by Bess McBride
My face burned. How long was this man going to do the old-fashioned thing?
“No?”
“Then until you do, I am consigned to the couch, I fear. The cats will keep me company.”
He pulled me to him, and because I was higher on the hill, we met at eye level. I resisted, needing to hear the truth. How did one ask? His eyes softened as he gazed at me, and he pressed his lips against mine. The passion of his kiss and the movement of his body left me in little doubt of his reactions to me.
As if he knew what I was thinking, he whispered against my ear.
“Not until we are properly married, my dear. I can wait for you.” At the moment he spoke the words, I realized that he and Molly had waited as well. Molly had indeed shared all of her memories with me.
I kissed him back with abandon.
“Okay, if you insist on being old-fashioned,” I whispered against his lips. “Then we’d better get married pretty soon, because I don’t know if I can wait!”
Darius threw back his head and laughed, but I caught the bronzing of his cheeks—no less red than mine must have been.
“I love that you say the most extraordinary things, Molly. I do not think I will ever tire of being surprised by you.”
We moved on and arrived at the house a few minutes later. Marmaduke, pacing at the drive, saw us and ran across the lawn to greet Darius who held me by one hand as he bent down to pet him.
Sara came running out the kitchen door.
“There you are,” she cried as she came toward us. “Do you have any idea what I thought when I couldn’t find you this morning?” She stopped in front of me with her hands on her hips. I was unrepentant.
“I’m sorry, Sara. I thought you’d still be sleeping.”
“And where have you been, I’d like to know?” she muttered at Darius who beamed at her. “1880, my foot.” She linked her arm in mine and pulled me toward the house, in turn pulling Darius because I wasn’t about to let go of him.
“You need to have something to drink and eat. You look awful,” she said as she pulled open the door. Marmaduke ran into the kitchen in front of her. She stood aside and watched us enter much like a schoolteacher inspecting her charges after recess.
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” she said to Darius as she closed the door. “I’ve just finished making some of your toaster waffles, but I haven’t got the faintest idea how to make that hot chocolate of yours, Darren...” she made a face, “Darius, that is. Do you mind?” She pointed to a chair at the table for me and sent Darius a pointed look toward the kitchen with her eyes.
“I am pleased to do so. It is nice to be missed,” he said with a flash of bright teeth. “Sit, Molly. You do look tired. And you too, Sara. I will prepare the hot chocolate and serve the meal.”
I leaned my elbows on the table and rested my chin on my hands as I watched Darius’s every movement. He turned to look at me often, his smile widening more each time. Sara watched us both for a few minutes—her head turning side to side as if she watched a tennis match. I knew she had to be bursting with questions, but she restrained herself much better than I might have.
“Look, you two. There’s a lot I want to know. I have a bunch of questions for you—like where you found him,”—she gave me a pointed look—”but I want Molly to eat first...and you too, Darius, if you haven’t eaten in almost 24 hours like Molly here.”
“I think that is wise, Sara. I am worried about Molly’s health as well. She did not have a chance to eat while she was with me.” He looked at me. “Did you?”
I nodded. “Mrs. White fed me pancakes.”
“Ah!” he nodded. “Yes, I ate some before I left that morning,” he shook his head, “that is—back then.”
“Was she well when you last saw her?” I couldn’t keep a note of sadness from my voice.
“Yes, Molly. She was well.” He smiled faintly. “Confused, but well.”
He brought the hot chocolate to the table, and Sara jumped up to get the waffles and syrup. They put the food in front of me and stared at me until, self-consciously, I took a bite of the waffle.
“Okay, I’m eating now, you guys. Join in anytime,” I encouraged with an affectionate roll of my eyes.
Darius and Sara smiled at each other in the spirit of team work and ate their own food. I probably picked at my food more than ate it, but I was with two people I loved and all seemed right with the world at last.
Darius and I would marry, although that presented some logistical problems such as a birth certificate for him and having to bring someone to the house for the wedding because he couldn’t leave. Having children—and I sincerely hoped we would have children—might be a lonely process in that Darius would not be able to be at the hospital with me. I didn’t think I would want to have the children at home—not even for Darius. I could see small problems that might crop up, but nothing insurmountable. All in all, I was a happy woman. I sipped my hot chocolate and smiled serenely.
Though I had many, many questions, I held them until Darius and Sara had eaten. They both deserved a small measure of peace. We finished the meal and picked up our hot chocolate mugs to take them outside to the porch. Sara settled into a single easy chair and I sat on the loveseat next to Darius. Marmaduke, who had followed us out, took up a position on the porch railing and draped himself over it. Sassy frowned from inside the window.
“I can see Molly has a bunch of questions for you, Darius,” Sara grinned. “But I think I’ll get mine in first. Where did she find you this morning?”
“In the cemetery,” he answered, “where she found me the first time. That is where I seem to appear.”
“Are you a ghost? Or did you travel through time?” Her face reddened as if she doubted her sanity in asking the questions. I knew just how she felt.
“It would appear I have traveled through time. I was not dead last I checked.” He pretended to make a cursory survey of his chest, arms and legs.
“How do you travel through time?” she asked in her interrogation.
Darius looked at me and gave a slight shrug.
“I do not know. That last time I traveled—that is, the last time we traveled—it happened when we stepped into the road. Molly clung to me, and I believe that is why she traveled with me. It would seem that I cannot leave this property, or I will travel back in time again.” His face took on that look I hoped never to see again—an expression of despair. I grabbed his hand and clung to it. He turned to me and searched my face.
“It’s going to be all right,” I whispered.
He smiled, seeming to clear his troubled brow with effort. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my palm, keeping it tucked safe within his own when he lowered it.
“Yes, it is,” he said quietly. “I lost you and I have learned my lesson.”
I looked back at Sara who stared at us. I could see her brain was working out the logistics as I had done.
“That will present some problems, I can see, but you two will work it out,” she announced. Darius sent her a grateful smile, and I nodded optimistically.
“Yes, we will.”
“Your turn, Molly. My flight doesn’t leave for four hours,” Sara said as she settled back in her chair and sipped the chocolate she brought outside with her.
I looked at them both, wondering where to start. I guessed I ought to start at the beginning, as they say. I turned to Darius.
“Where did you go yesterday morning...when you left?”
“Yesterday morning?” he hesitated. “Do you mean the morning of the fire?”
“Yes, yesterday morning,” I said with a knit between my eyebrows. He seemed a bit confused. I suspected he might have been disoriented from all the traveling back and forth in time. I know I was.
He stared out to the yard and his eyes took on a distant look for a moment.
“I met with the lawyer and prepared a will, leaving the estate to my brother. I made sure to leave Mrs. White and her family provided for. And I s
ecured some funds for myself so that I do not come to you destitute,” he said with a smile. His face sobered.
“When I returned,” he said in a husky voice, “and Mrs. White told me she thought you might be in the burning house...” He couldn’t seem to finish.
I squeezed his hand.
“I felt the same way.”
He looked at me with soft eyes and nodded. I bit my lip and looked to Sara and back at Darius, hoping they would bear with my otherworldly experiences and not think about institutionalizing me. I took a deep breath.
“I met Molly in the cemetery yesterday, Darius—in your time.”
Darius tilted his head and regarded me with a puzzled expression. I waited for his questions. I still had many of my own. He studied my face for a minute before he smiled gently and nodded.
“I believe you.”
“Tell me about her stone,” I asked softly. Sara looked at me curiously but held her tongue.
Darius looked down at our hands and laced his fingers through mine before he answered.
“I had the stone replaced before I returned.”
“I don’t understand how you found time to order a new stone. Do you mean between yesterday and this morning?” I looked at the sun, still early in the day.
“Time has passed since you left, Molly. You do not think I was rescued from the basement looking as clean as this, do you?” He surveyed his suit—similar to the one I’d first seen him in. “I had many things I needed to do before I could come to you.”
“What things?” I whispered.
He looked over his shoulder at Sassy who sat in the large picture window behind us. He chuckled.
“Well, I had to rebuild the house, for one.”
I gasped and threw a look at Sara who stared at Darius with wide eyes.
“I could not have you return to a burnt shell,” he murmured with a self-satisfied smile.
“How-how long did it take you to rebuild the house?” I stammered.
“One year,” he said quietly. “I lost you one year ago.”
I shook my dazed head.
“How is that possible? How can you have lived a year when I’ve only lived a day?”
“A better question might be how can he travel in time at all?” Sara muttered as she pulled her feet onto her chair and rested her chin on her knees.
He shrugged his shoulders.
“I still do not know. Given that I was terrified to leave the property—for fear that I might accidentally travel before the house was finished, it took considerably longer than I thought. I avoided entering the road and had everything delivered, and I did not return to the cemetery until just this morning...in my time.”
I turned a confused face to Darius.
“So, you went to the cemetery this morning? Did you see Molly?”
Darius shook his head with a faint smile. “No, I have not seen her since she died—at least, not until I saw you a year ago.”
“And what happened to James?” Sara asked in an even voice.
“He is in prison,” Darius said quietly.
“Good,” she said with a smile.
“I agree,” Darius returned her grin.
Although I was relieved I would never have to see James again, I was more curious about Darius and his apparent ability to travel through time—at least this time.
“What happened this morning? How did you travel?” I asked.
He gave me a sheepish look and glanced at Sara before dropping his gaze to our entwined hands.
“This is difficult to say. I finished the house yesterday, and I returned to the cemetery for the first time in a year this morning—in my time. I knelt at Molly’s gravestone, and I prayed. I prayed to return to you. And the colors began.”
At that moment, Darius’s heirs pulled up into the driveway in their large town car. Cynthia waved from the passenger side but made no move to get out of the car. Laura climbed out and came up to the porch carrying a packet. Marmaduke jumped down to inspect the car as he always did.
“Hello there. We won’t stay. We’re just on the way to the cemetery for our last visit before we leave in the morning. I found these extra photographs, and I wanted to drop them off for you.”
“Laura! It’s so nice to see you,” I said as I stood up to take the pictures. “Are you sure you can’t stay?”
“No, we have so much to do. We’re nowhere near being ready to go,” she muttered with a brief smile. She turned to greet Sara and looked at Darius, who had risen at her arrival.
“Darren, it’s nice to see you again. Take care of this house now.” She tilted her head and gave him a frank appraising stare. “And take care of our Molly here. I can see that you’ll still be here when we return in a year for a visit.”
I colored and began to stammer with a sideways glance at Darius, who smiled serenely.
“I will take care of her, Laura. You have my word.”
“Okay then. We’ve got to run. Maybe we can stop by tomorrow morning before we leave.”
“That would be great,” I murmured. I gave her a final hug and watched as she got into the car. Cynthia waved with glee, and we waved back to her.
Marmaduke had given up inspecting the car and had taken up his position alternately standing or pacing across the front of the driveway. Laura turned on her engine, and I called to Marmaduke.
“Kitty. Come here. Get out of the road.”
Laura began to back up, and Darius ran off the porch and toward the cat. I ran after him, shouting at Laura to stop. She couldn’t hear me with her windows up, and she couldn’t see me waving with her head turned over her shoulder. For some reason, she didn’t see Marmaduke in the road.
Like a streak, Darius flew down the driveway shouting for Marmaduke. Marmaduke, suddenly frightened, ran into the road, and Darius ran after him.
I screamed then.
“Darius, don’t! Don’t go into the road,” I screamed. “Darius, come back.”
Darius snatched up the cat, who looked confused once he’d crossed his invisible barrier. Laura brought her car to a jerking halt, and I ran out into the street to grab Darius.
If he was traveling, I was going with him. I clung to him and looked back at Sara who stood next to the car. I waved to her, and she stared at me in horror.
I closed my eyes and waited for the kaleidoscope, but nothing happened. I felt nothing except Marmaduke’s sharp claws as he squirmed in Darius’s arms.
I opened my eyes and looked at Darius.
He looked and felt solid, as if he weren’t going anywhere. I looked down at our feet. We were definitely in the road. I could see both ways—toward the cemetery and toward town.
Darius looked down at me, and his wide smile seemed brighter than any sun I’d ever seen.
I heard Laura ask us if we were all right, but at that moment, I only had eyes and ears for Darius.
“It is over. I have found you. I do not need to search any longer,” he whispered. “I am here to stay with you, Molly, my love.”
I reached up and hugged him as tightly as I could, making Marmaduke bellow with rage. Darius put him down, and the cat ran back into the yard to lick his mussed up fur.
Darius put his arms around me, uncaring of who was watching. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sara and Laura talking.
“I came forward in time to find you, Molly, and I do not need to travel again. Everything that I love is right here in my arms.”
“She’s with us, Darius. She shared her memories with me.”
“Yes, she would do that,” he whispered against my hair. “And you would do that for her. Because you are the same woman. I do not know how this happened, but you came back to me—more clever, more lovely, more intoxicating than ever.”
“I love you, Darius.” I remembered Molly’s sparkling eyes—my eyes—and I knew that they sparkled now. “I have always loved you.”
A gentle gust of wind came from the direction of the cemetery and lifted my hair to blow it around my face.
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Darius laughed and smoothed it back with tender hands.
“The wind seems to love you as much as I,” he chuckled. He put his arm around me, and we turned toward the house that he had built for me.
A word about the author...
Bess McBride made her first serious writing attempt when she was 14. She shut herself up in her bedroom one summer while obsessively working on a time travel/pirate novel set in the beloved Caribbean of her youth, but she wasn’t able to hammer it out on a manual typewriter (oh, yeah, she’s that old) before it was time to go back to school. The draft of that novel has long since disappeared, but the story is still simmering within, and she will finish the adventure one day soon.
Bess was born in Aruba to American parents and lived in Venezuela until her family returned to the United States when she was 12. She couldn’t fight the global travel bug within and joined the U.S. Air Force at 18 to “see the world.”
After 21 wonderful and fulfilling years traveling the world and gaining one beautiful daughter, she pursued her dream of finally getting a college education. With a license in mental health therapy, she worked with veterans and continues to work on behalf of veterans.
She writes romantic suspense, contemporary, light paranormal/fantasy and time travel romances and currently has seven novels published.
She can be contacted through her web site at http://www.bessmcbride.com
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