'Til the End of Time

by Sabra Brown Steinsiek

  “I know losing your wedding ring in all of this was bothering you. This is both to remind you of the time we’ve had and mark the beginning of a new time.” Taking the ring from the box, he sank down on one knee in front of her. “Marry me again, Laura, with this ring, and let it symbolize all of the love we share.”

  With tears in her eyes, she said, “I did miss my ring because it was you who had given it to me. To begin again, I would have gladly given it away. I love you, Taylor Morgan, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t need to marry you again…our love was true and strong through all of it.”

  He slipped the ring on her finger then sealed their private vows with a kiss.

  Chapter 42

  When Annie started school again in mid-January, their lives began to return to normal. Laura finished her series on the Balkan orphans and wrote a follow-up series on her captivity.

  Rhen quickly became a fixture in the Morgan family circle. She settled in easily to her new life and was thrilled with her room in the townhouse that Betta and Chris had purchased. She insisted Kat be a part of their shopping trips to decorate it. She and Kat had already become the best of friends. She began classes at Kat’s school and was enrolled for ballet lessons as well. The girls were as inseparable as Laura and Beth, then Betta and Meg, had been. Like the best friends before them, they considered both of their houses as “home”.

  Rhen’s parents were thrilled with the addition to their family. She made their lives complete. Betta returned to designing with a new energy, beginning a line of little girl’s clothes with Rhen in mind. Chris’s final cast was removed and he was doing well in physical therapy. Best of all, he was able to use his cameras again and documented Rhen’s new life at every opportunity.

  Taylor spent his time with Laura, and catching up on his reading. He still felt no desire to return to the stage and thought that maybe it was a permanent retirement. Laura agreed to go away for a few days for his birthday, finally taking the private cruise that Taylor had originally planned for their anniversary.

  * * *

  It was a few days after she returned to school that Annie saw the announcement. Mark Omlor was mounting a new production and needed a young actress for the second lead. Her heart pounded with excitement. It sounded like it had been written for her! Auditions were soon.

  There was no time to talk with her parents. They were on their cruise and Annie wasn’t going to interrupt that just for them to say “no”. Instead, she updated her resume and found the headshot she wanted to take. If she got past the first audition, the cattle call, then she’d tell them…maybe.

  * * *

  It was their first night on the yacht when the nightmare came.

  Their apartment in New York was never completely dark. With the ambient light from the city all around, there was always a dim glow. A yacht in the middle of the ocean was a different matter.

  They’d had a wonderful day of sun, relaxation and passion before falling asleep in each other’s arms. For the first time since she’d come home, Laura was in the dark—total darkness. She was aware of being uncomfortable with that, but before she could turn on a light, she fell quickly asleep.

  It was only a short time later that Taylor was jolted awake by her scream.

  “Laura!” He scrambled to turn on the bedside lamp then took her hands in his. “Laura! It was a nightmare, darling. You’re here, you’re safe.”

  It took her a few minutes to take in his voice and recognize where she was. He was right. She was safe. It had been a nightmare.

  “I was back there, Taylor. Back in that dark room where I woke up. Only this time there was no light under a door. Nothing that gave me any hope. I knew you thought I was dead…”

  He pulled her trembling body into his arms. “Shh, it was only a dream. A bad one. You’re home and I’m never letting you go again.”

  As he stroked her hair he began to softly sing the Stephen Foster lullaby he had sung to Annie when she was a baby.

  Slumber my darling,

  the world is at rest.

  Wandering dews

  by the flowers are caressed…

  He felt her body gradually relax and her breathing even into sleep. He held her the rest of the night while the bedside light burned steadily, as it would every night for the rest of their voyage.

  Chapter 43

  When they got home, Laura began the counseling that had been recommended by her doctor. She was determined to overcome this, just as she had the earlier trauma of rape inflicted on her by Cary Edwards so many years ago. She would take her life back. To give in was to let the bad guys win.

  With her own determination to change, Laura also decided it was time Taylor got back to living as well. She was at work finishing her second novel, and was ready to accept freelance assignments again—although she had promised Taylor there would never be any others that took her into danger.

  But the truth was, as glad as she was to be home and as much as she loved him, he was driving her crazy being around all the time. It was time to begin living again.

  “Taylor, you have to get a job,” she said one morning shortly after they returned.

  Startled, he looked up from the paper he was reading. “What?”

  “A job. Something to do. Something to get you out of the house.”

  “Tired of me already?”

  “In a word, yes. I love you. I love being home. But as long as you’re hanging around wasting your time, we’ll never get back to a normal life.”

  “What if I like wasting my time?”

  “Ha! You never have been able to stay idle for long. Why don’t you consider a new album? Or a new show?”

  “For your information, Mrs. Morgan, I am considering a new album. But no more shows. I want to be home at night.”

  “Are you sure, Taylor?”

  “I’m sure…for now. Nothing’s come along to tempt me—except you,” he said with his best leer.

  “Cut it out. I’m serious.”

  “So am I. Will it make you happy to know that I’m going to sit in on auditions tomorrow for the new show Mark is directing?”

  “I’m glad, Taylor. I just don’t want you giving up what you love because you feel like you might lose me if you don’t.”

  “Have I been that bad?”

  “No,” she said with a soft smile. “No. I love every minute with you. I just want you to be happy.”

  “Then let me figure it out on my own, Laura.”

  Wisely, she returned to her fruit and yogurt. The seed had been planted. She’d just have to wait until it became his idea.

  * * *

  As Taylor was getting ready to leave for the auditions, Laura suddenly remembered Annie’s concerns from last fall. “Has Annie said any more about changing her name?”

  “Not to me. Maybe she’s resigned to just being ‘Annie’.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it, Taylor. Annie doesn’t give up that easily. She hasn’t said anything about college either has she?”

  “I guess it was all lost in the upheaval around here. I know I’m not planning on bringing it up.”

  “I won’t either, but we need to be prepared. She may have given up on the name change, but I wouldn’t count on college being in the picture. It’s going to come up and we need to be ready.”

  “We’ll talk about it tonight then. I need to go if I’m going to be there on time. I’ll see you tonight,” he said, crossing the room to kiss her goodbye. He put his heart and soul into that kiss and was pleased to see her eyes unfocussed as he pulled away. “Still want to get rid of me, Laura?”

  “What?” She shook her head and stepped away from him. “Yes! Go on. You’re not going to get out of leaving that easily!”

  Copper looked up from the pillow on which he was sleeping and added a gruff bark, as if to back up Lau
ra.

  “Great, you’ve turned the dog against me, too!”

  “Go, before I set the killer wiener dog on you,” she laughed as she picked up the dog. “You’ll protect me, won’t you, Copper?”

  “All right, I’m going. These are new socks and I’d hate to lose them to that vicious animal,” he said as Copper turned on his back in Laura’s arms and looked anything but vicious as she obliged by rubbing his tummy.

  Chapter 44

  There’s such a distinctive smell about a theatre. Taylor entered through the backstage entrance. Musty, a combination of greasepaint and sweat with almost tangible accents of excitement and broken dreams—for him it was the comforting smell of home.

  He greeted a few people as he made his way to the stage. When he stepped out onto its vast emptiness, he saw only possibility. Looking out at the auditorium, he remembered the feel of standing bathed in the applause of cheering crowds. His heart beat a little faster and, just for a moment, he regretted giving it up.

  “Taylor!”

  He shaded his eyes and saw Mark sitting a few rows back. “Morning, Mark,” he said as he made his way down the steps to the auditorium.

  The two men shook hands and Taylor was introduced to the others who would be handling the auditions. He took a seat behind them. He was here as an observer and advisor only.

  The show’s stars had already been cast. Today they were auditioning for the role of the second female lead—a part that could be a real career boost to the actress that won it. The morning wore on as young women of every size and shape; blondes and brunettes, with an occasional redhead or bizarre color thrown in, gave it her best shot. Each gave her name, did a slow turn so they could judge her height and build, then did a reading with an assistant director. Each smiled bravely as they were told “thank you, we’ll be in touch” before leaving with crossed fingers and a dream in her heart.

  Taylor was looking over the script when a familiar name caught his ear—Morgan Collins. Odd that someone should have his and Laura’s last name, he thought, as he looked up to see who she was.

  It was a shock to see the tall, lithesome, redhead standing on stage. Composed, confident, it was Annie—his Annie— standing on stage masquerading as an actress named Morgan Collins. Laura was right. Annie didn’t give up and she’d changed her name anyway. He was torn between being proud of her and wanting to tell her to get off that stage. He wouldn’t embarrass her here but when they got home…

  Helpless, he settled back to watch his daughter in her first professional audition.

  * * *

  Despite her calm exterior, Annie was a bundle of nerves. Even with years of auditions for school productions and countless hours of rehearsal and performance, no stage had ever seemed so empty, no auditorium so large. She could make out the dim figures of the producer and director and, possibly, someone behind them.

  None of her nervousness showed as she went through the required turns and Taylor had to admit she looked good up there. She would fit the part physically, that was for sure, but could she hold her own as she acted in this professional arena?

  As they began the reading, Taylor watched Annie transform before his eyes from the confident schoolgirl he shared his home with to the demeaned daughter of an abusive family.

  She seemed to shrink in on herself and became deferential and timid—something he’d never seen in her. This was acting, pure and simple, acting at its best. As he watched a star being born, he was torn between pride in her performance and dismay at knowing he could never argue with her decision to go straight to the stage. It was clearly where Annie—Morgan—belonged.

  When it was over, she received the standard dismissal and, when she was gone, Mark called a break for lunch. They went to a nearby deli, where they took a back table and talked.

  * * *

  Annie was shaking as she came out of the theatre. There was still a line of young women to be auditioned in the afternoon. So many of them! Yet, in her heart, she knew she’d given a great reading. She had to believe the director agreed.

  Looking at her watch, she turned to go back to school. She never saw her father exit the front of the theatre.

  * * *

  “That last one, Morgan something, was pretty impressive, don’t you think?” the producer asked.

  “She is,” Mark said. “I could swear I’ve seen her somewhere before, but her resume says she’s not even quite out of school yet. Taylor, have you seen her before? Isn’t your daughter at the school for performing arts?”

  “I’ve seen her in productions there and was impressed then,” Taylor said honestly. “I think, though, I’d best not say anything else to sway you since I do know her.”

  “That says a lot in itself,” Mark commented with a puzzled look. “I wish I could remember where I’d seen her. Doesn’t matter. She’s on the callback list for sure.”

  Taylor let the conversation wash over him as he ate his corned beef. These people had seen it, too—that spark of greatness. Even as he’d reacted to it, he’d wondered how much was proud father. With the affirmation of the others, he couldn’t deny that it was truly there. Annie was destined to be a star.

  * * *

  Taylor skipped the afternoon auditions. He didn’t want to be a part of the discussions. He couldn’t let his own favoritism of his daughter color their decision. She had to win this on her own.

  He decided to walk for a while, to get his thoughts in order. Annie should have discussed this with them, but she’d always been headstrong—something he and Laura regularly blamed on the other’s side of the family. Annie had always had goals that she worked toward with a fierce determination. It’s not like she hadn’t warned them months ago.

  Still, there was the fact that this would impact her life, turn it in a direction he and Laura weren’t entirely in favor of. She should go to school, have something to fall back on. She was so young! If she got this part she’d have to balance school and rehearsals. It would be too much—for anyone else, Taylor acknowledged. Annie had boundless energy. She’d slip into a new schedule easily.

  Thank heavens for Rhen and Kat. He could still watch over them and try to keep them safe. Somehow, like Meg and Betta before her, Annie had grown up when he wasn’t looking and was suddenly a young woman with a bright future. A future he’d have to support.

  Chapter 45

  Betta climbed the steps to their new townhouse after dropping Rhen off at school. She wasn’t feeling well this morning and had been tired for days. It’s just the stress of the last month. Maybe I should take a few days and do nothing. But there were Valentine wedding gowns to be finished, and the fall line to be prepped, lunch with Meg today…no time for resting.

  * * *

  Meg met Betta for lunch. With their jobs and their children, the two of them didn’t get near enough time together. Once they had ordered, the talk turned to their daughters.

  “Rhen is doing so well in school, Meg. I can’t believe it. She’s settled in like she’s always known this life. And her teachers say that’s she’s nearly caught up with everyone else. She’s like a sponge when it comes to learning. Her English is almost perfect.”

  “Children are resilient, that’s for sure. Too bad we’re not as flexible—emotionally or physically! And, speaking of physically, what about you? You look awfully tired, Betta.”

  “I have been tired. I think I’m just suffering letdown from all the excitement. It hasn’t exactly been peaceful lately.”

  “That’s certainly true! Still, I think you should have a checkup. Maybe you picked up some bug over there?”

  “I suppose that’s possible. I’ll try to get an appointment soon. Don’t you dare say anything to Laura or Chris, they’d both worry their heads off.”

  “I promise, as long as you do go. If you don’t, I’ll sic them on you!”

  Betta laughed. “I promise, I pro
mise!”

  “What shall we do for Annie’s graduation? Have you thought of anything?” Meg asked.

  “I plan on doing a spectacular dress for her senior prom and I’ve already offered the school Morganna’s as a place to have it.”

  “Impressive. How do I follow that?”

  “You can’t—but that’s not why I’m doing it.”

  “I know that, Betta. But I have to think of something.”

  “I’m sure there are a million things she’ll need for college. Has she mentioned anything about where she’s applied?”

  “Not a word. Maybe it’s time we had lunch with our baby sister and find out what’s going on.”

  “Good idea. You set it up. I’ll be there.”

  * * *

  Taylor was torn about telling Laura what Annie had done. The problem was that, having seen Annie on stage, he found all of his objections gone. Annie had “it”, that mysterious gift that came only to a few who were destined for a theatrical career. He’d have to make Laura understand.

  He opened the door and was greeted by the dogs. “Sure, now you’re on my side,” he said as he bent to rub Copper’s tummy and scratch Penny’s ears. “Some vicious beast you are.” Copper only smiled, taking the attention as his due.

  “Hi,” Laura said as she came into the hall. “Fraternizing with the enemy?”

  He stood, much to the dogs’ disappointment, and kissed his wife.

  “How were the auditions? Weren’t they all day? I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

  “Interesting, to say the least. I skipped out after lunch. I’ve been out walking for a while. I could use something warm to drink. Come with me to the kitchen and I’ll tell you about it.”

  While Laura fixed cups of hot cider from the jar that Rosina had left in the refrigerator, she asked, “So, what happened?”