A Husband in Time

by Maggie Shayne

  “Yes, dammit, it was! When are you going to wake up and see her for what she is…was, I mean. Zach, she walked out on her own flesh and blood. Not once, but twice. The second time when she had every reason to believe he was on his death bed. How in the name of God can a man as intelligent as you are think he’s in love with a woman like that?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t, Jane I never really did.”

  “Well, I’m sick and tired of seeing it, and that’s all. I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to wake up, Zach, because I don’t want you to leave me…us. But dammit, I can’t stand watching this anymore. I’m twice the woman that Claudia ever was and it’s high time you realized it.”

  “Ten times, easily.”

  “I don’t want to…what?” Jane stopped yelling, drew a breath, and stared up at him.

  “I said you’re ten times the woman Claudia is. More than that. Perhaps a hundred times, Jane. And I haven’t been pining away for her at all. In fact I haven’t given her a second thought since we came back here.”

  Jane blinked. “You haven’t?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Well, then…why have you been…so…”

  “Depressed? Ah, Jane, it has nothing to do with Claudia. Nothing at all, I promise you that.” He let his hands fall upon her shoulders, met her eyes fully, so that she could see the sincerity in his own. He didn’t want her doubting him. Not ever again. “In fact, there’s something you should know. That night, that night she spent in my room. Nothing happened between us, Jane. She wanted it to, but I…I found I simply wasn’t interested anymore.”

  “You weren’t?”

  He smiled and looked at her. “You sound so amazed, Jane. Did you really believe me that gullible? I knew perfectly well she only came to me because my wealth and standing had suddenly made me desirable in her eyes. And because her wealthy husband died, and left most of his fortune to his nephews. You’re right, she’s utterly selfish. Her heart is made of solid stone…if she even has one.”

  “But I don’t understand. All this brooding you’ve been doing—”

  “The source was purely financial. I hate being a burden on you and Cody.”

  “Burden,” she snapped, rolling her eyes. “You know better.”

  He nodded. “I guess I do. It’s more than that. Jane, I’ve been feeling so low because I’ve been having trouble dealing with the fact that I have nothing to offer you.”

  “Nothing to…”

  “But I’ve decided to swallow my pride, Jane, because I can’t wait any longer to tell you how I feel.”

  She blinked up at him. “H-how?”

  Zach smiled very slightly. “Utterly, madly, completely in love with you,” he said softly. “And irrevocably devoted to your son. And determined to make the both of you mine.” Her lips parted, but no words escaped. “I know I’m in dire straights right now, Jane, but I won’t be. I’m a reasonably intelligent man with a strong back. I’ll find a way. I’ll dig ditches if I have to, darling, but…”

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. And for a moment, his heart stopped, because he thought she was going to turn him down. “Zach, I’m not sure you’re going to forgive me for this…but…”

  “But what? You don’t feel the same? Jane, you do. I know you do, I see it in your eyes and I feel it when…” He let his words trail off, because there were no words powerful enough to show her that they were meant to be together. He pulled her closer to him, tight and hard against his body, and he bowed his head, capturing her pliant lips beneath his, kissing her so deeply and so passionately that she couldn’t possibly doubt the truth. Heat grew and sizzled in his veins when their tongues met and twined, and her hands threaded into his hair, and she fed hungrily from his mouth.

  And at last he lifted his head, met her blazing eyes. “Don’t tell me you don’t feel anything for me, Jane,” he whispered.

  “I…I wasn’t going to,” she replied, a bit breathlessly. She stiffened her spine, and gently extricated herself from his grip. “I’ll never tell you that, Zach. But there’s something you need to know.”

  At her insistence, he released her, but reluctantly.

  She went to the coffee table and picked up a stack of aged-looking papers, and when she straightened, she handed them to him. “Here. These belong to you.”

  “What…” Frowning, Zach took them.

  “I found these in the safe that was stored in the attic. The safe itself was an antique, but worthless unless it was usable, of course, so I called a locksmith, when we first moved in. I found these things inside, and tucked them away and forgot about them. I didn’t even think of them again until you and Ben came here to stay.”

  Zach sorted through the papers, nodding in recognition. They belonged to him, all of them. Stocks, savings bonds, investment certificates and the like. “I really don’t see what difference is makes, Jane. These are over a century out-of-date, worthless and—”

  “They’re probably worth a fortune, Zach.” She lowered her head, eyes focused on the floor.

  “What?”

  “Well, most of those banks on the notes are still thriving. Some of those companies you invested in then are multimillion-dollar conglomerates today. Take my word for it, Zach, I know about these things. A century’s worth of interest adds up to quite a hefty sum.”

  Zach shook his head slowly as the information sank in. He held in his hands the very thing he’d been agonizing over for days now. “Jane, for God’s sake, why didn’t you tell me about this?”

  Biting her trembling lower lip, she lifted her gaze to meet his. “Because I didn’t want you to leave.”

  “You—”

  “I didn’t want to lose you, Zach. I kept telling myself that if I could just keep you here long enough, maybe you’d start to feel for me, what I…what I feel for you.”

  “What you feel for me?” He realized then, that she still hadn’t told him what she did feel for him. And he waited, though far from patiently.

  She closed her eyes. “I was afraid you’d take Benjamin and leave when you realized you had the means. And, well, I love him, too, Zach.”

  “Too?”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “Too.”

  Zach shook his head. She swallowed hard, so hard he heard it, saw the motion of the muscles in her throat as she looked up at him and nodded.

  “I’ve been slowly going insane with wanting you, needing you…loving you, Jane Fortune…but I convinced myself I couldn’t ask you until I had something to offer—”

  “You could’ve come to me with nothing but the clothes on your back, Zachariah. Don’t you realize—” She blinked fast, took a breath. “Ask me what?”

  “To be my wife, Jane. To be the mother Benjamin has never had, the one he’s been wishing for. To let me be a father to Cody. To let me love you for the rest of my life. Will you, Jane?”

  He saw her lips tremble, saw her eyes well with tears.

  “Say yes!” two voices shouted in unison.

  Zach swung around at the same moment Jane did, to see the two small forms perched on the stairs, watching them. Ben and Cody came the rest of the way down, hesitating at the foot of the stairway, arm in arm. Two curly heads of red hair, two pairs of big green eyes, two freckled faces. Two strong, healthy bodies, one a bit bigger than the other. They were brothers to their souls. They stood grinning, awaiting Jane’s reply as breathlessly as Zach was.

  “Say yes, Jane,” Zach whispered, hooking her chin with a forefinger and drawing her gaze to his once more.

  “Yes,” she said.

  The two boys broke into whoops of triumph and ran to them, shouldering their way between them and forcing them apart. “A dad!” Cody said, rushing into Zach’s arms and hugging him hard. “I really have a dad!”

  Zach had to swallow past a lump in his throat, and then it became impassable when he glanced up to see Benjamin, his arms linked around Jane’s neck as she held him tight. “Can I call you Mommy?” Ben whispered loudly in her ea
r.

  “You’d better,” she told him, and her tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks. She met Zach’s eyes over the heads of the boys. And he knew his own were probably tearing up, too, but there was no helping it. He gently moved Cody aside, his eyes locked with Jane’s as he moved toward her. She set Benjamin down on the floor and came to him. They met, and his arms went around her. He kissed her then, the way he’d been longing to do for so long it seemed like forever.

  “Did I mention that I love you, Jane?” he asked her, unsure whether she heard over the joyous shouts of the boys.

  “It never hurts to say it again,” she told him.

  Epilogue

  “Well now, Sterling, dear,” Kate Fortune said, her eyes twinkling, “Didn’t I tell you Jane was going to find her heart’s desire in that house? Didn’t I?”

  “Kate, you know perfectly well you were referring to the antique shop and the old-fashioned atmosphere, not that time-hopping inventor.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” she chided.

  “Now, Kate, there’s no way you could have known all of this would happen,” Sterling said softly.

  “Don’t forget, dear, I lived in that house for a time.”

  Sterling only gaped for a long moment as Kate waggled her eyebrows. “Are you saying…that you knew…about that doorway through time?”

  She only shrugged and moved away. “I’m very, very worried about Natalie, Sterling. I have a feeling she needs me.” She tilted her head. “Let’s go check on her.”

  “Kate…” Shaking his head, Sterling began to pace. “Kate, the entire idea is to keep you away from your family. But you insist on hopping from one grandchild to the next like some kind of fairy godmother! I’m trying to keep you alive, dear.”

  “But I’m having so much fun being dead!” She winked. “Besides, I’ve never had so much freedom to meddle without getting caught. It’s wonderful, darling. Now come here. Sit down with me and let’s make some travel plans. I do believe my darling granddaughter Natalie Fortune has been responsible, reliable, and lonely, for just about long enough.”

  “Perhaps I should send her an anonymous note warning her of the whirlwind that’s about to descend on her docile life.”

  “But it’s much more fun when it’s a surprise, don’t you think?”

  “You never fail to surprise me, Kate.”

  “That’s good, Sterling. I only hope I never will.”

  A HUSBAND IN TIME

  Copyright © 1997 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-7321-8

  Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Maggie Shayne for her contribution to the FORTUNE’S CHILDREN series.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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