs. “You eat. We’ll go back when

  I say we go. I do know the way.”

  Jacobs grabbed the fork and shoveled in several bites of

  potatoes.

  “Here’s the plan,” Caleb said. “Saturday night, after

  everything is settled, I’ll get the medallion. You’ll stay here

  until I come get you. You have one order to obey. Be ready.”

  The muscles around his heart tightened. He would never

  hold Becci again. He would lose her just as he’d lost Luke.

  When he left, his heart would stay behind, and as much as

  he loved Luke, the boy would never be able to fill that empty

  space.

  “That little filly, Becci, will never love you,” Jacobs said.

  “No decent woman would take to a man with no daddy.”

  Caleb fought the anger that burned deep within his very

  soul. Becci wasn’t like the others. His past wouldn’t matter to

  her.

  Before he could respond, Jacobs said, “I...I think I’ll take

  my meal outside. The view is much purtier.” The man grabbed

  the plate and his bottle of whiskey and shouldered his way out

  the door.

  Lightning flashed on the horizon, outlining the drunk’s

  stooped shoulders as he headed down the hill. A storm would

  hit soon.

  Caleb picked up the silk-wrapped package and gave it one

  final inspection. He needed to write a note to put inside it.

  Something special.

  ***

  “Where are you? Why haven’t you come to me?” Becci

  whispered.

  She wrapped her arms around her waist and made another

  methodical trip from the family room to the kitchen. Stopping

  beside the kitchen table, she gazed out the bay window toward

  the shed as she’d done each time before. Ten minutes had turned

  into twenty. Caleb still hadn’t appeared.

  Lightning flashed, brightening the yard. Thunder rattled

  the windows. Dark shadows danced with each gusting breeze,

  sending tree limbs swaying and distorting her view. The spring

  pattern of sunny days and stormy evenings lent itself to the

  eerie sense of trepidation looming in the dark of night. Becci

  shivered and rubbed her arms.

  In the distance a man paced in
and out of sight inside the

  shed.

  Caleb. She would recognize him anywhere.

  Becci slowly tapped her fist on the table. Please come,

  she pleaded silently. When he didn’t appear, she expelled a

  weary sigh and walked slowly back to the living room.

  Another shiver swept through her as tears glazed her eyes.

  Dropping into the overstuffed recliner, she accepted that Caleb

  wouldn’t be coming. She’d been too forward with him, too

  ready to let him take her to bed. Too ready to let him be her

  knight in shining armor.

  She should have taken the hint when he backed off. He

  didn’t want her.

  Raking her fingers through her hair, she divided it into

  three parts, braided it for the night, and tied it loosely with a

  scrunchy she’d left on the small end table. Then she picked up

  one of the journals that had been left beside the chair and

  fluttered the corner of the book before opening it to the marked

  section.

  Caleb is bringing the dresser. I must persuade him to make

  me his wife. Not for me, but for Luke. He loves Luke as if he

  were his own. Caleb does not love me, but he will never find

  his true love in this time so our families must be joined or our

  race will be doomed. At least I have finally gained his trust. I

  have returned the key to Caleb. Now it’s time to return the

  title that goes with the key, the title of keeper.

  My heart aches as it never has before because I know

  Saul and I are partially to blame for Caleb’s pain. Our promise

  will keep him from traveling to his true love, whoever she

  might be. Until we met Caleb, we never realized the

  consequences he would suffer because of Obadiah’s actions.

  Becci closed the book and flicked off the lamp. Travel to

  find his true love? Could what she heard when she tried on

  Rebecca’s dress really be Rebecca’s words instead of some

  hallucination? She knew that whether or not it had really been

  Rebecca speaking, what she’d heard was the truth. She, Becci,

  would lose Caleb because of his promise to her namesake.

  Tears trickled down her cheeks, and she swiped at them

  impatiently.

  “Enough of this wallowing in self-pity,” she grumbled,

  shoving out of the chair. She might as well get some sleep. Try

  to get some sleep, she amended.