But still, she had never had that kind of reaction to just seeing a man before. She flat couldn’t look away from him, and didn’t want to.
The waiter approached the man and set down a glass of tea with real ice chips in it. Bonnie had her order that as well every time they had come in here because it was a status thing. Ice in the Old West in the summer was expensive.
So clearly the man had a lot of money.
He glanced up at the waiter and smiled and Dixie damn near fainted. The man was more handsome than anyone she had ever seen. And his smile showed perfect, white teeth and reached his eyes, as if he smiled often.
Then he did what she had not expected. As he took a sip of his iced tea, he looked at her.
She had no idea what was appropriate, but she just couldn’t look away, and it seemed he couldn’t either.
Finally, after what seemed like too long a time, and yet was far too short a time, she forced herself to look down at her leather journal. She could see out of the corner of her eye that he almost spilled his tea trying to put the glass down.
She knew her face was flushed red and that he could see it since she had such damned white skin.
What was happening? How could she fall at first sight for a man in 1901?
Did jumping timelines cause sane judgment to fly out the window?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
August 19th, 1901
Brice’s Timeline
AFTER THE EYE contact with the stunning woman across the dining room, Brice decided that for dinner his best option was to just avoid the dining room in the hotel and any chance of seeing that woman again. He couldn’t believe how attracted to her he was.
Never had he felt anything like that.
And when they held each other’s gaze, he felt excited and scared to death at the same time. He desperately wanted to just walk over to her and introduce himself, but he had no doubt that alone might get him kicked out of the hotel.
He was way over his head even talking with a woman from this time period, let alone being interested in one.
They had both spent the rest of their lunch writing in their notebooks and avoiding any sort of eye contact. Clearly she had found him attractive as well.
That seemed very dangerous for her in 1901.
One thing was for certain, though. She had certainly taken his mind from being alone.
For dinner he went down the street to a steak restaurant, but the next morning he went down to the hotel dining room just as they opened at six in the morning and took the same seat he had from the day before.
The huge dining room was almost chilly from the cool summer evening and the open windows. It felt great, since yesterday evening he had found himself stripped down to his shorts with the windows open in his suite to stay even slightly cool.
And he had taken a cool bath, without any hot water from the staff, and that had felt good as well.
The entire time, as he was trying to focus his attention on the math problem he faced, he couldn’t get the face of the woman from his mind. He hoped she would be at breakfast.
And he hoped she wouldn’t be at the same time.
Since he was one of the first in the door, she was nowhere to be seen. He felt the disappointment and was surprised at that feeling. In fact, he was amazed at himself for having this reaction to a woman, especially a rich woman from 1901.
Ten minutes after he sat down and ordered his coffee, she appeared, again alone, and was shown to the same table directly across from him.
As she sat down and took her napkin and placed it in her lap, she looked up and saw him and actually jerked.
He smiled and nodded to her and she smiled and nodded as well before looking down at her journal. He could tell that her face had flushed again, just as it had yesterday, and that made him smile even more.
Again, over breakfast, they both wrote in their journals, and he only once caught her looking at him.
When he finished breakfast of ham and eggs and a wonderful soft toast, he got up and looked directly at her and smiled and nodded.
Then he left, amazed that he could even walk straight because his stomach was so clenched up around his breakfast. He had no idea how many rules of impropriety he had just broken, but he didn’t honestly care.
At lunch they did the same thing, nodding and smiling, but looking quickly away. And he worked in his journal as she worked in hers.
He had not yet gotten to even thinking much about the math problem that Bonnie and Duster had assigned him.
But what he was working out, mathematically, was the chance that he could meet and spend time with this woman over and over in different timelines.
His math said it was possible.
In fact, his math said that he could live here until he died of old age and only have two minutes and fifteen seconds pass in his own timeline.
So meeting the red-haired short woman was helping him get focused on the math of time and different timelines, but just not on the right problem.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
August 22nd, 1901
Dixie’s Timeline
AFTER FIVE DAYS, Dixie was pleased the handsome man had not left the hotel yet. It seemed that he was staying for a time as well, but she had no idea where in the massive hotel.
During breakfast and lunches in the dining room, they had gotten into a routine of nodding and smiling at each other as they both ate and worked in journals.
One evening, while eating dinner at the table in her room, she had seen him leave the hotel and cross the street. He had the stride of a man in complete control and in shape. And he wore a cowboy hat and oilcloth long coat over his suit just as Duster did.
She had spent two days going back over math that she had already checked for Bonnie and Duster about time spent in the past. Because of this man that now really interested Dixie and she figured it was a good place to start.
Bonnie and Duster had told her that the amount of time spent in the past didn’t matter, and that even dying of old age didn’t matter, since only two minutes and fifteen seconds would pass in the original timeline no matter what happened in this timeline.
And Bonnie had said that she had stopped counting when she and Duster went past living a thousand years. For the first time, Dixie was starting to understand the reality of that, not just the math.
But since her brain worked in numbers, she had to put that math back in her head. She could have a relationship here in the past, live here for years if she wanted, and when she returned to the crystal cave in the old mine, Duster would still be doing the dishes.
So the idea of what she did here not making a huge difference was making her relax some around the handsome man. And now she was hoping she might actually get a chance to meet him. She didn’t know how, but she was relaxing enough to be open to the idea now.
She had always thought that romance novels where a woman went into the past and fell for a man there were very silly. But this man seemed so different than the others around her. And he had great teeth, something many of the men she had seen so far did not have.
In fact, his white smile just flat seemed out of place.
If it took going into the past for her to have a reaction toward a man, then she would spend far more time in the past.
And thanks to Bonnie and Duster, she could.
And another thing she found interesting. She didn’t really miss her computer. She was enjoying working the math out with a fountain pen, going slowly, being deliberate. She often did her best thinking at whiteboards, and this journal seemed to be functioning like a whiteboard for her.
At breakfast, she went down at her normal time and the handsome man was sitting at his normal table. He glanced up and nodded and smiled at her and her heart actually felt like it might pound out of her chest as if she had run a good five miles at top speed.
The waiter was not close, so she took a deep breath and walked toward the handsome man.
He looked shocked as she approached a
nd managed to scramble to his feet.
“Winfred Dixie Smith,” Dixie said, extending her hand. “But everyone just calls me Dixie.”
She was happy that her voice didn’t crack.
He took her hand, smiling, but with worry in his eyes. The feeling of his skin against hers sent shockwaves through her.
He bowed slightly and said, “The honor is mine. I’m Brice Henry Lincoln, Brice to my friends.”
Damn, not only did his touch send shivers through her, but his voice was perfect and sexy.
He finally let go of her hand and she felt slightly disappointed.
“I felt we should finally meet,” she said, “since our schedules seem to match for a few meals each day.”
“I was hoping for that as well,” he said.
He glanced around at the almost empty dining room. “I am not sure what is appropriate, so forgive my brashness, but would you care to join me for breakfast? That is, if you are dining alone this fine morning?”
She looked him directly in the eyes. She could see they were a dark green and she could see he was concerned that he had overstepped his bounds.
She took a deep breath. “I am alone and I would love company for breakfast.”
There, she had done it. Dixie wasn’t sure if Bonnie would be proud or not.
Brice quickly moved around and held a chair for her across the table from him.
She nodded her thank you and sat down. She placed her journal and pen on the table and noticed it was very similar to his. Then she motioned to the waiter.
When the waiter approached, she said, “I will be joining Mr. Lincoln for breakfast. I would like my normal.”
“Very well, Ma’am,” the waiter said, nodding and turning away.
When she looked back, Brice was staring at her and smiling like a teenaged kid on a first date.
And with that she smiled back at him. And damn it all to hell, she could feel that she blushed again.
Sometimes she really hated having light skin. It gave far, far too many of her thoughts away.
And right now, the thought of getting to know this handsome man from 1901 was on the top of her mind.
And getting to really, really know him wasn’t far below the surface of her mind as well.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
August 22nd, 1901
Brice’s Timeline
BRICE HAD ALMOST passed out from sheer panic when he saw the beautiful red-haired woman walking toward him. Somehow he had managed to get to his feet and do his best impression of a gentleman.
Her touch had sent electric shocks through his entire body and she was even more beautiful up close than she was from across the room. He had no idea how that was possible.
She also had a beautiful voice and a perfect smile. And she was shorter up close than she appeared across the room as well, which also surprised him. He bet she wasn’t more than five-foot-four inches tall and she had the most intense brown eyes that seemed to just look through him.
He couldn’t believe he had gotten brash enough to invite her to have breakfast with him, and he swore he was shaking when she agreed.
Never, even back in high school, had he had a reaction like this with a woman. He had no idea what was happening.
Luckily the waiter taking their orders allowed him to bring back a part of his mind, at least enough to talk with her.
They made small talk about the beautiful hotel and how wonderful Boise was and how it was growing. Then she asked him if he would be staying for a time in the hotel.
“At least a month,” he said. “I’m waiting here for a friend to return from Arizona.”
She smiled at that.
“And you?” he asked.
“I also am waiting for a friend to return in a month or so,” she said.
At that he smiled as well and they held each other’s gaze for a long minute saying nothing before the waiter brought more of their breakfast meals.
Brice had no idea at all what was appropriate with a woman in this time period. So he flat decided to tell her that.
“I’m not experienced at all with being alone like this around such beautiful company,” he said after they both started to eat. “So please do not hold any inappropriate comments against me.”
She laughed and seemed to relax a little. “Thank heavens,” she said. “I also have no experience at what my manners should be in this situation.”
“So maybe we should hire the waiter to give us lessons?” he said.
Thankfully, she laughed. He loved her laugh, especially when it made it to her eyes. “I think we can just enjoy the company and we’ll be fine.”
“I like the sounds of that a great deal,” he said, smiling at her.
She blushed.
He was starting to really love how easily she blushed.
So they continued to eat and make small talk and he slowly relaxed a little more.
And she seemed to relax a little as well.
As they both finished their coffee, he decided to be bold and ask if she would care to join him for lunch as well.
“I would love that,” she said.
With that she picked up her journal and stood and he stood as well.
“I will look forward to lunch, Mr. Lincoln,” she said.
“As will I,” he said, bowing slightly and smiling. “And please call me Brice.”
“Only if you call me Dixie,” she said.
“It will be my honor,” he said.
She laughed and turned and left the room and he sat back down, somehow managing to not spill the rest of his coffee on his journal.
He sat there for another half hour writing down his impressions of Dixie and wishing for the very first time for a computer to look her up and find out even more about her.
But it seemed that to learn about Dixie, he was going to have to do it the old-fashioned way. He was just going to have to talk with her.
And honestly, that sounded wonderful.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
August 22nd, 1901
Dixie’s Timeline
SOMEHOW, DIXIE MANAGED to climb the six flights of stairs to her suite without stumbling. In fact, it felt more like she was floating she was so excited.
Brice Lincoln was more handsome up close than he had been across the room, if that was possible. And he seemed smart and interested in her.
She sat at the oak desk in her suite and wrote in her journal her impressions of him.
Every detail.
She could see his face clearly in her mind, again not something that usually happened with her.
After an hour, she went back to working on the math, double-checking to make sure that anything she did here would stay in this timeline. She filled two more pages of her journal with calculations before realizing that lunch was approaching quickly.
As was normal for her, she could lose vast amounts of time in math, lost in the calculations.
She used a wash cloth to freshen up, changed her dress into a lighter one more suited for the warming temperatures of the day, and then at her normal time, with her journal and pen in her hand, she started back down the stairs to have lunch.
She was mostly expecting that Brice Lincoln would not be there.
But she was so hoping he would be.
As she entered the dining room, Brice was sitting in his normal position writing in his journal.
He was slightly hunched over and seemed very intent on what he was doing. Maybe he was a novelist of some sort. She would have to ask him.
Bonnie had told her that it was normal for a woman of this time to keep a personal journal, so at least she had her cover story on what she was doing.
As she approached his table, she noticed that what he was working on was numbers.
Two steps away she froze.
Higher math.
He was working on higher math, just as she had been doing.
Math that did not exist in this time.
He looked up and slammed his journal cl
osed, clearly stunned that she had gotten so close.
He scrambled to his feet, smiling at her and moving quickly around the table to hold the chair for her.
She barely made it to the chair and sat down.
“I hope you had a pleasant morning,” he said, going back to his chair and moving his journal out of the way. “I’m so glad you could join me for lunch.”
As he took his chair, she looked at him. Perfect teeth, just as she did. A journal just as she had. Working on higher math just as she was doing.
He was from a future, and more than likely another timeline.
Oh, shit, now what was she going to do?
He sat looking at her and as she didn’t respond his smile slowly faded until it looked forced.
“I have a question for you,” she said, her voice as controlled as she could make it.
“Anything,” he said, now looking very worried.
“What is the name of the friend you are waiting for to return?”
Brice seemed stunned by that question and sat back. Then he said, “Duster Kendal.”
“Oh, shit,” she said, shaking her head and staring at the table. “This can’t be happening.”
“I’m sorry,” Brice said, clearly surprised at her language. “I fear I am at a loss.”
She took a deep breath and looked up into the worry covering his face.
“I’m waiting for Bonnie Kendal,” she said. “I caught a glance at what you were working on.”
For a moment Brice just looked puzzled, then slowly she could see a realization come over him.
With a quick glance around to make sure no one could overhear what she was about to say, she said, “I work for Bonnie and Duster Kendal in the year 2016.”
She took her journal and opened it to some of the math calculations she had been doing this afternoon to figure out if she could stay with Brice in this time.
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