I nodded, unable to speak, to move, to think as Antoine slipped his hands underneath my hair and fastened the necklace.
He slid the ruby heart pendant around the chain and placed it ever so gently on my chest.
Breathless, I reached up to touch it.
Sparks sizzled underneath my fingertips…just like the first time.
“Do you like it?” Antoine asked, an expectant look passing through his eyes.
I smiled back up at him, forcing the tears that wanted to spill onto my cheeks back in their place. “I love it, Antoine. It’s gorgeous.”
The tango beat picked up and swirled around us, electricity lacing through the air.
Antoine gazed down at me, the gleam in his eyes suddenly making me remember this feeling. This moment.
“Dance with me, Ruby,” he said, stretching out his hand.
I knew then. I knew where I was.
The shiny dance studio. These beautiful mirrored walls. My sparkly red heels. The tango tune moving through the speakers. The ruby-red necklace.
Antoine with his smoky gaze, hand outstretched, waiting for me to take it. Waiting for me to dance with him. My soul mate.
I’d found the portal.
Antoine had created it for me without even knowing it.
I ran my hand over my flat stomach, thinking of my baby girl.
But how could I leave Antoine? And how could I leave Titine while she was pregnant?
Traveling back in time to live out these past four months with Antoine was my destiny, I knew that now.
But deep in my soul, I also knew that being Claudia was just as much my destiny as being Ruby. And even more so, being a mother to my baby girl…that was my destiny.
As I ran my fingers once again over the ruby pendant that rested over my heart, I could almost hear her whispering to me, Take his hand. I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.
Tears of anticipation, sadness, and joy glazed over my eyes as I smiled up at Antoine. The love of my life. The man I would never forget.
It only took a puff of air, a tiny swell of energy for me to say the word that lingered so heavily at the tip of my tongue.
“Yes.”
I placed my shaky palm in Antoine’s and let him sweep me up in his arms and twirl me around the dance floor. As we swayed in time to the sexy music, our bodies, our souls connecting, I leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, “I love you, Antoine. No matter what happens, know that I will love you forever. You are the reason I came back.”
Antoine smiled warmly as he pressed his chest so close to mine, it felt as if our hearts were now beating as one. “I love you too, Ruby. You are the most incredible woman I’ve ever met, and I’ve waited my whole life for you. I’ll never let you go, ever.”
Just as I felt my heart overflowing with love, my body buzzing with desire, and my brain telling me that maybe this wasn’t the portal after all, a harsh wind whipped through the dance studio, the windows and doors banging open and closed. Antoine pulled me in tighter, then leaned down and kissed me.
A jarring pain ripped through my chest, just underneath the ruby-red pendant. But I didn’t break our kiss. I didn’t let go.
The pain spread from my chest, up to my head and down to my toes. Sparks crackled beneath my fingertips as I held on to Antoine.
“I love you, Ruby. I’ll always love you,” he whispered in my ear.
As the wind picked up, whirling around us with a fury, I whispered back, “Come with me, Antoine. Please come with me.”
Every ounce of power within me strained to hold on.
I will not lose him. I traveled so far to find him. I can’t lose him now.
The room spun around us, flashes of red, silver, and black swirling past our heads, until finally the blackness swallowed up every last color. Every last sound.
But one spark remained.
One little piece of light led the way.
The gleam in Antoine’s smoky-gray eyes.
THIRTY-FIVE
Beep…beep…beep.
At first it was a distant, faraway sound, a faint, steady beeping that was almost comforting. But then, as the sound moved closer to me, growing in intensity but never losing its firm pace, I realized it was right next to my head.
Where was I? And what was that noise?
I blinked a few times, but everything blurred together, one big swirl of silver and red. My mouth was so dry I could hardly swallow, and it felt as if someone had beaten the insides of my head with a hammer. I wished that beeping sound would stop. Where was it coming from?
I blinked again, this time forcing my eyelids open.
“Claudia? Claudia, sweetie, you’re awake.”
A petite woman with short blonde hair sat next to me. It was my mom, Jane. She squeezed my hand in hers as she blinked a stream of tears from her eyes.
There was something different about her…something new about the way she looked at me. Before I could figure it out, she leaned forward, laying her tiny little frame over me, letting her warm tears splash onto my cheeks. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so glad you’re okay. You gave us such a scare. I love you so much.”
My mom never said I love you. And she didn’t hug me.
And she never cried.
What was going on?
“Mom,” I croaked, my voice all hoarse and scratchy. “What’s going on? Where am I?”
A worried look passed through my mother’s eyes—another expression I don’t ever remember seeing in her normally icy features. “The doctor said you may not remember everything right away. You hit your head pretty hard when you fell. Maybe I should call the nurse.”
But I grabbed onto my mom’s hand, not wanting this moment to end. Not wanting her to leave my side. She was finally here. The mother I’d always wanted. The caring, loving, motherly woman who had been hiding underneath that cool façade for all those years—she was here. And I didn’t want to lose another second with her.
“Wait, Mom. Don’t leave, okay? Stay with me.”
She sat back down and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’m not going anywhere. Let’s just take it slow, okay?”
I nodded and coughed as I tried to swallow. “Could I get some water?”
“Of course, dear.” She grabbed a pink plastic pitcher from the tray next to the bed and poured me a glass.
After gulping down the entire cup, I cast a confused glance around me. Bland white curtains enclosed the small room, and a metal railing lined the uncomfortable bed I was lying in. Wires and tape covered my hands, while an IV dripped steadily by my side. “What happened, Mom? Why am I in the emergency ro—?” But I stopped as I noticed the gorgeous, sparkling silver dress I was wearing.
And even more surprising than the designer gown spread over my figure was the firm bump that protruded up from the dress, in the exact spot where my stomach should’ve been.
I ran my hands over the bump, realizing that the small basketball beneath the dress was my stomach. And as my hands rested on the top, I felt a small kick.
The fog that had surrounded me lifted, the grogginess gone.
I’m pregnant.
And that annoying beeping sound next to my bed was suddenly the most glorious sound I’d ever heard. It was my baby’s heartbeat.
My baby.
I was going to be a mom.
I looked over to my own mother, who was now blinking back the tears even more fiercely, though not allowing the relieved smile to leave her dainty little face. “The baby is going to be fine, Claudia. The paramedics who brought you in said her vitals look good. They just want to get you in a hospital gown so they can do a quick ultrasound to be sure everything is okay.”
“It’s a girl?” I asked as another tiny kick protruded from my growing tummy.
She nodded as she laid her hand over mine.
“Yes, sweetie,” she said. “You’re having a baby girl. Isn’t it just wonderful? You only found out last week. I don’t think I’ve ever see
n you more excited, although now the trick will be choosing a name. There are so many good girl names. But at least the two of you have another few months to decide.”
What did she mean, the two of you?
Before I had a chance to ask who she was referring to or why I was wearing a sparkly silver gown, the white curtain swished open and a gorgeous older woman entered the room. She had strawberry-red hair pulled back into a bun, crystal-green eyes, and an elegant violet scarf adorning her neck.
It was Grandma Martine.
Her emerald eyes danced the minute she realized that I was awake, and in that moment, I remembered.
I remembered everything.
I remembered my young grandma, Titine. Her baby, my mom. The pink nursery. Robert and his untimely death.
And then I remembered Ruby. I remembered living in her body, and falling in love…with Antoine.
My mind raced to decipher if the vivid memories swimming around in my head were real or imaginary, but before I could figure it all out, my mom stood and rushed over to my grandmother, where the two of them embraced and whispered to each other, then walked back over to me, motherly smiles masking their concern but not their relief.
I’d never seen them hug, ever.
They took post on either side of my hospital bed, and as they held my hands in their own, I felt all of our pulses beating in time with my baby’s heartbeat, a symbol of the life force that held all four of us together. And I knew in that moment that this powerful bond, this strong love, would never again be broken.
I looked from my beautiful grandmother over to my warm, caring mother, and it was then that a new rush of memories flooded my brain.
Closing my eyes, I saw myself as a little girl dressed in a frilly pink dress, my mom swinging me around and laughing as she pulled me in close for a hug and told me how much she loved me. I remembered family gatherings with my mom and grandma laughing side by side, their smiles almost identical, their eyes full of love and gratitude for each other. I saw myself dancing from a young age, taking lessons in the evenings with my grandma Martine.
“How are you feeling, Miss Claudia?” my beautiful grandmother said, squeezing my hand.
Just hearing her voice brought tears to my eyes. It was Titine, my best friend. And she was as beautiful and sweet as I remembered from my days with her in Paris.
My mom mouthed something over to my grandma, but her voice was so low I couldn’t make out what she’d said. Then she turned to me and smiled. “I’ll be right back, sweetie. I’m just going to go find the nurse to let her know you’ve woken up. And hopefully once the doctor clears you and the baby, we can get you out of this emergency room.”
My mom left the two of us alone, and again as I gazed up at my grandma, I recalled the details of the life I’d just lived in Paris with her, and with Antoine. The life that felt as if it was only yesterday, but at the same time felt light-years away.
And as I remembered that very last night, the night Antoine had given me that shiny new dance studio, along with the ruby-red necklace, I recalled the choice I’d made to take his hand. To come back to my baby. But I’d held on to him. I’d tried to take him with me.
In a panic, my eyes scanned the room. Was he here? Had he made it?
“What is it, dear? What are you looking for?” Grandma Martine asked.
“Grandma, where’s Antoine? Is he here?”
Confusion swept over her face as she blinked and focused in on me, as if she hadn’t heard me correctly. “Now, what made you think of Antoine? I don’t think I’ve talked to you about him since you were a little girl.”
“I just need to know, Grandma. Please. What happened to him? And to Ruby?” I said, not able to hide the desperation I felt to find the love of my life. To feel his touch again. To find out where he’d gone after the wind had swept through the dance studio on that mysterious night in Paris, so long ago.
“Just calm down, dear,” she soothed before beginning the story. “As you may remember, Ruby was my very best friend. She and Antoine helped me raise your mother after your grandfather passed away. They were the most amazing friends I could’ve ever asked for—an absolute godsend. Antoine bought me and Ruby our very own dance studio in Paris after we’d quit dancing at the nightclub. The two of us taught dance lessons together for several years after.”
My grandma’s words caused a new rush of memories to fill my brain. I remembered teaching lessons in the studio that Antoine had given us. I remembered walking down the cobblestone streets of Paris with Titine pushing my little mom in a stroller. I remembered it all. It had happened. Life hadn’t stopped for us when I’d taken Antoine’s hand and danced with him.
But then how was I here now?
“What happened then, Grandma? Where are Ruby and Antoine now?”
She patted my hand, a faraway look entering her eyes. “Well, when your mother was about ten years old, I decided to move to California so I could raise her here, near her father’s family. I loved Paris, but I knew it was time for me to come back. And as for Ruby and Antoine, they couldn’t have their own children, so they decided to take off for a few years and travel the world. I received postcards from them from every corner of the earth, places you couldn’t imagine. Tropical islands in the Pacific, South America, Australia, New Zealand…”
As she listed the places we’d gone, I remembered each and every one. I remembered lying on sun-kissed beaches, Antoine’s gorgeous body by my side, his handsome grin shining down on me as I wrote yet another postcard to Titine, telling her what a wonderful time we were having, but how much we missed her and baby Adeline.
It occurred to me then, that in my new batch of memories, both from my life as Ruby and Claudia, my mother was always called Adeline. She hadn’t changed her name over to Jane. Clearly, this time around, she’d had no reason to.
My grandma stopped speaking for a moment, and as the corners of her mouth turned down just the slightest bit, I realized that after all the travel, something must’ve happened to Ruby. Otherwise how could I have been reborn as Claudia?
“Then what, Grandma?”
“Well, dear, after spending a few years traveling the entire world together, I received word that they had finally decided to return to Paris. By that time, Antoine had gotten his pilot’s license, so he chartered a small plane just for the two of them. But something happened…my dear Ruby and her love, Antoine, they never did make it back to Paris.”
“You mean the plane crashed?”
My grandma shook her head. “No, dear. There was never any record of a plane crash. It just…it disappeared.”
“Disappeared? But how is that possible?”
“I’ve never understood it myself. After their disappearance, I was absolutely devastated. Your mom was only seventeen then, and she really carried me through that period. It was one of the worst times in my life. I couldn’t stop worrying about where they’d gone, what had happened to them. But then, about two months later, your mom came home one day and told me she was pregnant. It was quite a shocker, seeing as how she was just a teenager, but the wonderful part was that she was pregnant with you, Claudia.”
My grandma smiled down at me, the years of life experience evident in the tiny lines around her green eyes. “And nine months later, you came along, my little angel, and you took all of my pain away. It was as if, the minute you arrived here on this earth, I felt like I had found my best friend again. But when you fell earlier today, I…I couldn’t imagine anything ever happening to you. You are the light of my life, Claudia. And I’m so happy you’re going to be okay.”
I managed a smile as my grandmother’s sweet words attempted to comfort me, but all I could think about was that plane ride as my eyes grew drowsy and I drifted off to sleep.
Dressed in his spiffy new pilot outfit, Antoine shoots me a disarming grin.
“Where to next, ma chérie?” he shouts over the roaring engine of the tiny plane we chartered from Tahiti, the last stop on our long list of exotic pl
aces to visit.
I giggle as my gaze fixes on the orange-and-pink swirls floating over the vast Pacific Ocean, the brilliant hues creating the most magical sunset I’ve ever seen.
“Surprise me,” I say to him with a wink.
Antoine’s knowing smile melts me to the core as we fly off into the fiery orange sunset together.
Lying in the hospital bed, I blinked my eyes open, trying to remember where Antoine had taken me. Where we’d landed next. But all I could see was a deep-orange sunset just beyond Antoine’s handsome smile.
It was my last memory of him.
Hot tears rushed down my cheeks as my grandmother’s voice reminded me where I was.
I was Claudia now. Lying in a hospital bed in a beautiful silver dress, pregnant with a baby girl. I had a wonderful, supportive family to see me through this. But something was missing. It was more than Antoine being gone. There was a big, gaping hole in this new picture of my life, and when I couldn’t figure it out, I began to cry even harder.
“Oh, dear, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I shouldn’t have told you that sad story when you’re lying here pregnant in a hospital bed. I’m so sorry, Claudia.” She wiped the tears from my eyes and kissed me on the forehead. “You don’t need to worry about any of that. You and your dear little girl are going to be just fine. And that big, burly dad of yours should be here any minute now to cheer you up. He’ll be so happy to see you awake. He’s been worried sick.”
My dad?
As soon as I thought his name, that filmstrip of memories resumed playing through my head, and a new one popped to the forefront of my mind.
It was a memory of me on my first day of college in San Diego, moving into my dorm room. The room was exactly as I remembered it that day, empty except for a few suitcases that I’d begun to unpack. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I glanced up, and there, in the doorway, was my tall, handsome, jovial father. He smiled at me as he barged into the room carrying a tall stack of boxes. “Here you go, sweetie. I think this is everything!”
Dancing with Paris (A Paris Time Travel Romance) Page 29
