Time's Enduring Love

by Tia Dani

  Matthew turned and headed for the cave. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling this storm created.

  Once inside the cave, he forgot about the storm. Libby sat with the blanket draped around her waist. Her breasts, as beautiful as he remembered begged to be kissed. Matthew's body tightened. He approached her with a grin and fumbled with the buttons on his pants. He wanted to share her love one more time before he told her the truth.

  She looked at him sleepy-eyed, with a welcoming smile. "Is everything all right?"

  "More than all right. We're alone. The Indians left."

  "Really?" She perked up and yawned, stretching her arms above her head. Her breasts moved sweetly. "You mean we're safe?"

  He smiled, joining her on the bed. "Safe and alone as we'll ever be." He reached out and touched a taut nipple with his finger. "Now you'll be able to scream and moan as loud as you want. No one will hear you."

  Her green eyes darkened with passion. She leaned into his hand and reached up to draw his head down to her breast. "What are you waiting for? Make me moan."

  Matthew pressed her down and fastened his mouth over her breast. To his delight, she arched her back with pleasured purrs, and trailed her fingers along his butt. He let his tongue drag over her peak-stiffened nipple, and, once he felt her inhale sharply, he began flicking and suckling rapidly, gently kneading the other with his hand. Her reaction was immediate. She gripped his hair and cried out, "Oh, my, Matthew, oh, my God!"

  The sun was almost mid-heaven by the time they emerged from the cave. Matthew led her to the pool where they washed each other.

  Once dressed, he sat watching her finger-comb some of the tangles from her hair. Knowing there might not be any better time to talk, he reached out and turned her to face him. He steeled himself to get the words said before he became lost again in her emerald eyes.

  "Libby, there's something we need to discuss."

  She seemed to sense his reluctance. "All right."

  "I care about you, Libby, more than any other woman I've ever known..."

  "But?"

  "But, as much as I care, I don't..." He swallowed once and told the biggest lie of his life. "I don't love you."

  He waited, looking off into the distance and wondering how she would take his news. When she still didn't say anything, he turned. She too, stared off into the distance. He reached to catch a tear spilling from the corner of her eye, but she pulled away. Disgust and anger filled him. God, he hated hurting her.

  "Libby, I want you to understand—"

  "Is it you don't love me, Matthew, or you won't love me?"

  Her question stunned him. "It's not a matter of choice."

  "Yes, it is, and you've already made it. You have chosen Elizabeth over me."

  His breath left like he'd been kicked in the chest. He slumped. "You know?"

  "I've known for quite some time. But what I don't know is why. Why would you allow a dead child to control your life for over twenty years?"

  Agony ripped through him. "It's hard to explain."

  "Try."

  More than anything in the world, he wanted to tell her the truth, something no one knew. Elizabeth meant everything to me. I promised to love her for eternity."

  Libby's eyes closed

  "You see," he said with all the pain of twenty years of silence filling his throat. "I won't break my vow. Since I wasn't able to protect her, I owe her my promise."

  "She's dead, Matthew."

  "Don't you think I know?" Matthew stalked toward the edge of the rocks. "She's dead, but somehow, she's still alive. In here..." He touched his chest near his heart. "I feel her."

  "Then where is she? Why isn't she here with you now, instead of me? Why isn't she the one you made love with all night?"

  Libby's words tore at his marrow. "That's not fair."

  "Fair? Nothing's fair, Matthew." She joined him at the edge of the bluff and waved her hand. "This country is not forgiving. Just look what happened to those poor buffalo hunters. They're dead, gone from this world forever, because they were greedy and got caught. Some people will think they were murdered because they were killed by Indians, but it doesn't change things, they're dead. As you said you and I are alive. Alive to go on living another day. Because they're dead and we're alive, does that mean we should give up living too?"

  Matthew's anger erupted. "Their death is nothing like Elizabeth's. She—hey? Where do you think you're going?" He followed her into the cave and watched her grab the thing she called her first aid kit.

  "I'm leaving." She pushed past him and ducked out of the opening. "I'm going back to Katherine's."

  "Blast it, Libby, wait." He hurried after her. "You don't know where to go."

  "Yes, I do. I finally figured out where we were yesterday. It took me awhile, but I remembered where these rocks were located."

  To Matthew's surprise, she headed south, unerringly in the direct path of Katherine's farm. How did she know so much about the area with her only being here for less than two months? "You can't walk by yourself. What if there's trouble?"

  "Then there's trouble. I really don't give a damn one way or another. I'm going to Katherine's and pray to God He lets me go home soon."

  Matthew reached out and stopped her. "Go home? Go home where?" The idea of her leaving left him strangely weak.

  "You don't know it." She yanked her elbow out of his grasp. "And, besides, why should you care I want to go home? You won't love me."

  "Libby, that's not what I meant."

  "Meant or said, it makes no difference to me. I'm going home, to where men are normal and don't have problems. At least, not like this." She stomped on, heading directly toward Katherine's. "I thought I'd finally found my Mister Right, but I see now I was wrong. Maybe, I'll find him someday, and he'll love me for just being me. I don't know, but I sure am going to—"

  "You can't leave."

  "You have to be joking. You won't marry me, you won't love me, and you won't let me leave." Her voice cracked. "Honestly, Matthew, you're too much."

  "Libby, please, listen, honey. I—"

  Her head snapped up, and she snarled, "I'm not your honey. As long as you continue to torture yourself about Elizabeth's death you have no right to call anyone by a love name."

  "I have to love Elizabeth. I told you, I promised. A man is only as good as his word."

  "Be true to your word. Love her memory, love her for who she was while she was here, but, get on with your life and live it with someone."

  "Because we made love all night, you think you're the one?" Matthew knew he was being vindictive, but he wanted to hurt her like she hurt him.

  As her mouth opened, a blue flash of lightning, like those he'd seen earlier, streaked across the sky. Libby's face paled.

  "No," she said quietly. "Not me. It will never be me."

  Matthew sensed a terrible sadness in her. He gripped her shoulders and shook her. "You make me so damn mad."

  She didn't say anything, only stared at the sky.

  He turned away from her in disgust. "You're worse than I am. At least, I have a reason. I made a promise."

  "I'm not afraid to fall in love, Matthew." Libby said it so softly he almost didn't hear her. "And I do have a reason. Falling in love with anyone here is pointless."

  Her terse, non-answering answers made Matthew want to roar in frustration.

  The sound of horse hooves caught his attention. Theo and Katherine, in the new buggy, rode toward them. He'd expected them, but not this soon. Matthew glanced at Libby and followed her gaze. She watched the sky as if waiting for another eerie blue flash.

  Foreboding raised the hair on his neck. Somehow, while they had been talking, the sky had turned black and ominous. Even the wind had risen.

  He turned and hollered over the wind, "Theo, Katherine!" He grabbed Libby's arm and pulled her toward the buggy.

  They'd almost reached it when Libby's father halted the horse and stepped down. He tur
ned to help Katherine, and Matthew couldn't believe his eyes. Why were they getting off the buggy? Couldn't they see the storm nearing with every minute?

  "Theo, Katherine, we've got to go."

  Without saying anything, they exchanged meaningful glances. Then Theo patted Katherine's hand. Taking a deep breath, she drew her hand out of Theo's grasp and turned to face Matthew and Libby.

  Her gaze fell on Matthew first, and she offered a tremulous smile before moving on to Libby. Katherine stared at the girl like she'd never seen her before and couldn't get enough of seeing her now.

  Matthew jerked his head up to gauge the nearness of the storm. Lightning streaked across the sky toward dark swirling clouds. A jolting crash of thunder followed immediately. Though the storm increased in strength, it hovered in the distance as if hesitating, waiting for unknown forces to release its fury.

  A shaft of unexplainable despair pierced Matthew's soul. With the last rumblings, he sensed a great power at work within the gloomy turbulence. A power which could cause much more than physical harm. It consumed his future.

  "The time's come, Libby."

  Theo's calm words drew Matthew's attention away from the storm. Libby's answer thrust a knife into his heart.

  "I know. I'm ready."

  She seemed calm, but Matthew heard something else in her voice, the echo of timeless sorrow. She stretched upward and kissed his cheek. "Good bye, Matthew."

  She turned and ran into her father's waiting arms.

  "Libby..." Matthew touched his cheek where she kissed him and knew. Somehow the storm had come to take her away, like the fire took Elizabeth. "No," he whispered, feeling his body clench like a soul-killing vise. "No. God dammit. No!"

  Raising his face to the darkening sky, Matthew shook his fists. "I won't let it happen again. You took one love from me. You can't take another."

  Matthew dropped his hands and, somehow knowing deep inside he had only one chance to make it work. He ran to Libby. "You do. You mean the world to me. I understand now what it means to really love someone. I love you. More than Elizabeth, more than anything. Please stay with me."

  Libby swayed within the circle of her father's arms. "I wish I could, Matthew." Her voice sounded flat, almost dead. "But I can't. It's too late. It's coming to take us back."

  "Back? Back to where?"

  "To our time. Can't you feel it?"

  Wind tore at his clothes, pushing at him. "Feel what? What the hell does time have to do with it?"

  "Dad and I are not from the 19th century. We're from the 20th century." Large tears fell from her eyes onto the shirt she wore, his shirt. "We're—"

  "No, Libby," Theo's voice interrupted her. "Only I'm from the 20th century." He turned her toward him and laid his hands on her shoulders. Katherine, still watching Libby intently, body tense with constraint, stepped up to stand at Theo's side.

  "You're from the 19th century," he said. "You came forward in time when you were a four-year-old child. The day you stumbled out of the fire and into my arms you had come from the 1800's. I believe the time has come for you to make a decision."

  Matthew's blood froze in his veins. He had no idea what Theo was talking about. All he understood were the words, fire and four-year-old child. "Elizabeth," he whispered.

  Theo must have heard him, for he looked over Libby's head and nodded sadly. "Yes, Matthew. Elizabeth."

  "But...but how?"

  "There was a fracture in time, caused by explosions of great magnitude at both ends. I believe, at the very same instant the cave you and Elizabeth took shelter in exploded in 1846, a plane carrying thousands of gallons of fuel plunged into the same ground, on the very same date and exact time in 1946. Miraculously, Elizabeth was swept into the schism and thrust into my time. Libby has to make up her mind where she'll be."

  * * *

  Libby's mind whirled. She stared up at her father. The identity it had taken her twenty years to establish was wrenched away. "I can't be Elizabeth," she whispered. "Not Matthew's Elizabeth."

  "My Elizabeth," Katherine said softly. "My baby."

  "No," Libby moaned, shaking her head. "Don't hurt yourself further by thinking I'm your daughter. Elizabeth's dead." Inhaling deeply, she forced herself to meet the woman's teary gaze. "Believe me, I can think of no one I'd rather call Mother, but I already have a mother."

  Katherine didn't reply, she simply held out a gold locket. Libby took and opened the catch. Her breath caught as she saw an image of herself, older and in 19th century clothing.

  "This can't be me."

  "It isn't. It's John's mother," Katherine said. "Your grandmother."

  "John?" The name struck a chord deep within. "John." Katherine held out another picture. This one contained three people, a man, woman and child. Libby knew the woman instantly. It was Katherine. But her eyes focused on the man. The small patch on the front of his checkered shirt filled her entire vision.

  It was the older man who came to her in her dreams. The one who watched over her and led her to safety in her recurring nightmare.

  "Papa," she breathed. She looked up. "Momma?"

  Katherine opened her arms. Libby rushed into them, experiencing the same warm embrace she'd cherished as a child.

  "She didn't die. By God, I knew she wasn't dead!"

  Matthew. Libby spun, her eyes wide. "It was you calling out to me in my dreams all these years. Telling me to run. Then not to go." In his brown eyes, she saw the love shining through unspilled tears. Her heart was humbled by the strength of the devotion he had carried for twenty years. For the first time, she got an inkling of how much he had cared for Elizabeth. No for her. He had waited for her, as she had waited for her Mister Right.

  The horse hitched to the buggy snorted and pawed the ground nervously, drawing her attention from Matthew. Beyond his large frame, the blue lightning no longer streaked across the sky but circled itself, forming the familiar halo. Additional bolts joined the ring, increasing its size and revolving speed.

  Agonizing despair crashed in on her, and she dropped to her knees, covering her face with her hands. "I can't leave now. There's too much to learn."

  Theo bent down and pulled her to her feet. "You don't have to leave."

  "Yes, I do. Look." She waved her hand toward the large blue ring wavering a few miles away. "It's coming."

  Matthew jerked her away from Theo. "I won't let you go."

  "Matthew, I have no choice. It's stronger than both of us."

  "I didn't hold you tightly enough the first time. I won't make the same mistake twice. You'll never be taken from my arms again."

  Katherine moved over to stand beside Matthew. She put a hand on Libby's arm. "Nor mine," she said, her voice strong with determination. "However, Theo is correct. Your going or staying must be your decision."

  "But, but—"

  "Libby," Theo interrupted. "They're right. Remember when we talked about why we came back in time?" At her slow, reluctant nod, he added, "You were sent back because this is where you belong, if you choose. I believe I was sent to help you with the transition. But I don't have the luxury of choosing. I belong in the 20th century."

  "No-o-o," Libby wailed. The thought of her father leaving was almost as bad as the thought of her leaving Matthew and Katherine. "What would I do without you?"

  Theo smiled sadly. "Go on with your life. We may be separated by time, Libby, but it doesn't mean we'll be separated by love. Both you and Matthew have already learned this."

  "But, if you go back," she cried. "I'll never be able to hear your voice or see you again."

  "I'll know in my heart you're thinking of me."

  Libby tore at Matthew's arms. Her nails scraped across his hands. "Let me go."

  Matthew's grip tightened. "No, he doesn't want you to follow him. I don't want you to, either. I love you. I've loved you forever and ever."

  Within the protective circle of his arms, Libby ceased struggling. She looked at her father. "There's nothing we can do, is there?"


  "No." Theo cleared his throat and smiled at Katherine. "No need to tell you to take good care of James. I know he turns out to be a fine, upstanding man."

  "I'll miss you, Theo," Katherine murmured, giving him a hug.

  He nodded and turned to Libby, kissing her cheek one last time. He held out his hand to Matthew and said firmly, "Take good care of her, son."

  Matthew accepted the hand. "I will, sir. As long as I have breath in my body."

  Theo smiled. "That's all one can ask for. Sweetheart," he said softly with a slight catch in his voice. "You're the best daughter any man could have. Don't ever forget it. The only regret I have is not being able to hold my first grandchild."

  Libby sobbed and stepped away from Matthew. This time, he let her go. She wrapped her arms around her father's neck. "I don't know how, Dad, but I'm going to make sure you'll hear from me." Her heart breaking, she released him and moved back.

  The wind's hum intensified, yet it seemed to pull at only Theo's clothes. He stood silently, looking at the three of them for several minutes then turned.

  "Remember, Dad," she called, as he stepped inside the ring's circumference. "I love you, and...somehow, someway, I will be with you again."

  Her father turned and lifted a hand. The words she heard before he and the blue halo evaporated were...

  "Remember, Libby, love lasts forever and ever!"

  Chapter Thirty

  Laughter filled the kitchen, along with the aroma of apple cider, cinnamon and pine. Libby sat at the kitchen table beside Katherine and watched Matthew and Joseph struggle with the six-foot pine tree. Joseph had purchased the tree off a man passing through, hoping to sell them as Christmas trees in the east. She didn't know who was more excited about the tree, Joseph or Matthew.

  James, the self-appointed tree expert was in front of both of them, his head cocked sideways and eyeing the tree. "I'm telling ya. It's too far to this a-way." To make his point, James leaned to his left in an exaggerated angle, almost falling over.

  Libby leaned with him and nodded. "He's right, Matt. It needs to go back to the right some."