Chapter 24

Sam woke slowly, basking in warmth and contentment. Morning sunlight snuck through the cracks in the bedroom curtains, dotting the blankets. The alarm clock told her it was just after nine a.m.

“Damn,” she muttered, running a hand across the cold empty place beside her. Was he gone or just somewhere in the house? She hugged his pillow to her face, feeling her throat tighten with worry. The last thing she remembered was resting in the shelter of his strong arms, feeling his steady heartbeat against her cheek. If only she could spend every night like that.

With a ragged sigh, she dragged herself from the bed, forcing herself to face the day. Her gaze fell to his shirt on the floor. She’d practically torn it from his body when they’d returned to bed after snacks and television. They’d laughed, too, imagining silly scenarios of what their wedding would be like in either time. His mother wanting to choose her wedding dress, Kevin protesting while Kristine wept. They laughed even harder considering what it would be like if all their friends and loved ones could be present in one place and time. Anarchy would surely ensue.

Sam picked up the shirt and brought it to her face, breathing in Robert’s scent. Longing stabbed her heart. She slipped it on, smiling as it went past her knees, and she shuffled to the bathroom. Her mind drifted through the memory of their night together. Her reflection in the mirror was telling—kiss-swollen lips and flushed cheeks. She had the kind of love struck look she’d only read about in romance novels. She was desperately in love with him.

About to pop a birth control pill into her mouth, she hesitated. There was a very real possibility she was already pregnant with Robert’s baby. Robert’s baby… Hadn’t she known it all along? Wasn’t it why she’d avoided taking the pills since Boston? Why she hadn’t touched a drop of liquor since first feeling sick?

Seesawing emotions made her weepy. Robert would be overjoyed with the news. She was happy, too, she realized with a tender smile. She tossed the pills in the trashcan and acknowledged the truth. She wanted his child no matter what. And she would marry him, if she got the chance.

The living room was a shambles when she lumbered in and began tidying up the remnants of their late night couch party. Remembering how enthralled he’d been with TV and the swashbuckling pirate movie they’d watched made her smile. She was rearranging the cushions when the apartment door opened. Robert entered, carrying the Sunday newspaper. He dropped it when she ran to him.

“I thought you’d jumped,” she cried, hugging him fiercely.

He smoothed her rumpled hair, running a loving hand along her cheek. “I would never love you and leave you. Do you think me a cad then, madam?” The corners of his mouth edged upward with the jest. His dark head bent over her, and he kissed her. “I needed to think. I went out for a walk and found this.” He picked up the newspaper. “The headlines are most troubling. In fact—”

The security system buzzer interrupted him.

“Urrg,” she groaned. “It’s the front door.” She went to the panel alongside the apartment door and asked who it was.

“It’s me,” Kevin announced. “Can I come up?”

“Since when do you ask?”

There was a long pause. “Sorry, Sam, for being such an ass. I came to apologize.”

Her gaze shot to Robert. His expression was unreadable. With an exasperated huff, she agreed.

Robert started for the door, but Sam caught him. “What are you doing?”

“I must speak with him.”

“No,” she rushed to say, but he went anyway. She growled in frustration when she heard him meet Kevin on staircase. Leaning in the crack of the open doorway, she listened.

“There’s a matter I would discuss with you, sir…” Robert began.

Silence followed, and Sam strained to hear. Rapid, stumbling footsteps came next, and she panicked thinking they were fighting again. She whipped open the door, and Kevin fell in at her feet.

“The dude…h-he…totally disappeared!”

****

Sam and Kristine were alone in Highland’s sunny kitchen after spending hours talking about everything that had occurred since Sam first arrived in the fall. They’d even gone to the boathouse, an experience, which knocked Kristine to her knees in shock.

“How are we going to explain an entire building,” Kristine asked, looking overwhelmed.

“I have no idea.” Sam placed a cup of tea before her friend before moving to the window. Birds gathered on the feeders Chef Mary kept. Chickadees and cardinals, her favorites. It would be a lovely winter day had it not been for all the upheaval. She wondered what Robert faced having gone missing for more than two days.

“I’ve thought of going to the graveyard to look at his stone,” Sam confessed.

“Don’t bother. All the Pennington stones have vanished.”

“All? You’re kidding?”

Kristine picked up her teacup, but put it down again without drinking. “I can’t even begin to imagine how I’ll explain this to the grounds keeper come springtime. He’ll be ordering graves exhumed.” Her hands trembled. “Do you think Vicky time traveled? She’s been missing for so long now.”

“It’s possible.” Sam sat at the small table with her friend. “Although no one in Robert’s time has seen her. I suppose she could have gone somewhere else.”

A strange look flashed across Kristine’s face. “Could it happen to one of us? Me perhaps?”

“Honestly, I don’t know how it works. I’m guessing it has something to do with those rune stones because Robert and I both had them. But I didn’t always have my stone with me when I jumped. And he didn’t have one now. So is it the house, the land, or something about us? I just can’t say.”

“I don’t know whether to be envious or petrified,” Kristine admitted. “The idea of traveling through time, witnessing history. Meeting Robert Pennington. It’s great power, wonderful yet something to be feared. I don’t know what it all means.”

“Hopefully, it means Robert is okay. I’m going to hang onto that dream until I see him again.”

****

“You look retched,” Amelia declared when she found Robert sprawled out on the couch in the parlor. “There’s dirt under your fingernails and all over your clothes. You haven’t shaved in ages.” She kicked an empty liquor bottle on the floor and frowned. “And what on earth have you done to Mother’s gardens? She’s going to be furious when she sees you dug them all up.”

Amelia’s dog bounded up onto the couch to lick his face. Robert ruffled the dog’s ears, and with a sad smile said, “Samantha is very fond of you, you scrappy little bugger. I promised to buy her a friend for you when we wed.”

“You proposed?” Amelia brightened. “Bravo! You’ve finally come to your senses. Then why isn’t she here?” Her smile vanished. “Oh no, don’t tell me she’s gone again.”

Godfrey had but a moment to warn them before Eddie stomped into the room wearing his nightshirt, a smoking jacket, and tall riding boots.

“I need a new home.” He pointed an accusing finger at Robert. “It’s because of you I can no longer endure mine. Rebecca has gone stark raving mad since you jilted her.”

“I did not jilt her. I never proposed.” Robert looked Eddie over. “Where the hell are your regular clothes?”

“They’re being collected as we speak no doubt to be unceremoniously dropped on your doorstep. I had to make a hasty retreat.” He pulled a cigar from his pocket and patted himself, searching for a match. “Bloody valet wouldn’t give me his pants. I’m dismissing him tomorrow.”

****

Amy watched Sam arrange things into neat piles on the bed. “Okay, explain to me again why you’re collecting all this stuff.” A large backpack sat off to one side. “Where are you going?”

“I’m staying right here. In this very house.” Sam was grateful she didn’t have to lie again. “I’m just…organizing a few things.”

“In a backpack?” Amy looked lost. “You sure look like you’re packing to go somewhere.”

Kristine hurried in with several store bags. “This is all they had.” She dumped the contents onto the bed—pain relievers, antacids, and other common remedies.

Sam rifled through the pile. “Did you get the toothpaste and brushes? And tampons? I totally need tampons. You would not believe what those poor women endure.”

“Who’s enduring?” Kevin sauntered into the middle of them. “What’s with this junk?”

“Stuff Sam needs. She’s organizing,” Amy said as though it all made perfect sense.

“Well, right now there’s a bus-load of tourists pulling up, so someone needs to get downstairs.” He studied Sam. “You don’t look so good. Maybe you should sit this one out.”

“I’ve got this.” Amy bounced into action. “I don’t understand any of this anyway. It makes my head hurt.”

When the other two were gone, Kristine sat on the edge of the bed, watching Sam pack the backpack. “How far along are you?” she asked gently.

Sam’s gaze shot to hers. “How did you know?”

“I saw you run to the bathroom the other morning to be sick. You can’t drink coffee anymore, barely eat… Shall I go on?”

Sam put a hand to her mouth and shook her head. “I guess I won’t be modeling anytime soon. Amy will have to do it all. She’ll be thrilled.”

“We could put you in a corset,” Kristine teased.

“Oh, please, no.” Sam slumped down next to her. “I’m a mess. I’m pregnant, alone, and in love with a man I can’t have. Heck, I can’t even call him.”

“You’re not alone. I’m right here with you, even if this is the strangest case of single parenthood I’ve ever heard of.” Kristine smiled encouragingly. “Why don’t you lie down? I’ll check on you later, maybe bring some chicken soup and crackers.”

“Okay.” Sam listened to hear her leave before relaxing. Lying on the bed with her backpack, she wove her arm through the strap, clutching it tight. She was not about to be whisked away without her prenatal vitamins.

Robert would be ecstatic. The idea of him going all ‘protective father’ made her want to both laugh and cry. He would have the entire pregnancy planned out. Probably the baby’s next twenty years, too. God, she loved the man.

Closing her eyes, Sam prayed to dream of him and the happy future they could share. She longed to go back in time now. She could do it, be a part of his world. The pain of losing him this time had changed everything.

****

A cold misty rain fell as Sam stared down the hillside at the boathouse. The structure was too old and decayed to venture into, a fact that was very hard to explain to folks working on the estate. So far, no one pushed the subject when she and Kristine lied about it being hidden all these years behind brush and thicket. It seemed as if everyone understood there was something inherently bizarre about Highland House. This was just the latest example. The worst reaction came from Kevin, who’d stated he might need to sell his boat and move to L.A., where he’d be a dog walker or something.

But Sam had come to the boathouse every day since Robert’s disappearance, if only to look at it from afar. It helped her to imagine him somewhere in the past, alive and well. Safe now.

Hearing someone approach, she spun around with a hopeful smile. It quickly dulled upon seeing Kristine.

“Just me,” her friend said, understanding. “I’ve watched you come out here each day. Still no sign of him?”

Sam gave a quick shake of her head, fighting back the familiar sting of tears. “I keep hoping, but maybe I’m just kidding myself. Oh why did I throw away that stone?”

“Are you sure that’s even how it works? Perhaps there’s another way,” Kristine began, clinging to hope.

“I’m listening if you have one. I’ve been up that hill so many times I can’t even count. With tools, to dig every place those damned stones might be. I’ve wished and begged in each corner of the house, hoping somehow, some way, someone might hear me. There’s been nothing.”

Kristine refused to give up. “Let’s comb through the items at the historical society again. We must have missed something. The front door key had your name written on it. Someone knew you were coming. Perhaps there’s more. My colleagues at the university… I’ll question them all again. Well, at least the two who think time travel is actually feasible.” She frowned. “Although I feel they’re more interested in discussing it from a Sci-Fi angle…books and movies. They laughed when I said I was completely serious about the subject.”

Sam groaned in despair.

“Amy’s priest?” Kristine tossed out.

“Trust me, I’ve considered it. I’ve prayed so hard.” Sam shivered and hugged herself. “I just wish Robert could find a way back to me.”

Kristine put a reassuring arm around her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get you back to the house. None of this is going to be any better with pneumonia.”

****

“I’ve got it,” Eddie yelled, stumbling down the main staircase of Highland House. “I’ve bloody well found them!” He collided with Robert in the center hallway. Godfrey was there next, drawn by the commotion.

“What are you yelling about now?” Robert demanded.

Eddie shook a fistful of yellowed pages in his face. “Our treasure maps, I’ve found them. My wicked sister saw to it. Even my childhood treasures were evicted from the premises. The maps were in the bottom of a trunk.” He laughed like a madman. “She’s unwittingly given us a way to find her greatest rival.”

“The maps…” Robert wavered on his feet as the implications hit him. “My God, man, I didn’t realize it before, but we seeded the entire estate with those damned things.

“Something must have happened when we took them from their sacred place. Maybe burying them here stirred things up. In essence, we created this mess. Wouldn’t be the first time,” Eddie surmised. “We should dig up those stones and march right up that hill.”

Robert steadied himself. “You make it sound so simple. Do you think it will work? Can we find them? Find Samantha?”

“Maybe all that’s required is a good map. And a brilliant friend.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Robert decreed with a hoot.

“For once I’ve saved the day,” Eddie proudly proclaimed.

Charles and Amelia rushed up, questioning Godfrey about what was going on as Robert and Eddie huddled over the maps.

Godfrey hugged the two children to his side. “They’re doing what I never could, my dear ones. Making everything right in this house.”

“I could kiss you,” Robert told Eddie.

“Please don’t.” His best friend stepped back. “Save it for Samantha.”

Robert smiled widely. “Let’s get the shovels.”