Some Time Away (Lovers in Time Series, Book 3): Time Travel Romance

by Marilyn Campbell

  "Ya exist only as long as ya are on Crystal Island. If ya tried to leave..."

  "She would disappear," Noah finished. "Which is why we can't refuse to continue with our so-called mission." He exhaled heavily. "So what happens now?"

  "Ya connect wit' de portal as de moon rises and ya will be taken back to de moment before ya asked for a meeting wit' Robert Davenport. But this time, it would be best to avoid interacting wit' him entirely. However, ya should continue wit' all your other plans of action. Dat is all I am permitted to say. I wish ya success."

  "Wait!" Maggie yelled as he began to fade and his image solidified again. "What happens to all of this and all the other people you mentioned?"

  "As soon as ya go back, this newly created time line disintegrates." And with those words, Reynard vanished.

  A moment later, the moon became visible above the horizon.

  Noah grasped Maggie's hand and asked "Ready?"

  She frowned. "You could save yourself a lot of trouble and just go home to Maine—"

  He brought her hand up and kissed her knuckles. "I promised I'd never let go and if that means another risky trip back to the Roaring Twenties, so be it."

  She smiled up at him then pressed their hands on top of the geode's crack. This time was very different from the first two. There was no shimmering sensation. There was no thunder, lightning or drenching. There was only darkness and silence... and waiting.

  Chapter 16

  Maggie had no sense of how long she was in a limbo state but suddenly they were back in the hotel lobby, being ushered to the manager's office by the concierge. She glanced at Noah then down her body. They were once again dressed in the cooler outfits they'd had on for the morning walk-around.

  "Excuse me, Mr. Eckhart, Mr. and Mrs. Nash asked to speak to you."

  Exactly as the first time, Mr. Eckhart greeted them as though they were honored guests.

  Maggie called up her memory of the original conversation in which she boasted of her husband's accomplishments, requested a tour of the service areas of the hotel and wrangled an invitation to the Hampshire-Gaviston engagement reception. She carefully avoided any mention of Robert Davenport.

  This time Maggie refrained from offering her hand as they were thanking him for his help.

  "Is there anything else I might assist you with today? Perhaps dinner reservations?"

  She turned to Noah. "What do you think, dear? Emerald Patio at six thirty?"

  Noah shrugged. "Whatever you'd prefer, dear."

  Once they were back in the lobby, Noah leaned down and whispered in Maggie's ear. "At the risk of inciting uncontrollable lust, I have to repeat, you were fantastic in there. Maybe even better."

  "Having a rehearsal probably helped. I figured you wouldn't mind if I moved dinner up by an hour. It's been a long time since breakfast."

  "I got that. But since we didn't ask for an appointment with Davenport, we still have some free time before dinner. Is there anything you'd like to do?"

  "Honestly, I'd like to take a nap. A real nap. It's been a helluva day and my brain could use a break before we start strategizing again."

  "I agree completely."

  She tucked her arm into his as they headed out to the planked walkway.

  When they got to the bungalow, they opened several windows to let in the ocean breeze then stripped down to their underwear and stretched out on the clean bed sheets.

  "I miss air conditioning so much," Maggie muttered.

  He leaned over and gave her a light kiss. "Close your eyes. It will be cooler in a couple hours." With a muffled groan, he rolled away from her.

  "Noah?"

  "Hmmm?"

  "I wouldn't mind getting a little hotter—"

  "Please don't finish that sentence. I'm having a hard enough time pretending we're back in high school and you're not the least bit interested in anything but friendship."

  "I hope you know, I'd change that if I could." When he didn't respond, she turned on her side, facing the wall. Her last thoughts before nodding off were of how different her life might have been if she had been interested in something more than friendship with him back then.

  When they awoke, they barely had time to wash and dress for dinner and rumbling stomachs demanded they not postpone their reservations.

  They were almost at the Emerald Patio when Maggie stopped and looked around as though seeing the area for the first time.

  "What is it?" Noah asked.

  "The driver who picked me up at the dock said the island was about two miles square. That seems about right from west to east, but from the northern beach where the bungalows and cabana tents are, through the hotel, to the front entrance might be a half mile or so. The golf course is close to the southern beach, and the tennis courts and clubhouse are along the southwest corner. That seems to leave quite a bit of land in between with no designation, which, of course, makes me curious about it."

  "Let's find out what's there in this time."

  They walked up to the maître d' and Noah gave him their names.

  "Hello again," Maggie said brightly as the host confirmed their reservation in his big book. To Noah, she explained, "Connor was the one who brought us all that bubbly champagne last night."

  The maître d' smiled politely. "Of course. I remember thinking what an attractive couple you are. I work in a lot of different areas, depending on the need."

  "Then you're the perfect person for me to ask a question about the hotel," Noah declared.

  As Noah told Connor what they were curious about, Maggie took a closer look at Connor's name tag. This time, she could see that he was from Philadelphia. Again, she had the feeling she'd seen him and the name Connor before last night at the speakeasy, even though that wasn't possible.

  Or was it?

  A small photo on a wall... a young couple smiling happily at each other... engraving on a silver frame—Lilli & Connor...2/14/05.

  "Oh my gawd," Maggie blurted out. "You're Lilli's Connor!"

  Chapter 17

  Humor let out an audible guffaw. I do love this pair! So bright and so marvelously unpredictable.

  Karma found nothing to be delighted about. They were not supposed to encounter him. Connor O'Malley chose his fate. Judgment was passed. There should never have been a possibility of her recognizing him.

  Justice sided with neither. I am beginning to doubt they will ever begin their primary mission let alone complete it. We should terminate this test before they cause more disruptions than we can rectify.

  I still believe in them, Love stated, sending Humor a hug. Maggie and Noah are obviously more elevated than others we have chosen in the past, more curious, more intuitive, more creative, more—

  Enough, The First declared, ending the debate before more of the Abstracts got involved. The test will continue without further assistance or intervention from this Council. However, if this pair is a true example of humanity's evolution, it may be time to redesign the guidelines for evaluating their progress. Therefore, I hereby request that all members of The Council begin considering possible alterations. Any and all ideas will be discussed after the current test comes to an end.

  Having given The Council something unexpected to focus on instead of questioning who was to blame for Maggie's recognizing Connor, The First retreated from the collective consciousness. There was merit in Karma's and Justice's concerns about Maggie and Noah, but The First's immediate reaction mirrored Humor's.

  Whether the pair completed their primary mission or not, observing them proved quite entertaining, which was one of the reasons The First had purposely arranged for Connor O'Malley to show up in Maggie's path despite the obstacles in place to prevent such an encounter. Another human may not have realized who Connor was and nothing would have come of it. But not Maggie. The First could hardly wait to see what she would do next.

  The other reason The First had intervened was to follow through on a private promise made to Mercy. Like Love, Mercy was always given a b
it more flexibility than certain other Abstracts. Mercy rarely took advantage of that, but several times it had requested a particular favor for its present human charge and, considering the fact that Mercy's charge was Robert Davenport's granddaughter, The First had agreed to personally grant that favor as soon as an opportunity arose.

  And because Maggie and Noah had all the elevated traits Love had credited them with, that opportunity was now at hand.

  Chapter 18

  Lillian crossed her arms and stared at the closed wardrobe doors in her bedroom. It felt as though the concealed mirror was taunting her, daring her to take another trip. Last night had been the first time in a very long while that she had given into the urge and it had been far from satisfying. Tonight was the first time in six years that she felt unable to resist the mirror's lure.

  She thought she had overcome the need completely, that taking advantage of what the mirror offered was at her prerogative, but staying in her office today, doing the work she loved, had taken all her strength. Of course, Mercy had noticed something was wrong with her boss and kept asking if there was anything she could do to help. But this was not a weight her efficient executive assistant could take off her shoulders.

  Her brain was overwhelmed with thoughts of Connor, memories of the hours they had shared and the years they were apart, years when she spent every day anticipating his return and escaping into the mirror every night when he didn't.

  It always came down to time lost.

  Once they had given in to the attraction, they had spent every free weekend of the next year and a half together. And between living in two different cities and both having overloaded schedules, when they were together, most of their time was spent having sex.

  In her innocence, she had assumed that meant they were in love and headed for marital bliss.

  His experience told him it was the perfect part-time, temporary relationship for two very busy people who were strongly attracted to one another.

  She had expected an engagement ring when she graduated from Harvard. What she got was her freedom.

  Connor had a list of logical reasons for making a clean break: he was taking an offer of a full professorship in Colorado; she had to take her place on Crystal Island; the ten-year difference in their ages would matter even more as the years passed, he wasn't sure he ever wanted to get married and have children; and so on and so forth. There was no good reason to keep trying to hold on to a relationship when they were clearly headed in opposite directions, both geographically and in their lives.

  Lilli remembered crying a lot at first, but her father, brother Paul and her Crystal Island "family" quickly put a stop to her self-pitying and she gave herself over to the family business.

  One year later, Paul, his wife and their three children moved to Honolulu to turn an old beach motel property into another Davenport resort and Chester turned management of Crystal Island over to Lilli, despite her being only twenty-three years old.

  Then, in 2005, five years after she had locked away all the memories of Connor O'Malley, he showed up at her hotel with a list of apologies and promises three times as long as the list of logical excuses he had given for their parting.

  The more mature, much more confident Lilli made him wait an entire day before forgiving him for everything.

  The mirror beckoned with a promise that she could relive that joyous day or any other if she just quit fighting the inevitable submission. Perhaps last night's full moon was still affecting her emotions but, whatever was making her weak had won. She opened the wardrobe doors, placed her hand on the mirror and whispered, "Connor."

  * * *

  "Behave yourself!" Lilli muttered through a fixed smile but a giggle softened the order as she moved Connor's hand from her bottom to her hip.

  His fingers tightened and she shifted her gaze from the photographer's lens to Connor's dark eyes. And that quickly, she didn't care where he put his hands or in front of whom, as long as he never stopped looking at her like that.

  The flash of light as the souvenir picture was taken broke the spell.

  "You're going to love that one, Ms. Davenport," the photographer said. "A real keeper. It will be delivered to your suite tomorrow. Happy Valentine's Day."

  It had been Lilli's idea to have a photographer set up outside the Emerald Dome restaurant and from the long line they had waited in, it looked like a success. Thinking of having their picture taken was what had prompted her to wear her red, Mandarin-style dress and have Connor wear his black sports jacket and white dress shirt. He had suggested they have their Valentine's dinner somewhere besides the Davenport but she had not wanted to be off-island in case she was needed. Besides, no one prepared a better meal than Chef Gerard.

  "Let's take a walk on the beach," Connor said, giving her hand a tug.

  Before heading outside, he stopped at the concierge desk and picked up a stuffed hotel gym bag. Lilli saw a note tied around the handle—Hold for C. O'Malley.

  "What are you up to now, O'Malley?"

  He hugged her close to his side and kissed her temple. "Just a wee bit of Irish romance. Having dinner here felt like you were still working. Do you know how many times we were interrupted?"

  She did her best to look apologetic. "Two?"

  "Hmmph. More like six. And none of them were emergencies or problems only you could deal with." He stopped and turned her toward him. "I know the hotel is your baby. And I know you're the one in charge. But for the rest of tonight, you need to trust all the capable managers under your leadership. I may never understand why you would want so much responsibility, but I am trying to respect your choice. However, this is Valentine's Day and your birthday and you deserve some time away with the man who loves you, even if only for a few hours. So for the rest of this night could you try to not be the Davenport's general manager and just be Connor O'Malley's sweetheart?"

  She almost told him the two couldn't be separated, that the Davenport had been part of her life long before he came into it. But then she met his adoring gaze and all resistance melted away. She pulled the cell phone out of her bag and let him see her turn it off. "I love you. You know that, don't you?"

  He kissed the tip of her nose. "Yep. But sometimes I feel like I have to remind you of that fact." He led her over to a golf cart, set the bag in the back and helped her board. Before they got started, he took off his jacket and set it on the back seat then took a pair of her casual sandals out of the gym bag and supported her while she switched shoes. "Trust me," he told her before she could ask again what he was up to.

  Connor parked the golf cart at the entrance to one of the nature trails. He positioned it to block the path and hung a No Trespassing sign on the back end.

  Since Lilli knew every inch of Crystal Island, his surprise was no longer a secret.

  "Okay?" he asked, holding his hand out to her.

  "Absolutely," she replied and accepted his assistance. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she drew his head closer for a long, deep kiss. She didn't need to kiss an army of men to know that no one else would ever make her feel the way Connor did every time their lips met. And no matter how many times they'd made love, it always felt new and different. She pressed her hips against his and moaned her approval.

  Connor broke the kiss and let out a low chuckle. "If you keep that up, you'll be getting one of your presents right here."

  She wrinkled her nose at him. "And if you weren't so damn sexy, I wouldn't need to be reminded to behave."

  He gave her a quick kiss on the mouth then grabbed the gym bag. It only took a few minutes of quick walking to reach the end of the trail, where the sweet smell of night-blooming jasmine announced their arrival at the lush tropical lagoon, with its splashing waterfall. The fact that it was completely man-made and purposefully landscaped took nothing away from the beauty of the spot.

  Lilli sat on a boulder while Connor removed one thing after another from the bag, making her think of a clown car. Within minutes he had set up a self-
inflating air mattress, covered it with a sheet and poured her favorite amaretto liqueur into two cordial glasses. She kicked off her sandals, sat down on the mattress and accepted one of the glasses. She smiled as he slipped out of his loafers and settled down beside her.

  He touched his glass to hers then dipped his index finger into the liqueur and used it to outline her lips. "Happy birthday to the sweetest, most beautiful, smartest, horniest girl in the whole world."

  She stuck her tongue out in time to lick his fingertip then imitated his action, outlining his lips with the sweet liquid from her glass as she said, "And happy Valentine's Day to the sexiest, most wonderful, romantic, patient man in the world. Thank you for putting up with my workaholism."

  He brought their mouths together to share an almond-flavored kiss that slowly deepened as their hands entered the play. He always knew what she wanted and gave her what she needed. He never rushed, no matter how much she begged and, when their bodies finally came together, she was always glad she let him be the boss in this part of her life. After they were both fully satisfied and the delicious tremors subsided, they remained together without talking for some time.

  For Lilli, it was because she couldn't find words to express the intensity of what he made her feel.

  For Connor, it was more than just a reaction to mind-blowing sex. He gently rolled her to his side. "That was..." Rather than define it with words, he kissed her with a tenderness only possible when true love is in a man's heart. "Actually, the plan called for something else before we—hell, I should've known that wasn't going to be possible."

  She smiled. "Well, I believe you were the one who said I was the horniest girl in the whole world."

  "Anyway," he continued, ignoring the opening she gave him. "I want you to know that what I'm about to say has nothing to do with how good that was or how good it always is—"

  "Connor!"

  He took a deep breath and sat up. "Okay. Here goes."