by Bess McBride
Amanda began to panic. Where was Dani? Had she been stuck in 2013? Not able to travel back in time? What would Amanda say to Dani’s husband, to her friends? Would they hate her for losing Dani?
She hurried back to her room, stumbling as tears blinded her. She threw herself onto the bench and sobbed. She was exhausted. She had no idea what time it was, or where she was exactly. Dani was missing, and Amanda had no idea how to find her.
Amanda realized as her tears subsided that she was not responsible for Dani’s travel to 2013, nor was she responsible for Dani’s disappearance, but knowing it didn’t lessen her guilt. Had she dropped Dani’s hand when they slept?
The train lurched, and Amanda grabbed the edge of the bench. She’d forgotten how much wilder the ride in a Pullman car was than the more modern steel train, which rocked and rolled pretty well in itself. She pulled the velvet curtains aside and peeked out.
No golden orbs shone in the distance. In fact, the landscape was black, flat, without relief. The train slowed, and she craned her neck to see up and down the length of the train. Nothing.
She jumped up and pried open the door again to see if she could see out of the other side of the train, but pulled her head back in when she saw a porter down the hall, near the sleeping car door. Another lurch, a track switch as they approached a station, she guessed, threw her back onto the bench, and she held her breath and waited. The train slowed. It seemed likely the train station was probably on the other side of the car, out of her view. She would have no idea what station they were at unless it was Seattle, the end of the line. It couldn’t have been Seattle though because she would have seen lights from the city through her window by now—even in 1906.
Hopefully, the porter would just open the door and move on so she could run down the hall and peek out. The train slowed further still, and Amanda released her breath and took in air. No point in passing out. She tried to breathe evenly but found she couldn’t.
When the train stopped, Amanda was poised at the compartment door. She pulled it open and thrust her head into the hallway. No porter. She raced down the hallway, but stopped short when the porter appeared from the other end of the carriage carrying a stack of papers. She jumped into an open compartment and hid behind the open door, holding her breath again. She had to find out what station they were at. Although she suspected it wasn’t Seattle, for some reason she had to know.
Amanda looked around the corner again. The porter had disappeared. Maybe he’d gotten off the train. She inched her way out of the compartment and down the hall to the end of the car. A stack of newspapers, those the porter had been carrying, waited on a table for the sleeping car passengers. She threw a cursory glance at them and stopped short. The date! They would have a date on them.
October 30, 1905.
Amanda blinked, thinking she had misread. 1905? She picked up the paper and read it again. No, there was no doubt. The newspaper was dated 1905, one year before she had intended to go back. She dropped the paper and slumped against the wall. What now, her tired brain screamed? What was she supposed to do now? No matter where she was, she didn’t have any money from 1905. She had foolishly traded it all in.
How could she possibly get out of this merry-go-round? No wonder Dani was missing. Dani had probably traveled to 1906—to the man she loved, while Amanda had lost herself in time again.
Nathan... She remembered him! Not their first meeting but the second. How? The words she had whispered on the train came back to her.
I wish I was with Nathan. I don’t care what year it is. I just want to find Nathan in time.
But she hadn’t... And at the moment, there was nothing she could do but figure out where on earth she was. She lifted her chin, took a deep breath and peered out of the car.
The scene was familiar. A small train station, modestly lit, the sweet scent of fruit filling the air despite the usual smells of coal and smoke, a wooden sign that read “Wenatchee.”
Wenatchee. Of course!
Without hesitation and without thought, Amanda gathered her skirts and stepped down off the train, heedless of whether she was seen by the porter or conductor. She ignored the call of the porter behind her as she walked toward the station door.
A man, leaning against a pillar, straightened and moved quickly toward her. Before Amanda had a chance to ward the stranger off, he enveloped her in a powerful embrace.
“Amanda, my love, my darling! You’re here. You’ve come! Oh, my dear love, we are together at last.” He murmured into her ear.
Amanda pulled back and looked into the eyes of the man she loved, the man she had traveled through time to find. Nathan.
“It’s you,” she whispered. “It’s really you. You’re here.”
Nathan released her and cupped her face in his hands. The dimples in his cheeks deepened as he beamed at her. He pressed his lips against hers for a long, warm moment before lifting his head once again to stare at her.
“Yes, it’s me. I have been waiting for you. I was so worried you wouldn’t find your way back to me. Dani—”
Amanda reached for his face and laid her palms flat along the side of his face.
“I think she’s okay. She found me. You didn’t lose her.”
“Yes, I know she is fine. I inquired about everyone’s health from Robert via telegraph. He assured me they are all well. Dani and Stephen are at their cabin in Montana.”
He pulled her into his arms again and buried his face in her hair. “Everyone is where they should be, my love, including you and I.”
Amanda wrapped her arms around him and clung tightly.
“I’m so sorry. I still don’t remember when we first met, even though I’ve come further back in time.”
He looked down at her.
“But you love me still, don’t you?”
“I love you still, Nathan, and I always will.”
“And I will always love you. I promise you that we will never be parted again. Never! I wished to find you in time...any time...and you have come back to me.”
Amanda nestled in his arms. “I wished the same thing. I didn’t care what year it was as long as I could find you.”
“Perhaps those were the magic words,” Nathan murmured. “The reason we remember each other now. No matter what the formula, it has worked, and we are together again.” He pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around her. “The night is chilly. Let’s go back to the hotel.”
“As Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter?” Amanda said with a grin.
“No, my dear. We have a chance to start anew with the Spiveys. I shall introduce you as my fiancée.”
“Your fiancée?” She arched an eyebrow.
Nathan, wise man that he was, needed no further prompting. He went down on one knee.
“And you and I will start anew as well. I love you with all my heart, Amanda, and I always have. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, Nathan, I will.” She laughed and pulled him to his knees. “Now, it’s official. I’m your fiancée.”
He pulled her into his arms again.
“By the way, what are you doing here in Wenatchee?” she asked.
“I thought we might live here, my dear. The scent of the apples entices me. I am having a house built overlooking the river. Would that be all right with you?”
“The Apple Capital of the World?”
“Exactly,” Nathan grinned.
“And we’ll sit on the porch and stare down the river that almost separated us?”
“We will befriend the beast,” Nathan said. “From a distance.”
“No more sternwheelers,” she said.
“No more sternwheelers,” he agreed.
“And no more trains,” Amanda said.
“I understand your sentiment, but that will be very difficult, my love. There are no modern highways for our automobiles to traverse the mountains. We must ride the train if we are to visit Seattle.”
“Your grandfather,” Amanda nodded. “Yes, you’ll want to visit him.”<
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“I imagine I will bring him to live with us. Will that be all right?”
“Of course.”
“I love you, Amanda,” Nathan said with a husky voice.
“And I love you, Nathan. I was so worried I’d lost you in time.”
“But you found me. You found me in time.”
He kissed her again, a deeply satisfying kiss that promised a long and happy future together.
Epilogue
Nathan sat on the porch drinking his morning coffee. He supposed the Columbia River looked much as it always did to the unfamiliar eye; but to him, it appeared particularly slow and lethargic that morning, the water a sparkling blue under the summer sun.
The front door opened and he turned to see Amanda approaching with the baby on her hip. She laid a hand on Nathan’s shoulder and looked beyond him to the river below. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“And how is Miss Natalie today?” Nathan asked with a grin.
Amanda handed him his four-month-old daughter before taking the rocking chair next to him. He cradled the sleeping baby in his arms, delighting at her warmth.
“Sleeping as usual,” Amanda said with a smile. “I hope she wakes up long enough to visit with our guests.”
“Oh, she will,” Nathan said as he wiggled a tiny foot. He smiled when she opened her blue-gray eyes and raised a small fist to rub one of them. “We will have a houseful, won’t we? I hope this isn’t too much of a burden on you, my love.”
“Not at all,” Amanda said stretching her feet out before her. “Molly cleaned the house thoroughly yesterday. Thank you very much, my husband, for hiring a maid for this humongous house you built.” She nodded as if to indicate the wraparound porch of the Victorian house perched on the hillside.
Nathan chuckled and looked lovingly down at his daughter again. “We were fortunate that the house was completed in time for your delivery.”
“Just in time,” Amanda grinned. “As beautifully as the renovations are coming along at the River Hotel, I couldn’t wait to get away from the workmen and get some peace and quiet.”
Nathan wiggled Natalie’s hand as she gripped his little finger.
“A peace and quiet that will be temporarily disturbed, dearest, with the arrival of the Chamberlain and Sadler families.”
“I can’t wait,” Amanda said. “It will be great to see the girls.”
Nathan nodded. “You haven’t seen them since the wedding in Seattle.”
Amanda shook her head. “No, I wasn’t about to chance the train and pregnancy at the same time.
The door opened and they both turned to see Nathan’s grandfather come out onto the porch. He carried a cup of coffee with him, and settled into another chair.
“Good morning, everyone. How is the baby?”
“Beautiful,” Nathan said softly. “As beautiful as her mother.” He favored Amanda with a tender smile and delighted in her blush—even now.
“And how are you this morning, Grandfather? We have just been discussing our visitors,” Nathan asked.
“Ah! Yes,” the older man replied. “It will be good to see some old friends.” He smiled and turned his head toward the river. “Just in time for the apple blossoms.”
“Isn’t the valley beautiful?” Amanda asked. “All those trees in bloom. It’s like a carpet of pinks and roses.”
Nathan and his grandfather murmured appreciation for the vista.
Just then, a low muffled whistle sounded, and a sternwheeler came around the bend.
The baby cooed at the sound and Nathan wiggled her hand again.
“Oh, no, Missie. I don’t think you’ll be riding on a sternwheeler anytime soon.” He met Amanda’s eyes over the baby’s head.
“Never if I have anything to say about it,” she said with a smile that softened her words. Nathan did not doubt, however, that she was very serious.
Amanda looked down at the Rockies. “Sternwheelers and trains,” she mused almost as if to herself. “Not for a long, long time.”
Nathan brought her hand to his lips again. “I heartily agree,” he said. “After all, we have all the time in the world.”
Amanda turned to him. “We do, don’t we? Now that we’ve found each other. We have all the time in the world.”
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Books by Bess McBride
Time Travel Romance
Forever Beside You in Time
Moonlight Wishes in Time
(Book One of the Moonlight Wishes in Time series)
Under an English Moon
(Book Two of the Moonlight Wishes in Time series)
A Train Through Time
(Book One of the Train Through Time series)
Together Forever in Time
(Book Two of the Train Through Time series)
A Smile in Time
(Book Three of the Train Through Time series)
Train Through Time Series Boxed Set
(Books 1-3)
Across the Winds of Time
Love of My Heart
Contemporary/Romantic Suspense
Will Travel for Romance Boxed Set Books 1-5
A Shy Woman in Love
A Sigh of Love
A Trail of Love
A Penny for Your Thoughts
Jenny Cussler’s Last Stand
Contemporary/Ghost Story
Caribbean Dreams of Love
On a Warm Sea of Love
About the Author
I began my first fiction writing attempt when I was 14. I shut myself up in my bedroom one summer and obsessively worked on a time travel/pirate novel set in the beloved Caribbean of my youth. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hammer it out on a manual typewriter (oh yeah, I’m that old) before it was time to go back to school. The draft of that novel has long since disappeared, but the story still simmers within, and I will finish it one day soon.
I was born in Aruba to American parents and lived in Venezuela until my family returned to the United States when I was 12. I couldn’t fight the global travel bug, and I joined the U.S. Air Force at 18 to “see the world.” After 21 wonderful and fulfilling years traveling the world and the birth of one beautiful daughter, I pursued my dream of finally getting a college education. With a license in mental health therapy, I worked with veterans and continue to work on behalf of veterans. I continue to travel, my first love, and almost all of my books involve travel.
I write time travel romances, light paranormal/fantasy romances (lovelorn ghosty stuff), contemporary romances, and romantic suspense. Visit my website at
www.BessMcBride.com
