“You’re back in time, Sam. You’re supposed to keep Missy from leaving her husband and running off with Mark. He turns out to be a real jerk, beats her up, and she ends up committing suicide by the end of this month.”
Al was telling Sam what his mission was for that stop on his journey through time. Wendy perched on the edge of the couch, watching a rerun of one of her favorite television programs as a child. Tonight it seemed particularly relevant.
“Sam,” she said to the actor and not the cat for whom he was named, “how about doing me a favor and going back and finding out exactly why Zachary married Ramona? While you’re there, whisper my name in his ear.” Wendy shook her head. “Now I’m talking to the television. See what you’re doing to me, Zachary. Hah! Now I’m talking to myself…and someone who’s not here at all. Argh!”
Sam leapt up from his sleeping place on the coffee table, scattering OMNI magazines everywhere.
“Sorry, big guy,” she said, even as she laughed at his scowl. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
She had stopped by the courthouse on the way home and looked up Zachary’s wedding date. Seven and a half years ago he had taken his vows and sealed his fate. If only she could bounce back to the past and find out why he remained married to Ramona. If only Wendy had met him first, maybe, just maybe, things would have turned out differently.
“This is crazy. I’m too wise to fall for a married man,” she moaned, burying her face in a pillow. She’d never let it go any further. “And I was even his wife!”
Just the thought made her giggle in delirious delight. Leaning back with her bowl of popcorn, she imagined herself leaping into the past, stealing Zachary away from Ramona. She closed her eyes, her show forgotten in her fantasies. Soon, she fell asleep, deep into the land of wedding marches and stolen dreams.
White flounce and ruffles, the rustle of her dress and the aroma of fresh roses. A man’s arm circled her own, but all she could see was Zachary, smiling up at her with love in his eyes. Four, five, six steps, and just when the tip of her shoe touched the seventh step, her eyes flew open. Darkness shrouded the dream, and then the moving lights and voices from the television woke her completely.
She blinked, looking around in a daze. “Why can’t I finish the dream? Why can’t I marry Zachary?”
That was indeed the question, and she had no answer for it. Then she remembered something. She had taken another step. Seven nights ago she had met Zachary. Since their first meeting on Valentine’s Day, she had been able to take one step for each night.
The early morning mist had not yet lifted as Wendy pulled up the driveway to the Van Buren house. It looked almost eerie, perched atop the incline, shrouded in a fog even London would be proud of. The air felt as if someone had draped a cold damp blanket around her as she stepped out of her car.
Once she and the engineer had determined which walls were load bearing, and that the house was structurally sound, he left her to wander the quiet rooms alone.
There was still so much work to do. She had to finish measuring the rooms and draw up as-built plans. Ramona’s voice rang in her ears: What? And how long will that take? If only she realized what a job of this magnitude involved.
Out of curiosity, Wendy went to the fireplace to look at the framed pictures along the top. Some were black-and-white pictures of a couple through the years, then another couple with a boy who must be Zachary. In the middle, a boy of about ten smiled in what looked like an annual school picture. She picked up the silver frame, blowing away the thin layer of dust on the glass. Zachary, with dimples and mussed hair. She set it down and moved on to one of him graduating, in his cap and gown. And at the end, the one Ramona had been fiddling with, a wedding picture of the two of them. Ramona was striking in a short white dress with cap sleeves. Zachary looked handsome, if a bit somber, in a black tux.
Wendy turned away and went back into the reception room. Her heart thrummed as she walked up the staircase and started her self-tour with the large suite of rooms she guessed to be the master bedroom. The four-poster bed dominated the space, a perfect match to the mahogany dresser and chest of drawers.
A gold snake, swallowing its own tail, surrounded the face of a Vulliamy timepiece on a white reeded mantel. At the ends of the hands were delicate hearts. Perched above the clock, a bronze eagle glared down, its wings spread in pre-flight. Nothing in this room had been covered, she noticed. Or even touched. It must have been his grandparents’ room.
When she turned to leave, her gaze fixed on a painting in a delicately carved frame. A man and woman sat together, his arm protectively around her as he gazed at her with love. Zachary looked so much like his grandfather that it mesmerized Wendy. She at once envied and pitied them, to have so much love and life and then lose it to the ravages of time. But the glow on their faces signified a love that would last into eternity.
“Well, I’m glad to see we’re on your list of current work. Though you don’t look like you’re actually doing much work.”
Lost in her thoughts of forever love, the clipped voice made her heart nearly leap right out of her chest as she whirled around. Ramona, with her hair blown forward, framing her small features and white skin with the blackness of it. Her dark eyes were heavily outlined in black pencil, curved up at the corners, Cleopatra-style. Her smile lacked any warmth, but Wendy returned it anyway.
“Yes, you are indeed on the active list.” She decided not to comment on the dig. “You just did a number on my heart, though. I didn’t hear anyone come in.”
“We’ll probably be out here quite a bit. Especially when construction begins.”
Wendy took note of the word “we,” the familiar palpitations starting again. Just then the Irish Setter bounded into the room, her feathered tail swinging in a huge arc. Wendy knelt down, and the dog inched closer. When she scratched Katy’s head, the dog lost all doubt and moved so that her back was under Wendy’s hand.
“I’d say you made a friend.”
His voice seemed to physically clutch her heart in a grip. Pasting on a casual smile, she looked up at Zachary. When their eyes met, she could feel the spark of electricity, despite Ramona’s presence.
“She probably senses how much I love dogs,” Wendy said, the familiar dryness invading her throat.
“You should get one. You’re obviously good with animals.”
“I’d like to, but my cat would have hissy fits. Hissing, biting, clawing, you name it. The dog wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Ramona cut in, “All this pet talk is just as sweet as can be, but we should let her get back to work. Let’s go downstairs so we can be ready to interview the contractor when he gets here.” Ramona took his hand, oblivious to the disdainful look he gave her.
Zachary pulled free, a casual and obviously practiced move. “Katy, stay here with Wendy and keep her company, okay?” He gave Wendy a wink.
Katy wagged her tail in response, amazing Wendy by remaining with her after her master disappeared from the doorway.
Ramona’s voice filtered from down the hall. “Great. That dog of yours will be distracting her. We’ll never get this job done.”
“Don’t be such a tyrant. Have some faith in the lady,” she heard Zachary’s distant voice defend her.
“Well, aren’t you a sweetie?” Wendy said to the dog, then whispered, “And your daddy is, too.” She scratched Katy’s back, her desire to work waning by the minute. She didn’t deserve Zachary’s faith, but it wasn’t Katy who distracted her. “Better get back to it before your mother finds me fluffing off.” She quickly measured the remaining rooms, Katy at her heels.
Gathering her things, she headed down the stairs, the dog still in her shadow.
Ramona’s gravelly voice floated up from somewhere in the house. “What do you mean you have to wait to see what the architect says? Why can’t you tell me now?”
“Ma’am,” an exasperated voice said. “We have to see what we can and cannot move.”
“What’s that got to do with it? If I want to move a wall in my own house, or change the kitchen around, I’ll do it.”
“Ramona,” Zachary’s voice said in hushed tones. “The man knows what he’s doing.”
“So, she treats everyone like that,” Wendy mumbled as she descended the stairs. She did feel, however, that Ramona harbored extra hostility for her. Jealous hostility, actually.
Zachary and Ramona were arguing about the contractor’s qualifications when Wendy slipped on her heavy coat. She leaned into the kitchen and waved goodbye to Zachary, Ramona, and a frazzled-looking man before heading out.
When she opened the passenger door to put her things inside, something big and fuzzy brushed by her. Before she knew it, Katy was sitting contentedly in the passenger seat. She looked at Wendy, ahead, and back at her again, as though prompting her to close the door and head on down the road.
“Okay, Katy, out!” The dog didn’t budge. “Mm, it’s going to be like that, eh? To be honest, I’d love for you to come home and snuggle with me.” She put her arm around the dog’s shoulders. “You’d be far more interesting and sweeter than anything else I’ve had in my bed in years.” She was being silly, she knew, but the way Katy’s eyebrows bobbed thoughtfully up and down just made her feel that way. “All right, that’s pretty much been a cat. But you see, he’s a jealous cat who’d take exception to my sharing my affections with another creature, much less a large furry dog. He’d say it like that, too: dog. As in ugh. So you gotta go, girl. Out.”
More eyebrow bobbing, no sign of vehicle leaving.
Wendy sighed. “We can’t always get what we want. We’re just going to have to accept that.”
“The sad truth sometimes.”
Wendy whirled around to see Zachary’s wry grin at catching her foolish conversation with the dog. “Would you please help me get your sweet dog out of my car?”
He whistled. “Come on, Katie girl.” His words became mist in the air. When she didn’t obey, Zachary raised his eyebrows. “She’s never attached herself to someone like this before, other than me.” His gaze locked onto hers. “Must be something special about you.”
Wendy felt her smile stretch across her face, along with a deep, warm blush. The man and his dog were both going to drive her crazy. “Nah, I’m just me.” She looked beyond him before her stomach did a full tumble. Ramona would no doubt be coming out that door any second. God forbid her husband talk to the seductress architect.
He followed her gaze, then gave her a questioning look, probably at the expression on her face.
“The house is so beautiful,” Wendy said, rather than uttering the truth. “I understand you grew up here.”
It was a question of sorts. He braced his hand on the roof of her car, turning toward the place with a somber look. “My parents died when I was nine. My grandparents raised me after that.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, letting silence descend for a moment. Her parents were lost to her, too. After her father’s death, her mother withdrew from everyone, including her daughter. Now she lived an almost communal lifestyle in Utah. Wendy hadn’t spoken with her for six months. She couldn’t imagine having lost them as young as Zachary had. “But it was great that you had them.”
His smile, sentimental though it was, returned. “I was lucky. They were good people. Warm, loving. They gave me a good life. They owned this whole stretch of land back then.”
“It must have been nice, growing up on the beach.”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t much of a beach guy, and the water was cold. I kind of took over the land leading up to the beach though. My friends and I set up a disc golf course out here.”
“Disc golf?”
“Yeah, golf but with Frisbees instead of clubs and balls. It was just getting popular. We worked summer jobs and bought disc pole holes: the targets, basically a stand with a basket that you aim to land the disc in. The breeze was a challenge, but it taught us how to control the disc better. We even played with glow-in-the-dark discs.” He grinned. “On a full moon night, with that glowing green disc flying into the distance, man, it was killer. We were good, too. We played in some local tournaments. Kept us out of trouble.”
She could imagine teenage boys sending discs sailing around the trees and over the small dunes. “Sounds like fun. I’ve seen those pole things at the park and wondered what they were.”
“The ocean eventually ate them—the salt air rusted them out,” he clarified at her puzzled expression.
She pushed her wayward curls out of her face. “As it probably does anything metal. Time has a way of claiming everything in its path.”
He chewed his bottom lip as he nodded in agreement, a pensive look on his face. “I should get back, rescue the contractor.” He leaned in the car, scratching his dog’s head. Katy looked back and forth between them. “Katy girl, you can’t have Wendy. We’re both stuck where we are.” He turned to Wendy, his face inches from hers. “Have you ever felt as though fate cheated you out of something destiny had in mind?”
He didn’t give her time to answer, but she couldn’t have responded anyway. All she could do was watch him walk away with Katy in tow. It wasn’t until he’d disappeared inside the house that she could even move. Or breathe. Yes! That’s exactly how she felt.
And he felt the same.
His footprints in the snow were only inches from where her own feet sank. Katy’s paw prints formed a circle around them. No, it wasn’t a circle. It was almost…a heart. And Zachary’s and Katy’s retreating footprints looked like teardrops spilling from it.
The next afternoon, Wendy walked around the Van Buren house closing the drapes she had opened earlier. Everything was coming together with the plans, and even Ramona would like how she had worked the load-bearing wall into the living space while still giving it an open feel. Well, hopefully she would.
Wendy clicked off the last light in the main room, leaving it dim and eerie in the silence. As she turned toward the front door, dancing lights by the stairs caught her eye. The shimmering lights made her think of fairies, spinning and floating among the dust motes. Not fairies, of course, but sunlight streaming through a narrow window. The glass itself couldn’t create such a display, though, so what—her heart jumped.
The colors originated from a figure that was about her height, its details obscured by the light behind it. Nothing had been in that spot before. Was someone standing there? It didn’t move, nor did it look human. Curiosity drew her closer. The flashes of color seemed to penetrate her very soul. Shaking off the odd sensation, she shifted back and forth to find the angle where sunlight didn’t cast the details in silhouette.
With the right angle, she could make out a golden Renaissance cherub sitting atop a cloud platform. Its black stone eyes seemed to sparkle at her, and its smile had a devilish curve despite its angelic likeness. The source of the color beams was a large heart-shaped crystal on a gold chain dangling from its finger. The heart rocked ever so slightly, perhaps in shifts of air.
Maybe it was Cupid. He had a fancy bow slung over his shoulder, and in his pouch five arrows ready to be loaded at a moment’s notice. The tips of the arrows looked a lot like the heart-shaped hands of the Vulliamy timepiece.
That's odd. Why didn't I notice this before? Then, as a chill washed over her, she realized that she had indeed seen this cherub. In the wallpaper…smiling at her. She walked back to the dining room and searched for the grinning cherub. No trace of him. Had she just imagined it? Or was she simply going crazy?
Wait. Maybe she’d imagined the statue, too. She ran back, stopping several yards away and taking a breath. It was there, all right, looking as though it had formed from the glittering dust all around it. But was it real?
Wendy pressed her hand to the cool metal, relieved to feel its solidity. Her fingers followed the curves of the angel’s shoulders, its arm, down to the hand from which the crystal heart dangled. Twirling the chain between her fingers made the colors dance wildly all around her. She turned, expecting the entire room to be filled with lights, but they focused like a flashlight beam on one spot: where the winding staircase met the oak boards. Where Zachary stood in her dreams.
Where she stood.
Okay, this was getting weird.
She tried to move out of the lights, but the colors held her there. Panic rushed through her as she struggled against an invisible force. She opened her mouth to scream. Nothing came out.
The grandfather clocked chimed the four o’clock bell, and a warm, tingly sensation invaded her senses. She could feel the blood pulsing through every vein in her body. Her skin vibrated, and every sense felt sharp, yet she couldn’t hear or see anything. Then everything went black.