Time Thief

by Jill Cooper

  I sit beside him and he doesn’t say anything. Mike puts his arm around my shoulders and stares off while he eats. There’s worry on his face. I peer into the future for him—without meaning to—and see an endless sea of choices.

  Mike and Uncle John find a way to move forward with their relationship. This is, of course, the best option.

  Mike runs away because he can’t handle having a step-father. He gets in trouble with the law and drops out of school.

  Mike makes life impossible for Mom and Uncle John, causing them to split up for good. I don’t want that and I don’t think Mike wants that either.

  There’s so much darkness in his choices that it surprises me. He’s always been upbeat and happy. Something’s changed him, but I can’t find what it is. It’s almost like it isn’t in time at all and that terrifies me.

  “You should be happy for Mom.”

  He sighs. “Not you, too.”

  “You don’t see what I do. I’ve seen what Dad put Mom through. I don’t want to pick sides, but—.” Mike knows my secret and keeps it for me. I’m glad but we don’t get to talk about it that much.

  “Pretty sure you already did.”

  My eyes widen at the insult. “I love Dad more than anything. I love staying with him and I only ever wanted him and Mom to get back together. But it’s not going to happen, Mike. Mom tried to forgive him. She just can’t.”

  Not in this timeline anyway.

  “For what he did to John?” Mike says his name like it’s a swearword. I can’t understand why he hates John so much.

  “What else would I be talking about?”

  Mike gives a dispassionate shrug and it makes me want to shove him. Why can’t he just tell me what he’s feeling? He used to.

  “Mike—.”

  “Can we just not do this right now? It’s late. Let’s eat our pizza and celebrate tomorrow. I don’t want to ruin this for Lara.”

  I nod. “Good decision.”

  “It’s clear I can’t change your mind. I doubt you’ll be able to change my mind either.” His words are so final, I’m surprised he stays, but he does. His arm stays draped around me and I lean my head on his shoulder, feeling his cheek press against the top of my head.

  We sit there for a long time, saying nothing, and eating pizza.

  But the future darkens and I’m afraid for what it has in store.

  Chapter Three: Lara Montgomery

  I never thought this day would arrive.

  Spring flowers decorate the back of the church and music fills the halls, and the window gives a clear view of the bright clear skies. It’s everything a girl can dream for her wedding day, which might be what scares me most of all.

  “Fifteen minutes until go time,” a voice rings out. It’s Jax, my former step-father.

  I throw a glance back at him and smile, holding the train of my white dress up. “We’re almost ready.”

  Almost ready…for the walk of my life.

  He smiles, his blue eyes shining with happy tears for the first time in what seems like forever. “I can’t believe you’re this grown up…how much time has passed.” Jax touches my hair and then strokes my cheek with his thumb.

  When his eyes fill with tears, mine do too. Jax struggles with a breath. “First time I met you, you were this tiny thing. Chubby cheeks and nervous smiles. I thought it’d be a struggle to learn to be your dad, but you loved me so easily, how could I do anything but love you back?”

  “I still love you, Jax.” I lean forward and place my cheek against his. “Please never stop being my dad.”

  His hands press me in close. “Never happen. Wild horses couldn’t carry me away from your life.”

  His words warm my heart as he steps away but I hold onto his fingers for a moment longer.

  “Wait until Donovan see you. He’s not going to know what hit him.” Jax disappears outside and I return to my task. Waiting’s never been a skill of mine—even before I was a time traveler.

  I breathe a deep sigh and stare into the mirror before me. My reflection is beautiful, happy, and hopeful. It’s everything it’s supposed to be and for me, Lara Montgomery, that’s scares me. I’m not supposed to be happy, I’m not supposed to have this life, but thanks to time travel, I do.

  And somehow other people always end up paying for it.

  While staring into the mirror, I watch Cassidy stepping out from the restroom behind me. She’s in a pretty paisley dress with a light blue lace sash and with her hair pulled off her neck, she looks beautiful. No one suspects she’s my great niece from the future, but when she scowls, she reminds me of me. Her eyes shine with defiance, no matter what she does.

  It’s a family tradition.

  I need to care for her, protect her. Her future was destroyed because of me, because my Uncle Rex from another timeline, had wanted to destroy my life. In turn, the only thing he had destroyed had been Cassidy.

  “No one is ever going to buy this.” Cassidy smooths her dress down and gazes at her own reflection with a tilt of her head.

  “You’re Donovan’s cousin visiting from out of town. What’s not to buy?” I take her hand and she squeezes it back.

  “How about all of it?” Molly, asks from behind us. She’s why Cassidy and I are together. She’s the very thing we want to protect.

  Family. It’s everything, and my family is just about to get a little bit bigger.

  Time travel isn’t just my thing, it’s a family thing, but Molly is different and she must be trained, protected, no matter the cost.

  I extend my hand to Molly and she takes it, stepping forward. In her light blue dress, she’s the picture of pre-teen elegance. Naiveté shines on her face, she hasn’t faced the horrors I have, what future she has, and I’m desperate to keep it that way, as long as possible.

  I pull her brown curls—so similar to mine—off of her neck so I can slip a new locket on her. Inside, is a picture of the three of us, hugging side by side.

  The Montgomery girls—for all they do, and all the secrets they hide—nothing will ever tear us apart again.

  Outside, the music in the hall changes into a march. My stomach lifts with nerves as Cassidy opens the door, peering out into the hall. “You ready to leave Montgomery and Crane behind forever?”

  To become a James, I was, but I’d never leave them behind completely. I was meant to become a James, I was born to be a Crane, and Montgomery.

  Well, that I had moved hell and high water for the right to obtain. Even though I hadn’t realized it. Time had taught me that, like it teaches everyone.

  ****

  The timeline had been changed so many times, I no longer know how old I really am, but I do know I changed the past to save my mother and, as a result, I’d destroyed the future. Then, one adventure after another robbed me of my present. Now, with so much riding on time travel, I have my family with me along for the ride.

  When Cassidy Winters—her mind brainwashed against me—arrived in the past to ruin my life, we banded together to save the future and to save our family. Trapped two years in the past, I lived my life over again, this time with new choices and new decisions.

  Donovan James—the love of my life—lost his fortune, but we built a new future, the only one he’d ever remember. With my arm interlocked to my left with my father’s, and to my right with Jax, we walk down the aisle toward him and he waits like destiny.

  The veil hides my face, but it doesn’t obscure Donovan’s anxious nerves as he adjusts his jacket, crossing his hands again in front of him.

  Everyone in the pews watches me as we make our way down the center aisle. Rose petals cushion each step and I can’t stop smiling as Donovan steps down to greet me. Dad places my hand in Donovan’s and I stare at him, totally in love with all that he is.

  Dad kisses my cheek, his own eyes riddled with grief. There’s so much I want to say to him, but I can’t. All I can do is smile as he returns to his pew beside my beloved mother.

  The woman I’d risked lif
e and limb for. What a sacrifice it had been, and in some ways, I never stop paying for those decisions.

  Donovan steps in front of me and lets out a low slow breath as he lifts my veil, smoothing it against my hair. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” he whispers as he takes both my hands. We head up the stairs together toward the priest who waited for us.

  We turn to face each other as the priest speaks and I try to listen, but my raging heart won’t let me. I steady myself by staring into Donovan’s eyes. Feeling the flashes of the camera as they go off, I glance at those bearing witness.

  Everyone is there, everyone I love; Jax, my parents, Cassidy, and my twin sister and brother. Mike’s arm is around Molly’s waist and her head is on his shoulder. They are the picture of a lady and a gentleman, perfect as a polaroid.

  It’s like every dream coming true. Something that used to make me worry, but now I’m embracing my future. Donovan and I have earned it.

  “I can’t wait for the future,” Donovan says, his smile cocky as he beings his vows. The crowd laughs politely and I’m filled with wonder that he’s able to joke about that, even two years after we had lost our money, our home, and our way of life.

  We recite our vows, we dedicate our lives to one another. Applause erupts around us as we seal it with a kiss and a shadow looms in the corner of the church. It reminds me that everything we have, everything we are, it’s only a moment from being taken away.

  *****

  The past and the present had been unkind to us, and our eyes were on the future as much as they were on each other. Donovan holds my hand, brings it to his lips and kisses it gingerly. “You ready?” His nervous voice makes me smile but the love in his eyes makes my heart skip. Forever and a day he has been mine, and I won’t let him go.

  The applause of our guests grows on the other side of the purple curtain as the master of ceremonies welcomes us to the dance floor. “For the first time ever, at least in this timeline, Mr. and Mrs. Donovan James!”

  I smile curtly at the time travel jokes as they come my way, which seemed to be unending. Once it had bothered me, but now I take it with gentle grace. Donovan peels back the curtain and we step through, waving at the small crowd of fifty. I could’ve invited a hundred, maybe two, but since we’d lost a fortune in the stock market and had had to live the life a humble life, didn’t seem that important anymore.

  I already had what was important.

  Donovan held me close, one hand on my lower back. The I can’t keep from smiling and I’d never forget this day. On a normal day, we struggle to get by, but today I feel like a true princess.

  I’m under his spell. Hand in hand we will tackle our business, our life, and things will be okay.

  We stand to the side, champagne in hand as Dad takes the microphone, both hands shaking. Mom is by his side—inseparable from him. She claps for him and her eyes twinkle like mine do when I look at Donovan. Suddenly, everything is right with the world.

  My parents, my family. Everything as it should be.

  We dance, eat cake, and the night begins to come to a close. Donovan dances with Molly, lifting her up as best he can, then giving a mock-groan, a hand to a pretend backache that puts a wince onto his face. I laugh, standing off to the side. I’m no longer wearing my veil and my hair is lose around my shoulders.

  Cassidy slides up beside me, an empty glass in her hand. She tilts it upside down to show me she’s drunk it all, then sets it down on the table behind us.

  “I’ve had four. Or five. I guess I’ve lost count,” she says and throws her arms around me. She smells like rose champagne and I squeeze her back. “For this day, thank you.”

  “You’re drunk.”

  “Completely. And I don’t even feel bad about it. It’s your wedding but you’ve given me a gift. To be here with you…our family…. Even if they can’t know…” Cassidy watches the dance floor where Dad does the chicken and Mom covers her face, watching him through the slits of each finger.

  Cassidy’s great-grandmother, even if she can never know.

  “You belong with us,” I whisper to her. “I hope one day you realize that.”

  “Maybe I’m starting to,” she smiles and mischief dances in her eyes.

  Delilah, my TTPA partner, moves across the dance floor and pauses over by a round table. When our eyes meet, she waves me over. I kiss Cassidy’s cheek and greet Delilah. A bold woman with bright red hair, she wears a gold jacket and a matching skirt. Her smile plump her apple cheeks. “Happy, I hope?”

  “How could I be anything but?”

  “You deserve it. I hope Donovan treats you like the princess that you are. When you get back from your honeymoon, I want to hear all about it.”

  My eyes crinkle into a slight scowl. “Delilah, we’re not going on a honeymoon, remember? We can’t afford to get away with Don’s business still so new. Maybe we can afford it next year.”

  He was doing the best he could to grow the business and keep us afloat. And I don’t need reminders on how far we had fallen from the pinnacle of success. Hawaii, Bali—it could all wait while we started our lives.

  “I’m sorry, dear,” Delilah slaps her hand to her cheek. “Where is my head! I could have sworn…I’m too young for dementia, aren’t I?” She laughs it off and I join her, but my chuckles run hollow and flat. It’s not like her to forget something; her mind is like a steel trap but with all the new TTPA regulations going through, we were both overworked.

  Maybe that’s all it is. Maybe.

  Still, I can’t help but consider if something is messing with the timeline. I gaze over at Cassidy to see if she suspects anything weird is going on. I’m relieved to see she’s in the midst of a conga line and it’s headed my way.

  “Excuse me, Delilah.” I barely get the words out before I’m grabbed by the waist and thrust to the front of the conga line. I laugh as a drink is handed to me, as we make our way around the table and chairs through the quaint ballroom. Molly isn’t in the line—only Mike—and I search the room for my sister so she can join our chain.

  I can’t conga without my favorite maiden of honor.

  My eyes fall on her over by the refreshments table. She’s holding a glass of punch and a man in a suit is bent over, whispering something in her ear, his hands around her shoulders. The way he grips them makes me nervous and I step away, pushing off a pair of hands attempting to get me to fall back in line.

  Time around Molly starts to vibrate outward in waves and pixelate into a haze. She’s nervous. Scared.

  “Molly!” I hurry toward her and the man starts away, his hands held in front of him.

  I don’t see his face.

  Molly lets out a scream. The pixelated dust rushes out like a charging wave and it knocks me back, not allowing me to get any closer to the stranger who had done this to Molly. The music in the room freezes and no one else moves but me. I gather my strength and charge toward Molly again, but I’m cut off as a wall of frozen time stands between us.

  I don’t understand it. I should be able to get through any barrier she can throw up.

  “Molly!” I gather up the fabric of my dress and look for a way to get to her. Her eyes widen as she stares at me. The punch in her glass begins to dripple up, drop by drop, as if gravity around her has reversed.

  “Lara!” She chokes as if she has no air left to breathe, and falls toward to the ground.

  “No!” My scream punches through the time wall and shatters the time dust, driving it backward. I slip between the cracks and fall on my knees beside her as her hand goes limp onto the tile. Her eyes roll up into her head as she falls unconscious.

  Time springs back to life, the dancing, the music returns.

  I cradle Molly’s head. Someone calls for an ambulance and dozens of footsteps rush toward us. I’m aware of Donovan reaching my side first. Cassidy crashes down on the other side of Molly and checks her for a pulse. In a former life in the future, she had been a police detective a skillset that seems innate to her pe
rsonality. “I was frozen. I saw what you were doing, but I couldn’t move. Her pulse is weak, but she does have one.”

  Relief washes over me. “Did everyone else see?”

  “Molly!” It’s Mike’s scream and there’s a primal fear to it.

  Cassidy stops short of answering as Mom and Jax crowd in beside Molly, all but pushing her out of the way. My niece’s eyes fill with pain and I mouth an apology to her. Mom strokes Molly’s hair back. “Molly? Baby, can you hear me?”

  “We’re here with you,” Jax says more calmly as he takes Molly’s hand. “Whatever it is, we’re going to get you through this.”

  “Not again,” Mom whispers. “I can’t take anything happening to her again.”

  “She’ll be okay, Mom.” My voice is low and I’m not sure Mom can even hear me as she shakes her head. Behind her, Mike stands with his hands in his pockets, eyes faraway, worried.

  He stares at Molly and I try to get his attention, but it’s like he can’t even hear me.

  I need to talk to him, make sure he’s okay, but I don’t get a chance as EMTs arrive with a stretcher. I stay with Molly and don’t let her hand go even as they load her on and take her vitals.

  “Blood pressure is high.”

  “Pulse is erratic.”

  “Did she have anything to eat or drink today?” The EMT looks to me for answers and his brown eyes peer right through me. Something about them is as urgent as they are compassionate.

  I shrug and then I remember. “She was eating some finger sandwiches earlier. She had fruit punch. She’s not…allergic to anything that I know of, but I’m allergic to honey if that matters.” I cringe at how awkward I sound. “I guess that wouldn’t matter, but maybe she’s developing an allergy too?”

  None of it is true and it isn’t an allergy, but I desperately wish it is.

  Running a hand through my hair, I chastise myself for sounding so stupid…so out of control. But Molly…she’s special. I can’t lose her. I need her. Parts of her complete my soul in ways I’ve never been able to explain, from the moment I’d first met her all those years ago when I had first changed time to save my mother’s life.