"Tell me from the beginning exactly what happened?”
"We had dinner. We talked— "
"Talked?" Samantha interrupted. "Talk serious or talk nonsense talk?"
"Both, I guess. We just talked. It was nice. Everything seemed to be going well. I turned on the music —"
"The music, I recommended?"
"Yes." Gillian was getting a little perturbed that Samantha was interrupting her with questions that were completely irrelevant to what had happened. "I asked him to dance."
"And did you?"
"Yes, we danced for a little while. Then he pulled away from me."
"Why did he do that?" Samantha exclaimed.
"I have no idea. He said he couldn't do this to me. He gave me a cockamamie story, about how he wouldn’t allow me to settle for something I would regret later."
Samantha stared at her for a blink of an eye before she shook her head. "I know your reasons for pushing him away, but please tell me you didn’t tell Zachary about your dreams."
Gillian put her cup down and quickly rose from her seat. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"You did! What in the world is wrong with you? You have thrown away two perfectly wonderful men because of a dream. Do you hear me? It's a dream, not reality."
"I know that, but . . ."
"But . . . what?"
"I can't help but feel Zachary has a point. He belongs in another time and I belong here. We never proclaimed any love between us. How could I beg him to take me with him? How could I take a chance like that? What if things didn’t work out? What happens if I can't tolerate living with him? Half the time we don't see eye to eye. In his time, I wouldn’t have any close friends, not like you. The only people I know are his grandmother and his best friend, Ellery. The more I think about it, the more I see he’s right. I couldn't live with him."
"And if you stay here and Zachary goes? Then what? You will be happy? You won't miss him?"
Gillian thought she had been doing a good job, convincing herself she could live without him. She didn't want to think about missing him. "Let it go. He’s going back to where he belongs and I’m staying where I’m supposed to be. End of subject.”
***
Jerry picked Zachary up and headed to the office so he could sign the papers to finish the deal. The pocket watch was one of a hundred watches made and only a few had ever been recovered. Out of those few, not one had kept time. The man that wanted to purchase the pocket watch was amazed at its impeccable condition. He offered three times the amount he would have offered if the timepiece had not been running. Jerry had checked with a colleague of his that collected antiques and he assured him the price was a fair one.
Zachary should be thrilled, but he looked like he just lost his best friend. Jerry might have dismissed the glumness over his loss of the pocket watch. After all, it had been a gift from his grandfather, but Jerry was sure it was something much more. He tried to broach the subject with Zachary, but he didn’t want to let him in. He decided he had better leave well enough alone. If the man wanted to confide in him, he would.
"Will I have enough to pay the medical bills at the hospital?" Zachary asked. “This is more money than I’ve earned in a year, but I know how expensive everything is here.”
Jerry smiled. "Oh, you will have more than enough. That pocket watch of yours was worth a small fortune."
“That's good to know." Zachary looked at Jerry. "I need to ask another favor."
"What do you need?"
"Will you help me set up an account at a reputable bank?"
“I think I can manage that.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
It was near dusk two days later when Molly appeared. They were out on the patio. Jerry was barbecuing the hamburgers that were just about ready to come off the grill. Gillian emerged from the apartment with the plate when a feeling, a tingling on the back of her neck, made her turn her head. The platter slipped from her grip, hitting the ground with a deafening crash. The conversation immediately halted as all eyes riveted toward her. Zachary turned in his seat to follow her gaze.
Gillian knew Molly would come for Zachary and Tyler. Still she hadn’t prepared herself for the pit of hopelessness that opened up in her stomach. Their time together was truly over and she would never see them again.
Molly barked and trotted over to Zachary. She threw herself down on the ground and rolled over with her usual hello. Zachary leaned down to pet her.
"That's Molly, the key to time traveling?" Jerry stared at the dog in disbelief. “She’s nothing more than an ordinary looking dog, not even a pure bred.”
"You expected her to have wings maybe?" Samantha teased and he threw her a sheepish look.
"Molly!" Tyler ran to her. He threw himself down on the ground and hugged his friend. Molly licked his face.
Tyler’s innocent laughter made it worse. Gillian couldn't watch. She couldn’t stand by and let the two people she loved, disappear from her life, forever.
The sizzling meat and smoke made Jerry remember the hamburgers. "Our dinner!” He picked up the platter that had luckily fallen on the ground face up and he removed the patties from the flame.
Gillian went inside and headed to the bathroom. Zachary must have followed her for a second later he knocked on the door.
"Gillian, are you all right?”
She couldn’t answer, not with the tears flowing down her face. Her voice would give her away.
"Gillian?”
She flushed the toilet, giving her some more time. It must have worked for he didn’t knock again. She turned on the faucet and let the water run before she splashed her face. She looked into the mirror meeting her reflection. "You’re a coward." She turned off the water with a jerk of her hand. She grabbed a few tissues and wiped the tears away before she blew her nose.
She opened the bathroom door and saw Zachary through the screen shaking hands with Jerry. He then gave a quick hug to Samantha. Gillian took a step closer, her heart pounding in her chest. He was saying goodbye. He must have heard her approach for his head turned. They looked at each other, their gazes locked.
Molly barked.
Gillian had heard enough of Molly's demands to know this yowl was not of pain, but of urgency. She was going to lead them to the past. Gillian couldn’t move. It was as if her feet were imbedded in cement.
"Dear God, would you look at that?" Gillian heard Jerry exclaim.
Gillian knew the vortex, portal or whatever it was called had opened.
Zachary dragged his gaze away from Gillian. “We have to go.” He glanced down at Tyler, as he took his hand. "Are you ready to go home?"
"Will I get to see Lotti?"
Zachary smiled. "Yes, we'll see Lotti."
Tyler grinned as he shouted his goodbyes. Zachary took Tyler’s hand as they stepped through the hazy door that led to the past.
Molly continued barking. Gillian walked outside and looked toward the mist. Zachary turned to look at her, his blue eyes again locking with her green ones, holding, beseeching.
Her heart was going to break, if she let him go. She took a step toward the haze. Zachary lifted his hand as if beckoning her to cross over to him. Molly barked frantically, drawing her attention to her. Was she trying to tell her she was supposed to go? Just as she was about to make the leap, the haze seemed to change, shift, solidifying before her eyes.
Zachary took a step toward Gillian, but stopped. The invisible wall prevented him from going further. He couldn't go past the line that separated his time from hers. He reached out his hand again, as if hoping she could still get through on her side.
"What's happening?" Gillian heard Samantha ask.
Gillian knew the door was closing. She had to go now. She backed up and tried to leap into the disappearing haze. She hit against the invisible wall, sending her flying backward and landing hard on the ground. Jerry came immediately to her side, but Gillian brushed him away. "I have to get through." She rose to her feet and wa
s about to try again. She could still see Zachary and the frantic expression he wore on his face. She wasn’t going to make it. The last thing she saw was Zachary's outstretched hand. She heard him cry the words she had longed to hear. "Grá mo chroí." He began to fade, transparent as a ghost until he was no longer there.
"No!" Gillian screamed running to the spot where Zachary and Tyler had stood. "No!" she screamed again. Her knees gave out and she fell to the ground, weeping into her hands.
Samantha came to her side and put her arm around her shoulders. "Come on Gillian. Let's go inside," Samantha tried to persuade her.
"He's gone. He's really gone." She looked at Samantha with tears streaming down her face. "It was Zachary all along.”
"I know, honey. I know.”
"No. I mean it was him."
Samantha pulled away to look at her. "Him, as in being him in your dreams?"
"He said the words I’ve heard in my dreams. All this time, I had the man I wanted and I pushed him away. I was so obsessed in hearing those words, those silly words. I don't even know what they mean. How could I’ve been so blind? Now … my God, I’ve lost him. I’ve lost him forever."
Samantha pulled her close, trying to lend comfort anyway she could.
Samantha looked up and saw Jerry’s expression of concern. She motioned to him that she would take care of her. Jerry nodded and went into the house. He had never seen Gillian look like that, so lost. He was worried about the repercussions of losing Zachary would have on her. He felt guilty too. He thought back to the conversation he had with Zachary only a day before, while they were driving to the bank.
"Jerry, you’ve been a really good friend to Tyler and to me. I know it couldn’t have been easy for you, knowing how you once felt about Gillian."
Jerry shrugged.
"I respect you and I need to have your honest opinion of my situation.”
He glanced at Zachary curious about what he wanted to ask.
"I know it won’t be long now before I go. Molly came back last night, so I’m sure it is only a matter of time." He rubbed his hands on his pants." I told Gillian she belonged here and I put a stop to any intimate contact between us because . . . well it wouldn’t be right if I was going to leave her behind, but if I were to . . . " Zachary ran his fingers through his hair. "Hell and damnation," he muttered. “What am I thinking? Forget it." Zachary turned and looked out the window in silence.
Jerry kept his eyes on the road, his jaw muscles working as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. Jerry suspected Zachary wanted his permission to take Gillian away. He was relieved he hadn’t asked. As much as he knew that Gillian and Zachary belonged together, he couldn’t say it. It was selfish on his part, but the thought of her going back to the cesspool of disease was asking too much. She could fall sick … die, but what if her going back had been meant to be and he was responsible for stopping it.
"Jerry?" Samantha’s voice brought him back to the present. He turned to look at her.
"Are you all right? I was talking to you and you seemed a million miles away."
"I'm fine. Sorry. What were you saying?"
"I tucked Gillian into bed but I don't think she should be alone."
Jerry nodded his agreement. "That's a wise idea. She's in an emotional state right now and no telling what she . . . " He stopped himself from finishing his statement. "God, this is a mess." If he had been a decent man, a friend as he claimed to be, he would have told Zachary he was right in taking Gillian with him. Now, he would have to live with the fact he’d caused Gillian's unhappiness.
Samantha suspected he was upset. She didn’t know the half of it. She walked over to him. "She'll be all right. Gillian is a strong person. She'll pull through this."
Jerry looked at Samantha trying to be supportive too, but he knew the misery of the evening’s events would haunt them all.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Zachary stared in front of him, not able to move. He had deceived himself into thinking he could leave Gillian behind. She had tried to come to him, but it had been too late. Now he would have to live his life without ever seeing her smiling face, or hearing her sweet laughter. He would never be able to touch her, hold her...make love to her. He never told her how he felt. He never told her he loved her. With the door to time closed, he was dead to her now.
Zachary felt a tugging on his shorts. He looked down into Tyler's small upturned face. "Where's Aunt Gillian? Didn't she come with us?"
"No.” Inhaling deeply, he swallowed back the tears. “She couldn't."
Tyler’s face pouted. "She'll come later, won’t she?"
"I don't think so." Zachary ruffled Tyler's hair. "Come on we have to change and then go see Lotti. She'll be worried about us.” Zachary looked back one more time with hopes that the doorway would somehow reappear. To his dismay, there was just the field before him and nothing more.
Molly trotted up to Zachary and sat down at his feet. She turned her head to one side then the other.
"Can you find her again, Molly?" Zachary asked.
She barked three times in response before she ran off in the opposite direction.
"Uncle Zachary, are you coming?" Tyler was already standing on the back porch.
Zachary turned and headed toward the house. "I'm right behind you."
***
"I'm so happy you’re all better." Lotti hugged Tyler snugly against her chest. "I thought I might never see you again.”
"Aah Lotti." Tyler wiggled free from his great-grandmother's embrace. "Do you have to get so mushy?"
Lotti chuckled, but she had tears glistening in her eyes. When Dora had told her that Zachary had taken Tyler and went somewhere for help, she had known that they had gone to the future. She was frantic not knowing if Tyler was all right or if they would ever return.
"May I go outside?" Tyler was anxious to be away from all the attention. Lotti nodded and he ran out of the room.
Lotti now concentrated on Zachary, who was leaning against the fireplace. He had been very quiet since he arrived and she was sure it had to do with Gillian. Since the young woman had not come to the house with Zachary and Tyler, she could only assume she had stayed behind in her own time. Lotti tapped her cane to attract Zachary's attention.
He turned and focused, realizing his nephew was no longer in the room. "Where did Tyler go?"
"Not to worry. He went outside to play."
Zachary squirmed under her scrutinizing gaze. Good, he should.
"Sorry Lotti, did you say something?"
"No." There was a long silence, but finally, Lotti broke it. "Well, are you going to tell me or not?" She tapped her cane with impatience.
"Tell you what?"
"Blast it Zachary, don't play games with me. Gillian? What happen? Why isn’t she with you?"
"She didn't make it."
Lotti frowned. "Didn't make it? Did something happen to her?"
"No. I thought I knew what was best. I thought she didn't belong here and told her as much."
"Why in the world did you do that?"
Zachary pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Because . . . because I thought I was doing the right thing." He sighed gloomily. "I was wrong. She tried to follow us back, but the door closed. I should have never left her. I should have . . . " He shook his head. “It was a terrible mistake.”
Lotti remained silent. She saw the pain and the tired sadness pass over her grandson’s features, but she had no idea how to rectify it.
"You’re back." Both Lotti and Zachary turned at the same time to see Ellery enter the room. He was dressed in his finery, laced dress shirt and all.
Ellery removed his hat and went over to his friend. They shook hands, but then on second thought, the emotions were running too high and they embraced each other. Ellery pulled away, gripping his shoulders. "I thought you were gone forever with that little red-headed vixen of yours." His gaze scanned the room, seeing immediately that Gillian wasn’t there. "Where is she?" He turne
d back to his friend.
"She didn’t come back with him," Lotti volunteered the information.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I saw Tyler out front and he didn't tell me that Gillian wasn’t with you."
"It's all right. Who knows maybe it was for the best." Zachary moved away, and tried to change the topic of conversation, but his voice choked.
Lotti came to his rescue "Anyone for a spot of tea?"
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
The Downhaven Sanitarium
"She's been that way since they brought her here," the attendant said to the doctor in charge. He had been away for a few weeks trying to find volunteers to come back with him. The facility had too many patients for his meager staff to take care of efficiently. He had just arrived today knowing that the extra help was not forthcoming. So he wasn’t pleased to find out that they had taken on yet another patient.
"What is her name?"
"Violet Ellsworth. They said she tried to kill someone," the nurse offered the information.
The doctor looked again at the woman sitting in the chair. She was rocking back and forth and hugging herself. Her red hair hung limp around her face, but her petite features told him she once was a beautiful woman. "Well, she appears harmless now doesn't she?"
"I would say. She has shut herself off from reality."
"Hmm. Then I see no harm in bringing her outside with the others. She won't be running off."
The nurse nodded and wheeled Violet out into the open air, situating her under a tree. Then she went to check on the other patients. Violet sat for hours, unattended. No one gave her another thought, until it was too late.
The nurse went outside to bring Violet in for the evening meal. Only she wasn't there. The nurse was frantic by the time she informed the doctor. "I can't believe she’s gone. The woman surely was a sly one. I would have never guessed she could even understand us, let alone make an escape. What are we going to do?"
"Nothing." The doctor leaned back against his chair.
"Nothing?"
"Listen, we are far away from any town. Where is she to go? I looked over her records. Her own family has disowned her. Embarrassment, you know. So who's going notice if the woman is missing? She will most likely befall an accident out there alone in the wilderness. She has no food and no water."
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