Fighting Fate

by Louise Clark

  He glared at her. “I will do this.”

  “No, you will not.”

  Now at an impasse, they glared at each other. Andrew was the first to look away, but he was far from defeated. He allowed his brows to rise in a thoughtful way. “Your clothing is even more revealing than most in this century,” he said. “I assume this scrap of material is for Cody’s pleasure?”

  She eyed him warily, wondering where he was headed with this. “That’s right.”

  “Have you told him about the Beacon?”

  “No. I was going to do it tonight.” Even as she said the words she realized that Cody would be arriving in less than an hour expecting an intimate dinner and a quiet evening. He certainly wouldn’t want to be joined by a confrontational Uncle Andrew.

  “I will help,” Andrew said, looking pleased with himself.

  As well he might. He knew very well that Faith wanted to be alone with Cody when she told him about her special ability. He probably assumed that she would cave into his blackmail and allow him on the net, just to be rid of him.

  Think again, Uncle Andrew. “I’ll call Cody and put him off while we sort this out.”

  Andrew’s lips pursed in annoyance. “I’m not going back without the information, Faith.”

  “Andrew, you must! You know that.” With that she left him to consider the realities of the situation and went into the kitchen to rescue the appetizers then call Cody.

  His voicemail answered. Frustrated, she left a message asking him to call her. Then she paused and thought. Somehow she had to get Uncle Andrew back into the eighteenth century before he snuck in some research on the net. How? She needed help and a whole lot of support.

  She phoned Liz’s cell. Her sister and Andrew had always gotten along. Maybe Andrew would listen to her.

  Liz’s voicemail answered too. What was it with people? Did no one ever answer the phone these days? She left an urgent and slightly hysterical message, then dialed her mother.

  This time she was in luck. Chloe answered on the third ring. “Mom? Andrew’s here and he says he won’t go back until he finds out what happens to George Strand. Can you come?”

  There were three cars parked in the drive at Faith’s house. Cody recognized her car, but not the other two. He frowned, wondering if he’d misinterpreted her invitation. When she’d slid out of his bed this morning, she’d talked about spending the night at her place. Somehow, he’d been certain she had planned a one-on-one evening. He’d been so sure that he’d used the day to shop, not one of his favorite occupations, but a necessary one.

  He parked to one side of the drive so that the other cars would be able to leave, hopefully just after he arrived. Then he retrieved the large bouquet of roses and orchids from the seat beside him and checked his pocket before he slammed the door. Taking a deep breath he headed to the house.

  He knew there was something wrong the instant Faith answered the door. She was wearing a red dress of some soft, shimmery fabric and he allowed himself a moment to admire the way it hugged her curves and showed off her long legs, before he set his mind to solving the puzzle set before him.

  “Hi,” she said. She glanced over her shoulder, her expression worried.

  She was standing in the middle of the doorway, blocking his entry. He smiled at her in a reassuring way and stepped forward, forcing her to move back and open the door wider. Her reaction was reluctance and again she glanced inside the house. He thrust the flowers at her. Once more, good manners and habit forced her to react. She took the bouquet, stared at it in a bemused way for a moment and then held it close and inhaled.

  “I bought them for you,” he said. “I hope you like them.”

  As if she had drawn strength from the fragrant scent, she smiled as she looked up. “I do! Oh, Cody, you weren’t home! I called you, maybe half-a-dozen times.”

  He moved closer, touched her shoulder and gently eased her away from the door, which he closed behind him. With the door shut, the normal outside sounds disappeared and he could focus on those inside the house. There were voices coming from somewhere in the rear, a woman’s voice, then another and a male voice followed, after a moment, by another male voice. A piece of the puzzle fell into place. Apparently Faith’s family had decided to visit.

  Faith heard the voices too. “I didn’t plan for them to come tonight.”

  Cody took her arm at the elbow and guided her across the hall. He had a vague idea of taking her into the living room where they could cuddle on the couch while she described whatever crisis had caused this family gathering. “Do they often just show up?”

  Faith shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again as her father’s voice bellowed, “I told you this would never work! Just when it looks as if she’s got a decent man interested in her, this…this madman from the past shows up. It will always be like that. No normal man would accept a lifetime of this kind of nonsense.”

  Faith went completely white. She shot a quick, horrified look at Cody. The flowers in her hand shook as she shivered. Fury raced through Cody. He still didn’t know what was going on, but the need to solve the equation gave way to a far greater need to protect his woman. He strode toward the kitchen, aware that Faith was trailing behind.

  A woman’s voice—Faith’s mother, Cody thought—was saying bitterly, “Not every man is as narrow-minded as you are, Daniel!”

  “Mom!” said Elizabeth.

  Then Cody burst into the kitchen.

  They had gathered around the kitchen table. A plate of appetizers, probably meant for him, sat in the centre. Daniel and Chloe were glaring at each other, while Elizabeth huddled protectively beside her father and Andrew calmly ate one of the appetizers, which looked like a sausage roll.

  It was Andrew who saw Cody first. “Ah-ha,” he said around the sausage roll and pointed at Cody. Everyone else focused on the doorway and suddenly there was silence.

  That suited Cody just fine. He shot Daniel an angry stare as he caught Faith’s hand, deliberately linking himself to her. “It’s a good thing I’m not a normal man, isn’t it, Hamilton?”

  Having swallowed the sausage roll, Andrew pounded his fist on the table. “Well said, sir!”

  Daniel rounded on Andrew. “He has no idea what he’s talking about.”

  Faith trembled. Cody wanted to kill her father. Instead he tightened his grip on her hand and drew her closer. “Don’t I? How do you know? You’ve been out of her life for years. How do you know what she will or will not tell me about herself?”

  Daniel said furiously, “I know because her mother didn’t tell me until after we’d been married for…”

  “My mistake, Daniel! I thought you cared enough about me—about our family!—to…”

  “And Faith is just like her mother,” Daniel concluded, ignoring his ex.

  “Faith is not her mother and I am not you. Don’t put your own twisted feelings on Faith and me.”

  Though Daniel continued to glare at him, there was doubt mixed in with the outrage now. Beside Cody, Faith stirred. She squeezed his hand, then eased away from his hold. She held the flowers out. “Mom. I need to find a vase for these. Can you hold them for a minute?”

  Chloe said, “What lovely flowers, Cody,” for all the world as if they were not in the midst of an emotional scene of monumental proportions.

  Cody watched Faith. Her movements were jerky, but growing smoother with every task performed, as if the ordinary jobs steadied her. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Daniel fuming. Andrew was eating more sausage rolls. He passed the plate to Elizabeth, who shook her head miserably.

  Almost everyone at the table was dressed in normal warm weather clothes. Liz was wearing a spaghetti-strap dress patterned with flowers in yellow and blue pastels. Chloe was also clad in a summer dress, although hers covered more skin than Liz’s did, while Daniel had on a red golf shirt and black twill pants. Andrew, however, was dressed as if he was going to a costume party. Although the temperature had to be near
ly eighty, he was wearing a suit coat made from a slithery fabric that looked like silk. The color was a splash of dark red and the fancy garment sported wide lapels and buttonholes embroidered with gold thread. Under the coat was a shirt with a thick fall of lace at the wrists and around his neck was a tie with more lace, held down with a tiepin that looked suspiciously as if it was made from a sizeable diamond.

  Cody had wondered about Andrew since he met him a week ago. The odd way of speaking, the childlike amazement about everyday items, the lack of knowledge about things that should have been as familiar to him as his fingertips. Seeing him now, dressed in clothes that made him look like a wealthy country gentleman from an eighteenth century print, only added to the mystery about the man. Moreover, those expensive clothes of his were dirty. There were tears in the lace at his wrists and Andrew was sporting a bruise that had already developed into a hell of a shiner.

  Whatever was going on here, Andrew was the key. Cody was prepared to stake his life on that.

  With the flowers in the vase, Faith turned to her family. “Okay. This needs to be resolved—tonight. Mom, Andrew needs guidance. He’s here because he wants to use the net to get it. I think we need to tell him what he wants to know.”

  Outraged, Daniel said, “You’re not allowed to!”

  Faith sighed. “That’s part of the mystery, isn’t it?” She opened the fridge door. “Maybe we have to tell Andrew. Maybe he’s supposed to know.” She plunked a brown paper package onto the counter, hauled out a plate and ripped open the package. Inside were two large cooked lobster tails. She broke the soft shells open and used a fork to pry the meat loose.

  “But—”

  “For once you might listen to your daughter and take her feelings into consideration,” Chloe said. “We know how to handle these things. You abandoned us long ago. You have no say in this matter.”

  Faith shook her head as she sliced the lobster meat into bite-sized pieces. She had the look of a woman at the end of her patience.

  “I’m with Dad,” Liz said. “He’s still part of this family.”

  Cody touched Faith’s shoulder. She looked up, startled. “What would you like me to do, Faith? Do you want me to go?” He didn’t want to leave, but he wasn’t sure Faith would appreciate him around while her family took pot shots at each other.

  Her response was quick and certain. “Oh, no Cody, no. Tonight you stay. Please.”

  He couldn’t say no. Hell, he didn’t want to say no. Not only did he want to be here to support Faith, but her family’s conversation was intriguing.

  “Daniel Hamilton is no more entitled to be one of us than George Strand is,” Andrew burst out angrily. “They are both cold, uncaring men who would rather see their daughters unhappy than acknowledge that they must live their lives their own way.”

  The group around the kitchen table erupted in a heated debate.

  Faith shook her head again and loaded the lobster onto a plate. She put it on a tray, then added cutlery and a jar of seafood sauce, working, Cody could see, as quickly as she could.

  “All of this is getting us nowhere,” Daniel said.

  Faith turned around “You’re right, Dad. Listen up, all of you. I invited Cody over tonight to be with me. Me. Alone. This,” she indicated the tray, then the people assembled at the table, “isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I planned the evening. Right now Cody and I are going out to the backyard where we will drink some wine and eat some lobster and talk—alone—while the rest of you discuss what needs to be done.” She took a bottle of wine from the fridge where it was chilling, then grabbed two glasses from the cupboard.

  As she handed the wine and glasses to him, Cody smiled. His heart leapt when she smiled back. He had no idea what was going on, but he was pretty sure he was about to find out. Whatever it was, it had split up her family and a part of him couldn’t help wondering if Daniel Hamilton was right. Another part kept fiddling with the bits of information he had, trying to put the puzzle together.

  She picked up the tray and smiled at him. “Okay, let’s go.”

  As he followed her out the door, he heard Chloe Hamilton say, “Andrew, you have to go back. Mary Elizabeth is waiting for you. You will marry the girl and have—”

  “Chloe!” Daniel Hamilton bellowed in outrage.

  Chloe continued on without pause, “three children. And you will adopt your sister’s family when she dies.” The rest of what she said was lost as the back door slammed behind them.

  But what he’d heard was fascinating.

  The evening was clear and still warm from the day’s sunshine. Mature maple trees shaded the lawn and flowers bloomed in the borders. Insects buzzed and the occasional bird chirped. A squirrel dashed across the grass, intent on a food-finding expedition. The scene was restful, and even here, on the outskirts of a major city, it was possible to imagine what the land must have looked like when this was a prosperous farming area.

  Faith set the tray onto a wrought-iron table near the house and arranged two of the matching chairs so they were close together. Cody put down the glasses and opened the bottle of wine. While Faith laid out plates and cutlery, he poured, then he held her chair while she sat, a little act of courtesy that was old-fashioned and somehow appropriate under the circumstances.

  Faith held her glass of wine between her hands, rolling it back and forth while she tried to figure out how to explain the unexplainable. Cody poured seafood sauce on his plate, then dipped a chunk of lobster tail into it and ate. He said nothing, waiting until she was ready to begin. She wasn’t sure whether to be grateful, resentful, or worried. Maybe she was all three at once.

  Tonight was the second time her father had shown up on an evening when she planned to tell Cody about herself. The second time he’d undermined her nerve by reminding her of the disaster her parents’ marriage had been, all because Chloe was a Beacon, as she was.

  Yesterday she’d decided it was time to commit to Cody. She had already given him her heart and last night she offered him her body. Did she have the strength to present him with her trust tonight?

  She didn’t want to tell him what she was. She was afraid of seeing an expression of polite amazement on his face, or, worse, watching helpless as he walked out of her life. It would hurt too much. Over the past few weeks she’d come to depend on him. When he wasn’t around she wanted to be with him. When he was with her she wanted to explore his mind, touch his body, hear him laugh, feel his kiss.

  She sighed, took a sip of her wine, and said, “My life is always like this.”

  Cody smiled faintly. “You mean your family regularly comes by to bicker and fight?”

  Faith laughed, though she could hear no humor in the sound. “No. Andrew shows up, just like that,” she said with a snap of her fingers. “He usually comes on Friday night to shower and prepare for the weekend. He’s quite a ladies’ man, you see, probably because he is clean and smells of my cranberry soap. Or he was until he met Mary Elizabeth and decided he’d found the love of his life. But he doesn’t necessarily have to come on Friday nights. In fact, I’m never sure when he will show up.”

  “Where does Andrew live?”

  This was it. The moment when she retreated or went forward. Decision time. She sighed again and drank more wine. “Cody, he used to live in the old farmhouse that my mother and sister live in.”

  Cody frowned. “He used to live there?”

  Chapter 21

  Trust Cody Simpson to catch the important part of the sentence. “Yeah, used to. He doesn’t live there any more because he’s dead.”

  Cody sat back, startled. “Are you telling me Andrew is a ghost?”

  Faith shook her head. “No, oh no. Andrew is very much alive. But Cody, he lives in 1772. He’s a Traveler—that’s what we call people who can move back and forth in time.”

  “He travels through time,” Cody said, enunciating each word as if to clarify the meaning in his mind.

  “Yes! He travels from his own time to mine
because of me—I’m a Beacon. Somehow, and I don’t know how, he can see me or sense me. He says it’s like a light in the woods on a night with no moon or stars. He comes toward that light and when he reaches it he is here with me in my time. I don’t understand it. Andrew doesn’t either. We just know it happens.”

  Cody put his glass on the table. “What you’re describing sounds impossible.”

  This was it. He was about to tell her that she was a nut case and he didn’t want anything more to do with her. “It does, doesn’t it? Look, Cody…” She could hear her voice crack and struggled to control raw emotions. She was shaking now, so she put her glass on the table too. Staring at her hands, she said, “It’s an ability that runs in my family. My mother is both a Beacon and a Traveler. Her mother, my grandmother, was only a Beacon, but my great-grandmother was a Beacon and a Traveler too. Not everyone in the family has it. My sister is completely normal. She says she wishes she had the ability, but I know she doesn’t, not really. Why would she want it?”

  “Because it’s fascinating,” Cody said. “Faith, there has to be a scientific reason for this!”

  Faith looked at him gloomily. “Probably. It’s not exactly something we talk about in a casual way. One of my ancestors was accused of being a witch in seventeenth century Salem because of her ability to travel. Another was exiled from Boston because of it. Being different—being this different!—can be dangerous.”

  Cody stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, then he reached out. He touched her cheek, stroking gently in a gesture that conveyed awe and incredible tenderness. “And you told me.”

  “Yes,” she whispered. She was unprepared for his response, but could feel a sense of wonderment bubbling deep inside, contained now, but ready to rise to the surface as it grew and expanded.

  “Faith, I am honored.” He slid his hand into her hair to draw her close, then he kissed her with that same tenderness and a triumph born of awe.

  Dizzy with sensation, Faith found herself curled on his lap, her body melting into his. What had he said? I’m honored. I’m honored? Had she heard right?