When she finally drew away, she stared up at him with tear-filled eyes. Make-up streaked down her cheeks.
“Your wife, Sarah, contacted me a week ago.”
Chase’s eyes widened. “Sarah?”
How had she figured out how to get in touch with his mother? A jumble of emotions raced through him. He hadn’t wanted to cause her any more grief by showing up, then disappearing again. On the other hand, seeing her one more time, and letting her know that he was finally in a place he was meant to be, would give her closure. She wouldn’t have to spend the rest of her life wondering if he’d abandoned her, like his loser father had done.
A warm look passed through his mother’s eyes. She stepped away from him, and assessed his appearance. He’d already changed back into his buckskins and homespun, looking every bit the nineteenth century mountain man that he was. She appraised him like only a mother could.
“You look fantastic, Chase. You truly were meant to lead the life you’re now leading.”
Chase smiled tentatively. How much had Sarah told her? As if she could read his mind, she squeezed his upper arms, her smile widening.
“Sarah told me everything.” She laughed softly, and shook her head. “Of course, it took her a lot of convincing to get me to believe any of it. I mean . . . time travel? She told me to look you up on the internet.” She stared up at him. “So I did.”
It took a moment for Chase to get past the point about Sarah advising his mother to look him up on the internet. Of course, Jana and Aimee would have helped her, and told her what to say.
Groping for words, he said, “I was lost here, Mom. I found myself in the wilderness. In the past. It’s where I belong. It’s where I need to be.”
She stared at him in silence for several moments, then smiled. She nodded softly. “You look good. You’ve never looked better.”
“I’ve never felt better.” His gaze dropped to the ground, and guilt consumed him. Guilt for not calling her.
“I didn’t contact you because I didn’t want to cause you any more pain, Mom. I thought by now you’d have come to terms with me being dead.”
She swiped at the tears on her face, and hugged him as if he were a little boy again. Chase wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight.
“Sarah explained all that to me, Chase,” she whispered. “I understand that you wanted to spare my feelings, but at least this way I know for sure what happened to you.”
Chase tightened his hold around her. “I’m sorry, Mom. I should have called you myself.”
Emily Russell pulled away from him, her eyes locked on his. “You’re a good boy, Chase. You always have been. I’ve always been so proud of you.”
Chase scoffed. “You worked so hard all your life to give me everything, and I just threw all that away.” He glared at the ground again.
His mother grabbed his arms, and gave them a shake. In her stern, motherly voice, she said, “Look at what you’ve accomplished now, though. You were upset about Coach Beckman’s death. I’m just sorry your father wasn’t there for you when you were growing up, but that didn’t stop you from becoming the kind of man you are now.” Her grip on his arms tightened with each word she spoke. “I couldn’t be happier for you, now that you have your own family. I know I’ll most likely never see my grandchildren, but I can read about them, right?” She laughed softly. “And appreciate this legacy you’ve left.”
Chase’s head snapped up. His forehead wrinkled. “What are you talking about, Mom?”
Her eyes widened. “I’m afraid I’ve said too much. Just know that your future is in the past, and I will come to accept that, even if it’s hard.”
Movement from the door diverted his attention from his mother. Sarah stood behind them, Emily cradled in her arms. Chase stared at her, his chest flooding with warmth for his wife, that she’d taken it upon herself to contact his mom when he didn’t. Sarah had always known what was best for him, even when he didn’t see it. He stepped around his mother.
“Mom, I want you to meet someone.” He reached for Sarah’s hand, and pulled her to him. He glanced from his wife to his mother. “I guess you’ve already met Sarah, but you haven’t met our daughter, Emily.”
Sarah smiled brightly, then shot a quick look of worry at Chase. He returned her smile, assuring her without words that he wasn’t mad at her. She held the baby out for him to take, then stepped up to the older woman.
“Mrs. Russell, it’s so good to finally speak to you without a phone,” Sarah said softly.
Fresh tears rolled down his mother’s cheeks. She pulled Sarah into a hug. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to my son,” she whispered loud enough for Chase to hear.
The women pulled apart, and both sobbed. Chase held Emily out for his mother, whose face lit up when she held her granddaughter.
“She’s perfect,” Emily Russell whispered, gazing at the infant with the instant love of a grandmother in her eyes.
“Yes, she is,” Chase whispered, and wrapped his arm around Sarah’s waist.
His mother held the baby, her eyes darting from the infant to Sarah, then back to Chase.
“I’ve met someone, too,” she finally said. “He’s a good man, Chase. He loves me, and he’s asked me to marry him.”
“That’s great news, Mom. You haven’t met a man in years.” Chase touched her arm. Relief flooded him with the knowledge that his mother wouldn’t be alone.
She laughed. “I’ve always been too afraid. Ben is different. I knew immediately that we were right for each other.” She stared up at him. “Your father passed away six months ago. He was killed in a car crash. He’d been drinking. Drove his car straight into a light pole.” She laughed dismissively. “Good thing he didn’t kill someone in the process.”
A fleeting sense of remorse filled Chase’s chest, but he couldn’t truly mourn his father. He hadn’t seen the man in over a decade. His former football coach had been his father-figure, and now, Daniel Osborne.
Chase cleared his throat. “I love you, Mom.” His gaze moved from her to Sarah. “And I’m glad I got to see you, and know you’re doing well.”
Emily Russell looked up at her son. She nodded. “I love you too, Chase. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you.”
* * * *
Chase swung his right leg over his horse’s neck, and leapt lightly to the ground. Sarah remained seated on her mount. Emily cooed and gurgled happily in the cradle on Sarah’s back.
“This won’t take long,” he said, looking up at her.
Sarah smiled, and nodded. “We will wait here,” she said, glancing toward the steam rising into the sky several hundred yards ahead of them.
Chase fingered the pouch around his neck, then climbed the steep incline that led to the Dragon’s Mouth. Long before he reached the hot spring, the loud sounds of churning and sloshing of water, and the belching of gases filled the air. The gunshot-sounding booms emitted by the Mud Volcano a short distance away reverberated through the hills.
Chase reached the top of the rise, and the ground leveled out again. He glanced to where the cavern of the Dragon’s Mouth yawned from the side of the hill, and stopped. The figure of a slight, hunched-over man stood within the mist created by the hot water. Chase swallowed.
“The old coot doesn’t miss a beat,” he mumbled, then strode toward the Indian.
The old man smiled and straightened his back when Chase approached.
“Chase Russell, you have fulfilled your promise?” Watery eyes looked up at him.
“Somehow I think you already know the answer,” Chase said, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. He pulled the pouch from around his neck, and held it out to the Indian.
“I hope I brought back the right thing. You weren’t exactly specific about what I was supposed to be looking for.” He paused, then asked the question that had nagged him since finding that second snakehead. “How many more devices like these two are there?” Chase glared at the Indian. “What other surpr
ises do you have in store for us?”
The elder’s face cracked in a toothless smile. He took the pouch from Chase. “You have done well, Chase Russell. There are no more vessels, at least none that have been revealed to me. Rest assured, everything is back to the way it should be.”
A haunted look passed through the old man’s eyes, as if he didn’t believe his own words. There were things he wasn’t saying. Chase didn’t want to know. It was time for his life to return back to normal.
“You have done well, Chase Russell. May our paths never cross again.” With those words, the old man turned and walked away, and disappeared through the mist given off by the hot springs.
Chase stared after him for a moment. Damn right he never wanted to see that crazy old fool again. It was time to forget all about his strange encounter with this Indian. Shaking his head, he returned to where he’d left Sarah and Emily.
“It’s all over,” he said, and swung up on his horse’s back. “Let’s go home.”
Sarah held his gaze. “Will you mind if we return home by way of the canyon?” she asked, a smile on her face.
Chase returned her smile. “You read my mind, Angel. We can camp there tonight. It’s on the way home.”
She nodded, a satisfied look on her face. Chase guided his horse closer to hers, and reached for her hand. He stared at his wife. How many times had he wondered how he’d gotten so lucky? Side by side, they rode through the lush Hayden Valley in silence, Chase absorbing the peace and tranquility of this vast place. They followed the course of the Yellowstone River as it meandered lazily through this valley, and reached the gaping canyon of the Yellowstone just as the sun began to descend into the western horizon. The brilliant hues of reds, oranges, and yellows along the canyon walls shimmered brightly in the evening sun.
Sarah led him to the place where they had stood several weeks ago, only this time there was no cement path, or parking lot, or dozens of people to disturb them at their special place. Standing near the canyon’s edge, Sarah wrapped her arms around Chase’s neck, and whispered in his ear.
“We are expecting again.”
Chase drew away from her, his eyes wide. He stared down at her, and her lips widened in a bright smile. His heart leapt in his chest. She’d never gotten the chance to tell him of her first pregnancy after she suspected, something he’d always regretted.
Chase pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. “Are you sure?” he asked. Other words failed him.
Sarah’s cheeks turned rosy. “Jana gave me a test to take. Otherwise I would have been guessing for a few months.”
Chase swallowed. “A boy this time,” he mumbled against her lips. He couldn’t suppress the grin on his face.
Sarah laughed. “You were very eager to name your first daughter Kyle. Perhaps we’ll have the chance to give this name to our second child. What is the meaning of the name?”
Chase’s face sobered momentarily. “It’s for Kyle Beckman, my football coach. He was the only other man, besides your dad, who ever believed in me.”
Sarah hugged him. “What if we have another girl? Will you be disappointed?”
Chase’s grin widened. “No. If we have another girl, that just means we get to keep trying for a boy. We’ll name her Kara. It rhymes with Sarah. And,” he winked at her, “it’s a modern name. Modern, because she was conceived in the future.”
Together they stood, gazing at the setting sun along the canyon rim, the golden hues of the soil glowing as if it was on display just for the two of them. Chase pulled Sarah into his arms, and kissed her with the promise of happiness to come.
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Dear Reader
The idea for this novella came to me after one of my beta readers dropped the bug in my ear that it would be interesting if Aimee, Daniel, Chase, and Sarah all time traveled to the future together. That was more than a year ago. I had two other book projects I was working on at the time, so I set the idea aside. When I finally started giving it some serious thought, I had to consider, what would make these characters want to travel to the future in the first place? At the end of Yellowstone Redemption, the time travel device was disposed of permanently, so how could they even manage to come to the future?
The answer to both questions hit me almost instantly. For the time travel element, I needed to pull out my notes on backstory from when I was working on Yellowstone Heart Song and Yellowstone Redemption, stuff that never made it into the final books because I took most of the things I’d written about the “Sky People” out of the story line before the books were published. I sort of brought it back, hinting at it, for Yellowstone Deception, but for this novella and possible future stories, I’m bringing the concept back fully.
The Tukudeka - Eaters of Sheep - a group of Mountain Shoshone who inhabited regions of the greater Yellowstone area for thousands of years before the first white man laid eyes on the area, play a prominent part throughout the Yellowstone Romance Series. The idea for the time travel device as used in the series originated with the Sheepeaters’ beliefs in a hierarchy of spirits they called sky, earth, and water people. The idea of the snakehead device, and that the “sky people” are the guardians of the Yellowstone area and hold the power of time travel, is strictly from my imagination, and used purely for entertainment purposes in my books.
My main source of information about the Sheepeaters, their customs, beliefs, and way of life, comes from a book titled Mountain Spirit – The Sheepeater Indians of Yellowstone, written by Lawrence L. Loendorf and Nancy Medaris Stone.
As always, a huge thanks to my editor, Barbara Ouradnik, and my superb beta readers – Heather Belleguelle, Lisa Bynum, Sonja Carroll, Shirl Deems, Becky Fetzer, and Hilarie Kearns Smith.
Other Available Titles
Yellowstone Romance Series (in recommended reading order):
Yellowstone Heart Song
A Yellowstone Christmas (novella)
Yellowstone Redemption
Yellowstone Awakening
Yellowstone Dawn
Yellowstone Deception
A Yellowstone Promise (novella)
Teton Romance Trilogy:
Teton Sunrise
Teton Splendor
Teton Sunset
Second Chances Time Travel Romance Series
Come Home to Me
Ain’t No Angel
Diamond in the Dust (coming soon)
Find out more about me and my stories here:
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A Yellowstone Promise: Yellowstone Romance Series Novella Page 10