by Zoe Matthews
When he pulled away, he kept her in his arms, and held her for a moment. He enjoyed the peace they felt together, but knew that he needed to address the bear issue. “We need to talk about what could have happened with the bears, Kimberly.” She just nodded into his chest. “Please, don’t ever go off alone like that again. I also would like to teach you to shoot a gun.”
Kimberly pulled back and looked a little panicked at his words. “I’m not sure I can do that.”
“Everyone knows how to shoot, even Bridget. It is the way of life out here. You never know what you are going to run into.” He moved away from her but kept his hand in hers. “Let me show you something.”
He showed her how to observe her surroundings. He showed her the bear tracks and scant that she had passed on the way to the river. If she had known and recognized what they were, she would have known bears were nearby. He showed her how they were probably attracted to some bushes near the river that were full of small red berries. He was determined to show her all he knew, teach her all he knew, in order to
protect her.
****
As Patrick talked about the bear tracks and showed her how some of the bushes had been trampled by the bears, Kimberly realized that she had fallen in love with him. Nothing could stop the feelings that swelled from her heart. And she knew judging from the kiss they had just shared, that he felt something for her, too.
She had been so scared that she had gone into some sort to shock when the bears had run off and Patrick had started yelling at her. Then she felt him gather her into his arms and she instantly knew at that moment that she would be staying here, in 1892. She wasn’t going to be going back to her time. She wanted to stay with Patrick. She couldn’t believe how understanding he had been about her cooking disaster, and had felt very relieved when he told her he didn’t care if she didn’t know how to cook. A part of her couldn’t believe someone cared about her, maybe even loved her, like she had always wished for. Someone who wanted her love in return.
But how was she going to tell him about her secret, now that she had made the decision to stay? And when she told him, would he believe her? In her time, it was easy to find time travel stories and movies, even though they were considered fiction. But in Patrick’s time, had he even heard about the concept?
Kimberly was silent on the way back to the ranch. Patrick kept her hand in his and just before they left the protection of the forest, he again pulled her into his arms and just held her. She wanted to tell him right then that she had decided to stay, but something held her back. She knew she needed to think of the best way to tell him, but one thing was for sure, she wanted to tell him as soon as possible.
When they walked by the field where some of the horses were kept, Kimberly saw the light colored horse she had ridden from Denver in the distance. She thought of one way she could let him know she was thinking of staying.
“Patrick, I think I am ready for you to teach me to ride,” Kimberly told him. She was glad she had brought up the subject, for a huge grin broke out over his face.
“That’s great,” he told her. “I was afraid I had scared you too bad when I made you ride a horse for over four hours when you first came here, but there was no other way to get here.”
“No, you didn’t scare me,” Kimberly tried to explain. “I guess I just needed some time.”
There was a pause, as Patrick turned solemn. “And your secret?” Patrick asked, stopping her and turning to face her, a serious look on his face.
“Soon,” Kimberly reached a hand up and touched his face. She tried to show him of her honesty through her eyes. “Soon, I promise.”
Chapter 22
Nicky heard a knock on her front door and she wondered who it was. She had just gotten off the phone with the principle of her school. He had called to tell her that one of the teachers who was teaching summer school had just broken her leg, and he was wondering if she could fill in for the six-week program. Normally, she would have declined, for she loved having her summers free. She usually spent the months hiking, fishing, and rock climbing with Justin, or with some of her other friends. She also would take a short vacation with Kimberly. But now that Kimberly was gone, she wasn’t looking forward to the summer months, and she agreed to take the place of the teacher for the next six weeks.
Whoever was on the other side of her door knocked again and she got up to answer it. To her surprise, it was Collins.
“Come in,” she invited him and stepped aside so he could enter. She was surprised to see him so soon. Had he been able to deliver the letter she wrote so quickly? It had been barely a day since she had been at Mrs. Hilton’s home, fully prepared to camp out in the yard until she talked to someone who knew where Kimberly was.
Collins shook his head at her invitation. “I have delivered your letter and Kimberly has written a reply.” He handed her the same envelope she had sent. She noticed that Kimberly’s name had been crossed out on the envelope and her name had been replaced, written in Kimberly’s handwriting.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” Nicky asked as she accepted the letter.
Collins shook his head. “I must go. I have been away too long.”
“But,” Nicky wanted to argue, but Collins had already turned away.
“Have a good day,” he called to her formally as he walked down the sidewalk.
“Thank you for bringing the letter,” Nicky called back, then shut the door. She had noticed that there wasn’t a car parked in front of her townhome and she wondered why he hadn’t driven a car to her house. She opened her door to offer him a ride back to Mrs. Hilton’s home. When she did, she couldn’t see him anywhere.
“That’s strange,” she said to herself. “How could have he disappeared so quickly?” She shrugged her shoulders and quickly opened the letter.
She could tell it really was from Kimberly. When she saw the drawing of herself, Nicky remembered when her friend had drawn it. She also remembered their conversation they’d had about marriage to future men. She knew Kimberly was giving her a message.
After she read Kimberly’s words, she knew her friend really was happy. She still didn’t understand why she couldn’t just talk to her, but she would respect Kimberly’s wishes, and quit looking for her so intensely. She just hoped Kimberly would invite her to her wedding. That is, if she wasn’t married already. If she was honest with herself, part of her was envious of Kimberly. She had found someone to love, even if it was in an unconventional way.
Feeling better than she had since Kimberly left, she decided it was time to clean her townhouse and pay the bills. She went into her kitchen and was appalled at how dirty it was. When was the last time she did the dishes? She couldn’t remember, but it was obvious it had been at least a week. Dishes were something Kimberly had taken care of regularly. She saw a stack of mail and newspapers on the corner of the table, which was getting larger and larger by the day.
I might as well take care of the bills first, she thought to herself. She started to go through the stack, placing the mail she needed to keep in one pile and made another pile for junk mail and newspapers that she would recycle. It took her awhile since there was such a large stack. As she got down to the last of the newspapers, she realized she was holding a copy of the paper which Kimberly had found the ad in: The Denver Rocky Mountain Gazette.
I wonder if the ad will still be in there, she thought to herself. She
noticed that the newspaper was dated a few days after Kimberly had left. She quickly turned to the classified section and started to scan through the ads. Sure enough. The ad was there. It looked exactly like the ad Kimberly had showed her, the same ad that Nicky had dared Kimberly to answer as a joke. The ad that eventually took Kimberly away from her.
She remembered that Collins had told her that Mrs. Hilton had decided to put the mail-order bride business on hold “for her time.” What did that mean?
Instantly, she made a decision. She was going to answer the ad, j
ust like Kimberly did. She didn’t really want to be a mail-order bride. She didn’t understand why someone would want to marry a man they had never met. How could they marry when they hadn’t spent months getting to know each other? Nicky had dated quite a bit, but she hadn’t found someone she wanted to spend her entire life with. She firmly believed she needed to date someone and see them in all sorts of situations before making the commitment to marriage; holidays, sports games, interaction with children, and everything else life could throw at them. She felt that she would need to date someone for at least a year before she would be able to see that person in all the situations that would be possible. Then, there would be no surprises.
Nevertheless, she was going to answer this ad. She was going to test Mrs. Hilton. If the woman thought Nicky was sincere in her request to be a mail-order bride, maybe she would match her to someone close to Kimberly. Then she could make sure Kimberly was happy.
I am also going to send Kimberly another letter through Mrs. Hilton, she said to herself as she quickly opened her laptop and started a new word document. Even if Mrs. Hilton doesn’t match me with someone, maybe she would at least make sure Kimberly got this second letter. She quickly started to type before she changed her mind.
Dear Mrs. Hilton,
I am writing in response to your ad that was placed in the Denver Rocky Mountain Gazette a few months ago. I would like to send in an application to be a mail-order bride.
Your butler, Collins, did tell me that you have decided to close part of your business “for my time,” whatever that means. But I am asking you to consider me as an applicant anyway and send me the same information you sent to Kimberly.
I have found my time without Kimberly as my roommate to be rather lonely. There is a hole in my life that I have been hiding from, and now with Kimberly gone, I feel I must address the issue, and find myself a companion.
I am also enclosing another letter to Kimberly. If you really are going to shut down your business “for my time,” please at least make sure Kimberly gets this letter. She is my best friend and is like a sister to me. I don’t want to lose contact with her.
Thank you,
Nicky Foster
Nicky wasn’t sure why she wrote about feeling lonely, but hoped it would convince Mrs. Hilton that she was being sincere. While she didn’t feel like she needed to marry, she realized as she wrote the words, there may be more truth behind them than she was willing to admit.
After printing the letter, Nicky found an envelope and slid the paper inside. She quickly found a stamp, addressed the envelope, and walked to the nearby mailbox to mail it. Whatever happened was now in Mrs. Hilton’s hands.
****
“Patrick, I need to talk to you,” Keegan said to his brother. They were both taking care of the animals that were in the barn.
“What about?”
“I saw something strange the other day, about Kimberly,” Keegan said. Patrick looked at his youngest brother sharply. He had tried to talk about this to Patrick before now, but there had never been a good time.
“I don’t want to hear anything negative about her,” he said flatly. He could tell by the look on his brother’s face that it wasn’t going to be good. First Shaun had gotten off on a bad foot with Kimberly, and now Keegan thought she was strange. Why couldn’t his brothers just accept his choice of a bride?
“This really isn’t negative, just strange.”
“Okay then. What is it?”
“I saw Kimberly meet with a man in a black suit near the forest behind the barn.”
Patrick looked at his brother again and could tell that he was serious. “Okay. You better explain. We haven’t had any visitors recently.” They had visitors so rarely, when someone did come, everyone knew about it.
“I have to tell you something else first. You’re probably going to be mad at me, but you should know everything.”
“Just tell me, Keegan.”
“Yesterday, I was studying for a long time and needed a break, so I went outside. I saw Kimberly going into her cabin. She seemed to be in a hurry. She was inside for only a few minutes and when she left, she forgot to shut the door.
“I was curious about what she has in her cabin. I like Kimberly, I really do. But you have to admit there is something strange about her. I wanted to see that box with the red cross on it that you told me about when she worked on my leg. So I went inside her cabin.”
Keegan paused, grimacing, as if waiting for Patrick to get angry. Patrick bit his lip to keep from lecturing his brother about the privacy of others, especially Kimberly. He wanted to hear what Keegan had to say.
“Go on,” Patrick said gruffly.
“Well, I couldn’t find the box, but she had a book that was open on her bed, so I went to look at it. It wasn’t a book to read. It was a pad of paper that was tied together with some type of wire. There were drawings in it. I think Kimberly drew them.”
“Well, that’s not so strange. Lots of people like to draw,” Patrick felt relieved. If that was what Kimberly’s secret was, he didn’t have a problem with it, although he knew many people felt drawing was a waste of valuable time. Maybe that was why she hid it, because other people gave her a hard time.
“I looked through the book. Some of the drawings were strange. There was one of what looked like a weird machine with large wheels. She had drawn herself inside it. There was another one of a boy who was looking at a small box in his hands, but not like any box I’ve ever seen before. The boy was dressed weird.
“Anyway, I decided I better leave just in case she came back, so I put the book down. Then I looked out the window and that’s when I saw him.”
“The man in the black suit?”
“Yes. Kimberly gave him something, a paper I think. Then he just…. disappeared.” He stopped, and stared right into Patricks eyes, as if he was frightened. “He vanished into thin air.”
Patrick felt frustrated with his brother. When Keegan was small, he would tell stories all the time about people who were around the ranch that really weren’t there. Keegan hadn’t told these type of stories for a few years now. Was Keegan starting to make up stories again?
“I know what you’re thinking,” Keegan rushed on to say. “But I swear I saw that man. Ask Kimberly if you don’t believe me. She was talking to him and then he disappeared.”
“What did Kimberly do after the man…. disappeared?” Patrick decided not to brush Keegan off, if only to figure out why Keegan would make up such an outrageous story.
“I don’t know. I left the cabin as quickly as I could. I figured she’d come back and I didn’t want her to see me there.”
Patrick was silent as he thought about what Keegan had just told him. He weighed the possibility of Keegan’s story being true. Keegan hadn’t made up a story for a while and had grown into an honest young man. Patrick had also noticed a bond between the two ever since Kimberly had saved his life.
He was sure Keegan had mistakenly seen the man disappear. Clearly, it must have been a trick to his eyes. The drawings sounded strange, but maybe Kimberly just had a strong imagination. Then there was the man Keegan saw. All of this left him thinking, what should he do about it? He knew his feelings for Kimberly were real. But what if she wasn’t who she said she was? When he held and kissed her after the bear scare, he thought she had strong feelings for him. But why would she be meeting up with another man? What was going on?
“Don’t worry about this, Keegan,” Patrick finally said to his brother who was waiting anxiously for his response. “Don’t say anything to Shaun or Bridget. I will talk to Kimberly and get to the bottom of this.” It is time for her to tell me her secret, he thought.
Keegan nodded his head. Patrick could tell he was relieved that he believed his story. “Why don’t you make sure the horses in the first field have enough water?” Patrick suggested and sighed when Keegan left the barn, limping a bit as he went. The limp reminded Patrick how Kimberly had helped Keegan. He had trusted Kimber
ly with his brother. But could he continue to trust her?
Yes, it’s time for her to tell me her secret, Patrick whispered to himself.
Chapter 23
Dinner was finally over and Kimberly sighed with relief as she dried and put away the last dish. Patrick had been giving her strange looks all through the meal and hadn’t talked to her at all. He had come in late for dinner and hadn’t sat next to her like he usually did. She knew it was time to tell him. She said a prayer that he would listen to what she had to say and that he would accept where she was from. She didn’t want to go back to her time. She liked it here with Patrick and his family. She wanted to marry him as soon as the 30 days were up, which was in less than a week.
