by Bess McBride
Stephen’s eyes sharpened, and he waited for Maggie’s response.
“Why? Who has chronic bronchitis?”
“Oh, just a friend. She lives in a city where they still burn a lot of coal and wood-burning fires. I was just wondering if that could be her problem. She’s only eighteen.”
“Where on earth does she live? Sounds like the dark ages.”
Stephen coughed. “Quite,” he said.
“I can’t remember. Some little town. I only know her from the reenacting.” Dani amazed herself with her newly discovered skill of lying. She’d never been able to lie to her mother, or Sarah or Jean as a teenager. They’d caught her out every time.
“Well, you’re right. It’s often brought about by environmental conditions and smoking. Acute bronchitis is often viral, and there isn’t much that can be done about that.”
“But if she doesn’t smoke, and she gets ill a couple times a year, then it’s chronic, right?”
“Yes, I would think so. Do they treat it with antibiotics? That would be best just to make sure an infection doesn’t set in.”
Dani looked at Stephen who clenched his teeth. She recognized the muscle twitch in his jaw.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “Is there an over-the-counter antibiotic available?”
Maggie shook her head. “No, not legally. It has to be prescribed by a doctor. And anything illegal like you might get over the Internet wouldn’t be safe.”
Dani sighed and shot Stephen a sympathetic look. He looked away toward the window, his face pensive.
“Well, listen, how about I cook dinner?” Dani said. “You should probably get to bed early tonight. So should we. It was a long train ride.”
“Are you...both...planning on staying here?” Maggie quirked an eyebrow.
Stephen rose quickly. “No, I could not impose.”
“Yes, we are, Mom. I hope you don’t mind. Stephen can take the day bed in the office.”
“That’s fine,” Maggie shrugged. “What’s for dinner? I can’t eat past eight o’clock. Surgery, you know.”
“Spaghetti?”
“Sounds great,” Maggie said. “I’m just going to go call Sarah and Jean. I’ll be back down in a few. Do you want to change, honey?”
Dani looked down at her dress and then at Stephen. “No, I’m good for now.”
Her mother climbed the open stairway and went into one of the rooms in the loft area.
Stephen crossed the room quickly.
“I cannot stay here. It really would not be proper, Dani. Is there some sort of hotel I might stay at?”
“No.” She reached up to kiss him quickly, and he froze, his eyes on the loft above. “I mean yes, there are hotels, but you’re staying here. Relax, dear, we won’t be sleeping together.”
Stephen stiffened, but his lips twitched. “Danielle Douglas Sadler! Behave!”
Dani grinned and pulled him in for another kiss.
“Sadler?” her mother said, halfway down the stairs, her round-eyed expression showing shock. “Did you get married?”
Chapter Nine
“Mom! You scared me!” Dani squeaked. “I thought you went upstairs.”
“I forgot my cell phone.” She descended the rest of the stairs. “Did you get married without telling me?”
Dani chuckled. “No, Mom, not yet.”
“Yet? Are you engaged?” Maggie stared at Stephen, her eyes surveying him from head to foot. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you’ve never even mentioned Stephen before.
“Well, it’s been a whirlwind romance,” Dani said. She held onto Stephen’s hand.
“Mrs. Douglas, I apologize for not requesting your permission to court Danielle...that is, Miss Douglas.”
Dani chuckled as her handsome love tried hard to say the right thing in a world he didn’t understand.
“That’s okay, Stephen. Mom wouldn’t expect that. She’s just surprised because I never mentioned you before. In fact, I’ve never brought a guy home before.”
“No, you haven’t,” Maggie murmured.
Stephen cleared his throat and bowed his head. “I am honored to be the first.”
“So, are you engaged or not? I still don’t understand,” Maggie said.
Dani looked up at Stephen, with the certainty that she could never love anyone as much as she did him, even if they couldn’t stay together forever.
“Yes, I am,” she replied. “At least I think I am.”
“You are engaged to me,” Stephen said firmly. He possessively pulled her hand into the crook of his arm, and Dani relished the feeling of belonging to him.
She turned to her mother. “We’re engaged.”
Maggie shook her head. “Honestly, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you two just got engaged in front of my face. I’m going upstairs to call the girls. I’m not sure what they’re going to make of this.” She grabbed her cell phone from a table and turned away to climb the stairs again.
Dani watched her enter her room and turned to face Stephen with shaking hands.
“We’re engaged and we don’t even live in the same century,” she said, keeping her voice low. “That’s going to take some planning.”
Stephen smiled and pulled both of her hands to his lips.
“I no longer believe it is an impossibility.”
Dani cocked her head, gave him a wistful smile and turned to drag him into the kitchen. She pulled out a stool for him.
“Why don’t you sit here while I cook?” She kissed him and turned away to find pots and pans.
“Your mother does not have servants?” he asked with interest.
“No, we’re hopelessly middle class. Hardly rich enough to afford servants. Not even a maid.” Dani tossed a grin over her shoulder as she gathered the ingredients.
“And what is it that you prepare?”
“Spaghetti? You’ve heard of spaghetti, right?”
“Ah! Yes. I have eaten spaghetti in Italy.”
Dani paused to look at him. “Italy?” Not by plane, that was for sure.
“Yes, I quite enjoyed Italy. Beautiful country. I toured Europe one summer during college. In fact, Rory and I traveled together.”
She resumed preparations. “By boat?”
“Yes, the passage took about six days, very fast.”
Dani bit her lip against reporting six-hour flights to Europe. There had been too much shock for one day.
“Tell me about your father, Dani. I do not hear you speak of him.”
Dani hunched her shoulders. “He died when I was twelve. I loved him very much. I still miss him.” She turned to face Stephen and drew in a deep breath. “He was an old-fashioned guy. A little bit like you, I suppose.” She tilted her head to look at him. “Not in looks but he had the same sorts of values that you do, maybe even the same courtesies. Odd, I hadn’t really remembered that.”
“He sounds like a fine man, Dani.”
“He was. He died of lung cancer. Never even smoked a day in his life. Everybody gets cancer in my family, it seems.”
“I am so sorry,” Stephen said.
“Thank you,” she said turning to stir the pasta. “He was a train conductor here in Whitefish. I got to ride the train with him when I was old enough to sit by myself while he worked. That’s why I still take the train occasionally. I love it!” She threw a smile over her shoulder before returning to the stove.
“He loved my mom very much. Even as a child, I could see that. And she loved him. Never even dated another man after he died. But she hasn’t been lonely. I once asked her why she didn’t date. It seems like Dad was her one true love, and that was that.”
“As you are to me,” Stephen said softly.
****
Dani turned to him, her cheeks bright, her eyes luminous. In one hand, she held a wooden spoon bright red with sauce, in the other a glass jar of the sauce. He longed to take her into his arms but thought better of it given the imminent return of her mother.
“You should pro
bably kiss me if you’re going to say things like that,” she said. She set down the spoon and jar and came around the counter toward him.
Stephen pulled her into his arms and kissed her in such a way as to leave no doubt that she would be his one true love.
He released her breathless and smiling, and he cupped her face in his hand.
“I’ve never been in love before,” she said quietly. “Not like this. Not ever. I don’t even know what to say or do.”
“Nor I,” said Stephen. “I have waited for you all my life, though I did not know it was you. I feel like a nervous schoolboy.”
“Me too,” Dani said. “Well, like a schoolgirl, anyway.” She chuckled and turned her head to kiss the palm of his hand. “I don’t know how this can work, I don’t even know if it can, but I’m willing to try. The time traveling is the difficult part. Everything else with you is...easy.” She ran her fingers along the side of his face.
“We have hurdles to overcome, that is certain. Whether we can travel through time at will is certainly the most important factor, you are right. If we can resolve that, I too believe everything else will be very simple...as long as we are together.”
The sound of water boiling over onto the stove caught her attention, and she dashed over to turn down the burner.
“What on earth are you two talking about?”
Mrs. Douglas stood just inside the door of the kitchen, almost sagging against the frame. She clutched a small metal object in her left hand.
“Mom!” Dani said. “Why are you creeping around the house like this?” She turned off the stove and sprang forward to assist her mother.
“Creeping? I told you I’d be back downstairs. I’ll tell you what’s creepy. What I just heard.”
Stephen opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Dani knew her mother best, and he was not at all certain he might not precipitate an unfortunate fainting spell for the poor woman whose face had grown pale. That she was already ill alarmed him further.
“Come here, Mom, sit down,” Dani said. “You look white as a ghost.”
Stephen jumped to pull a chair out for her at a small round table in a corner of the large kitchen. Mrs. Douglas sank into the chair but not before favoring him with a look of suspicion. Dani sat down opposite her. Stephen returned to his position by the counter and laced his hands behind his back as he waited.
Dani reached for her mother’s free hand and held it. Mrs. Douglas continued to clutch the small metal object in her other hand.
“Mom, what can I say to make this better?”
“Can you get me a glass of water? I feel kind of lightheaded.”
Before Dani could rise, Stephen moved quickly into the kitchen.
“Glasses in the third cupboard, top left. Just use the tap water,” Dani said, returning her attention to her mother.
“When I said I preferred your time traveling story, I was just kidding,” her mother said in a shaky voice. “I’d really rather you were just wearing a costume.”
“Gosh, Mom. I really didn’t mean to bring all this on you when you’re sick. I don’t suppose you can just ignore this, and we can talk about it another time...when you’re better?”
Stephen delivered the water as ordered. It would have been his preference to serve it with a crystal glass and bottled water instead of an odd orange plastic cup and water from the sink, but he assumed things had changed a great deal in the previous century.
Mrs. Douglas shook her head and took a drink. “No, I’d better hear it now. In case you disappear or something.” She looked from Dani to Stephen, again with a suspicious expression. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but she did not look reassured. He did not blame her. The timing of this revelation could not have been worse.
The small metal object on the table trilled with the sound of birds, startling him.
“I’d better take this,” Mrs. Douglas said. “It’s Sarah.”
“Don’t say anything,” Dani whispered as Mrs. Douglas picked up the instrument and positioned it next to her ear.
“Hey, there,” Mrs. Douglas spoke as if to Dani, but Dani sat back in her chair eyeing him with some alarm. He could only try to reassure her with his eyes. Susan had survived the revelation of their secret. Robert had survived the revelation of Ellie’s secret. He himself had survived the discovery of Dani’s time traveling, and he knew that although shocked, one’s heart did not stop at the surprise though it felt as if it must.
“No, I’m fine. Yeah, Dani came back. Uh huh, she’ll be here for the surgery, but then I don’t know.” Mrs. Douglas appeared to listen to the metal device in between speaking, almost as if it were a telephone such as he had in his home.
Dani waggled her eyebrows at her mother, and Stephen bit back a smile, thinking she must have been a very precocious child.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Mrs. Douglas pushed something on the miniature telephone, as Stephen now assumed it was, and set it down on the counter. He eyed it with interest wondering how the instrument worked without cords, wires or electricity.
“That was Sarah calling me back. She didn’t answer earlier. So, what’s going on?” She looked toward Stephen. “You should probably sit down. I’m not sure what to think about you, but having you hover above us like that is making me very nervous.”
“My apologies,” Stephen said. He took a seat next to Dani. “How can we help?” he asked.
“We should probably tell her,” Dani said. “It’s not like she didn’t hear us.”
For the next half hour, Dani explained what she understood about her time travel, with Stephen interjecting a few observations or comments. He understood that his presence was of interest to Dani’s mother, and he patiently endured her rather merciless scrutiny of his person.
“Mom, will you stop staring at Stephen! He’s got two arms, two legs, a couple of feet and a beautiful head of sandy hair. He’s just like you and me, only older.” Dani grinned. Stephen returned her smile, wondering that she could jest at the shock in her mother’s face, but her humor had some effect as Mrs. Douglas’s face lightened.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t help but stare. We always wonder what men and women were like in the old days, but to see one...” Seemingly unable to help herself, she studied Stephen again, and he coughed behind his hand and re-crossed his legs.
“Yes, of course,” he murmured inconsequentially.
“Well, dinner got cold,” Dani said. “I’d better warm it up again. Are you ready to eat?”
“I couldn’t eat a thing right now,” her mother murmured.
Dani sat down heavily and reached for her mother’s hand. “Oh, Mom, I’m so sorry to confuse you like this. You need to eat. You’ll be starving by tomorrow night.”
“Okay, just a bit. It’s getting close to fasting time.” She did not move but continued to cast sideways glances at Stephen.
Stephen thought he had never quite tasted Italian cuisine such as Dani served, but it had a certain flavor that appealed. Along with Mrs. Douglas, his appetite suffered as well. He had not cared to worry Dani, but he was concerned for Susan and for the repercussions of his absence. Susan was a sensible girl, and were he not able to return to his own time, she would do reasonably well if in good health. He had left his estate in good order, and she stood to inherit the bulk.
But it was her health that worried him. If they could but procure these antibiotics Dani and her mother spoke of, perhaps Susan might be cured, or at least better situated for a speedy recovery the next time she fell ill. There was always the possibility he could return and attempt to bring his sister forward in time for treatment. Were that to fail, however, were he not able to return to Dani’s time, he would lose her forever. And he did not think he could face that.
He smiled politely throughout the meal and responded when spoken to, but he was distracted as he contemplated how Dani and he could live out their lives together...in the same century. He did not think she would risk saying goodbye to her
mother possibly forever and returning to his time, nor did he think she would enjoy living in his time, not when she clearly had the most modern and convenient amenities such as he witnessed at the moment. The ice box that hummed, the stove that lit without a match, the small box above the oven which heated sauce within minutes, the small portable telephone, the warmth of the house in the absence of clanging radiators—how could he ask her to give up all the comforts to which she was accustomed?
As if she could read his thoughts, Dani smiled at him and nodded her head. His heart rolled over at the affection in her eyes.
“Are you staying here?” Mrs. Douglas asked suddenly.
“Yes, I thought I mentioned that. Stephen can sleep on the couch.”
“No, I mean are you staying here...in this time? Are you going back to the past?” Mrs. Douglas pressed her lips together. Moisture pooled in the older woman’s eyes. Stephen’s throat tightened at her expression.
“We don’t know, Mom,” Dani said softly. “It’s possible that I could travel back and forth. Stephen can’t stay. He has an eighteen-year-old sister who needs him. She’s the one that’s sick with bronchitis, and they don’t have the right antibiotics for her.”
“I can get those for you,” her mother said. “I still have connections. My doctor will give me anything.”
Stephen sat up straighter.
“Really?” Dani breathed. She turned to Stephen. “Did you hear that?”
“Mrs. Douglas, I could not impose...but I will, for my sister’s sake. Thank you!” Stephen took her hand in his and placed a kiss on the back.
“Oh my!” Mrs. Douglas said, her cheeks red. “He really is old fashioned, isn’t he?” She laughed for the first time that day, a charming sound much like Dani’s laugh.
“Thanks for cooking, Dani,” Mrs. Douglas rose, and Stephen stood. She gave him an odd look. “I’m going to go upstairs and get ready for bed. If you don’t mind, Stephen, I’d like to borrow my daughter for a few minutes.”
“Certainly, Mrs. Douglas.” Stephen bowed his head.
Dani squeezed his hand as she passed him and went upstairs with her mother. Stephen surveyed the table and wondered how the dishes would be cleared. Surely, Dani did not wash the dishes herself, did she? No servants? Such a hard life she and her mother must lead.
