Keeper of the Key

by Barbara Christopher

  “And Becci, I still care for you. Whether or not things work out between us, I want you to know you can count on me to help you straighten out your financial problems.”

  “T-thank you. We’ll talk later. I’ve got guests to see to.”

  Becci stared at the staircase, her heart pounding. Her common sense told her to ignore Michael, that he was just trying to cause trouble. But what if he wasn’t lying? What would she find upstairs?

  THE CLOCK STRUCK midnight. Caleb stifled a yawn and massaged the muscles at his nape. He hadn’t seen Becci alone since he’d discovered Ascott’s deception, which was probably just as well. After giving it some thought he’d decided that what he’d learned could wait until everyone left. He didn’t want to be the cause of an embarrassing scene between her and the man.

  The seconds continued to tick by in slow succession. Yet, they moved too fast. It wouldn’t be long before his time with Becci would come to an end.

  As the people began to leave, Caleb’s stomach churned. The turmoil he felt coiled inside him like a snake ready to strike. He had to get out of the house. He’d promised Jacobs some food, and now was as good a time as any to take it to him.

  Caleb hurried to the kitchen. He retrieved the plate Lilly had prepared for Jacobs and headed for the shed.

  “Jacobs,” Caleb called out as he opened the door. “I have your food.”

  Jacobs immediately popped into sight. Caleb handed the plate to him and picked up his journal. What was it doing on his bed? Who had taken it out of his saddlebags? He shrugged. He’d probably left it out last night. Jacobs couldn’t read, so he wouldn’t have bothered with it.

  “Why don’t you take your meal to the lake to eat?” he said distractedly. “I need a few minutes alone to make some notations in my journal. When I’m finished I’ll join you so we can go over everything you need to know about our trip home.”

  “Did ya find some more of that there gold?”

  “I haven’t looked for any gold, and I don’t intend to. Becci needs it more than we do.”

  “Speak for yoreself, boy,” Jacobs drawled. “I got lots of needs. I ain’t leaving without fillin’ my pockets.”

  “I’m not a boy, and you’d best remember my warning about Becci and the house. Now get on down to the lake and wait for me.”

  Caleb shoved him toward the door. Jacobs grabbed the plate and disappeared into the darkness before the door shut.

  Caleb shook his head. He hadn’t been able to keep his despair from spilling into his words. The man had probably mistaken the anguish in his voice for anger. The intensity of the pain at the thought of leaving Becci shook him.

  He raked both hands over his head and kneaded his neck. Then he dropped them to the journal in front of him. “Oh, Becci, I don’t want to lose you.”

  He turned to the last entry and flipped the page over. Staring at the blank page, he closed his eyes and inhaled. What could he say? Had she believed him when he’d declared his love? Had he been able to make her understand what he felt in his heart? Did she know how much he loved her?

  Slowly the words formed in his heart. He opened his eyes, and his pen hovered over the page. Then the words flowed from his heart onto the last page of his journal. When he’d finished, a deep sadness filled him. He shut the book, slipped it into his saddlebags and slid it under his bunk. He didn’t dare read it again. The written word couldn’t show his true feelings, but it was the best he could do. And he still had tonight to show her how he felt. For now, he had to take care of Jacobs.

  He left the shed and walked slowly down the hill. He had never before noticed how the smooth surface of the lake reflected the full moon. Stars flickered in and out of sight while the clouds peeked over the tops of the distant trees. Lightning brightened the edges of the clouds that would soon turn the starry sky to black. With the storm would come high winds and blinding rains and changes he had no control over.

  Across the lake a fish jumped for insects, breaking the silence and sending a ripple across the water. Had he really been here five weeks?

  “Are ya spendin anuther night with the filly?” Jacobs asked, breaking into Caleb’s thoughts.

  “Where I spend my night is no concern of yours. At ten o’clock tomorrow morning I’ll meet you here, and we’ll go to Becci’s bedroom together. That’s where we entered this time period, so that should be the way back. I’ll have the medallion by then. If it is the key, when we walk back through the door we should be back in our own era.”

  “What’s to keep ya from goin’ back without me?”

  “We came together. If we don’t go back at the same time, I don’t know what will happen. Maybe one of us could die.”

  Gravel crunched in the distance. Both men glanced up as the cars began to leave. “Just be here in the morning, Jacobs. I’ve got to get back up to the main house right now. Our guests are leaving.”

  BECCI COULDN’T WAIT for the guests to leave. She excused herself from the group of antique dealers and told Lilly she was going upstairs to change her clothes. She shoved open her bedroom door and walked to the dresser. She stared at the trinket box. Did she really want to know if Michael was telling the truth? It wasn’t whether she wanted to know—she had to know.

  Clutching the box to her chest, she sat down in the chair and slowly pushed off the lid. The imprint on the medallions—two hands clasped in friendship—matched what Caleb had drawn the day he told her about it. She held it up. It turned slowly, catching the light and sending a glittery array of color around the room. She couldn’t believe that this small necklace had caused all the troubles listed in the journals. But she knew firsthand how greed could change people.

  Becci placed the medallion back in the box and picked up the pouch. Loosening the drawstring she poured two small gold nuggets into her palm. If this was pure gold it would pay most of the back taxes, but it still wouldn’t be enough to do everything she’d planned to do. Had Caleb put it there for her? He said he needed the medallion to travel back to his time, but not the gold. Did he plan on taking it anyway? Why hadn’t he told her he’d found it? And why had he put it in the box he’d given her?

  “Becci, our guests are leaving,” Lilly said as she entered Becci’s bedroom. “Oh, child, what’s wrong?”

  Becci held out the gold nuggets. She wanted to trust her heart. If Caleb had lied, he had to have had a good reason, didn’t he?

  Lilly raised her hand to her chest and gave a woeful shake of her head. “Caleb lied to us, didn’t he?”

  Twenty

  ASCOTT STOOD AT the back door with Mr. Latham. His whispered words carried in the stillness of the night. “Tell the boss I’ll have Ms. Berclair’s signature on the papers before I leave here. We’ll close the deal by the end of the week, and he’ll have his money.”

  Caleb walked into the light as Mr. Latham headed for his car. “Signature on what?”

  “That’s none of your business, Harrison.”

  “You’re not getting Becci’s house. That woman you set up for me as a date told me what you’re doing, and I’m not going to let you steal from Becci.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about, and you don’t have a say in what Becci does or doesn’t do,” Ascott snapped. “After what she learned about you tonight, I doubt she will ever be willing to trust you again.”

  “She knows everything there is to know about me. You’re the one with secrets.”

  “We all have a few,” Ascott said as he stalked off toward the Mustang parked under the large oak.

  That man is trouble, Caleb thought as he went into the house, slid the bolt into the lock and put the chain into place. It wouldn’t keep Ascott out, but it would detain him while Caleb talked Becci out of signing the papers.

  “Caleb, help Maude gather up the trash while Becci and I settle up with the bartender we hi
red, then meet us in the kitchen. We have a major problem that needs to be settled.” Lilly handed him a plastic bag. Her demeanor was not the gentle manner he’d become used to.

  “Sure,” Caleb said. “Is something wrong?”

  “Yes. All I can say is just be truthful when you answer Becci’s questions.”

  “Lilly, I love Becci. I would never lie to her.” As he spoke, he watched Lilly for some indication of what he’d done.

  “Love? Hah! You don’t know the meaning of the word,” Becci snapped as she stormed into the kitchen, slammed back the dead bolt on the door, jerked the chain out of the slide and hurried outside with a sack of trash.

  The metal trash can lid crashed against the concrete just as lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled, and then there was nothing but silence and another flash. Caleb planted his hands on his hips and waited for Becci to come back into the kitchen. She’d changed from Rebecca’s dress into a green, loose-fitting pants outfit with tight-cuffed edges at the wrist and ankles. He couldn’t mistake the “hands-off” signal.

  Becci ignored him when she came back in. She swept across the room as the bartender entered the kitchen, greeting him with a smile. “Here’s what I owe you. I appreciate you breaking the rules for me. I swear, no one told me you didn’t accept checks.”

  The man smiled at her and said, “Michael said you were good for it, and I trust him.”

  Trusted Ascott? The man was a fool.

  “Becci, I’m not the one lying to you,” Caleb said after the bartender left. “According to that woman who followed me around all evening, everything is a set up. Latham is not with this Ascomp Company, because there is no Ascomp. He’s a friend of Ascott’s, as were all of your guests. Ascott is trying to steal this house from you.”

  She grabbed the plastic bag Caleb held and headed for the front room, filling it with trash as she went. “I don’t know who to trust any more,” she replied as he followed after her. “And I don’t know whether to follow my heart or my head at the moment. Please, either get to work or get out.”

  Caleb gathered a handful of napkins and slammed them into the plastic bag. After he’d removed everything he knew went into the trash, he gathered several pieces he wasn’t sure about.

  “Save or toss?” Caleb held up a handful of plastic forks.

  Becci pivoted toward the bar without answering him.

  “Toss,” Lilly said as she came into the dining room to get the vegetable tray, her voice just as icy as Becci’s actions.

  His temper churned a fraction more inside him. He’d prayed for one more night with Becci, and all evening his emotions had swung back and forth like a saloon door. At least his anger tamped down the pain gnawing at him. He’d have to be blind not to see what Becci’s actions meant.

  She didn’t love him.

  Lilly snapped off a clear sheet of plastic, covered one of the leftover trays of vegetables, and took it toward the kitchen. Becci stood in front of the bar, tightening the bottle tops. He couldn’t stand the silent treatment she was giving him.

  He edged up to the bar and slipped his arm around her waist. “Don’t be upset. I’m not angry. I’ll leave as soon as it’s possible. I should have known you couldn’t love a man like me. It takes more than a few weeks to earn someone’s love.”

  “You’re not angry?” Tears threatened to slide down Becci’s cheeks. She whirled out of Caleb’s light embrace but kept her back to him until she had her emotions under control. Then she rounded on him, ready to tell him exactly what she thought of him and his deceit. One look at the pain in his eyes, however, and she felt her anger start to melt.

  Don’t let him do this to you. He’s no good, and you should be glad you found out before you lost your heart completely.

  Why was she lying to herself? She already loved him.

  “Damn you, Caleb Harrison. Listen to what you’re saying. You say I can’t love a man like you. What do you think I am? I’m not some loose woman who gives herself to just anyone, but if you want to go, don’t use me as your excuse for sticking around. Go ahead and jump back through that time-traveling door you keep talking about.”

  “What have I done to upset you like this?” Caleb asked, bewildered.

  “I found the gold nuggets and your blasted medallion in that box you gave me. Exactly where Michael said they would be. You did put them there, didn’t you?”

  Caleb nodded slowly, unable to trust his voice. How did Ascott know where he’d put the nuggets and the medallion? Had she even thought to question the man? Everything she said was true, and he knew if it came down to a choice between him and Ascott, she would side with Ascott. After all, she’d not only known him longer, but they’d been engaged.

  “When did you find them?” she asked. “Before or after we made love? You didn’t have to take me to bed. You could have just stolen the damn gold and the medallion and left. No, you had to steal my very soul.”

  Steal her soul? Did that mean she loved him? He wanted to yell. I love you, too. “I never meant to hurt you, Mary Rebecca,” he said instead. “Lying with you felt right, like we were meant to be together. But I have to go back. I don’t have a choice. Others are depending on me. When the time is right, I’ll bring Jacobs back to the house, and we’ll leave, if you’ll let us.”

  Becci stared at Caleb. His words were barely a whisper, containing no anger like there normally was when he called her by her full name. She sensed only a deep sadness. It was better this way. He had a promise to keep—a child to raise, and another woman to marry. Another life to live.

  “Let you?” she repeated, her heart screaming for her to run to him, while her mind shouted for her to remember he’d never promised her a future. The regret she saw in his eyes couldn’t be real. “I want you to leave.”

  “Then you have no problem with me taking the medallion?”

  “If that means you’re leaving, no.”

  Caleb raised his hand and gestured as if he were tipping a nonexistent hat then walked out of the front room. At the door leading to the kitchen, he hesitated, turned and scanned the entry hall, his gaze finally coming to rest on the box of Rebecca’s diaries. He would add his to the stack. Hopefully Becci would read them before she made her final decision about the manor.

  Drawing a deep breath, he raked his fingers through his hair and let his gaze rest on Becci. “Please don’t sign anything until you’ve read all the journals. Especially not anything that Ascott may present. I don’t trust him. And, Becci, I may be leaving now, but I will return because I must know if our union created a child. I won’t let you be burdened with a fatherless bastard.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Becci said, telling herself that last night had been a dream. “If I’m pregnant, I’ll take care of my baby without your help.”

  Caleb felt his anger churning. “No, you won’t. I will not desert a child of mine like my father deserted me.”

  No one deserved to grow up looking at strangers and wondering if they could be the man responsible for giving them life. His first memories of his mother were of her laying with a stranger to put food on their table while he hid in the armoire. Then his mother died leaving him with no one to depend on except himself and a group of nuns. And all his life he’d been forced to do what others dictated because he had no father.

  His heart had ached at his mother’s death, but this was different. For the first time in his life he’d felt what it was like to be loved and to love in return. Now Becci wanted him gone, and he would leave. Hopefully the memories she had given him wouldn’t vanish when he journeyed back in time. He would return to take care of his child, if there was one.

  “You won’t desert a child of yours?” she whispered. “You may not have any say in the matter.”

  Caleb clenched his jaw to keep from saying anything more. She was right. The medallion controlled his life
now, and his leaving was best for both of them. He nodded again and marched out of the gathering room.

  Becci heard the slow scrape of Caleb’s boots as he crossed the kitchen and the screech of the rusty hinges as he slung open the back door and hurried down the three steps. The door slammed shut, its sound ricocheting around the empty room. Becci pressed her fist to her lips to stifle a sob. Her heart felt heavy—a gaping emptiness of despair.

  At least she’d known from the beginning that their love had no chance of lasting. Caleb hadn’t lied about leaving.

  She wiped her palms down her sweat suit and straightened her shoulders. She didn’t have time to wallow in self-pity. She had work to do. Grabbing a tray of dirty glasses, she carried them to the kitchen.

  Lilly silently loaded the dishwasher, her shoulders stooped and her head bent forward. From the moment she’d learned they hadn’t gotten the grant, her aunt had been like this.

  “Are we going to have to sell the place?” Lilly asked without turning around.

  “Those two nuggets aren’t enough to save it. We don’t have a choice.” Becci set the tray on the counter and started placing the glasses in the dishwasher. Her hand trembled. She tried to stifle the sob that shook her and failed.

  “If we could only find the rest of the gold . . . ” Lilly began.

  “Stop it! This isn’t about the gold!” Becci shouted. “And I don’t want to hear another word about the legends of gold supposedly hidden in this damn house. There were two nuggets. Two nuggets,” she repeated holding up two fingers. “And that won’t pay all the back taxes we owe, much less the upkeep on a place like this.”

  Regret gnawed at her the moment the words spewed out and she swiped at her tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she told her aunt. “The only thing of value here is the property this house sits on. Selling it is the only way we can survive.”

  “This is all my fault,” Lilly said, a quaver in her voice.