She nodded and smoothed down her dress. “Am I presentable?”
The chef nodded. “As always.”
He then turned away with a smile, leaving her standing there with the basket of breads in her hand.
She had no idea what this was about, but it seemed she had no choice.
She took a deep breath and went through the door and into the dining room.
The light from outside was faint as it was still a while before full sunrise. She could see snowflakes swirling around the windows. The large stone fireplace crackled with a roaring fire in the far corner and the high-ceilinged room felt cooler than the kitchen had felt, but still comfortable.
All the tables were made of polished oak and covered in fine tan tablecloths. Cloth napkins were folded perfectly at every place and the silverware gleamed in the lamplight.
Candles were lit in the center of every table as well, giving the room an intimate feel.
Only four tables of diners this early in the morning occupied the large room. With such nasty weather, she was amazed even that many had come out.
The three early diners she had been instructed to go talk to were sitting near the window facing Main Street. They were close to the fire, but not too close.
Dr. Stevens was one of them and she smiled at that. He had tried to save her husband all those years ago after her husband fell and hit his head. Then Dr. Stevens had helped her get a job in a kitchen, which had started her baking life.
She owed Dr. Stevens and loved talking with him when she could. Thankfully, in the over six years since her husband had died, she hadn’t needed to go see Dr. Stevens for any medical problems other than being lightheaded. He had told her it was because she had a bad heart and there was nothing that could be done. The doctor back home had told her that as well. She had been shocked at first, but then she had just accepted that and moved on.
Except for the lightheaded times, she felt wonderfully healthy, something she was grateful for every day.
The other two at the table she felt she knew from around town, but didn’t know them by name.
As she approached, both men stood.
Dr. Stevens stuck out his hand and with a smile said, “Megan, you are looking wonderful as always.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” she said smiling back.
“This is Bonnie and Duster Kendal,” Dr. Stevens said, introducing her. “This is Mrs. Megan Taber.”
Duster Kendal bowed slightly and Bonnie said, “Wonderful meeting you.”
“Can you join us for a few moments?” Duster asked, moving to hold a chair for her.
“Oh, I’m such a fright,” Megan said. “I’ve been baking all night.”
“Just for a moment,” Bonnie said. “You look wonderful.”
Megan smiled and sat down, enjoying the compliment from such an attractive woman.
Megan felt honored to be with Dr. Stevens and she knew of Bonnie and Duster by reputation around town as well.
“First off,” Dr. Stevens said, opening the cloth covering the bread basket she had brought and pulling out a piece of warm bread glistening with melted butter. “I want to once again compliment you on this bread. I have no idea how you do it.”
“It is wonderful,” Bonnie said, smiling at Megan.
“Of that I can’t argue in the slightest,” Duster said and took the basket, helping himself to a piece as well.
“Thank you,” Megan said, blushing. “Just having you all enjoy the bread makes my day.”
“We enjoy it everyday,” Dr. Stevens said, laughing.
Megan could feel herself blushing even more. Then for the next few minutes they talked about the weather and how the first snow had come early this year.
Then Duster turned to Megan. “Besides wanting to officially meet the wonderful baker who can produce such treats, we wanted to ask you a favor.”
That surprised Megan. She had no idea what kind of help she could be to three such prominent citizens.
“We have a friend who is doing a study of major women of the west,” Bonnie said. “Her name is Carol Kogan and she has asked if she could spend some time with you and ask you some questions.”
Megan opened her mouth, then closed it. No words seemed to want to come out.
“You are known all over the west for your skills in baking,” Dr. Stevens said, smiling at Megan.
Megan had started to realize that when she had recently gotten job offers from major San Francisco hotels. She didn’t want to move, to leave Boise, and she had told Chef Pickner about the offers and promised him she would stay as long as he wanted her.
He had been very thankful for that.
Besides, she loved her apartment in this wonderful hotel and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
“I have no desire to leave here,” Megan said.
“Oh, we know that,” Bonnie said, smiling. “Our friend is just doing research for a book. She’s a well-known writer and would love to talk and spend some time with you. We just said we would ask you is all. Nothing more.”
Bonnie looked at the two men who were enjoying her breakfast bread, then at the smiling face of Bonnie.
“If you think it would help,” Megan said, “I would love to meet with her.”
“Wonderful,” Duster said. “We’ll have her come by when she arrives in town.”
“Thank you,” Bonnie said, smiling. “I think you will really like Carol.”
“I’m sure I will,” Megan said, wondering what she had gotten herself into. “I’m sure I will.”
CHAPTER TEN
November 8th, 1901
Boise, Idaho
CAROL COULDN’T BELIEVE she was about to meet Megan, the same woman who had died in the back of that wagon. She dropped off her horse and handed the reins to the man in the stable behind the Idanha Hotel.
She had a dinner scheduled with Megan in twenty minutes. She hadn’t been this nervous since her first date in high school. And it had been on that double date when she realized she wasn’t into boys because she kept staring at Betty Conrad, the other girl.
And Betty kept staring and flirting back.
She and Betty had ended up dating secretly most of their high school years before both going off to college in different directions. Those had been fun years. Scary years, but fun, since both of them had decided to remain completely hidden until college.
Now Carol was about to meet a woman Carol had watched die. Duster and Bonnie had made sure Carol understood that death was another timeline. The Megan that Carol was about to meet was the same Megan, sure, with the same heart problem, just very much alive.
But if Carol didn’t do something, Megan would have a heart attack on May 28th and die from it.
Or maybe die sooner.
Just no way of telling.
The problem was that Carol wasn’t sure she could do anything to save Megan.
When Carol had opened up Megan’s body in the other timeline, it was clear her heart was badly damaged. And that damage had extended into the area around her heart as well. Megan needed, at best, a quadruple bypass and that might not even be enough.
Megan had a genetically weak heart and Carol was surprised Megan had lasted as long as she had.
So in talking with Bonnie and Duster about the problem in 2019 and doing some research, Bonnie had suggested that Carol jump ahead to 2119 and talk with some doctors there about the problem.
Carol had been surprised at first, even though on the first day of her introduction to timeline travel, Director Parks had taken her two hundred years into the future to set her timeline there.
So if something happened to Carol in 2019, she would wake up in 2119 with only two minutes having past. And if something happened to her there, she would wake up in 2219 with only two minutes having past.
In other words, for all intents and purposes, she was immortal.
But her focus had always been the past, not exploring the future, so when Bonnie had suggested Carol go for more advanced medi
cal help, the idea had shocked her.
And then made her a little angry that she hadn’t thought of it herself.
She wasn’t even sure if she could understand the medical techniques of the one hundred years in the future. She had a hunch what she had been trained to do would look as outdated and barbaric as some of the medical practices of Dr. Stevens in 1902.
And Carol wasn’t sure if she was willing to learn that just yet about her own skills and years of training.
But saving Megan’s life had outweighed her hesitation and, with Director Parks at her side, they had gone forward to 2119 to talk with medical friends of the Institute.
Sadly, even in a hundred years, there was no magic formula for fixing a badly damaged heart past replacement or bypass surgery. Granted, the operations were far less intrusive and most of the heart replace valves or full hearts were grown from the patient’s own stem cells to avoid any chance of rejection.
But it was still a major operation.
And it took time to grow the heart and valves. Three months or more.
Megan didn’t have three months, but there was a chance that the machines of the future could keep her brain and body alive while she waited.
Not a great chance, but a chance.
In the future, however, Megan’s condition would have been caught when she was young and fixed then and monitored going forward.
But even with all that, the heart condition Megan had resulted in the deaths of a lot of people even a hundred years in the future.
Carol knew this battle to save Megan was not going to be easy.
On the way back to 2019, Director Parks had suggested they try to get Megan forward in time to 2119 and Carol had agreed.
Megan could have the surgery there and then be brought back to 2019 to recover.
That had sounded so simple.
But how do you convince a woman in 1902 that first off, she had a bad heart that was about to kill her, and that she needed to travel over two hundred years in the future to have any chance of living.
Impossible.
Carol had no doubt about that.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
November 8th, 1901
Boise, Idaho
MEGAN FELT NERVOUS. She had on one of her best skirts and blouses, an outfit she normally saved for special occasions such as a staff member of the hotel getting married. The skirt was a pleated blue and the blouse a loose white with silk on the neck and sleeves. She wore a light matching blue jacket over her blouse and a small string of pearls from her mother.
She wasn’t sure why she was nervous. This Carol Kogan sounded nice and impressive and wanted to just talk. Megan figured that was what was making her nervous, that someone actually valued beyond their table what she did every night.
She brushed down her skirt one more time, then checked to make sure her hair was in place, even though as short as it was, there wasn’t much she could do with it.
Then she left her apartment on the main floor of the hotel near the back and walked down the hallway toward the large hotel foyer and restaurant beyond. She usually turned at an unmarked door about halfway down the hallway that led into the kitchen area, but this time she just kept walking, forcing herself to breathe evenly. Last thing she needed to do was get lightheaded tonight.
And besides, after dinner, she needed to go to work as normal to prepare the breads and pastries for the following day.
She nodded to the desk clerk as she moved across the stone floors of the foyer and into the open restaurant doors beyond.
Stan, the evening host, greeted her with a smile. “You look wonderful this evening, Mrs. Taber.”
“Thank you, Stan,” she said, bowing slightly.
“Your guest is waiting at the table near the front window,” Stan said, indicating that she should follow him.
As she approached, the woman she was meeting glanced around and seemed shocked.
Actually, it was Megan who felt shocked. The woman was stunningly beautiful and dressed in a similar style as Megan was.
The woman stood and extended her hand after a moment. “Mrs. Taber, I am Carol Kogan. The honor is all mine to finally meet you.”
Megan took Miss Kogan’s hand and was stunned at how soft and wonderful it felt. She didn’t want to let it go.
And she didn’t want to stop staring into Miss Kogan’s eyes either. They were the most beautiful green Megan had ever seen.
Stan moved around her and pulled out her chair, so Megan released Miss Kogan’s hand and sat, allowing Miss Kogan to sit again as well.
“Would you enjoy a beverage to start?” Stan asked.
“Water would be wonderful,” Megan said.
Stan nodded and turned away.
Megan looked at Carol, who was staring at her as well.
“Call me Megan,” she said, deciding to break the ice a little.
“I’m Carol. And I apologize for staring, but I hope you don’t mind if I say you are a very beautiful woman.”
Megan could feel herself blush a little along her neck. She laughed. “Not at all because I was thinking the same of you.”
Now Carol blushed slightly and laughed.
Over the evening they managed to talk about their pasts, about how Megan’s husband had died, and then finally her baking.
To Megan, the conversation was wonderful, the most enjoyable she had had in a very, very long time.
And the more they talked, the more she liked Carol. And the more time Megan wanted to spend with Carol.
For dinner they both had the baked trout with small potatoes and both had a piece of a cherry pie she had baked last night to finish off their meal. In so many ways, their tastes were very, very similar.
“So what exactly is this project you are working on?” Megan asked after they were both sipping tea after their dessert.
“Strong women of the west, in general,” Carol said. “Their health needs in more specific.”
Megan nodded. She had been stunned at what she had been required to do during those first few months of marriage. The chores had been backbreaking and looking back at it, she couldn’t imagine how she had survived.
“So why me?” Megan asked.
“Besides wanting to meet you?” Carol asked, smiling.
Megan blushed at that slightly, but smiled back. “I’m glad I met you as well.”
“So besides that wonderful benefit,” Carol said, “you are a well-known woman of the west because of your baking skills and art. So you were a logical choice and I am forever thankful to Dr. Stevens and Duster and Bonnie for giving me an introduction.”
“Tell them I am thankful as well,” Megan said, smiling at Carol. “And you consider my baking an art?”
“I do,” Carol said nodding, a very serious look in her eyes. “Anyone can toss together what it takes to make bread or a pie as we just ate, but it takes an artist to make them taste the way you do.”
“Thank you,” Megan said. She knew her face was red and she looked down away from the wonderful and intense green eyes.
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Carol said.
Megan smiled and looked back into Carol’s worried eyes. “You didn’t. It’s how I feel about my baking yet never say. So thank you.”
Carol smiled and nodded and the two sat there staring at each other for the longest and most wonderful time.
CHAPTER TWELVE
November 9th, 1901
Boise, Idaho
CAROL HAD MOVED into the hotel because the weather made it too difficult at times to make the two-mile ride to the Institute. And that way she could be closer to Megan as well.
Megan seemed very pleased when she heard that Carol was staying in a suite on the top floor of the hotel. And she was even more pleased when Carol had asked to see her at breakfast to continue getting to know her better.
“I usually have my breakfast in my rooms,” Megan said. “So if you don’t mind meeting there, I would enjoy the conversation.”
“I
would love that,” Carol said, trying to keep her excitement under control.
“But I must warn you,” Megan said. “I will have just worked all night around hot ovens. I might not be very presentable.”
Carol laughed. “At that time of the morning, I am never presentable either. I will put on just enough to not be indecent in the hallways.”
“Deal,” Megan had said.
They had parted with a wonderful handshake and a light kiss on each other’s cheek. Carol almost floated back to her suite. She felt better than a high school first date. She had no doubt that she had just met a woman she could fall for completely.
She had no idea if Megan felt the same way in reverse, and with the moral times of 1901, she had no idea how Megan felt about anything around two women being together. So Carol needed to go slowly and keep firmly in mind when and where she was..
Otherwise she would lose Megan and, if she did that, chances are Megan would die once again next May. And Carol didn’t want that to happen.
She had an alarm set for just before five in the morning since Megan had said she usually got off work around five-thirty. The night was pitch black outside the windows and not even the streetlights along Main Street pushed back the darkness.
Carol could feel the cold through the windows and got the fires in the suite’s two fireplaces stoked back up.
She shivered as she put on riding slacks and clean 2019 underwear and a clean blouse and riding boots.
She splashed cold water on her face and brushed back her hair and then just at five-thirty in the morning left her suite.
She actually met Megan coming down the hallway outside her room from the kitchen.
Megan’s smile lit up the dim hallway. “Perfect timing.”
“For working all night,” Carol said, giving Megan a light peck on the cheek just as they had parted with, “you sound very much awake.”
“Oh, I will be for another hour just from the momentum from working,” Megan said. “After that, no guarantees.”
Carol watched as Megan opened her door and went inside.
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