A Different Time (Guardians of Now Book 2)

by Donna Steele

  Watching her during the discussions flying around the table when he visited was his private joy. She never shrank from speaking her mind, a trait he hadn’t thought to appreciate in a woman prior to this.

  His hands tightened involuntarily on her arms. “Is that a possibility?” His voice sounded husky to his own ears. “Could you foresee living as a minister’s wife?” Marcus hurried on before she could speak. “I would never be wealthy, but I could provide a good home. I would work hard for us—”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Dusty encouraged me to do the same.” He watched her eyes widen as her cheeks grew even redder.

  Taking a larger dare than he’d thought possible, Marcus leaned in and brushed a kiss across her lips.

  To his utter amazement and joy, she returned it.

  “Does this mean they were right?” he asked when their kiss ended.

  She eased back but didn’t dislodge his grasp. “I believe it does. We need to find them and tell them.” A bit of strength returned to her voice.

  Marcus could only nod.

  “Her shoes!” Elizabeth suddenly exclaimed.

  “What?”

  “Dee complained often about only having one pair of comfortable shoes. She did buy a pair to go to . . . to church, but she wore the others the rest of the time. ‘Sneakers,’ she called them. She couldn’t have left here barefoot.”

  She hurried upstairs as Marcus followed. The sneakers were under the dressing table beside Dee’s Sunday shoes, the only two pair of women’s shoes in the room.

  Turning, Elizabeth gasped. “Look at the bed.”

  “What?” Marcus glanced at it. The bed had yet to be made up, left as she and Mrs. Masters had found it.

  “When someone gets out of a bed, they fold the covers back to slip out. See how that didn’t happen? It looks as though they just . . . vanished from the bed without rising. Dee made her bed every morning. It drove Miz Masters mad because she didn’t do it properly. That’s one of the reasons Dee did it.” Elizabeth smiled faintly.

  “You say all of their clothing is here? Even nightclothes.”

  “They didn’t wear any.”

  Marcus’ face felt the same heat he saw in Elizabeth’s when he realized what she’d said. He stared at the bed rather than her, easily seeing what she meant. “Elizabeth,” he began slowly, “did you ever realize no one Dee treated died? Others in town have passed away, of course, but she treated none of them. Daniel should have died, drowned in that icy water. Jedidiah Lawson should have lost his leg and possibly his life. Not to mention Connie’s abdominal surgery.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “She was able to save all of them.”

  “Dee was very well-trained, better than anyone I’ve ever seen,” Elizabeth stated with conviction.

  “Yes, I agree, but still . . .” Marcus looked away briefly, then quoted, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares . . .”

  Chapter 16

  Washington, D.C.

  Dusty opened the door, schooling his face not to show his amusement at Leonard’s obvious discomfort. They weren’t friends by any stretch, but maybe that could be altered once he realized the changes in Dusty were real. They were certainly working well together now.

  “Before you get upset,” he said to Leonard, “you need to know Dee invited a friend over for dinner as well. This is not a set-up, I swear. I haven’t met the woman either. Her name’s Sherry Templar and she’s also a doctor at Dee’s hospital. It’ll just be four people having dinner and getting to know one another.”

  Leonard’s eyes narrowed. Dusty thought he heard a slight growl. At least the man didn’t turn on his heel and stalk away. Though only a couple of years older than Dusty, Leonard didn’t seem to have a woman in his life. A night like this would be good for him.

  Marcus and Elizabeth suddenly popped into Dusty’s brain. He ejected them forcefully.

  Dee crossed the room to join them. “Nice to see you again, Leonard. It’ll be good to have more time to visit than standing in the air-jetport.”

  “I appreciate you inviting me.”

  “Did Dusty tell you Sherry Templar is also joining us? I thought it would be nice not to be the only woman.”

  “Of course.”

  She beamed. “Great. Dusty, why don’t you get Leonard some wine or a beer and I’ll finish up in the kitchen.”

  Dusty glanced over at Leonard. “Wine?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Dusty motioned toward the couch, waiting until Leonard seated himself before heading to the dining room where the uncorked bottle had been left to breathe.

  He’d returned with the wine when the door announced another guest. He saw Leonard tense, and handed him the glass without a word.

  Opening the door, Dusty smiled down at the attractive little blonde in front of him. “Sherry?”

  “Yes, you must be Dusty.” She extended her hand and he shook it, inviting her into the condo. More petite in height than Dee, Sherry wore her curly blonde hair short, taming it slightly with a clip. The word dynamo came to mind.

  He led her over to the couch. “I’d like you to meet Leonard Kagan. He and I work together as well.”

  “An engineer.” Sherry nodded in approval as she stuck out her hand. “My father is an engineer. I’m nearly fluent in the language.”

  Leonard chuckled, seeming to surprise himself as well as Dusty. “Good, because I’m not literate in medical speak.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. We only do that to show off.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “This is delicious,” Sherry exclaimed, savoring the chicken in front of her. “Dee, is it a family recipe?”

  “In a way. There was a woman who cooked for us for a short while and I wrote out several favorite recipes. They aren’t considered the healthiest meals, but they do make great comfort foods.”

  “Well anytime you make this, I’ll be available,” Sherry assured Dee.

  “Count me in as well,” Leonard agreed. “I’m not asking for the recipe. I know I can’t recreate it but give me a call.”

  Dee chuckled as Dusty refilled their wine.

  Sherry took note of the way he skipped over Dee. “Aren’t you drinking tonight? You’re not on call?”

  “No alcohol for the next few months.” Dee smiled. “Dusty and I are going to have a baby.”

  Without warning, Leonard choked on his wine. Sherry reached him first and pounded his back.

  “A baby?” he managed when he got his breath back.

  “Didn’t think I had it in me?” Dusty looked amused.

  “Are you sure you want to stay with this guy, Dee?” Leonard asked. “I mean—”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.” She smirked as Dusty pretended outrage. “He’s beginning to grow on me.”

  “Or in you,” Sherry interjected. “Congratulations!” Still on her feet, she hugged Dee. “Have you told anyone yet?”

  “Only family. I’d like to wait for the second trimester to inform the hospital.”

  “Good idea. My lips are sealed. This is going to make some major changes for you.”

  “I know. I haven’t faced that yet,” Dee admitted. “Is there a daycare at the hospital? I haven’t checked.”

  With the look Sherry sent her, Dee knew she’d made a mistake. “Is there? You must have pregnancy brain already. Of course, there’s a daycare. I don’t know of any company that doesn’t have one.”

  “You’re right. I meant, is it a good one?” Dee tried her best to recover.

  “Excellent, from what I hear.” Sherry paused as if collecting her thoughts. “You know, working in the company daycare was my first paying job. The engineering firm Dad worked for wasn’t la
rge enough to have their own, but of course there was one in the building, and Dad introduced me to the right people.”

  Leonard nodded. “My first job too.”

  “You changed a lot of diapers?” Dusty asked.

  “I changed my share. Mostly I worked on building things with the older kids. Guess I was always an engineer. Of course, my shift was after school when the retired men and women needed a break.” He chuffed out a laugh. “I still remember the look of relief some days when our shift arrived.”

  “I know what you mean,” Sherry agreed. “I had more than one woman hug me when I appeared.”

  “Did you have a specialty with the kids?” Dee asked her.

  “Yeah, we cooked. It was more an afternoon snack thing, sometimes an early dinner for the kids who stayed later, but we had fun. It sure wasn’t gourmet. Did you not get to work in one?”

  “My stepfather wasn’t supportive of it and Mom went along with him.” Dee exchanged a help-me look with Dusty.

  He immediately took up the conversation. “Leonard, do you have children?”

  “No. My ex-wife wasn’t interested and I didn’t push.”

  “But you’d like them.”

  “I may be too old and set in my ways now. And since I’m not in a procreating relationship, I haven’t thought about it recently.”

  “I don’t know,” Dusty mused, “I could see you with a couple of kids.”

  “A couple?” Leonard snorted. “Yeah, sure. You know they’re going to demand that drug test now.”

  “Excuse me?” Dee asked.

  “Supposedly I’ve changed so much since meeting you, the office suspects chemical enhancement,” Dusty explained with a sigh. “Leonard says I remind him of his old school teacher now.”

  Dee met his eyes and saw the quick wink he sent her way.

  “Let me know when you need it. I’ll be happy to perform the test for you.”

  “Ah Dee, you know you’d be disqualified for nepotism. I’ll handle it.” Sherry volunteered with a grin.

  The meal continued on a high note, with everyone getting to know one another. Once dessert was served, they moved to the living room.

  “Different subject, guys.” Dusty took a bite of the lemon cake, another recipe from Cook. “What would you change about society? We’ve got cheap, renewable, clean energy and health care, both physical and mental, so what do we need to work on now?”

  Leonard spoke up. “Work on now? You’re not old enough to remember not having any of those things.”

  “I was reading something, science fiction, about how the world might have gone a different way, and it made me think. What are we missing?”

  There was a hesitation, then Sherry responded. “I’d like to see more work like the CACC did.”

  “When I’m on a project,” Dusty began, “I don’t always come up for air. Leonard here’s a slave driver. Give me the thumbnail version.”

  Dee noted Sherry seemed a little surprised though she nodded and glanced over at Leonard. “If I miss something, jump in.”

  “Will do.” He grinned at her, clearly a lot more comfortable than he’d been at the beginning of the evening.

  Sherry thought a moment. “When companies began shifting manufacturing to Central America for cheap labor a while back, the Central America Coalition of Countries was born. CACC. They demanded a living wage and benefits for all workers and for the companies to contribute a percentage of their profits to upgrading the infrastructure of whatever town they moved to. It was a huge flap and some companies refused. Their workers walked out and social media had a field day with those companies, causing boycotts and a new way of thinking.”

  Sherry paused for a sip of wine. “Some industries tried to increase prices because of it. Since the cost to them hadn’t risen, only remained the same as staying here, that got a lot of attention as well. It was practically revolutionary, and most countries took it up.”

  Leonard nodded his agreement and smiled at her rendition. “We helped design some of those buildings, back when the company was just starting out.”

  “You’re right, it was excellent work on the CACC’s part,” Dee joined in. “I can only imagine the changes they brought to some of those communities.”

  “I worked in one of the hospitals built during that time on a summer grant before coming to Georgetown,” Sherry informed them.

  “Most of the activity went to schools built with the infrastructure funds. Others to roads and mass transit which has helped as well,” Leonard put in.

  “Gotta get my head out from under a rock,” Dusty observed. “Central America was always a perfect spot for solar and inexpensive energy.”

  “That’s the truth. Stevens has a large presence there. Rumor has it they started the coalition of the countries,” Leonard commented. “Never confirmed.”

  “Yeah, Silas would think of that.”

  “Silas?”

  “Uh, the founder of Stevens Battery. I’ve heard good things about him.”

  “Did you read the new biography of him?” Leonard asked. “I haven’t gotten to it yet.”

  “Me either,” Dusty said, “but that’s up next.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “I’m thinking about honeymoons.” Dusty placed the last plate back in the cabinet after clearing the dinner dishes.

  “You’re always thinking about honeymoons,” Dee retorted, folding the dishcloth. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be horny via hormones.”

  He grinned and nuzzled the sensitive area behind her ear as his hand caressed her growing baby bump. “And I’m appreciating it greatly, but I was talking about an actual trip.”

  “Where do you want to go, assuming we can get off at the same time?”

  “Braddock’s Crossing.”

  Those words stopped her dead in her tracks and she swung around to face him, her eyes already dancing with delight.

  “Yes! I’ve thought about going there several times. I’d love to spend even a long weekend.”

  “I checked online and there’s actually a tour about a mysterious couple who appeared there and made a lot of changes. Stevens, I believe was the name.”

  “You’re not serious,” Dee sputtered.

  “I am. Not sure it’s Chamber of Commerce approved. Since there are no pictures of us, I think we could get away with it. If there’s a guest book, disguise your signature.”

  Chapter 17

  The trip down to Braddock’s Crossing took less time than it would have previously. Traveling on the new highways showed astounding improvements, mainly cleaner air without a whiff of diesel or black clouds of fumes, and the drive was smooth with no backups for accidents.

  Smart cars normally drove themselves now and were in constant communication with other cars on the road. Which meant no near misses of people switching lanes or following too close.

  Dusty couldn’t spot any road rage. “Wonder where people work off their aggression after a bad day at the office?”

  Dee stared out the window. “You got me.”

  Braddock’s Crossing had definitely changed since they’d last been there, though the small town feel still existed.

  “Look at all the solar panels.” Dee pointed. “They’re on almost every surface.”

  They turned toward the historic area of town, carefully preserved, which held Doc Tillman’s home and the church. The Mercantile had been replaced but the boardinghouse was still there, now a bed and breakfast where Dusty had made reservations.

  He pulled into a small parking area adjacent to the Tillman house and glanced over at Dee. “Ready?”

  “I can’t wait.” She hopped out, then took his hand as they headed up the sidewalk.

  Dusty stepped forward to open the door to the Tillman house for her, gl
ancing inside as he did so. “Shit.” Blocking the entrance, he urged Dee aside. “Let your hair down,” he hissed.

  “What?”

  “Hurry.”

  “All right.” Dee reached back and tugged the clip from her hair, until it cascaded around her shoulders. “What’s going on?” She raked her hand through the red tresses to loosen them.

  “I said there were no photos of us. I didn’t think about drawings.”

  “Drawings?”

  “Shh, come on.” Dusty took her hand and they returned to the door. He felt Dee stiffen when she spotted it. A large charcoal drawing of Dee, with her hair arranged just as it had been a moment ago, graced the entry. There would have been no mistaking her, even with the black and white image.

  “Did you sit for a portrait?” Dusty asked, his lips at her ear.

  “Not officially. Izzy, Viola’s assistant, was always sketching during the meetings. I never saw that.”

  The guide approached them. “Ah, you’ve noticed the portrait of the mysterious Dr. Stevens. This is not the original, but we were lucky enough to obtain a copy. We’ve been assured it’s a good likeness. Are you familiar with the tale?”

  “Not really.” Dusty moved between the woman and Dee. “I saw this tour online and since we were going to be in town for a couple of days . . .”

  “It’s a fascinating story. Many historians will tell you it marked a change in attitude about a great many things—women’s rights, integration, even medical practice, and led to many innovations.”

  She handed Dusty a brochure and two green bracelets after taking his money. “Between Dr. Stevens and her husband, there are several sites along the tour. The internationally acclaimed nursing school, Grant Hill was started by Mrs. Elizabeth Grant and Ms. Viola Hill, right here in this house. Eloise Morgan, the wife of Dr. Thomas Morgan, who followed Dr. Stevens in the practice, assisted them.”