Maggie made a quick decision. As soon as Jordan left, she would check for herself.
Moments later, Jordan came back into the room, carrying her duffle bag. "I guess this is goodbye," she said to Maggie.
Maggie avoided Jordan's eyes, lest she cave and change her mind. "Wait here for a minute," she said as she left the room, returning a few minutes later with a handful of cash.
Jordan backed up a few steps. "I don't want your money, Maggie."
Maggie handed the money forward. "It's not my money, it's yours. It's this week's wages. You've earned it. You're going to need it until you can get back on your feet."
Jordan took the money and shoved it into her front jeans pocket. "Thank you," she said softly. She picked up her duffle and slung it over her shoulder. "I should be going then."
Maggie just nodded, not trusting herself to say anything as she fought back remorseful tears. She stood rooted to the spot while Jordan walked past her and toward the front door. As soon as she heard the door close behind Jordan, she sank to the floor onto her knees and cried heart-wrenching tears. Several minutes later, the crying stopped as she knelt there on the floor, listening to the deafening silence around her.
* * *
Jordan allowed tears to cascade down her face as she walked the mile from Maggie's farmhouse to the main road. She had no idea where she would go, or what she would do, but she had to come up with a plan to win Maggie back. Her life was simply not worth living without her. Maggie was the whole reason she had left her future life behind and risked everything to traverse time to be with her.
By the time she reached the end of the drive, Jordan had her tears under control. She turned left onto the main road and began walking toward the town of Shelburne where she hoped to find lodging for the night.
A few hundred feet down the road, a pickup truck pulled off the road in front of her. As Jordan approached the side of the truck, the driver leaned out the window. "Do you need a ride?" the driver asked.
Jordan was wary about accepting rides from strangers, but this person appeared safe and unassuming. The driver was a woman, about her own age, wearing blue jeans, a flannel button up shirt and a cowboy hat. She had long dark hair, pulled into the pony tail at the nape of her neck.
"Don't worry, I don't bite. I promise you're safe with me," the woman said. "Get in."
Jordan walked around the truck, opened the door and climbed into the front seat beside the woman. She extended her hand. "Jordan Lewis," she said.
"Glad to meet you, Jordan Lewis. My name is Gina Delarm. Where ya headed?"
Jordan looked down at her duffle bag she placed on the floor between her feet, then back at Gina. "That's a good question."
Gina put the truck in gear and pulled back onto the road. She drove the two miles into town then pulled into the parking lot of the general store. She shut off the engine and turned to face Jordan. "Wanna talk about it?" she said.
"I don't even know you," Jordan said.
"Sure you do. I'm Gina. Remember?" Gina grinned.
For some reason, Jordan felt comfortable with this woman. "Truth is, I have no place to go. I've been working for Maggie Downs for the past several months and we had a falling out and she asked me to leave."
"Well, Maggie's temper is going to get her into trouble one of these days. What did you do to piss her off?"
"You know Maggie?"
"I know her very well. My wife and I are good friends with her, although it's been a while since we've seen her. Her blood has always run a little hot. It's gotta be the red hair." Gina waited for Jordan to answer her question, but was greeted with silence. "So I'll ask again, what did you do to piss her off?"
Jordan's lip began to tremble. "Maggie almost died today."
"Are you shitting me? Really? How?"
"She took Shawny out for a run this morning and was attracted to a brightly colored bag that was on the ground near the edge of the cliff by the lake. Just as she got very near the edge, a shotgun went off and the horse was spooked into rearing up. She would have fallen over the cliff if I hadn't reached her in time and grabbed her at the last second."
Gina frowned. "Did you go on this ride with her?"
"No, she went on her own, but I managed to catch up to her in time to keep her from going over the cliff."
"How did you know she was in danger?"
Jordan sighed deeply and rested her head against the back of the seat. She wiped the tears from her eyes then turned her head sideways to look at Gina. "That is a very difficult question to answer. In fact, attempting to do just that is why she asked me to leave."
"You're in love with her, aren't you?" Gina asked.
Unable to find her voice through choked-back tears, Jordan just nodded her head.
Gina started the truck up again and backed out of her parking space.
"Where are we going?" Jordan asked.
"I'm taking you home with me. Something doesn't feel right about this and I intend to get to the bottom of it."
"I'm not so sure that's a good idea. If you'll just direct me to the nearest motel, I'll get out of your hair and be on my way."
"No, I don't think so. My gut tells me there's more here than meets the eye, and I always listen to my gut, and beside, you said yourself you had no place to go."
* * *
After about a ten-minute ride out of town, Gina turned the truck into a gravel driveway and pulled to a stop in front of a saltbox styled contemporary home.
"Sam? Sam, I'm home," Gina called as she exited the truck. "She's probably in the greenhouse," Gina said when Sam didn't answer. "Follow me."
Jordan grabbed her duffle bag. "I'm not so sure about this, Gina. Sam may not appreciate an unexpected guest."
"Don't you worry about Sam. If I told her about meeting you and then came home without you, she'd have my hide. Come on. You've got to see Sam's garden. It's amazing."
Gina took Jordan's arm and led her around the house to the back.
As they emerged into the back yard, Jordan was unprepared for the massive greenhouse that lay before her. She followed Gina from chilly March temperatures into the balmy greenhouse where there was every kind of vegetable imaginable laid out in neat, weed-free rows.
"Amazing is an understatement," Jordan said to Gina as she took in the expanse of the garden.
"Who do we have here?" Sam asked as she walked out from behind a dense group of cornstalks, revealing herself to Jordan. She had a basket of freshly picked vegetables hanging from one arm.
"Sam, this is Jordan. Jordan, my wife, Sam," Gina said.
Sam extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Jordan."
Jordan was tongue-tied. Sam was one of the most stunning women Jordan had ever seen. She was about Jordan's height, slim, and with dark mocha skin and wildly curly black hair. Her dark brown eyes sparkled with merriment as her dimples deepened with her wide smile.
"My God, you're beautiful," Jordan said before blushing a bright crimson red. "Ah, I mean, nice to meet you too, Sam."
Sam threw her head back and laughed.
"Sam, Jordan has just come from Maggie's farm and she needs a place to stay for the night," Gina said.
Sam looked surprised. "Maggie's?" She looked at Jordan. "What did you do to piss her off?"
Jordan looked at Gina, who tried to hide her smile behind her hand. "I get the impression Maggie has somewhat of a reputation," Jordan said.
Sam put her hand on the small of Jordan's back and led her out of the greenhouse. "Don't get me wrong, we love Maggie like a sister, but she can be a bit of a hothead. Come, we can talk more in the house. You're just in time for dinner. I'm going to throw together a stir-fry with these wonderful vegetables."
* * *
"Great dinner, Sam," Jordan said as she finished the last bite on her plate.
"There's plenty more," Sam said.
Jordan held up her hand. "Thank you, but I'm stuffed."
"How about a beer?" Gina offered.
"Sure,
that sounds great," Jordan replied.
"Can I get you a glass of wine, love?" Gina asked Sam.
Sam kissed Gina. "Why don't you and Jordan retire to the living room while I clean up the dishes, then I'll pour myself some wine and join you."
"Would you like some help with the dishes?" Jordan asked. "Maggie did all the cooking, so I was relegated to cleanup. I've gotten pretty good at it if you'd like help."
Sam watched Jordan's face as she spoke. "You're in love with her, aren't you?" she asked.
Jordan fell silent.
"No need to answer," Sam said. "I can see it on your face. Go. Enjoy your beer. I'll be with you in a few minutes."
Jordan accepted the beer from Gina and followed her into the living room.
"Have a seat," Gina said. Gina waited for Jordan to settle in on the couch before continuing. "So, how did you meet Maggie?"
"I went to the farm looking for work. No one answered the door at the house, so I went to the barn looking for someone in charge. I didn't find anyone there either, at least not right away, so I started exploring the barn. Soon, Maggie came in looking to saddle her horse and just as I approached her to introduce myself, I heard a loud crack over head and realized a heavy metal winch had broken the rafter. Quite by instinct, I tackled Maggie to the ground and the winch hit the floor of the barn right where she was standing."
"No shit? Wow, Maggie was lucky you were there," Gina said.
"I think I was the lucky one. I don't know if it was out of gratitude or not, but she hired me on as a farm hand that very afternoon. I've been working for her ever since."
"How long ago was that?"
"Six months."
"Well that explains why we haven't seen much of her of late," Sam said from the kitchen doorway. She sauntered across the living room, wine glass in hand, and snuggled in beside Gina on the couch. "Is Jan still around?" Sam asked.
Jordan frowned. "No, she isn't. In fact, she left today."
"That's one woman I won't miss," Gina said. "I didn't like how she tried to control Maggie. How did you manage to get rid of her?"
"She's the other reason we've haven't seen much of Maggie lately. That woman gets under my skin," Sam added.
"I think she was behind Maggie's accident this morning. I cornered her in the barn when we got back and let her know I was on to her. She left about an hour later," Jordan explained.
"You think she intentionally tried to kill Maggie? Why would she want to do that?" Gina asked.
"Wait a minute. Someone tried to kill Maggie this morning?" Sam said.
"Jordan seems to think so. Apparently, she was lured to the edge of the cliff by the lake and her horse was intentionally spooked so it would throw her from the saddle over the cliff. I guess Jan is the prime suspect," Gina explained.
"Is Maggie all right? Should we go pay her a visit?" Sam asked.
"Maggie is fine. I got to her in time to keep her from falling… just barely, I might add," Jordan said.
"So what makes you think Jan is behind it?" Gina asked again.
"Jan convinced Maggie's father to put her on the deed to the farm such that if Maggie died first, the farm would go to her. I think Jan set her up to fall off the cliff this morning. I also think Jan is the one that cut the rafter holding that winch several months ago," Jordan said.
Gina whistled. "Holy shit. It sounds like Maggie is lucky to have you around. So, why did she ask you to leave?"
"She learned that my appearance at her farm six months ago was not by chance. I had been trying to reach her for quite some time. I knew I had to get here in time to prevent her death. Understandably, that scared the shit out of her, and she asked me to leave."
Gina leaned forward. "You aren't some kind of stalker, are you, Jordan?" she asked in a firm voice.
"I came here to save her, not hurt her. I love her, Gina. I would die for her."
CHAPTER 15
Maggie pulled the dresser away from the wall and picked up the sledge hammer. After a few firm swings at the wall, she had a hole big enough to put her hands into and pulled several larger pieces of sheetrock away. She continued to enlarge the hole until she managed to remove the entire bottom of the four-by-eight sheet at least two feet up from the floor, exposing all four studs the sheetrock was nailed to. She knelt on the floor amid the dusty mess and inspected the area between the studs. There, still wrapped in cloth, were all six of her diaries, two between the first and second studs, two more between the second and third studs and the final two between the third and fourth studs. Not withstanding the sheetrock debris, they were just as Maggie left them months earlier when she decided on a whim to turn them into a time capsule of sort. All six diaries were untouched.
Oh my God. She was telling the truth, Maggie thought. They're all still here. She didn't steal them. Could she really be from the future?
Maggie thought back to when she first met Jordan. She'd been in the barn one morning, getting ready to take Shawny out for a ride when all of the sudden, Jordan lunged at her from out of nowhere, tacking her to the dirt just before that metal winch fell from the rafters.
Maggie now found herself wondering if Jordan's presence in the barn was the coincidence Jordan tried to pass it off as. Could she have been there intentionally? Could she have traveled through time and arrived just before the winch fell? Could she have known I was in danger? This sounds so insane.
Over the next several weeks, she had spent more and more time with Jordan, and before long, she felt herself anticipate the sunrise each morning because it would mean seeing Jordan's smiling face at the breakfast table.
Then she saw the scar that ran from the middle of Jordan's back down to her buttocks and learned that she was a paraplegic.
If she is really from the future, it makes sense that the implant would seem beyond what is currently possible with today's medical technology.
"What was it that she said to me that day? Maggie, there are things you don't know about me that I promise I will explain when the time is right," Maggie said out loud. "Is this time-travel business what she was trying to tell me about in her own covert way?"
As she knelt in front of the torn out wall, Maggie remembered the first time she made love to Jordan. Having been paralyzed since she was sixteen, Jordan had spent the previous fourteen years with no sensation in the lower half of her body, but with the help of the spinal implant she was slowly beginning to feel surges of desire deep within her core when Maggie would touch her in certain ways.
Maggie's eyes flew open as she recalled what Jordan had said in the middle of love making…
"I am so in love with you," Jordan confessed.
"Shh, don't say that. You barely know me," Maggie replied.
Jordan smiled. "I have known you for a hundred years, and I will love you for a hundred more."
"I have known you for a hundred years and I will love you for a hundred more," Maggie repeated out loud. "What did she mean by that? Was she talking about what she learned from my diaries? How can that be? How could Jordan have read my diaries if they are still buried here in the wall just as I left them? Could she be telling the truth?"
Maggie thought back over the past several months for other clues. She recalled brief comments made after making love in front of the fire one night.
"How is it that you so easily walked into my life and stole my heart?" Maggie asked.
"Actually, I didn't walk into your life… I transported into it. You see, I'm really a scientist from the future and I traveled here via a time machine to intentionally invade your life," Jordan replied.
Maggie raised her head and looked directly into Jordan's eyes. She smiled widely. "You are such a kook sometimes."
Maggie sat back on her heels and covered her face with her hands. "It's been there all along. The clues, the hints. I've just been too blind to see it. I do love you, Jordan. I should have trusted you. What have I done, Jordan? What have I done?"
CHAPTER 16
Jordan repacked her d
uffle bag and slung it over her shoulder. She picked up her shoes and quietly padded through the house toward the front door where she sat down on a bench to put her shoes on. Just as she rose to her feet and reached for the door handle, she heard a noise behind her.
"Going somewhere?"
Jordan looked back to see Sam standing at the top of the stairs.
"I thought I'd head out early. I've got to figure out what to do next if I'm going to move forward with my life," Jordan said.
Sam reached her hand out toward Jordan. "I forbid you to leave before breakfast. Now put your bag down and come help me."
Sam led Jordan into the kitchen and pulled two mugs from the cupboard. "The coffee pods are next to the machine. Creamer is in the fridge. I drink mine black," she said.
Jordan inserted the first pod into the coffee maker and waited patiently as it brewed. "How long have you and Gina known Maggie?" Jordan asked as she handed the first cup to Sam.
Sam answered her as she gathered ingredients for omelets. "Gina has known her since grade school. They grew up together. I've only known her for about ten years. That's when I met Gina."
"Where did you two meet?"
"We met in college. We both attended Vermont Tech. Gina is a veterinarian and studied animal husbandry there. I studied agriculture."
"Hence your gardening skills," Jordan observed.
"Yes."
"Is Gina the vet for the area?"
"Are you asking if she takes care of Maggie's horses?"
Jordan blushed. "I'm that transparent, huh? Yeah, I guess that's just what I'm asking."
Sam leaned her hip against the cabinet and tilted her head to one side. "I get the feeling there's more to you than meets the eye, Jordan Lewis. I mean, the reason you sought Maggie out is a bit odd, and maybe even alarming, but I don't sense any danger in you."
"Otherwise Sam wouldn't be comfortable allowing you to stay in our home," Gina said from the doorway. "I've learned to trust Sam's instincts."
All My Tomorrows Page 13
