by Jennae Vale
Jenna picked up a basket at the front of the store and led Cormac around, explaining what all the different candies were. He picked a little bit of everything - lollipops, chocolate, jellybeans, and taffy. They came to a basket of peach gummy candies and Jenna said, “My friend Ashley and I used to come here whenever her family brought us to Sausalito. We always stocked up on candy, but Ashley’s favorites were these peach gummies.”
Cormac picked up one of the candies and examined it. “She really liked these best?” he asked, sounding strangely as if he knew Ashley and was surprised by this information.
“She sure did. She’d fill the basket as much as she possibly could, before her parents would tell her she had enough.”
“Hmmm… I think I’ll get some of these,” Cormac announced. He started filling the rest of the basket with handfuls of the peach gummies.
Jenna laughed. “I certainly hope you like them.”
“They’re not for me, love.”
“Oh…” Jenna wasn’t sure who they might be for, but she was a little jealous that whoever it was obviously held a special place in Cormac’s heart. She hoped it wasn’t another woman. There was nothing she could do about it though. She wouldn’t go - and he wouldn’t stay. They were at an impasse and it didn’t seem either one of them would change their minds.
At the cash register, Jenna paid for the candy and asked them to put it into two bags, because Cormac requested the peach gummies be separated from the rest. Again, she had the odd feeling that Cormac had gotten the peach candy for someone special. The curiosity overcame her and she had to ask. “Cormac, who are you getting the gummies for?”
“For me brother Cailin’s wife.”
Jenna was a little taken aback by his response. “I see,” she said, but she didn’t really.
They walked out of the store and down the street in the direction of the car. Jenna was deep in thought. She didn’t like the way she was feeling. Hadn’t she promised herself not to get involved with anyone? And hadn’t she already broken that promise? She was at her wits end. She tried not to sound too possessive or clingy when she asked, “Cormac, what are your plans for the future?”
Cormac, who had been munching on a piece of candy, stopped and gazed directly into her eyes. “For me, the future is back home. I ken that it willnae be with ye, even though I had hoped that it would be different. I wish to get married and have a family and to spend the rest of me days with them. Now, I’m not sure.” He seemed very contemplative. “What of ye, Jenna? What do you plan for the future?”
Jenna shrugged. “I don’t know. I have my charity work and the foundation, I guess. I once thought I had my life all mapped out, but I have absolutely no plans now. Sad, huh? I can’t blame Jonathan completely for what happened. I wasn’t blind, but I didn’t want to see. I wanted to be married so badly and consequently I made a terrible choice. I wouldn’t listen to anyone when they told me I was making a mistake. I purposely didn’t see or hear what was obviously happening right in front of my face. I’m as much to blame as Jonathan is.”
Cormac pulled her in close and wrapped her in a hug filled with warmth and caring. She melted into it, but in true Jenna fashion she pulled away and started walking again, with Cormac hurrying to catch up with her. She couldn’t let him know how much she wanted him. He had turned down her offer to stay and she had to think about getting on with her own life. They reached the car and she quickly opened her own door and got in, closing the door before Cormac could reach it. Distance was what she needed. She had let herself get too close and now she was deeply regretting it.
Cormac opened the passenger door and got in. She could tell he was confused by her abruptness, but she wasn’t in any mood to explain. She started the car and sped off towards the freeway. She just wanted to get home and put some space between herself and the man she so desperately wanted to be with.
***
Surrounded by nothing but the hum of the car, the silence emanating from Jenna was a reminder that he hadn’t been able to win her over. That his trip to San Francisco had been a failure. Cormac couldn’t think of what to do or say to lift Jenna’s spirits. She had been acting oddly for the past few hours. He had one more day in San Francisco and he wanted to spend it with her. Despite her prickly side, he found Jenna to be fascinating. She was smart and beautiful. She made him laugh and her warmth and caring were apparent, even though she tried her best to hide it.
“Jenna, what is wrong, lass?” he asked, knowing his concern was written all over his face. Not that Jenna would have noticed, she didn’t take her eyes from the road in front of her.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she replied.
Cormac wasn’t convinced. “Are ye sure? Ye’ve not said a word in quite a long time.”
“I’m fine… really. Just concentrating on driving.”
“Aye. I can see that.” He waited a beat and when she didn’t respond, he hopefully asked, “What will we do tomorrow, Jenna, love?”
“Well, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I have things I have to catch up on. I’ve taken enough time off to spend with you, and now I need to get back to my own life.”
“I see. It’s my last day here tomorrow. I hoped you could spend it with me. We dinnae need to do anything special. I just want to be with you.” He hoped he wasn’t sounding as desperate as he felt. Why was she pushing him away? This had been the most wonderful week of his life and he thought she was enjoying it too. Perhaps not. He tried another tactic. “Jenna, I will go with ye, to help with whatever it is ye need to do.”
Jenna kept her gaze focused on the windshield, much to Cormac’s frustration. “No, that wouldn’t work. I just need to be by myself.”
“Is that what ye really want, Jenna?”
“Yes. Yes it is.”
Silence again. He wouldn’t fight her on this, she had obviously made up her mind. He would just see how the day went. He’d wait for her to come to him. He felt certain she would, eventually.
Jenna pulled into the garage and they both got out of the car. Jenna locked up and they headed upstairs to the kitchen entrance. Dylan was sitting at the counter and he glanced up when they entered.
“Hey, there you are! I was wondering what happened to you two. Thought you might have run off and eloped!” He laughed at his own joke.
Jenna scowled at him and headed off towards her room.
“Jenna,” Cormac called after her.
“I can’t do this right now, Cormac. Good night,” she said and he heard the slam of her bedroom door.
“Okay, what did you do now?” Dylan wondered aloud.
“I did nothing, Dylan, I promise. We had a lovely day. I dinna ken why she is behaving this way.”
“Did you have a fight?”
“Nae. As I said, everything went verra well.” Cormac thought back on the day and realized that the only time Jenna had turned away from him was when they discussed his leaving. “Perhaps she is upset with me because I am leaving. She did ask me to stay, but when I explained that I couldnae she seemed upset. She was back to normal for a short time and then she went back to not speaking with me.”
“Hmmm… That’s not good.” Dylan scrunched his eyebrows and asked, “Cormac, is there a reason you can’t stay?”
“Edna told me that if I didnae return at the appointed time, I might not be able to return at all. She hasnae ever sent anyone away from their own time to such a distant place. I cannae risk that. I have my family back home and I wouldnae wish to live without them in my life. If there was a way for me to stay a while longer, I would. Jenna willnae return with me and I am truly saddened by that, but I understand why she must stay. She doesnae feel she knows me well enough to leave all this behind and truth be told, I find I dinnae ken her all that well either.”
Cormac paced restlessly across the kitchen floor. “What am I to do, Dylan? I have one more day here and I want to spend it with her, but she says she willnae, she has other things to do.”
“I’ll try ta
lking to her. Not right now though. Sometimes she just needs a little time to think and then once she realizes she’s being unreasonable, she’s back to normal.”
“Do ye think that will happen?” Cormac asked. Dylan shrugged his shoulders and Cormac was not convinced even Dylan believed it would work. “I’ll be off to bed then. I’ll see ye on the morn.”
“Good night, Cormac.”
Cormac headed to his room. He wanted to stop at Jenna’s door, but he didn’t want to make her angry. When she was angry all he wanted to do was make her happy. Seeing her smile was like watching the sunrise. Her face glowed and her eyes sparkled and they did that for him, because of him. Perhaps he didn’t deserve a gift so wonderful.
SEVENTEEN
Flinging her pillows across the room wasn’t making Jenna feel any better. Damn it! How could I have fallen in love? That was definitely not in the plan! She curled up in a tight ball on the bed, pillow clutched to her chest and let the tears she had been holding back fall. Damn! Damn! Damn! She was being such a baby. This was not the way to treat the man who had done nothing more, than want her enough to ask her to go home with him.
She couldn’t go. She needed to stay in San Francisco. Tears and pouting were not something she did. At least not until Cormac MacBayne made an appearance in her life. She’d cried angry tears plenty of times with Jonathan, but sad tears were a rarity in her world. She didn’t allow herself the luxury of feeling sorry for herself, but that was exactly how she was feeling now. Her emotions fluctuated between sadness, hopelessness and irritation that this should happen to her. If Cormac hadn’t arrived out of the fog that morning, she wouldn’t be facing a future of wondering what if. What if she went with him? Would she regret her choice? Would they both wake up one morning and realize they made a terrible mistake? Jenna wanted to run down the hall to Cormac’s room and throw herself into his arms, but that wouldn’t solve anything. It would just muddle things even more. She needed a clear head to deal with his departure. She’d stay in her room tonight and instead of thinking with her heart, she’d think with her head. Jenna took a deep breath and decided that in the morning she’d let Cormac come with her. She had lied about having things to do. At that particular moment, she hadn’t wanted to be around him. She knew that if she were, she’d never be able to deal with what was inevitably going to happen. Tomorrow would be tough, but she was tough, too, and she could handle it. It would definitely be the hardest thing she’d ever have to do in her life, but she would spend the day with him and then the next morning she would take him to the Marina and say goodbye.
Her eyes grew wide. What was she thinking? If he wasn’t going to the airport and getting on a plane, he wasn’t going anywhere. She had let herself get all worked up, when in actual fact, he wasn’t really leaving. Maybe tomorrow she could get him to tell her the truth. Maybe it was all a practical joke, just as she’d suspected from the beginning. If it was, it was the cruelest joke anyone had ever played on her. With that thought in her head, Jenna fell into a fitful sleep.
In her dream, Jenna was wandering through a forest shrouded in mist. The trees were all gnarled and the branches were like arms, reaching out to grab her. She was afraid, yet she continued walking. Suddenly, right in front of her, she saw a yellow-eyed wolf. He was baring his teeth and Jenna was terrified. She backed away, but the wolf moved towards her. She took another step back and stumbled over a large root, falling backwards into a tree. Jenna searched her surroundings for a way to escape. The wolf stood before her now, not more than ten feet away. “Cormac, Cormac, where are you?” she cried. “Help! I need you. Help me!” The wolf lunged for her as she threw her arms up to protect her face.
Jenna woke with a start, perspiring heavily and gasping for breath. She brushed the tears from her damp cheeks and sat up, hearing a knock at her door.
“Jenna are ye alright? May I come in?” Cormac sounded concerned.
“I’m okay, Cormac, I just had a nightmare. You can go back to bed.”
“I heard ye calling me. Are ye sure ye dinnae need me?”
“I’m sure. I was calling to you in my dream, but I guess I was talking in my sleep. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“Dinnae fash, lass. I’m here if ye need me.”
She didn’t answer him and the silence stretched on until finally she heard him retreat down the hallway. What kind of crazy dream was that? Jenna lay back onto the pillows and tried in vain to fall back to sleep. She rolled over, checked her clock, and discovered it was only four a.m. Jenna tried closing her eyes, but each time she did, she kept seeing that wolf, his teeth dripping with saliva, his hot breath fanning over her skin and his eyes boring holes through her. Jenna was glad she awoke when she did. She couldn’t imagine what would have happened next in her dream, but it surely wouldn’t have been good. She shuddered just thinking about it. It had felt so real.
Turning on the light, Jenna searched the room. Something didn’t feel right and she got up and padded to the bathroom, where she switched on another light. That nightmare had really spooked her. You look like hell, Jenna. She leaned on the sink and gazed into the mirror, noting the dark circles under her eyes. Nothing a little makeup won’t fix. “I might as well get up ‘cause there’s no way I’m falling back to sleep.” She threw on her robe, grabbed a blanket and headed for the living room. Watching reruns of old sitcoms always helped when she couldn’t sleep and she hoped it would do the trick this time as well. Jenna curled her legs underneath her and covered herself with the blanket, pulling it up tight around her ears.
“Jenna, may I sit with ye?” Cormac appeared in the room, bare chested and wearing a pair of Dylan’s sweatpants. “Ye obviously cannae sleep,” he stated.
Jenna scooted over to make room for him on the couch and he sat down, pulling her into his arms. She rested her head on his chest, deeply breathing in his scent - pine and musk - and the uneasiness that had been following her since the nightmare vanished. He didn’t say a word, just held her, kissing the top of her head. The warmth of his body reassured her and made her feel safe. Nothing could harm her when she was in his arms. What would she do when he was gone? The thought had her wrapping her arms around his waist, anchoring him to her. She didn’t want to let go. A tear slid down her cheek and landed on Cormac’s chest.
“Jenna, are ye crying?” he asked. Her answer was a sniffle. “I’m here, lass. I’ll watch over ye. Sleep.”
***
He held her close as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. He would protect her while he was still in San Francisco, but he couldn’t help but wonder how she would fare after he was gone. Would she be alright without him here? Would Jonathan continue to harass her? He didn’t want to think about those things, so instead he thought about the soft, sweet woman in his arms and he too, drifted off to sleep.
***
“Good morning, sleepy heads,” Dylan greeted. “And just why are we sleeping on the sofa? Rumor has it that a bed is much more comfortable.”
Jenna yawned and stretched, accidentally hitting Cormac’s chin. “Good morning,” she managed as she blinked the sleep from her eyes. Reaching out she gently massaged Cormac’s chin. “I’m sorry, Cormac, I didn’t mean to pop you.”
“Dinnae fear, love, it would take more than that to hurt me,” Cormac reassured her. He released his hold on Jenna and she sat up.
“I hope you two made up,” Dylan said, with a teasing glint in his eyes.
“We weren’t fighting, Dylan,” Jenna said. “Or, I guess I should say, Cormac wasn’t fighting.” She repositioned herself on the sofa and wrapped the blanket closer around her shoulders. “I’m sorry, Cormac. It seems like I’m always saying that and before you tell me that it’s okay, I’m going to tell you that it’s not. I don’t know what’s wrong with me; I don’t seem to have any control over my emotions lately.”
“I willnae tell ye it’s okay, instead, I’ll accept yer apology, if ye promise me that today ye will not be angry with me.”
�
��I think I can do that. I promise.” She smiled shyly at him. “Okay. We’ve got one more day together and we should enjoy it. How about if we just spend time together. I don’t have any specific plans. Let’s just see where the day takes us.”
“I believe that will be fine. I just want to spend the day with ye.” Jenna could see the love in his eyes and her heart ached at the thought of not seeing him again after tomorrow.
“I just have one question for you and I want you to be honest with me,” she stated. “I’ve been told more than enough lies lately.”
“What is it, love?” Cormac asked.
“I need you to tell me the truth. Have you and Dylan been playing a practical joke on me?” she demanded quietly.
“Jenna, I ken yer not able to believe what I’ve told ye, but ye can believe that I am nae trying to fool ye about anything.”
“He’s telling the truth, Jenna. There’s no practical joke,” Dylan added. He seemed rather serious, which Jenna knew was not typical for Dylan. If he was joking around, he surely wouldn’t have been able to keep it going for a whole week. But that left her with an even bigger conundrum. Time travel? Witches? She might not believe it, but both Cormac and Dylan apparently did. She’d try to keep an open mind and let this play out as it would. What else could she do?
“Okay. I believe you,” she said, even though she was still struggling. “I’m not going to give it another thought. Let’s make today a day that neither one of us will forget.”
“A day to remember, aye?” Cormac nodded.
Chester padded into the room, looking sleepy-eyed. “Chester, where have ye been?” Cormac fluffed his ears and ruffled the fur on the dog’s back. Chester responded by licking Cormac’s face and wriggling his delight from head to toe.
“I’m going to take Chester for his morning walk. I’ll be back a bit later. You two have fun,” Dylan winked in their direction as he leashed Chester and headed for the door. “Should we all have dinner together tonight, or would you rather be alone?”
