“If you don’t leave I’m calling the cops, Lana.”
She wouldn’t let up and continued to beat on the door. Fifteen-minutes later, Austin went outside. It was right around the time Emma-Jean had seen the red flashing lights through the curtains. It was dark but the lights from the car made it possible to see what was going on. She listened as the woman went on and on about her children. The two men in uniform held her back as she tried to come closer, eventually putting her into the back of the car.
After spending some time talking to the police, Austin came back inside and shut the door behind him.
“Well, she did it to herself,” he said, slumping into the sofa and covering his face.
Emma-Jean sat next to him. “Are you okay?” She touched his hand.
He looked up at her with sad eyes. “I’m fine. You go get some rest now.”
Emma-Jean shook her head. “No, I’m staying here with you.”
You’re not Alone
She’d almost forgotten about the timepiece until Moira called to give her the dreadful news. The hands were slowing down and she would need to make a decision soon. Too, it was nearing Gracie’s birthday and she’d be turning eighteen.
She’d avoided talking to Austin about where she’d come from and how she’d gotten to 2017 for long enough. Tonight she would have the conversation with him. As badly as she wanted to stay, she was almost certain he wouldn’t want her to after she shared her story.
She’d just finished feeding Hanna when the doorbell rang. She looked out the window and saw Abagail and a man.
“Hi, Abagail,” she said, opening the door.
“Hello, Emma-Jean. We were in the neighborhood and I wanted to see how you were doing. This is my husband Jesse. Jesse Landers.”
“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Landers.”
Somehow that name sounded very familiar.
“Come in. I just fed Hanna and was about to put her down for a nap. Just have a seat, and I’ll be right out.”
Emma-Jean had thought it was odd for Abagail to come with her husband, mostly because she’d known Abagail usually worked this time of day. And too, she doubted they had just been in the neighborhood.
“So, there’s another reason why I’m here, particularly with Jesse. I wanted you to meet him for a reason.”
“We have something in common, Emma-Jean. We’re both from the past and were brought here by way of time-travel.”
Had she just heard right?
“I knew right away that you had experienced the same fate as Jesse. I could tell from your mannerism. We just wanted you to know that you’re not alone.”
Emma-Jean listened as he described the experience with the timepiece and how he’d initially thought Moira and Miss Dunham were one and the same.
“So, you never went back to find out what had happened with your sister?”
“I didn’t have to, although I would have. But I found out I’d had it all wrong and the man I thought had kidnapped her, had married her instead.”
“I wish it was as easy for me. I have to go back. Gracie needs me, and I made her a promise,” she said, recalling the last time she’d seen Gracie. “She doesn’t have anyone else.”
Abagail placed a hand on her knee. “Things have a way of working out. Just don’t give up. Everybody deserves to be happy, and it seems as if you are happy. And so are Austin and the kids.”
What Must Be Done
When Emma-Jean had made the decision to stay, she had no idea it would be so hard to leave. But Gracie would be turning eighteen at the end of November and would need help. Sadly, everything she’d earned would be no good in the past and Emma-Jean wasn’t even sure she could take the dresses she’d made with her. She would need to ask Moira.
Leaving Hanna, Adam, Chloe, and Austin had been her biggest concern. They’d already lost their father, and although they had Austin, she knew it didn’t make things any easier. Having experienced her own sorrows, she would give anything to keep them from suffering the same fate. But when it came down to it, they had much more than Gracie.
Adam had gone from being this shy little boy, to wanting to play sports. It had taken some work, but with the help of Abagail, Austin had been persuaded to let him play baseball. Mostly he was afraid of what could happen if he experienced an injury to his ear but Abagail had told him as long as he was wearing the hearing aid, he would be just fine.
Next to her father, Austin was the kindest man she’d known. And if she was to be completely honest with herself, she’d admit that he had her heart. She’d fallen for him and though she’d never wanted to marry before, she’d thought about it a lot over the last few weeks. He was a gentle and loving man, and had she met him under different circumstances and he’d asked, she would have married him. The world was a different place with him in it. He’d been the bright light in her life, making her smile and showing her a tenderness she’d never felt before.
She couldn’t get him out of her head. Every day, just as the kids had done, she waited with anticipation for him to come home, wanting to run and jump into his arms like Hanna did. Although she was still there, her heart ached knowing she would soon be leaving and even when she laughed, she wanted to cry.
Talking to Jesse and Abagail had only made her decision harder. Yet, knowing she wasn’t the only one who’d come from the past had been comforting. Something about him had seemed very familiar but she couldn’t place her finger on it. Perhaps she’d heard his name mentioned during her short stay in Heartsbridge 1880. But somehow, she felt there was more to it.
She and Austin had decided it was time to talk to the children about what was going on, but before she did that, she needed to first talk to him and disclose her truth. It would be the only way he would understand. That was, if he’d even believed her. And though, Abagail and Jesse had offered to be there for support, she decided it was best for her to do it alone. So here she was, waiting for him to get out of the shower so she could tell him.
Although the door was open, he tapped on it before entering.
“Come in, Austin,” she said turning her head slightly to wipe the tears away that had escaped.
Lately she’d had a hard time being in the same room with him without breaking into a cold sweat. The exception had been when the children were around. They had always demanded her attention and she loved giving it to them.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, coming to take her hand and sit beside her.
“I’m just a little sad, is all.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
“Nothing happened. I’m just afraid of what you will think of me once I tell you how I got here to Heartsbridge.”
He pulled her into his embrace and held her close to his chest. She sniffled back the tears threatening to fall and freed herself of his grip.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. I only care that you’re here, not how you got here or what happened in your past. Yes, I would like to know more about you, but I won’t push the issue.”
“But I want you to know. It’ll help you to understand why I have to leave.”
“What?” He got up and started to pace the floor. “Up until this point, I’ve done everything except beg you to stay.” Falling to his knees, he reached for her hand. “Now I’m begging you to stay. Please, Emma-Jean. I need you like the air I breathe. I need you in my life as much as I do the children.”
Emma-Jean head fell on his shoulders. Why did he have to do this? It was bad enough that she didn’t want to leave but now he was here begging her to stay and every part of her wanted to do just that.
Here he was, so close, caressing her while comforting her no end, when she should have been comforting him. It was unfair of her to have taken the job to begin with but at the time the offer had seemed too good to pass up. Never had she imagined that the relationships created would make it almost impossible for her to leave. And it had been.
Kissing her forehead, he brushed his face against hers, warmi
ng Emma-Jean’s insides with a heat that left her tingling. Her hands trembled around his neck as he brushed his nose against her earlobe. He whispered, “We need you.”
“And I need you too. You and the children are the family I never had.”
“Then stay.”
“I can’t.”
“Well then, we’ll come with you,” he said, his eyes traveled over her face, longing for her to say yes.
“I don’t think you can,” she said with regret in her voice.
He rose to his feet.
“I…I just don’t understand why you have to leave for good. Can’t you go get your friend and come back? I’ll even go with you.”
“It doesn’t work like that.” She leaned forward and grabbed his hands.
“Why not? Please, just tell me.”
“Because I’m from the past. I traveled through time to get here.”
“Emma-Jean, this isn’t funny. I have three children that’ll be home any minute now. And I need to find a way to tell them that you’re leaving. I can’t tell them that you traveled through time.”
“But it’s the truth. When my parents died, I was sent to an orphanage run by a lady named Miss Mary Freeman. She allowed me to stay there past my eighteenth birthday because I had nowhere else to go.”
“Emma-Jean, I’m sorry about your parents but—”
She raised a hand as he sat next to her. By now she was crying endlessly and just needed to get the words out. “Please, just let me finish.”
He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Go ahead.”
“Like I was saying, she made me leave. But before doing so, I promised Gracie to reach out to her uncle in Heartsbridge 1880. Except when I got there, I found out from Miss Dunham, Moira’s relative, that he had passed.”
“Wait, so you told Moira this story?”
“No, I didn’t have too. I don’t know if you noticed but Moira wears this timepiece around her neck.”
She waited for him to respond. “I know the timepiece you’re talking about.”
“Well her relative who lives in the past, owns one just like it. And the thing about them is that they only work when someone near them is in the wrong time. When I was with Miss Dunham, it didn’t stop moving. She told me the same thing I’m telling you. Then she asked me if I wanted to have a better life, and I said yes. With no family, and no means of providing for myself, I really needed something good to happen.
“She asked me if I wanted to come to the future and I said yes, thinking she was playing a trick on me. But when I woke up, I realized something had happened and I really had been brought to the future. All this happened the same day I first saw you at the diner.”
“This just seems unbelievable,” he said, running his hands through his hair, looking slightly stunned.
“I need you to believe me because if you don’t you won’t understand why it’s so important for me to go back. Gracie is like Adam except she’s completely deaf. That’s why I knew something was going on with Adam’s hearing. She can read lips and do things for herself but if I don’t return she has no one.
“Every day the clock slows down until eventually you’re forced to make a decision. Once the hands on the clock stop moving, my time is up and I’m stuck wherever I am at that moment, forever. And too, this is why I won’t be back. It’s because I can’t.”
He was just shaking his head.
“Do you believe me?” she asked, biting down on her lip and shutting her eyes.
Austin reached up and cupped her chin, taking in her beauty. He’d wanted to do this from the first day he’d laid eyes on her. Suddenly, he was bombarded with a rush of memories from the first day he’d seen her. How sad she’d looked, the way she was dressed, the words she said like “leatherneck” and “improper.” Too, this would explain why she’d had no references and her old-fashioned ways in general. He found himself unable to hold back the tears, even though he hadn’t remembered the last time he’d cried.
“I believe you” he said, pulling her close. They held each other, their bodies quivering as they sobbed.
“Marry me,” he whispered in her ear. “I was hoping you’d changed your mind about staying but even if you can’t stay, I want you to marry me. And just as fate had brought you into my life, I feel with everything in me that we will be together.”
Pulling away, he presented the ring he’d been holding.
She raised her hand to cover her eyes.
“And if you’re unsure, that’s fine, but at least consider wearing it.”
She nodded as he reached for her finger and slid on the ring.
Before either of them could say another word, loud knocking at the front door caught their attention. Instead of rushing, he brushed his hand against Emma-Jean’s cheek softly and whispered, “Thank you.”
No Time for Goodbyes
To both Emma-Jean’s and Austin’s surprise, it was Moira knocking.
“What’s wrong? Where are the children?” Austin asked.
“They’re okay. They’re with Abagail at the diner. But I need to speak with Emma-Jean right away.”
“I’m here,” she said, wiping away the last of her tears.
“I’m sorry, Emma-Jean, but your time is up. I have to get you into the room now if you’re going back.”
“No, don’t say that.” Austin dropped his head to the floor.
“It’s up to Emma-Jean but the decision has to be made now.”
Catching him off guard, Emma-Jean rose up on her tiptoes and kissed the corner of his mouth.
“I’m sorry. I have to.”
She hurried to grab her belongings and a picture fell out of her sack. She bent to pick it up, she’d forgotten all about the photo and letter Gracie had given her to pass on to her uncle.
With no time to spare, rather than opening her bag, she held onto it.
She’d felt awful about having to leave but had known if there was a way for her to return, she would.
“I love you, Austin McNeil and to have been your wife would have made me the happiest woman in the world,” she said, raising her finger to remove the ring.
“No, keep it. Find your way back to me. If not, just know that I’ll always love you.”
“We need to go now,” Moira called out from the car.
Her hand extended as far as it could before she was forced to let go.
She hurried to the car and as they drove off, her eyes fixated on the man who had forever changed her life until he was out of sight.
“I’m sorry, Emma-Jean. I don’t know how I missed this. The hands usually slow down gradually but this time it happened all of a sudden.”
“Is there any way I can come back?” she asked, staring at the photo and letter that she still held. Her heart ached, remembering why she’d just left the man she loved. Plus, the family she’d been fortunate enough to have in her life even if only for a short period of time. At least she would get to say goodbye to the children before leaving.
When they pulled into the diner, she rushed in.
The children ran to her from where they’d been seated with Abagail and Jesse. And they too came over to greet her.
“Do they know?” Abagail asked.
Emma-Jean nodded.
“We have to go now,” Moira said. “The hands are barely moving.”
Emma-Jean bent down and pulled all three children together in a tight embrace.
“Too tight,” Adam whined.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m leaving now and I’m going to miss you three dearly.”
“No. Don’t go,” Chloe said, pulling on her arm. The photo she’d been holding fell to the floor but she was too busy hugging the children to retrieve it.
“Stay with us,” Adam said, holding onto her leg.
Emma-Jean dropped to her knees. “I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry,” she said, grabbing both their hands and kissing them. “But I have to go because I made a promise to someone.”
“But you said
you loved us.”
“And I do.”
“Then don’t leave,” Adam said.
Just then Austin rushed in. Abagail whose eyes were filled with sadness picked up Hanna while Austin rushed over to get Chloe and Adam.
His eyes met hers. “I love you,” he said as she walked away.
“I love you too,” she whispered. “I love you all.”
They were just about to open the door when Jesse called out, “Wait!” How did you get a picture of my father?”
Everyone stopped moving.
“It belongs to my friend Gracie. The one who I’m going back to.”
“It’s now or never.” Moira waited with her hand on the doorknob.
“Keep the picture. I’ll tell Gracie all about you. I’ll tell her about you all,” she said as the door shut behind her. The children’s whimpers penetrated through her and she was sure they would stay with her forever.
He couldn’t believe she was really gone. Tomorrow would bring a new day but nothing would be good about it. Emma-Jean had come to be a part of his life and her rapid departure left him feeling cheated.
The pain tightening in his chest only got worse as he waited for Moira to return to the front part of the diner. Several times he’d considered bursting through the door and pleading with her once more. Sure, his thoughts were selfish, but, what good would come out of this? They both were left alone. Maybe it was selfish reasoning, but what good would it be for her to return to a place where she clearly didn’t feel she belonged.
Hearing footsteps nearing, he rose to his feet. Moira came out wearing a disheveled expression. Staring into the tense air, she clutched the timepiece she was wearing, rubbing her fingers over it. Austin thought perhaps she needed a minute to process Emma-Jean’s sudden parting. After all, the two of them had become really close. She blinked her eyes rapidly as if to bring herself back to reality.
“I have something to tell you all. And this has never happened before.”
Timeless Honor (Timeless Hearts #7) Page 8