Frustration settled in before Wendy could even open her eyes and focus on her surroundings. She was still in the house by the staircase. A glance at her watch revealed that only two minutes had passed since her incredible journey started. As she looked around, everything was much darker than it had been when she’d left. She touched the hat on her head. Real. She tugged at Zachary’s shirt. It had been real.
The sound of a key in the door made her jump. Be Zachary, please. Ramona walked in, and Wendy sighed in disappointment. She’d failed to free him.
“I thought that was your car outside. What are you doing here? I thought you were ready to start the pre…” Ramona’s eyes narrowed., and she pointed at Wendy. “I’ve seen you before.”
Wendy gave her a nervous laugh. “Well, yeah. I’m your architect.”
“No, before. Looking just like that, with that shirt and that awful hat, those sunglasses.”
That’s why it’s so dark in here, Wendy thought as she removed the sunglasses. “I don’t think so. The hat and shirt are borrowed. I’ve never worn them before.”
Ramona shook her head. “No, I’m sure I’ve seen you, or someone who looked just like you, wearing that same ensemble. I can’t remember where, but it was a long time ago.”
Wendy laughed, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling Ramona caused. “Well, it wasn’t me. I’ve got to run now. I just wanted to take a quick measurement before I started.”
Ramona’s features sagged with impatience. “You still haven’t started the plans yet?”
“Tomorrow. Tomorrow I start the plans. Goodbye, Mrs.—Goodbye.” The name wouldn’t even leave Wendy’s tongue.
She headed out the door to her car. So she had changed the present. Ramona had remembered her from the past. Going back had been real, not only to her, but to everyone involved. And that sparked another question in her mind. Would Zachary remember her, too? If Ramona did, he too should remember everything that passed between them.
Driving up to her house was a comforting feeling. Her body felt the wear of her cosmic journey, even though it had only lasted two minutes. She had so many questions and no way to find answers.
One name kept crossing her mind over and over again: Uncle Morris. Well, that was what she’d called him when she was a kid, even though he wasn’t technically her uncle.
Dr. Morris Delaney worked for a large chemical company as a scientist. He didn’t study time travel, nor had he written a book about it, but he had done a project on it in college. She remembered her father telling her about his crazy time travel theory. What exactly had he discovered? The only clear answer was that she must find out.
She held her breath waiting for him to answer. How would she bring up a subject like this? Would he think she was crazy? As crazy as her father had thought Morris was?
His familiar voice diminished her apprehension to just a trace of anxiety.
“’Ello?”
“Morris, it’s Wendy. How are you?”
“I’m good. It’s been a while.”
“I know. Too long.” She curled up on the couch. “I know we should do that whole catch-up thing, but I have an urgent situation. Do you remember when you said you’d be there for me anytime I needed you after my father died?”
“Of course. Is everything all right?”
“It’s so hard to even generalize. But I need you.”
“I’m on my way.”
She must have really worried him because he screeched into her driveway in record time. His silver curls bounced as he strode up the path to the door, where she met him. He was two inches shorter than Wendy, with a long torso and short legs. She guessed him to be in his sixties, though there wasn’t a wrinkle on his face.
Morris spread his arms to hug her. “You look great, m’dear.”
“You look pretty darned good yourself,” she managed through his overzealous hug.
When he stepped back, he narrowed his fuzzy eyebrows. “You don’t look sick or stressed.”
“No, not sick. Maybe a little crazy, though.”
“Ah, that would explain it,” he said, gesturing to his faded, baggy denims and oversized sweatshirt. “‘Cause I’m nowhere near looking pretty darn good. In fact, a kind woman pressed a dollar into my hand the other day thinking I was a homeless person. But I’ve seen crazy, and you don’t look crazy to me. My cousin Mahoney had that gleam in his eyes, talking about aliens taking him up on their ship.” At her paled expression, he added, “You’re not going to tell me you were abducted, are you?”
Wendy shook her head. “Not nearly that simple. Come on in.”
She invited him into the living room where he settled on the couch and propped his feet on the coffee table. Sam came right over, ready to challenge the intruder. When Morris scratched his back, Sam seemed to remember him and relaxed.
“Thanks for coming right over.” Wendy had never been the kind to beat around the bush, but how did one start a conversation like this? “Morris, have you ever met someone whom you felt insanely sure was the one? Not infatuation, but your soulmate?”
“Oh yes, I felt that way. Once.” He drifted into his thoughts, a wistful smile on his face.
“How did you know?”
“Well, I’d been infatuated before. You know, sweaty palms, palpitating heart, all that goo-goo stuff. But this was different. I felt so much love, it hurt.”
“And what happened?”
“Nothing. Betzi…” He paused, as though savoring her name. “Betzi was married to my college professor and frequently assisted her husband in the lab. The chemistry between us was like the chemical bond between two atoms when the forces acting between them are powerful enough. The bond can bring those two very different substances together to form something completely different. But an affair was out of the question, and a woman divorcing her husband to marry one of his students”—he shook his head—“scandalous.”
Wendy hadn’t seen his face glow like that in years or maybe ever. She wasn’t sure about the atom thing, but the chemistry analogy sounded similar to how it felt with Zachary.
“So nothing ever came of it?” She wanted there to be more to his love story. Which meant hope for hers.
He lifted one eyebrow and whispered, “One stolen kiss I shall never forget. But there was a lot more to it than a kiss. And lest you think me a rapscallion, she looked so unhappy, so lonely. When our eyes met, she seemed to come alive. But you didn’t call me out here to hear about my lost love.”
“Dad told me about that paper you did in college on time travel. He said it was inspired by some weird experience you’d had.”
He shook his head. “I’ve come to believe I imagined the whole thing.”
She leaned forward. “What thing?”
He started to open his mouth, then shook his head. “It’s nothing. And the paper, it was all theory.”
“Please tell me about your experience.”
“I made the mistake of telling your father, and he called me a love-struck fool. And maybe I was.”
“And maybe you weren’t. Humor me, please. I promise, I won’t call you a fool.”
He regarded her enthusiasm with perhaps a curious reserve. Or maybe it was because she leaned forward so much that she was nearly lying on the coffee table. She sat back and took a calming breath. “Please?”
“Oh, all right. I was making up missed classes in the lab, but I ended up daydreaming about finding a way to go to the past and talk Betzi out of marrying the professor. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, I stood on a street corner. Judging the cars and dress, I was twenty years in the past. And there she was, stepping out of Murphy’s Five and Dime, much younger than I’d ever seen her. She looked right at me and gave me a sweet smile. I said her name, so soft I’m not sure she heard it. But her smile warmed even more. I started to approach, but the professor came out of the store and led her away. She kept glancing back at me as they walked, and I saw the same sadness she usually wore.
“I felt a hand on my arm, and when I lifted my head from the lab table, she stood there. She just looked at me, that sweet, innocent smile on her face. And do you know what she said? ‘Seeing you there with that look on your face, it suddenly dawned on me that I’ve seen you before. Years ago, outside Murphy’s. That was you, wasn’t it?’ I was flabbergasted beyond belief.”
Chill bumps sprang up all over Wendy’s arms. “Did you tell her you had gone back in time?”
He shook his head. “I would have. The words, crazy as they were, would have poured right out of my mouth. But she laughed and said it couldn’t possibly have been me, because I would have been about ten years old. Logically, she was right, and I let her believe that she had merely seen someone who looked exactly like me. Her recollection started a conversation that lasted for hours.
“I was amazed to discover she also felt we were meant to be together. I was going to bring up the possibility of time travel then, but she leaned over and kissed me. Then she left, ashamed of her marital lapse. I never saw her again. The saddest part is that I looked her up six years ago. I was too late. She had died of cancer…alone. Apparently the professor had run off with one of his students, and she’d become a recluse. Most heartbreaking, she lived so close, in Little Boars Head. I still live with the guilt that if I’d tried to find her earlier, I could have been there for her.” He sighed. “M’dear, what does my sad story have to do with you?”
“More than you’ll believe. Since Dad died, I’ve been having these dreams.” She described them and hers and Zachary’s first meeting that replicated the dream. “He asked if we’d met before. The haunted look on his face makes me wonder if he’s been having dreams, too. He even said he felt strangely close to me, as though I was someone from his dreams.” She got more chill bumps just thinking about it.
“Have you had the dream since you met him?”
“Yes, and that’s another strange thing. Every dream I had before I met him was the same. I’d reach the top of the stairs, but I always woke before I started walking down. I’ve had the dream every night since Zachary and I first met, and I’m able to take one step closer each time.”
She held her arm up to Morris, showing him her chill bumps. To her surprise, he lifted his arm and found that he had them as well.
“That’s strange,” he said. “I never get goose bumps. Except—”
“When Betzi remembered you,” she guessed.
“Exactly. So you think that destiny intended for you to marry Zachary, but was somehow screwed up?”
“That’s what I’m beginning to believe. Especially when he asked me if I’d ever felt as though fate cheated me out of some wonderful thing destiny had in mind.”
Morris leaned back in his chair. “Cheated by fate. You both seem to feel that you were meant to be together.”
“Not that we’ve ever actually said it.”
“But the solution seems simple. Couldn’t he just divorce his wife?”
“That’s yet another strange thing. His wife has some hold on him. I overheard her warning him that he’d be risking something if he even had an affair. I’m sure she senses our connection. Or maybe she’s jealous of any woman in Zachary’s vicinity. She sweats insecurity.”
“And I have a feeling that time travel comes in at about this point.”
“Uh huh. Do you think I’m crazy?”
“You’re asking a mad scientist if he thinks you’re crazy? Hah! When I did my project back in college, I wanted time travel to exist more than anything in the world. If you’re asking me whether it’s possible, I’m afraid I’m going to have to tell you no.”
Wendy rubbed her sweaty palms together. “Yes, it is.”
“M’dear, don’t toy with an old man.”
“I’m not toying with you, and you’re not old.” She zipped around to his side of the coffee table, moved his feet, and sat down in front of him. “I went back ten years, Morris. I saw Zachary when he was only nineteen. And I saw myself at seventeen. Now do you think I’m crazy?”
“Are you?”
“No. I thought so at first, when I found myself standing in Zachary’s house, looking at a nineteen-year-old version of him, and the footage of a royal wedding I watched ten years ago was playing—live. But now I know it’s real.” She told him about Ramona remembering her.
Morris sat there for a moment, his mouth working silently before words came out. “You mean my experience might have been real?”
“Did it feel real?”
“Yes,” he whispered. “There are theories that time travel exists.”
“Really? What are they?”
“Black holes, wormholes. But frankly, I don’t think this had anything to do with science. This belongs in the woo-woo category. Forces beyond our realm used dreams to show you what was supposed to be happening now. So when you met Zachary, you knew something magical was happening, something out of the ordinary. Since the dreams started after your father’s death, that must have been when destiny’s plans went awry. With the groundwork the dreams laid, you were open to believe what would sound preposterous to the logical mind. You might be able to go back in time, but only for reasons beyond the practical.”
“Beyond the practical?”
“Yes. For instance, you couldn’t go back to buy IBM stocks when they first released them, or to bet on the World Series. Maybe it’s possible to go back in time only when fate has been obstructed and needs to be righted again.”
“That’s exactly what I thought, but I went too far into the past. He knows Ramona but has no intention of marrying her. Even back then she was in love with him, and that obsession kept building until she found a way to blackmail him into marrying her. How can I warn him when I don’t know what she’s using to hold him?”
“There’s only one answer to that. You’ll have to go back again.”
She hadn’t thought of going back on purpose. The idea pumped adrenaline through her veins. “I don’t know if I can. But I’d try.”
Morris rubbed his finger on the edge of his nose in deep thought. “You know every time you go back you change the present. Even if you stop Zachary from marrying Ramona, he will have had all those years since then to do things differently. What if he isn’t with you?”
“You mean he might not fall in love with me in the ensuing years?”
“I just want you to be prepared in case he’s with someone else.”
“He won’t be with anyone else, Morris. He’s meant to be with me. I know this. I can’t be going back to save him for someone else. It just wouldn’t make any sense.”
“Does any of this make sense? Really?”
“No. But even if he’s not mine, if I save him from his prison, that will be enough.”
“Just keep in mind, that even the most inconsequential action could cause disaster. Ramona now remembers you in her past. And now that you’ve spent time with Zachary, he’ll also remember you.”
Wendy clasped her hands together. “I know. That’s what is so incredible about this. If I speak with him now, he’ll remember what we shared.”
“Which brings up another thought. Zachary may now be more inclined to reveal the hold his wife has on him.”
“You’re right. Then I’ll know exactly what to warn him about on my next trip. There’s something else I want to do if I can go back: warn my father about his heart condition.”
“Wendy…”
“I have to do it.”
“Wendy, I loved your father very much, but I don’t think you should tamper with that. I believe that people die when they’re supposed to die. We don’t understand the bigger picture. The only reason you’ve been allowed this fantastic privilege is to save Zachary from Ramona’s clutches. Your dreams are about Zachary, not your father.”
“I can’t let him die again.”
“I know you feel a tremendous amount of guilt…”
“I should have been working that Saturday morning. I should have been there. Maybe I could have done CPR.”
“You can’t help that you had the flu. Nor should you blame yourself for not saving him.”
Easier said than done. A lot had changed since her father’s death. Wendy moved into the president role at the firm, the dreams had started, and so had the guilt. “I'll have even more guilt if I don’t at least try.”
“If you start doing things aside from your sole purpose, you may be snatched back to the present without ever being able to go back again.”
She felt her shoulders slump. “You may be right. It was seeing my grandfather that sent me back to the present. He looked so much like Dad, it made me think of talking to him. It’s almost as though destiny was trying to tell me something.”
“Ah, you see. And what if you try to warn your father, and destiny gets pissed off and doesn’t let you finish what you’re supposed to be doing?”
“I guess I’ll just have to take that chance. It’ll be worth it if I can get my message through.”
“Worth losing the man you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with? A man who’s miserable now?”
“Don’t ask me those questions, Morris. Please.”
“And what exactly will you tell your father? That you’ve learned how to predict the future? Or that you can see right through his skin and into his arteries? Think about this before you do something crazy.”
“I will, Morris. I will.”
His somber expression lit up in a smile, and he took her hands in his. “I can’t believe it. I still can’t believe it! What did it feel like?”
“Confusing at first, then frustrating. I didn’t know what I was meant to do. The only thing I could think of was that he and I were supposed to meet in the past and something unexpected prevented it. We would have to get married before Ramona came up with her scheme. But I couldn’t get us together. I need a clue, a manual, something to help me. Hopefully, Zachary can provide that. My father is a different type of problem. If I solve the Zachary-Ramona dilemma, then I may not remain in the past long enough to save Dad. If I try to save Dad first, then, as you pointed out, I may get flung back to the present and be unable to help either one.” She buried her face in her hands. “This is so damn frustrating.”
Morris walked over to the French doors, looking out at the darkening skies. His fingers smoothed his wiry mustache. “Perhaps I can help.”
Wendy looked up at him. “How?”
He turned, a half-smile on his face. “Take me with you.”
“You mean back in time?”
“Yes. When you return, I want to go with you. With an objective point of view, perhaps I can see something you cannot.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to?”
“I don’t know, but I’d sure like to try. Maybe while you’re working on the Zachary problem, I can find your father.”
“And Betzi?”
He had already considered that, given his soft smile. “If we’re already interfering with the past, why not? When will you try?”
“Tomorrow, at the same time. I want to recreate the same circumstances as today. Meet me here at three.”
She hugged him goodbye, then watched as his taillights disappeared down the driveway. She liked the fact that Morris would be coming with her on her next journey back in time. If, indeed, he could. If she could.
She needed to talk to Zachary. Heck, she didn’t even know what he did for a living. She blocked her phone number and called the home number, hoping he would answer the phone. She had a feeling Ramona would simply ask what she wanted if she answered. What could she reasonably need to talk to him about? When Ramona’s clipped voice answered with a “Hello?” Wendy hung up.
Wendy woke up way early, straight from another wedding dream. She’d reached the eighth step but couldn’t take more than one step every night. It was as frustrating as her time travel journey.
The light outside her bedroom balcony illuminated the snow lightly falling. Instead of seeing the beauty of it as she usually did, she only thought of the condition of the roads leading to Zachary’s house.
As the morning wore on, the snow grew heavier. After she put more wood on the basement stove, she peered outside. The snow was already piling up around her car. Yelling at the snow gods to make it stop didn’t help. Praying and bargaining didn’t either. As she busied herself cleaning the house, her gaze constantly drifted to the windows in hopes of finding clear skies at the edge of the gray.
When nine o’clock rolled around, she tried calling Zachary again. She needed to talk with him without Ramona being anywhere in the vicinity. Working out a rendezvous might be tricky, but she was willing to talk to him about the whole crazy business over the phone if it came to that. She had to find out what bound him to Ramona before the clock struck four o’clock.
An answering machine picked up. Disappointment thrummed through her, though his voice cheered her some. “Hello there. No one is here to take your call right now. If you need to reach me for business, the office number is…” Wendy scrambled for a pen and paper. Breathing a sigh of relief at being able to find him, she called the number and waited impatiently for someone to answer.
At about the fifth ring, she realized that it was a Saturday, and he probably wouldn’t answer. More disappointment set in when the ten o’clock forecast brought reports that higher roads were blocked, with still more snow expected. The meteorologist suggested spending a cozy weekend by the fireplace.
“I can’t do that. I need to transcend time and fate.” She plopped down on the ottoman. Yeah, that sounded crazy. “Besides, how cozy can you get with a cat?”
Sam, sprawled tummy-up on the floor, meowed.
“Sorry, buddy. Nothing personal.”
Wendy stretched out next to him, scratching his fuzzy belly and starting his purring motor.
At eleven o’clock she called Morris. “You’re a scientist. Find a way to stop this snow.”
“Believe me, I’d try any blasted way to get it to stop. But it’s too late now. The roads here are slush and mush. I’m afraid we’re going to have to postpone our trip.”
“Ooh. Those are the words I’ve been dreading all morning.”
Morris chuckled. “Now, that sounds like the little Wendy I remember when she didn’t get the puppy the neighbors were giving away.”
“This is far worse than losing out on a puppy.”
“The past will be there, m’dear. It’s not going anywhere. Let’s talk tomorrow and assess the weather situation.”
The prospect of spending the rest of the day trapped inside depressed her spirit. Luckily, she’d brought home Zachary’s house plans, so she could at least make some progress on them.
Sam’s meows interrupted her thoughts. He gazed at her, then to the French door.
“Are you trying to tell me something, Sammy boy?”
Sam let out a strangled meow, as though protesting to his nickname. She opened the door, and he slipped past her in a flash. The frigid air felt good on her face as she stepped outside. Snow clung to the once-barren branches of the trees, covering everything in purity. All around her was white simplicity. She hoped unraveling the mysterious web in which Ramona had captured Zachary would be just as simple.