Fighting Fate

by Louise Clark

  “No,” he said genially, stacking his completely clear plate on top of Liz’s, then reaching for Chloe’s. “I insist. I’ve been out of town so much working on construction projects in the third world that I don’t get to see my little girl enough. This will give me an opportunity to catch up.”

  On the surface that sounded reasonable. Except that they all knew he visited Liz regularly no matter what contracts he was working on—so catching up with his “little girl” was just an excuse for him to lecture her in the kitchen. Faith knew how her father felt about her dating normal guys. Her heart did a nosedive down to her toes. He wanted to remind her about her differences, to tell her to stay away from regular boys, just the way he had when she reached puberty and became a Beacon. They’ll laugh at you, Faith. They’ll call you a freak. You can never tell anyone —anyone!—what you are. Do you understand?

  She risked a glance at Cody. He was looking at Daniel. There was an amused expression on his face, but his eyes were watchful. He caught Faith staring at him and shot her one of those sexy half-smiles of his. Her heart did a little jump. She smiled back then headed for the kitchen. Better get the one-on-one with her father over with.

  “That’s a very nice young man,” Daniel said when they reached the kitchen.

  “He is,” Faith opened the dishwasher. She pulled out the rack and began to fill it, taking the dishes her father held out to her.

  “I like Cody.” Daniel frowned. “Does he know?”

  “No,” Faith said shortly.

  Cody strolled into the kitchen, a load of dishes in his hands. “Do I know what?”

  Horror washed over Faith. Would her father take this opportunity to blurt out her secret? Despair, swiftly followed by resignation, washed over her. If he did, Daniel would describe her special ability in a negative way and she would watch Cody’s face change from affection to contempt.

  This was not how she wanted to tell him that she was a Beacon. She wanted to sit next to him and explain quietly that she had inherited a family trait that might make her seem different, even strange, but was nothing to be concerned about. She wanted to tell him in a joyous way, not a disapproving one, exactly who she was.

  Certain that her father was once again about to abandon her, she hunted up desert forks in the cutlery drawer.

  “About Chloe’s strawberry shortcake. I always have two helpings.” Daniel patted his stomach. “I shouldn’t, but it’s marvelous. That dessert is probably the thing I miss most about being married to her.” He headed for the fridge and the shortcake.

  Cody plunked his load of dishes onto the counter and said quietly, “What was that all about?”

  “My father’s peculiar sense of humor, I guess,” Faith muttered in a low voice. In a more normal tone she said, “Thanks, Cody. Would you mind taking the coffee cups into the dining room for me?”

  They ate the strawberry shortcake, with Daniel indulging in seconds as promised, and drank coffee, until Daniel stifled a yawn. “I haven’t adjusted to the time change yet and it’s catching up with me. Thank you for dinner, Faith. It was good to see you.”

  “Thanks for coming Dad. I’ll walk you to the door.”

  On the porch, Daniel paused. “I know you don’t care for my advice, Faith, but I hope you’ll take it this time.” There was a hint of compassion in his expression as he studied her. “Cody is an intelligent man with a flexible mind, but you’d be well advised not to become any more involved with him.”

  Faith swallowed hard. “Why?”

  “Because of what you are, of course.”

  “Dad—”

  He caught her shoulders in what may have been intended as a comforting grasp. “You’re a pretty girl, Faith. A bright one, too, but this trait that you and your mother share…” He shook his head. “It’s too weird for any man to accept. It broke up my marriage with Chloe and it hurt us both. Why open yourself up to that kind of grief?”

  Hot tears clogged Faith’s throat and filled her eyes. She fought them down. Despite everything, in her heart she wanted her father’s approval of herself, of her growing feelings for Cody, even though in her mind she knew it would never come.

  “Night, Dad,” she said, without answering him. He turned away as she closed the door. Faith rubbed her forehead and sighed.

  She found the others in the kitchen. Chloe was just finishing up the hand washing and Elizabeth was putting away the pots that Cody had dried. Chloe was telling Cody her recent discoveries about the Civil War, which she cheerfully put down to some in-depth research she’d been doing. Cody made interested sounds and Elizabeth winked at Faith, who wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be terrified.

  Despite her father’s recommendation, she was going to tell Cody about herself. This business of living on the edge was too much for her. “Would you like to go into the living room, Cody? Mom, do you mind if I steal Cody away?”

  “Off you go,” Chloe said, wiping the counter. “Liz and I can finish up here.”

  Cody hung the damp tea towel on the handle of the stove door, then turned. Now, facing the three women, he was the only one whose back was not toward the kitchen doorway. His brows rose. “Hello. Who are you?”

  Chapter 16

  For a moment Faith couldn’t move. She heard a familiar voice say, “I’m Andrew. And who would you be? Ahhh, the boyfriend.”

  Elation fought with horror. Initially elation won. She whirled around, laughter bubbling from her lips. “Andrew! What are you doing here?”

  He grinned at her, as best he could. There was a cut on his upper lip and swelling on his lower that suggested he’d been in a fight, recently. “I need a bolt hole.”

  Faith risked a look at Cody. He was studying Andrew through eyes bright with curiosity.

  Faith couldn’t blame him for wondering what was going on. Andrew was a mess. Locks of hair had escaped from the ponytail he wore and twigs were caught in the dark strands. One of the ruffles on his fine linen shirt had been torn. There was mud on the leg of his velvet breeches and a hole gaped in the stocking below. Faith’s delight at seeing him again eased into concern. “What happened to you?”

  “Mary Elizabeth’s father.”

  “Oh,” said the Hamilton women in unison.

  “Who’s Mary Elizabeth?” Cody asked. “And why are you dressed that way, Andrew?”

  “Mary Elizabeth is Andrew’s girlfriend,” Faith said. She deliberately ignored Cody’s other question. Answering it would open doors she planned to take Cody through, but not like this, with Uncle Andrew and everyone else in the family listening in.

  Andrew brushed some dirt from his breeches, then mournfully eyed the gaping hole in his stocking. “I am not usually such a sloven.” He sat down at the kitchen table and put his chin in his hands. The bedraggled ruffles at his wrists flopped toward his elbows. “Mary Elizabeth’s father does not approve of my intentions toward his daughter. Or of me, for that matter,” he added sadly. “Our politics put us so far apart that there is a vast gulf between us.”

  Chloe sat down beside Andrew and patted him on the back. “You will win out, Andrew. You must be strong for everything to fall into place.”

  He was immediately alert. There was an almost crafty gleam in his eyes. “Are you promising me the government will change? Or that I will wed Mary Elizabeth?”

  Chloe shook her head, pursing her lips and pretending to be annoyed. “Andrew! You know I cannot tell you what will happen.”

  “Oh, man,” Faith said. Much as she wanted to talk to Andrew, to find out exactly what had brought him tonight, Cody was listening to this exchange with a fascination that was downright dangerous. She grabbed his arm with a half-formed idea that she’d be wise to tow him out of the kitchen.

  Andrew said, “At this moment, I care not. Mary Elizabeth is furious at her father. Aye, and so too is her mother. I will wait here until the wretched man has gone back to Boston town. Then I will return to continue my courtship of Mary Elizabeth.”

  Totally aghast, Fait
h abandoned her idea of a strategic withdrawal. She had to deal with this now. She glared at Andrew. “I knew this would happen. I knew it! Didn’t I tell you that the last time you came?

  “Aye, you did. But—”

  Her hand was still clutching Cody’s arm, and now, under a full head of steam, Faith propped her other hand on her hip. “Didn’t you promise to stay away? Didn’t you?”

  Andrew stared at her steadily, maintaining a wary calm at odds with her stressed-out fury. “Aye, I did. But—”

  “No buts, Andrew!” Letting go of Cody, she turned to Liz. “Did you hear him? Did you hear him say he was going to stay here?”

  “Okay,” Liz said. “So I was wrong.”

  “Wrong about what?” Cody asked.

  Faith froze in place. Wide-eyed, she turned to Cody, wanting to tell him what was going on, but not sure how to do it, or even if it was a good idea to let him get involved.

  To her surprise he smiled, a little ruefully, and drew his finger across her lips in a feather-light touch. “I get it. It’s a family issue. I’ll take off and give you the privacy to sort it out.”

  “No!” The vehemence of her response surprised Faith, even more than it surprised her watching family. She couldn’t tell Cody that she was a Beacon, not in the middle of this emotional mess, but she could include him in this crisis. He didn’t have to know that Andrew was a man who had been born two centuries earlier to add his input to help solve the problem. All he had to know was that Andrew was in trouble, needed a bolt hole and had decided her house was where he would find it.

  She caught his hand. Holding it between both of hers, she said, “Stay, Cody, please.”

  Cody’s eyes probed her face, looking for reasons for her request, trying to find the answer to her question.

  Chloe said smoothly into the charged atmosphere, “Yes, please don’t go, Cody. I’m sure Andrew would welcome the presence of another male.” She shot Andrew a quelling look. “Even a man from outside the family.”

  Faith almost groaned. If anything, her statement appeared to make Cody even more intrigued than before.

  Andrew shot Chloe a mischievous look, before he thoughtfully inspected Cody. Cocking one eyebrow he said coolly, “He looks a fine fellow, indeed, Mistress Chloe. I would be pleased to add to my invitation to yours.”

  It was Cody’s turn to raise his brows as Andrew ended his flowery speech. They rose even higher when Andrew stood to execute a short, but undeniable, bow. “Are you an actor?”

  Liz laughed. Faith said, “He certainly tells enough untruths to be called one. Andrew, we talked about this the other night. You can’t come here just because things are going wrong at…at home. And you certainly can’t stay with me!”

  “I must,” Andrew said. “’Twill only be for the space of a sen’night.”

  This was getting worse and worse. Faith stepped away from Cody so she could advance on Andrew. “You can’t.”

  “Sen’night?” Cody said. “I don’t know that term.”

  Liz said helpfully, “It means a week in Andrew’s jargon.”

  “See what you’ve started,” Faith said, desperately afraid and absolutely furious as a result.

  Andrew backed away until his behind met the edge of the table. There he stopped, holding up his hands, palms forward. “Surely you will not deny me sanctuary, Faith?”

  “Andrew, you know what this means!”

  “Aye,” he said again. “But I cannot go home, at least not right now.”

  Chloe said calmly, “You cannot deny him sanctuary, Faith. When one of the family is in trouble, the others do what they can to help. It is why it all began. It is why we are as we are.”

  Faith glared at Andrew, who was nodding portentously at Chloe’s words. She wanted to shake him like a terrier with a rat, then boot him back to 1772, but she knew her mother was right. Family lore had it that an early ancestor trapped in the hell of the Salem Witch Trials had discovered the beacon. Fearing she too would be charged and condemned, and desperate to escape, she had run into the woods, braving the dangers of the untamed North American continent rather than facing the probability of a quick conviction and a terrible death. Cold, hungry, exhausted, she was said to have followed a light in the woods—and found herself in a prosperous farm over one hundred years in the future.

  “Okay. So you stay. Now we have to figure out what to do with you.”

  Looking much relieved, Andrew said, “Aye.”

  Faith was anything but. To stay in her time, Andrew had to be with her. That meant no private meals with Cody. No possibility of private evenings, of lovemaking, of being normal.

  Chloe said, “Why don’t we all sit down at the table and sort this out. Andrew, you look like you could use a cup of coffee. Anyone else want one?”

  Coffee wasn’t exactly what Faith would have preferred at that moment, but she figured she needed to keep her wits about her, so she put in a request for a cup. Cody followed suit. Liz opted for water. Then they all settled in at the big round oak table and eyeballed each other.

  Since it was her house and Andrew was her problem, Faith took the lead. “For Cody’s benefit, I’m going to summarize the problems we’re facing with Uncle Andrew’s visit. Cody, Andrew suffers from an anxiety disorder that makes it impossible for him to remain alone in a house.”

  Cody raised his brows at this as he scrutinized Uncle Andrew. Andrew, looking extremely self-confident, smiled. The curious, intelligent expression that terrified Faith, crept into Cody’s eyes. She hurried on. “Ideally, when Andrew visits I take time off. But this is such short notice I can’t, so we have to figure out what to do with him.”

  “Faith, you make him sound like that ugly old vase Great Aunt Mary gave you on your twenty-first birthday,” Liz said. “Didn’t you finally stash it down in the basement?”

  “Great Aunt Mary?” Andrew said with interest. “And when was she?”

  Cody leaned forward. “When was she? Not who is she? Or where is she?”

  Andrew shot Cody a challenging grin. “Aye. When is the word I chose.” He turned to Liz, a hopeful gleam in his eye. “Is she any relation to my Mary Elizabeth, then?”

  Cody looked from Andrew, to Liz, then Chloe, then finally to Faith. “Marys and Elizabeths seem to run in your family.”

  They all stared at him, aghast. Except Andrew, who laughed. “I do believe you have found the key to my dilemma, Cody, my friend. I thank you.” He turned to Faith, suddenly decisive. “Mary Elizabeth’s father will expect me to seek her out before Friday next. That I will not do. But I must return to my own time soon thereafter, for Mary Elizabeth will be waiting for me and anxious to know why I did not come for her.”

  “No, Andrew, you can’t stay till next Saturday. It just isn’t possible. You can come into the office with me and hang around for a couple of days, but a week! No way.”

  “If I return too soon her father will be expecting me,” Andrew pointed out with irritating logic. “What is the purpose of sanctuary if I cannot remain long enough to evade the danger that awaits me?”

  “Why don’t you call in sick, Faith?” Liz said. Her tone suggested she thought it was a long shot, but worth tossing out as an option.

  “I can’t do that.” Faith played with her coffee cup, drawing circles on the table that evolved into figure eights, then into egg-shapes and finally triangles.

  “It was easier in the old days,” Chloe said. “People simply said you were visiting from afar and you were expected to go everywhere with them. In fact, you were asked to come join in and were welcomed. Our world is very different nowadays.”

  Faith stole a look at Cody. He was sitting back in his seat, listening intently as her family talked in what must sound like riddles to him. She would have to explain everything to him soon, but first she had to figure out how to deal with Uncle Andrew’s visit. His week-long visit. “If you come to the NIT offices and hang around all day you’ll have to have a purpose,” she said, thinking aloud. “I suppose I c
ould give you a job. You could do some filing or something.”

  “Filing?” Andrew said.

  Cody stood up and went over to the counter. As he poured himself more coffee he said to Faith, “Are you backed up in that area? Do you need to bring in someone to deal with clerical overload?”

  “No,” she said, regretfully.

  “Then Ava the Oppressor will never buy it. She’ll ask questions. I don’t think that’s what we want.”

  His use of ‘we’ warmed her to her toes, adding brightness to the glow of the electric lighting. Still, she sighed. “You’re right. So what kind of excuse can I use to explain Andrew’s presence? He doesn’t have a lot of office-type skills.”

  Cody leaned against the counter. As he sipped his coffee he aimed a thoughtful, narrow-eyed stare at Andrew. “There is one area in which we’ve had chronic problems over the last little while.”

  Faith frowned at him as she tried to figure out what he was referring to. In the past few weeks there had been no major issues, except Angela’s computer problems. But they were solved now that she had more interesting responsibilities. True, there was the occasional glitch in one computer or another but…

  The computers. Was Cody thinking of having Andrew work on the NIT computers? Was that possible?

  Of course it was possible. Cody had no idea that Andrew didn’t even know what a computer was, let alone how to operate one.

  “Cody. It wouldn’t work.”

  “What wouldn’t work?” Liz asked.

  Cody moved his considering stare from Andrew to Faith. “Why not?”

  “Because when I say Andrew doesn’t have any office skills, I mean none.” She moved her hands in a slicing motion. “Zero. Zilch.”

  “Then I’ll teach him.” Cody’s coffee mug landed on the counter with a clunk.

  “Teach me what?” Andrew demanded.

  Cody ignored him. He came over to the table. Pulling his chair beside Faith’s, he took her hands in a warm clasp. “The only way Ava will accept Andrew without probing too deeply is if he has a believable reason for being at NIT. Can you think of anything else that will work?”