Christmas in Time

by Zoe Matthews

  Even though it still was very different from what she was used to wearing, she looked in the mirror once she was dressed and loved how she looked. She put the necklace on and instantly knew she would be taking this back with her when she returned to her own time. Small beads were tied in intervals down a long silver chain. It was simple and didn’t call attention to herself, but it still struck her as beautiful.

  When Colleen entered the living room, she noticed that Garrett’s eyes lit up when he saw her, and he took a few steps toward her but then stopped. She could tell he liked what he saw. She knew the colors of the clothing complimented her dark features.

  Garrett helped her into his small truck and then walked around to the driver’s side. “I found a restaurant that is on the other side of Denver that I want to take you to,” he said. “It is an authentic, Native-American restaurant.”

  Colleen frowned in confusion. She had no idea what authentic meant, and she had to remind herself that Native-American was another term for Indian. Garrett seemed to understand her confusion. “They are supposed to serve food that is like what your Indian family might have eaten. I’m not sure if there will be food you used to enjoy when you visited your family in the mountains, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

  “It sounds nice,” Colleen said, letting him know she was willing to try it. Since she hadn’t been able to see her family for years, she had been missing the food and comfort it brought.

  “What do you think of my time so far?” Garrett asked.

  “It is very different,” Colleen told him. “I can’t believe how different everything is. Did you have a hard time adjusting when you returned?”

  “Some. I mean it had been eleven years since I lived here. I had to be careful not to let people know where I was when they asked about my childhood. There were a lot of things I had to relearn. I spent a lot of time in the library,” Garrett grinned at her.

  Colleen found herself grinning back. “I’m glad you’re happy now.” And she realized he was very happy. It had been a long time since she had seen this relaxed side of him.

  When Garrett parked his truck near a small building, she realized this was the restaurant. They went inside, and a waitress immediately seated them. After handing them menus, Garrett opened his.

  “Let’s see what types of food they are serving,” Garrett said.

  Colleen opened hers and almost gasped at the number of foods available. She was barely able to absorb what she was reading as she saw sections about salads and burgers. Nothing looked familiar.

  Garrett leaned over. “It looks like a lot of their menu has been Americanized. There is a section here that should be more what you are used to.”

  Colleen followed his finger to a section label, “Local Legends.” After looking at the six different options there, she agreed that it did sound more like what she was used to eating.

  She finally settled on a Navajo stew, and Garrett ordered the same.

  While they ate, Colleen enjoyed talking with Garrett and she realized she wasn’t angry at him anymore. She knew he had made decisions the best he knew how. She could tell that he did feel regret in how he handled things, but he was happy, and he seemed different. She finally realized he had grown up. He had a steady job and was pursuing his plans to go to school. While they talked, she knew he answered the question that was in the back of her mind since she had seen him the night before. He had no plans to return to her time. He was going to stay in the time he was born in. A wave of sadness overwhelmed her at this realization, and tears came to her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Garrett asked with concern when he noticed the tears that she tried to discreetly wipe away. “Is the food okay?”

  “The food is fine,” Colleen sniffed. “It reminds me of what I would eat as a child.”

  “So, what is wrong then?”

  Colleen decided to be honest with him. “I just realized how happy you are in this time period. You aren’t going to come back with me, are you?”

  Garrett slowly shook his head, regret in his eyes. “No, Colleen, I’m not. In fact, that is the main reason why I haven’t gone back to the portal. I don’t want anything to pull me back to the past. I am afraid that even if I used the portal to let our family know I’m okay, I won’t be able to return. Either something would happen to make the portal not work, or my dad would do his best to stop me from returning. I want to live here.”

  Colleen couldn’t keep the tears from falling. Garrett reached out and grasped her hand. “I know that might be hard for you to understand, but…”

  “No,” Colleen interrupted him. “I understand. You’ve changed. You are no longer the man who wasted his pay on drink and only worked when he had to. You are happy here.”

  Garrett shrugged, but he kept his eyes on Colleen as if begging her to understand. “I really don’t know how my dad did it, accepting the idea of living in your time period. I guess a lot of it was because he had Bridget. He had her love to help him.”

  “You have my love,” Colleen wanted to say, and was shocked as those words floated through her mind. She knew she couldn’t say them.

  “I am happy here,” Garrett continued. “And I guess coming here forced me to grow up. I had to take care of myself, or I would have starved.”

  Colleen kept her eyes on her food and took another bite, although she suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore.

  “Tell me about our family and how everyone is doing,” Garrett said, changing the subject.

  Throughout the rest of the meal, Colleen entertained him with children, and Bridget’s new baby girl that had been born shortly after Garrett had left. She kept things light, not mentioning anything about the multiple meetings the family had had about Garrett. When they were finished, and Garrett paid the check, they were soon back in the truck.

  “How would you like to spend the rest of the day together?” Garrett suggested. “I could show you some things about modern Denver, things that aren’t in your time yet.”

  Colleen agreed although her heart continued to ache. She had noticed that the past was never ‘our time.’ Garrett always referred to it as ‘your time.’ She knew it was the last sign she needed to realize he was serious when he said he wasn’t going to go back.

  Garrett drove around for a while, pointing at things of interest to her. Colleen tried to show enthusiasm. She had to tell herself to just enjoy this time with him since she was going to be leaving in a few days, now that she had found him. She knew the family would be anxious to hear how things went.

  Finally, Garrett pulled up to what he called an aquarium. When he told her that it was a place to look at sea and river animals, Colleen was confused. Why would she want to go watch fish swim?

  It didn’t take long for Colleen to realize that there was much more than just trout. She felt like a child again as she looked at the small colorful fish, the giant turtles, and even got to touch a stingray.

  She took her time reading about each animal and was amazed at the knowledge that was available. Garrett led her to a giant tank that reached from floor to ceiling. Inside were real sharks! She could hardly believe it. There were benches nearby the tank, and they both sat and watched the sharks for a long time. She was so satisfied; she couldn’t help reaching over and grabbing Garrett’s hand, much like she used to do when they were children.

  She was so occupied with the sharks, she didn’t notice Garrett’s surprise at her touch or the warm look that quickly followed.

  She was amazed at how fulfilled she felt. Before they came, she had never known she would enjoy something like this; now, she felt she would have missed a big opportunity had he not taken her.

  “Have you had a good time?” Garrett almost teased. It had been clear the entire time that she had been thoroughly enjoying herself.

  “Absolutely. I can’t believe something like this actually exists. It’s amazing!” she exclaimed.

  “Are you tired?” he asked.

  “Not at all. I feel as though I co
uld keep walking for days.” Excitement coursed through her, giving her energy she hadn’t felt since she was a young child exploring the fields near the ranch.

  “Can I take you somewhere else?” was his next question.

  Colleen felt uncertain. “Are you sure? You have already done so much for me.”

  Garrett stood, pulling her up with him with the hand she still held. “Absolutely,” he said with a big grin and led her back to his truck.

  He pulled up in front of a large building that had what seemed like a thousand cars parked outside of it. After the long walk into the building, Colleen realized it was packed full of different stores. He gave her a card and told her that it had two hundred dollars on it. She was shocked at the amount.

  Garrett grinned wryly. “Two hundred dollars really doesn’t go very far in this time period. But it might be enough for you to purchase more clothes or anything else you might need. You can use it at one of the stores here in this mall.”

  In the end, Colleen agreed to use some of the money and bought a pair of shoes Garrett called walking shoes, along with a warm jacket, so she wouldn’t need to wear Megan’s anymore. She didn’t want to spend all the money.

  Once she made her purchases, Garrett offered to buy her a pretzel. They sat on a bench and enjoyed the treat while watching people walk by. Colleen realized that throughout all the time at the restaurant, aquarium, and now at the shopping mall, she hadn’t noticed one strange look at her because of her skin. In fact, she saw many people with dark skin, as well as white. It was one of the things she enjoyed about this time period, not needing to worry about people’s comments or rude looks. She felt as though she was finally able to relax and just be herself, regardless of who was around.

  “I have a question for you,” Garrett said, after taking a bite of pretzel. “I’d like you to wait until I’m done talking before you answer.”

  “Okay,” Colleen said cautiously, wondering what he wanted to ask her.

  “It is almost December. Why don’t you plan on staying until after Christmas? I know you might be anxious to leave, but it would be fun to celebrate Christmas together. It might be difficult to hike up to the portal anyway because of the snow. I don’t know if Keegan said anything, but the portal will probably be inaccessible until April or even May.”

  “Really?” Colleen asked shocked. She hadn’t even considered the fact that she wouldn’t be able to go home whenever she was ready.

  “It all depends on the amount of snowfall we get. But remember, that portal is in the same place it is in on the ranch in your time. Think about all the snow we’d get.”

  Colleen set what was left of her pretzel aside. She hadn’t realized it would be so hard to return. She remembered her walk down the mountain, and there had been at least six inches in some places. She knew it had snowed the next day, so most likely there was even more snow up in the mountains. The thought of not being able to get back to let the family know that she had found Garrett distressed her. It was the reason why she had come. What if they started to worry about her as well? After all, they don’t even know that she was able to get to Keegan safely.

  Garrett stopped talking, allowing her to think about his suggestion. Colleen thought about experiencing Christmas with Garrett. The more she thought about it, the more she liked his idea. She could already tell that Christmas was very different here, judging from the decorations that were all over the place. It would also be nice to spend these last few weeks with Garrett. Once she went back to her time, she would never see him again.

  “Okay. I’ll stay at least until Christmas. It sounds like I might need to stay until next spring though, if what you are saying is true.”

  “I will make you a promise. Once Christmas is over, if you really want to return, I will make sure you get to the portal.”

  Garrett reached out and grasped her hand. At the aquarium, holding his hand felt like companionship. This time, she saw a strong look in his eyes that frightened and excited her at the same time. She was closer to him than any other man besides her father and uncles. She knew him better than anyone and felt he knew her just as well. What if there actually could be more between the two of them now that Garrett had finally found a way to be truly happy?

  Chapter 13

  Colleen decided that since she was going to stay in Garrett’s time for Christmas, she was going to enjoy it. After she told Megan and Keegan her plans, she waited for them to tell her she really should return to her time immediately, but they didn’t. In fact, they seemed pleased she was staying. Colleen was concerned about supporting herself while she was here, and Megan immediately came up with a solution.

  “You can work in our shop,” Megan said with a flourish. “I’m not feeling up to working long days there right now. It’s been hard to be on my feet all day.”

  “We can pay you,” Keegan added.

  “Do you think that I would really be able to help?” Colleen asked with concern.

  “It should be similar to what you do in Justin’s art gallery,” Keegan said. “We would take some time to train you, so you can help customers find things. If you have any questions, we do have two other women who work there, and they could help. Megan’s mother, Barbara, only comes in sporadically, since she just had her baby.”

  Colleen hesitated, but then she nodded in agreement. “I’ll do my best, anyway.”

  Over the next week, she spent most of her time in the shop. It didn’t take her very long to know where to help when needed. She basically helped in the gift store. She wished she had some of her blankets that she created to sell, and she made a note to talk to Megan about bringing more of those kinds of items into the store. She wondered how easy it would be to find the yarn and loom she would need to make some herself.

  Colleen didn’t see much of Garrett while she was starting her job at the shop. He needed to work, and she spent as much time as she could at the store. In between helping customers, she explored the Victorian home. The layout was the same as she remembered it being in her time, but much of it had been changed. Of course, the entire first floor was the store, with its gift shop, the herb store, and the small café. There was also a bookstore that was used almost like a lending library. Customers could browse to their hearts’ content. When they found a book they wanted to read, they could either purchase it or borrow it. Colleen spent quite a bit of time in the library since she found many books that explained more of this new world she was in.

  One day, she explored the rooms on the second floor. Most of them were bedrooms. Keegan had kept them the same as they were when Victoria was alive in the late 1800s as much as possible and Colleen appreciated that. One of the rooms was locked, just like it had been in her time. When she was a child, she never questioned why. If the owner of a home had a room locked, then they had a reason and it wasn’t her business as to what was in it. But now, she wanted to know. She remembered seeing a bunch of keys hanging on small hooks in the kitchen, and she wondered if one of them would unlock the door.

  Part of her knew that she should ask permission, but she went downstairs and found a few keys that would likely open it. Back upstairs, the door opened with the third key that she tried. The door creaked open as she shoved the keys into her pocket. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she gasped in amazement. The entire room was full of items.

  There were many dresses that all looked unique. There were smaller items like books, spectacles, and coins. There were also larger items like bags, suitcases, paintings, and even a small statue.

  It only took Colleen a few minutes to realize that most, if not all, of the items in the room were from other time periods. When she opened a drawer to a small desk, she found a leather-bound notebook, the paper yellowed with age. She carefully picked it up and opened it. It was a journal with dates, the person who wrote in it had used very fancy calligraphy-type writing. She opened it to the first page and saw the name Victoria Hilton.

  “This is Victoria’s journal,” Colleen breathe
d, delighted in her discovery.

  She settled into a stuffed chair in a corner and began to read. Victoria had written down all of her experiences as she used the two keys to time travel. She wrote of how she was given the first key by a funny-looking man who she later started to call The Irish Man. Colleen loved reading about how she discovered how the key he had given her was really a time-travel device. Over the next few years, she used the key many times, visiting different time periods. She never went into the future; she hadn’t felt comfortable visiting anywhere but the past. She did her best to not let anyone know the year she was from. Colleen then read how she found the second key and that they looked almost the same. They worked together and became stronger in power.

  After her first husband, Charles, died, she started the mail-order bride company and decided to use the keys to go to the future. That was how Kimberly was found and brought back to 1892.