Ladies Prefer Rogues: Four Novellas of Time-Travel Passion

by Janet Chapman

  Jinx glanced over at the crowd surrounding Maggie. “She looks pretty happy to me. Glowing in fact.”

  Ty suppressed a snarl. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Not a thing. Just that she’s having fun. So why aren’t you?”

  Ty looked at the man who’d been his best friend since they’d been in diapers. “Because it’s not fair to ask her to stay here.”

  “Why not?”

  “Are you serious?” he asked, dropping the beer bottle on the table beside him. “Look at her. This is a whole new world. She deserves to see it. She’s insatiable about learning it all. I have no right to try to keep her here.”

  “Have you asked her to?”

  “ ’ Course not.”

  “Maybe you should.”

  “Do you have fuzz in your ears? I told you, she wants to explore the world.”

  “So go explore it with her.”

  “My job is here. My life is here. I can’t just pick up and go galivantin’, J.”

  “I’m thinking you’ve built up enough vacation time to take a trip around the world and have enough left over to see it again.”

  “What if she doesn’t want me with her while she explores?”

  “Again, dipshit, ask her.”

  “I’m afraid of her answer.”

  Maggie glanced over at Ty again, wondering what was wrong with him. As far as she was concerned, this had been such a perfect day. Nobody had ever had a birthday party for her. Her mom always did something special, of course, but never an actual party.

  Her heart panged. Her mother would have loved this. She would have been initially shocked at the scandalous attire, maybe, but she’d have adjusted quickly, Maggie was sure.

  She would have especially loved that a man had cared enough to do something so wonderful for her daughter. Maggie glanced over at Ty again. Their eyes met, and he smiled at her. But the smile didn’t quite make it up any further than his lips. What could possibly be bothering that man?

  Determined to find out, Maggie excused herself from the crowd and began marching over to him.

  “Margaret?”

  Maggie stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder. Fannie was standing there, holding a brightly colored gift that almost matched the sundress-type thing she was wearing. Today her hair was blonder than Maggie’s, in what she’d told Maggie was her Marilyn Monroe ’do. Maggie had made a mental note to search the Internet for Marilyn Monroe later to see what that meant.

  “Oh, Fannie, that’s not for me, is it?”

  Fannie grinned up at her. “It is, although I need to give a little background, so you understand it.”

  Although Maggie had loved all of the gifts she’d been given today, a gift that needed background sounded intriguing. “Cool!” she said.

  “I’ve been doing a little research, Margaret, because I wanted to figure out how much I owe you.”

  “Owe me?”

  “It might be a little late, but I’m thinkin’ your claim to the Rooster is legit.”

  “Oh, Fannie, I have no desire to stake—”

  “Well, missy, I’m stakin’ it for ya, then.”

  “But—”

  “No buts about it. Although I’m not a dummy. I’m not just handin’ it over to ya. But I most surely am going to pay you a sum. Just haven’t figured that sum out yet.”

  “Honestly, Fannie—”

  “No arguin’. The Rooster’s a right profitable little business, and I’m an old lady who doesn’t believe in taking so much money with me. I can afford it, and you deserve it.”

  Maggie stared down at her. “I . . . don’t know what to say.”

  “Say I can buy out your share. And we’ll all be happy.” Fannie tapped the gift. “But this is something different. While I was researching the history of all this I came across something interesting. You say your mama’s name was Elizabeth, yes?”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “Did she have any kin? Besides you?”

  “No. None. It was just the two of us. Oh, and my father. But he . . . died.”

  “Oh. Then maybe this isn’t quite the gift I thought it would be. In my researchin’ I came across an Elizabeth Prescott who lived during the twenties. I thought maybe she’d be a relative. When did your mama pass on?”

  “I . . . I don’t know. She disappeared. I always thought that maybe she’d made some folks really mad and they kidnapped her. She was . . . a bit of a hell-raiser,” Maggie admitted, smiling at the memories. “I’ve been meaning to try to look for an obituary somewhere, but there just hasn’t been time.”

  “I found one. For Elizabeth Prescott.”

  Maggie’s heart flip-flopped. “Is it in there?” she asked, looking at the present.

  “Yes. But this one died in 1945, Maggie.”

  Any hope Maggie had that it was her mother’s vanished. “That wouldn’t have been possible. She couldn’t possibly have lived that long.”

  “I’m sorry. Mebbe this was a terrible idea.”

  “May I see it anyway?”

  Fannie seemed reluctant to hand it over, but she finally did. “I was hopin’ this might be a relative, but it doesn’t sound like there’s much chance of that.”

  Maggie carefully undid the wrapping. It was so pretty she didn’t want to destroy it. She opened the box and, sure enough, it was an obituary from the Philadelphia Enquirer, dated July 21, 1945. Maggie started to read it, but then was caught by the picture. This woman had been the spitting image of her mother. Only . . .

  “What is this outfit she’s wearing,” Maggie asked in a whisper, lowering the box so Fannie could see.

  “Why, that’s a flapper outfit. That picture must have been taken during the twenties. She look familiar?”

  “Yes, she does. This is my mother, Fannie. But how is that possible?”

  “How is it possible you’re standin’ here, missy?”

  Ty watched Maggie hug Fannie tightly, jump around with what looked like utter elation, then almost run around the pool toward him. Hell, she seemed so high as a kite that he guessed she could have walked right over that water.

  She skidded to a halt in front of him and Jinx, her eyes dancing and a little watery all at the same time.

  “That must have been one helluva present, Mags,” Ty said.

  “Oh, it is. Unbelievable even. But I . . . don’t want to talk about it until I research a few things.” She put the box behind her back with a nervous, excited laugh. “Your girlfriend’s very nice, Jinx. I approve.”

  “In which case, I might marry her, Maggie.”

  She laughed again. “I’m never wrong about these things, you know.”

  Jinx stood up. “I’m betting that’s the God’s honest truth. So I best get back to her before some bozo tries to horn in. See what you can do about this lump.”

  “I’ll do my best.” She took the seat Jinx had just vacated. “Thank you for the party, Ty.”

  “I was just responsible for driving you around while everyone arrived. My mom and Jinx did the rest.”

  “It was your idea.”

  He looked at her. “Who told you that?”

  “Your mom.”

  “Blabbermouth.”

  “She just wanted to give credit where credit’s due.”

  He couldn’t help it. He reached out and took her hand. “You’ve got me real curious about what’s in that box. But I’ll respect your privacy until you’re ready to show me.”

  “That’s just one of the reasons I lo . . . like you so much, Ty.”

  His heart swelled a little. “Having fun, sweet?”

  “I’d have more fun if you’d join me.”

  “I wanted to give you space.”

  She tilted her head. “Why?”

  “So you could enjoy yourself without me suffocating you.”

  “Suffocating me? How would you being by my side suffocate me? It would have helped. I’m not all that great with names.”

  “Bull. That brain of yours
soaks up everything you see and hear.”

  “It doesn’t when all I’m thinking about is where you are.”

  Ty swung his legs over the side of the lounger. “I’m a jerk.”

  “No comment.”

  “I’m so sorry, darlin’. Let’s go circulate.”

  Her smile beamed. “Excellent. Would you like a hot dog?”

  “You mean there are some left?”

  She slugged him in the arm. “I’ve only had three.”

  “How your tiny body manages to handle all the food you—”

  About six pagers went off at once, and Ty looked around to see all of his deputies checking their messages. Then Jinx came trotting over to him. “Trouble at the Rooster. We’ve got it covered.”

  “What is it?”

  Jinx glanced at Maggie, then back at him. “We’ll take care of it.”

  “What is it?” Maggie asked.

  Jinx sighed. “Seems someone’s been locked in the shed.”

  Maggie gasped.

  Ty grabbed her and hugged her. “I’m so sorry, Maggie, but I’m going to have to go check this out.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “No way,” Ty and Jinx said at the same time.

  “Way,” Maggie said.

  “You aren’t getting out of this car,” Ty told Maggie for about the tenth time since she’d strapped herself in.

  “I know, I know,” she said, sounding exasperated.

  “Why would you want to come, Maggie? You were having fun at your party.”

  “I don’t know. I just . . . had to.”

  “That shed holds nothing but bad memories for you.”

  “I know, but . . .”

  When she didn’t finish, he said, “But what?”

  “I was thinking. If I want to go back to where I came from, maybe that shed would hold the key to getting there.”

  Ty’s heart dropped out of his chest. “So you’ve decided? You want to go back?”

  “It’s not a matter of want. It’s a matter of whether I’m meant to.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “Do I belong here? Or back there? Or maybe some other time altogether.”

  “I figure since you landed here, then here’s where you’re supposed to be.”

  “Or maybe, just maybe, I was meant to glimpse the future so that I could go back and maybe . . . I don’t know, work to make it happen. Maybe even sooner. Maybe without so much bloodshed.”

  “Maggie, much as I respect you, I don’t think you alone will be able to change the world.”

  “I know, sounds presumptuous, doesn’t it? But who’s to say? My mother worked all of her life to change things. And she did make a difference. Small perhaps, in the scheme of things, but she did. And she’d wanted me to carry on with her work. I didn’t see it that way then. But maybe that’s what this whole thing is all about.”

  “Would you be happy back then now? Now that you know what you know?”

  “Not happy, perhaps. Not as happy as I have been here. Especially if I go back after my mother disappeared.”

  “So . . . what? You want me to conk you in the head and lock you in the shed and see if that sends you back? I couldn’t do it, Maggie. Not just because there’s no way I could hurt you. But I can’t stand the thought of living in this world without you.”

  “Why, Ty?”

  “You came here for a reason. I honestly believe that. And I’m selfish enough to believe part of that reason is that you and I were meant to be together. Part of it is that I believe you’re meant to teach children the history of the woman’s movement. Your mother was a pioneer. What better way to honor her than to teach kids about her struggles? About women’s struggles?”

  “Or maybe go back and teach children about the possibilities for the future.”

  He felt shattered. “Would you miss me?”

  “Incredibly.”

  They pulled up in front of the Rooster, amazingly the first to arrive. Ty turned to her. “I won’t stop you if you want to try. But I can’t help you do it, Maggie. Please don’t ask me to.”

  “I won’t.”

  He took her head in his hands and kissed her hard. “Stay here. Think about it some. Don’t make any rash decisions. That’s all I’m asking. Okay?”

  “Yes, I’ll think about it.”

  “Thank you.”

  He got out of the car and strode to the front steps of the Rooster, not looking back. He couldn’t stand to look back.

  Maggie waited until Ty had headed inside this mansion that at one point in time was supposed to belong to her. And then, her heart breaking, she got out of the car and started making her way to the backyard.

  She didn’t know if she was plumb nuts or what, but she had to see that shed. She had a very big decision to make. And she couldn’t do it without seeing where this strange, wonderful adventure had begun.

  Once again, Fannie had no idea who’d locked someone in her shed, or where the lock had come from. All she knew is that one of her girls had come to work, claiming she could swear Lester was locked up back there.

  So Ty waited for Jinx and the bolt cutters and called for a bus. He realized he’d forgotten to grab his flashlight from his trunk, so ran back to the car to get it. The car was empty.

  “Shit.”

  Maggie stood in the shadows, only the light of the moon illuminating the shed that had been her hell . . . or her salvation.

  She could hear a man yelling for help, banging on the door. At least he didn’t sound like he’d been smacked senseless as she had been.

  Maggie’s mind was in a jumble. She wished, so much, that her mother were here to tell her what she should do. Lord knew she didn’t want to leave this place, this time. And the thought of leaving Ty was almost unbearable.

  And if she did go back, at what point in time would she land? She was almost positive that with a little more research she’d find that somehow, remarkably, her mother had also gone forward in time. If this was what she thought it was, her mother had lived to see women get the right to vote. She’d seen women begin entering the work force into jobs that had always exclusively been for men only. “Oh, Mama, tell me what to do,” she whispered.

  She walked slowly toward the shed, thinking maybe if she’d just touch it, she would get answers. But she was so dang afraid of what the answer would be.

  She reached the shed and heard the man’s angry demand for help. “Shh,” she said. “Help is coming. Sheriff Coltraine is on his way.”

  “Oh, thank the Lord. When I get my hands on Bertha—”

  She lifted her hand to touch this magical shed.

  “Maggie, no!” Ty yelled, running to her, his light shining ahead of him. “Maggie, please wait!”

  Her hand dropped away from the shed. And she stepped back.

  He skidded to a halt in front of her. “You promised you’d wait.”

  He looked so scared, so upset, that she put a hand to his face. “I . . . thought maybe if I touched it, and I go, then I’m meant to go.”

  “Sheriff?” the man yelled. “Get me the hell out of here!”

  “Help’s on its way, Lester. Just hang in there.” He placed himself between Maggie and the shed. “You hurt, Lester?”

  “Just my pride, Sheriff. But can’t rightly say how healthy Bertha’s gonna be when I get hold of her.”

  “Don’t do anything I’d have to arrest you for, Lester.”

  Ty took Maggie’s arms and pulled her farther from the shed. “If you’re going to experiment, I’m coming with you,” he said in a low growl.

  Her mouth dropped open. “You’d do that? You’d come back with me?”

  “My life is wherever you are, Maggie.”

  “Oh, Ty!”

  “Who’d have thought it. A couple of weeks ago I was thinking I’d probably die a bachelor, because I couldn’t seem to fall in love. And then you . . . dropped by. Now I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I know I’m not much, but—”

 
“Not much? Oh, Ty, you so underestimate yourself. You’re an honest, upstanding man. With your paternal history, you could have turned into your father, but you didn’t. You saw him for what he was and you went the other way. I admire that so much about you.”

  “Excuse me,” Lester yelled. “Prisoner here!”

  “Hold your pants on, Lester,” Ty yelled back. “If you had in the first place you probably wouldn’t be in there!”

  Maggie giggled. “You’re funny, as well. I love that about you, too.”

  He looked into her eyes. “Do I . . . make you happy, Maggie?”

  “More than I ever expected in my life, Sheriff.”

  “Then please don’t touch that shed unless I’m holding your hand. Whatever the future or the past holds, Maggie, I want to spend it with you.”

  She stared at him. “Are you saying . . .”

  “I bought the ring two days ago. I just wanted to wait until I knew for sure you felt the same way. If I asked you to marry me, what would your answer be?”

  “Oh, Ty!” She threw herself at him. “Yes, most definitely yes!”

  “Then we need to go back to my place to get it before we . . . touch the shed.”

  Maggie looked over her shoulder at the place where this strange, exhilarating journey began. “I see no need to tempt fate, Ty. I belong here. With you. I believe my mother would have loved you. Not as much as I do, but she’d be happy.”

  “What makes you think so?” he asked, his heart near to busting out of his chest.

  “As soon as you get Lester out of there, I have something very interesting to show you, Ty.”

  Ty glanced at the shed. “Jinx’ll be here soon enough for Lester. It’s time to start our life together. I’m taking the rest of your birthday off.”

  “Why, Sheriff,” she said, fanning her face. “I’m flattered.”

  “Yeah, well I’ve heard tell men in love tend to get goofy. Is that true?”

  “I wouldn’t know. But I can’t wait to find out.”

  They started walking toward his car. “So what’s this big surprise?”

  “Tell me everything you know about flappers,” Maggie said, threading her fingers through his. “Right after you tell me you love me.”