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 morning summer light through the big windows seemed almost orange in color, promising a beautiful sunrise over the mountains. The large stone fireplace sat dark and empty, a reminder of the colder winter days to come. The high-ceilinged room felt cooler than the kitchen had felt, but still comfortable.
Later in the day she knew the windows on both sides would be opened allowing a light cross-breeze to keep the air as cool as possible and moving. Overhead, the electric fans were already moving in a lazy fashion making clicking sounds.
All the dining 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 morning light.
Only four tables of diners this early in the morning occupied the large room. In short order there would be many more. Summer breakfasts was the restaurant’s best time.
The three early diners she had been instructed to go talk to were sitting near the window facing Main Street. They all seemed to be in a good mood as they were laughing at something one of them must have said.
Dr. Stevens was one of the diners 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 six years since her husband had died, she hadn’t needed to go see Dr. Stevens for any medical problems other than the lightheadedness. He had confirmed her childhood doctor’s diagnosis that she had a bad heart and there was nothing that could be done. So she just accepted it.
Except for being lightheaded at times, she felt wonderfully healthy, something she was grateful for every moment of 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 the Kendals 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 warm the summer had been and how they were all looking forward to the cooler fall.
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 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, worried about what she had gotten herself into. “I’m sure I will.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
August 21st, 1901
Boise, Idaho
CAROL WAS ABOUT to go meet Megan for a third time. She didn’t know what to think or even how to feel.
Burying Megan for the second time had torn Carol apart.
After the funeral, she had gone back to 2019 and just sat in her condo under Megan’s brown and gold and orange patchwork quilt from Megan’s rooms and sulked, letting groceries be brought in and not caring about anything else.
Carol had lost the love of her life, she knew that.
But yet, impossibly, Megan was still alive and baking her wonderful bread in an infinite number of timelines.
Carol just wasn’t sure if she could see Megan again, knowing that she could just die at any moment.
It had taken both Duster and Bonnie to convince her that Megan hadn’t died six months earlier than expected because of Carol. And as a doctor, Carol knew that to be the case. With Megan’s condition, anything could set it off. She might have bent in a strange manner in the kitchen to reach for something and strained.
Or rolled over wrong in bed.
Or a hundred other reasons.
Carol knew she wasn’t at fault for robbing Megan of six months of life, but it sure felt that way.
There just had to be a way to save Megan.
Finally, after dreaming every night for a month about Megan and her wonderful smile and smooth skin, Carol decided to try to save her once again.
She went to Director Parks and got his permission to jump to 2119 to study the procedures used there on heart patients like Megan.
What she had learned had been both encouraging and discouraging. Sometimes, without a complete heart replacement operation, patients with the condition that Megan had still died.
And they often died unexpectedly, as Carol had learned. She would no longer trust that Megan would live until May, 1902. Carol had to act before then to get Megan’s trust and get her the surgery in 2119.
Then, knowing that Carol would more than likely get turned down, she had asked Director Parks if he would allow her to study the techniques of 2219 as well.
He had agreed and what had surprised her was that in a hundred years, stem cell growth of a new heart and replacing out the old heart was still
the best method in heart cases like Megan’s.
So now she had to get Megan’s trust enough to get her to the Institute and to 2019. Then extract some stem cells and get them to 2119 to grow a new heart. And then get her there, alive, to get the new heart.
The only problem was that it took three months to grow the new heart.
Three months in which Megan could die at any moment and nothing could save her.
The task just seemed impossible.
But Carol had buried Megan twice.
Carol had to try again.
She just had to.
So now, back in the summer of 1901, Carol was on her way to meet Megan for the first time in this timeline. And Carol felt more nervous than she had last time, if that was possible.
Somehow, not only did she need to hide her real identity and past, but she had to hide that she knew Megan at all and that they had fallen in love once before.
Carol at least knew now that Megan was open to that.
But it would take time, as it did the last time.
And time was not on Megan’s side.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
August 21st, 1901
Boise, Idaho
MEGAN FELT NERVOUS. She had on one of her best skirts and blouses, an outfit she saved for special occasions such as a staff party. 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.
Even though it was a warm evening outside, she felt she needed the jacket to look presentable.
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 what they ate at 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.
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.
The blinds on the west side of the room had been drawn to block out the direct evening sun and Megan was happy to see that the woman was sitting in a shaded area near an open window. The noise and smells from the streets might intrude at times, but even a slight breeze would be better than being stuffy.
As Megan 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 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 in Miss Kogan’s eyes either. They were the most beautiful green Megan had ever seen.
And clearly Miss Kogan didn’t want to break the grip either. Her face looked flushed and there was a slight look of panic in her eyes.
Stan moved around Megan 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, even though ice was a great distance away from this warm August evening.
“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 at one point she felt comfortable enough to take off her jacket and drape it over her chair.
Carol did the same.
And the more they talked, the more Megan liked Carol.
And the more Megan wanted to spend time with Carol.
They both had a summer salad full of fresh vegetables from local gardens and both had a piece of a berry pie Megan had baked last night to finish off their meal. In so many ways, their tastes were very, very similar.
At one point in the conversation, Carol said, “You are a well-known woman of the West because of your baking skills and art.”
Megan was shocked to her core. She took a sip of the warm water and then asked, “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 a pie as we just ate, but it takes an artist to make them taste the way you make them taste.”
“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 NINETEEN
August 21st, 1901
Boise, Idaho
CAROL WAS SO nervous when Megan came into the dining room, she almost couldn’t stand.
Carol had buried Megan twice, yet here she was again, walking across the warm, sunlit dining room like an angel.
It was the same Megan that Carol had fallen so completely in love with. And that love hadn’t eased in the slightest in the time it took Carol to do the medical research. If anything, seeing Megan like this, alive and smiling, was like a dream.
All Carol wanted to do was hug her.
But she didn’t.
This was going to be impossible, but to save this woman’s life, Carol had to try to give Megan time to trust her.
But not take a lot of time.
That would be a very fine balance.
Thankfully, the dinner went well and as in the last timeline, they met the next morning for breakfast in Megan’s apartment.
Carol touched Megan’s beautiful patchwork quilt when she came in, knowing that it was also in her condo on her own couch in 2019. She wondered how Megan would feel if she knew that.
With luck, Megan would find out.
The breakfast went almost identically as the first breakfast together had gone, and they spent every dinner together and every breakfast, until the moment when Megan asked Carol to scrub her back.
That’s when things changed for the better, as far as Carol was concerned.
She took off her blouse and Megan once again asked about her sports bra.
Carol, on impulse, took it off, offering it to Megan to feel the synthetic fabric.
Just as Carol had stared at Megan’s wonderful body, Megan stared at Carol’s exposed breasts. Carol’s breasts were also small, much the same size as Megan’s, but instead of
small brown nipples as Megan had, Carol had wide, pink nipples.
“Since I have gone this far,” Carol asked, smiling back at Megan’s stare, “Can I go all the way and join you in the tub? It would be much better to wash your back.”
“Oh, please,” Megan said, and then just kept staring, a slight blush on her face as Carol finished undressing and climbed into the large tub and warm water behind Megan.
Carol extended her legs along both sides of Megan and took the washcloth and soap and started working on Megan’s back.
Megan sighed and after a moment Megan’s hands were slightly stroking Carol’s legs.
And the morning went from there, with Carol finally leaving after giving Megan a long, wonderful kiss.
That evening at dinner, Carol asked Megan if she could get the following night off of work. She had a wonderful surprise to show her.
Megan nodded and smiled. “I would love to start to see some of the many surprises you hold.”
“You saw a few of those this morning,” Carol said, blushing.
Megan also blushed. “That’s why I am interested in more.”
Carol laughed.
It was September 22nd. It had taken Carol one month to gain Megan’s trust and love.
And for Carol, it had been one of the best months of her life, ever.
Maybe the best.
CHAPTER TWENTY
September 23rd, 1901
Boise, Idaho
MEGAN COULDN’T BELIEVE how much and how quickly she had fallen completely in love with the mysterious Carol Kogan. She knew it wasn’t right or proper, but she was finding herself not caring. It felt right.
And clearly Carol had fallen for her as well.
Megan had no doubt that she would love to just touch Carol’s skin for the rest of her life. And it surprised Megan that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Carol. Not a thought she ever would have believed possible just a month before.
Of course, everything about them being together would have to be kept completely secret, but Megan was willing to do that just to be with Carol.
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