A Husband in Time (6 page)

And the edges lined up perfectly. She scanned the pages, and noticed that the handwriting was identical, as well.

“My God,” she whispered. “My God, it's true.”

Her hands, still holding the page, began to tremble.

“I'm sorry to shock you this way,” he told her gently. “But, Jane, I must convince you to let me stay here. Work here, until I can find out what went wrong with the experiment. I have to go back.”

Her head came up, her eyes meeting his. “To save your son.”

“Yes. Yes, I must prevent him from dying. If I can go back, return to a time before Benjamin was exposed, I can take him away. He'll never become sick, never die. And, Jane, I must do it from here, from this very room.”

“Why?” she asked him, and she slowly realized that she was believing this man. In shock over what he was claiming, but still
believing
it.

“There's something here, some force, some sort of wrinkle in the fabric of time, as I told you before. My device opens a doorway into that void, and allows me to travel through it. But I've attempted opening the doorway in other areas, outdoors, on the
ground, in other rooms. It doesn't function, Jane. Only here. Only in this very room.”

He sighed and lowered his head. “And I must admit, there's a distinct possibility that the doorway is limited. That my travel will only take me from this time to my own, and back again. I might return only to experience the death of my son, and be unable to stop it.”

He seemed surprised when he looked down to see Jane blinking tears from her eyes. “I don't know what I would do if I lost Cody,” she told him. “It would kill me, I think.”

“Then you understand how important this is to me.”

She nodded. “Of course I understand. I'm a mother. How could I not?”

“Then…”

Jane licked her lips, drew a fortifying breath, and then saw the plea in Cody's eyes, identical to the one in Zach's. “All right,” she said at last. “All right, you can stay. For as long as you need to.”

He sighed, every muscle in his body relaxing at once, as the tension was visibly washed away.

“Thank you. It isn't enough, I know, but…” He shook his head, as if words failed him. “Thank you.”

Jane got to her feet, pressed his journal into his hands. “I just hope you can do this—go back far enough, I mean.”

He closed his eyes as the agony of possible failure washed over him, nearly buckling his knees. “I have to.”

“Maybe not,” Cody said quickly. “What was it that killed your son, Zach?”

He sighed hard. “Quinaria fever,” he said softly.

Cody grinned, but Jane's heart almost stopped beating. She'd forgotten. My God, how had she forgotten? She gripped Cody's arm to stop him. “Cody, no—”

“We can cure that now,” he said. “You don't have to worry about trying to go back to a time before Benjamin got sick. All we have to do is get the medicine for you, Zach, and you'll be able to make him well again.”

He stared at Cody, gaping. And then he grabbed Jane's son, and hugged him tightly to his chest.

Jane stood there, watching them, trying to breathe, though her chest felt tight and heavy. She knew that she couldn't let this happen. She had to stop Zach from saving his beautiful, sick little boy.

Because if he did, there was a good chance she'd end up losing her own.

S
he left them. There was nothing she could do. Not now, not with Cody standing there listening to every word. She had three days. Three days to find a way to keep Zachariah Bolton from returning to the past and curing his dying child.

My God, she must be some kind of monster to be thinking this way! How could she? But Cody… Cody was everything to her. All she had, all she'd ever wanted. If she lost him…

She knuckled a tear from her eye and told herself she was right. Benjamin's death had saved countless lives. It was meant to be, and as painful as that knowledge was, it was there. It was meant to be. You couldn't just go around altering history.

She bit her trembling lip. Maybe there was another way….

Damn, she'd drive herself crazy thinking about this. It made her dizzy when she considered the magnitude of it all, the ramifications, the impossibility of it. She deliberately focused on taking the blueberry muffins from the oven, setting the table. She had time. Three days. For now, she just needed to get through breakfast.

Cody and Zach showed up in the kitchen a short time later, and Jane was relieved to see that Cody
had showered and dressed. She served up blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs, and as she shook out Cody's daily vitamin tablet she decided Zach could use one as well.

He took the little pill from her hand and eyed it.

“You're still not looking all that great,” she told him. “It's a vitamin supplement. It's good for you.” He shrugged and swallowed the tablet, washing it down with his orange juice. The entire time he ate, Jane noticed his curious gaze darting around the kitchen, at the appliances, the light fixtures, the microwave. He was brimming with questions, she knew he was. But he also kept looking at her, and though she tried to hide the worry, she knew it must show in her eyes. Because his were probing and questioning. She avoided that disturbing gaze of his, bustling around the kitchen, getting butter for the muffins and refilling coffee cups and juice glasses before they were half-empty.

“Jane,” he said, when she finally ran out of things to do, and sat down to eat. “Is something wrong? Have you had second thoughts about letting me stay?”

And then a car pulled into the drive, stopping near the shop, and saving her from having to answer. She couldn't tell him. Not yet. She wasn't even sure how to tell him, and she certainly couldn't do it in front of Cody. She needed to speak to him when they were alone together, and only after she'd found the right words to convince him to give up this insane quest.

“I have to…” she began, but her words trailed off, because Zach was on his feet, rushing to the
door, gazing out at the car with amazement on his face.

Jane couldn't stop herself from smiling as she walked up behind him. “It's a car. Um…an automobile. They…” The horn sounded. “Gee, Zach, I have an impatient customer to tend to. The explanation is going to have to wait until later.”

“Go on, Mom. Me and Zach'll be fine.” Cody came to stand close to Zach's other side.

“Zach and I,” Jane said. “A whiz kid is supposed to know grammar.”

Cody made a face at her, then glanced up at Zach. “You've seen cars before, right, Zach?”

Zach nodded, his gaze remaining riveted to the late-model Cadillac out front. “Nothing like that one, my boy.”

Jane sighed. There wasn't any time to lose. She moved past them, out the door and down the driveway to the little shop resting at the end. And she knew as soon as she saw the car's passenger that she was in for a long visit. Isabelle Curry, the town of Rockwell's librarian and resident gossip. Fortunately, she was also an avid antique collector. A good customer, but a trying one. “Give me strength,” Jane muttered, and plastered a smile on her face.

 

“Amazing,” Zach said, trailing his hand over the smooth, gleaming red finish of the automobile, peering through the windscreen. “The glass is darkened.”

“To keep the sun outta your eyes,” Cody explained. “Why don't you get inside it, Zach? Mrs. Curry won't mind. She's nice.”

“I don't think…” Zach stopped speaking when Cody pulled the door open, giving him a better view inside the machine. He couldn't stop himself. He poked his head into the thing and ran his hand over the soft plush fabric of the seats. And then he jumped a bit, because the boy had opened the door on the other side and jumped into the car.

“C'mon, Zach. I'll show you how it works.”

“Cody, that probably isn't—”

“Look,” Cody said, pointing. “It has a radio, and a CD player, so you can listen to music while you drive.”

Cody twisted a set of keys that were dangling from the steering wheel, and then punched a button. Loud music—or something that vaguely resembled music—flooded the vehicle.

Amazed, Zach slid inside, settling himself behind the wheel and ignoring the deafening sounds.

“It's really easy to drive it,” Cody said loudly. “Even I know how.”

“You?”

“Sure. I watch Mom all the time.”

“Your
mother
owns an automobile?”

“Sure she does. How do you think we go anyplace? It's in the garage, over there.” He pointed, and Zach noticed the small outbuilding near where the pony shed used to be. “Look, it's simple,” Cody went on. “First, you turn the key, like this…”

Cody turned the key still farther, and the vehicle came to life. Zach felt a smile splitting his face as the vibration of the motor moved through him, smooth and efficient and quiet. Far removed from the autos he'd driven.

“Then you just move this shift, here,” Cody went on, as if thrilled with his role as teacher. “Push that pedal to go, and the other one to stop. Simple.”

“There's no choke? No clutch?”

“Nope.” Cody's eyes had taken on a decidedly mischievous gleam. “Wanna try it?”

Zach chewed his lip, truly torn. On the one hand, this was not his machine, and he had no business experimenting with it. On the other…oh, the wonder of it! He could barely contain the excitement coursing through him.

The decision was taken from his hands a second later, when Cody yanked on the shifting lever and the auto lurched backward. Its hindquarters were pointed directly toward the guest house at the end of the drive, and Zach barely managed to turn the wheel and alter its direction in time to miss the building. He stomped on the pedal that he thought was supposed to stop the thing, but instead it went faster.

“Tarnation!” he exclaimed, steering madly as the auto raced backward in a loopy pattern across the lawn.

“I shifted wrong!” Cody shouted, and yanked on the lever yet again. There was a horrible grinding sound. The vehicle lurched and bucked, suddenly changing direction and heading forward now.

Jane and a heavyset, bejeweled woman had emerged from the guest house. Both waved their arms and shouted, though Zach couldn't hear what they said, with the music blasting in his ears and Cody's uproarious laughter. The auto bounded over the grass, across the drive, and pointed its beak right at the two women. They split as it rolled between
them. Zach glanced over his shoulder to see the older woman picking herself up off the ground. If her face was any indication, she was hopping mad.

He tried the other pedal, and the vehicle ground to a stop so suddenly that he had to grab hold of the boy to keep him from being flung forward and hitting his head. He didn't dare remove his foot from the pedal. Though when the two women came running toward him, he was tempted to do just that. Free up his feet for a quick escape.

Jane got to the vehicle first, yanked the door open and reached past him to move the lever once more. With a snap of her wrist, she twisted the keys and yanked them out of the car when the motor died.

“What in the name of God do you think you're doing?” she screamed at Zach. Then her face softened as she sought the eyes of her son. “Cody, sweetheart, are you okay?”

“Sure, Mom. I was just showing Zach how to drive, is all.” He slanted a glance at Zach. “He's not very good at it, though, is he?”

The other woman had arrived now, spluttering and red-faced. “Who is this person, and what in the world is he doing in my car?”

“It's all right, Mrs. Curry,” Jane said soothingly, turning to the woman. “No harm done. The car is fine, see?”

Cody got out his side, and Zach figured it would be a good idea to do the same. He was embarrassed beyond measure.

“It was my fault,” Cody said, hurrying around the car. “I wanted to try driving your car, Mrs. Curry. I thought I knew how. Gee, if Zach hadn't jumped in
and stopped it, I don't know what I would have done.”

Jane's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and she glared at her son. “Cody Nicholas Fortune, you know better than to—”

“Oh, my!” said Mrs. Curry, rushing to Cody and hugging him against her ample belly until Zach wondered if the boy would be smothered. “You poor child. You must have been so frightened. Oh, Jane, you mustn't punish him for this. Boys will be boys, you know. I never should have left the keys in the ignition with a child of his age nearby. Whatever could I have been thinking?”

She released Cody, who sent his mother an angelic smile. And then Zach found himself embraced by the ubiquitous Mrs. Curry. “And you!” she ranted, squeezing him until his seams nearly popped. “A true hero. Chasing down that car and jumping in to save a little boy! What courage!”

“Thank you,” he managed, but his words were muffled by her embrace.

She released him, beaming. “Jane, dear, aren't you going to introduce me to this modern-day superman?”

Jane—from behind gritted teeth, Zach suspected—said, “Of course. Isabelle Curry, meet Zachariah B—” She bit her lip.

“Bolton,” Zach finished automatically. Jane made her eyes huge and sent him a look that would wilt fresh lettuce. “Er…the third,” he added.

Isabelle blinked. “Of course! I would know you anywhere. My goodness, have you any idea how much you resemble your grandfather?”

“I've been told it's quite remarkable,” Zach said.

“I should say so. Whatever brings you to Rockwell, Mr. Bolton?”

Zach frowned and searched his brain.

“He's, er…tracing his family tree,” Jane said quickly.

“Yes. I was very eager to see what my… grandfather's house looked like today.”

“Well, of course you are,” Isabelle said. “Where are you staying while you're here, Zachariah?”

“Here,” he said.

Jane's eyes burned holes through him.

“Here?”
Isabelle repeated. Her excitement died a slow death, and something else replaced it in her eyes as she looked from him to Jane and back again. “With Jane?”

Jane lowered her forehead into her palm.

“Well, now, isn't that…nice?” Isabelle said. She turned to Jane, but when their eyes met, the smile left Isabelle's lips. “I really should be on my way. Lots to do, you know.” She held out a hand to Jane. “My keys, dear.”

Jane handed them over, then looked on as Isabelle got into the car and started the engine. The woman grimaced when the music blasted, and poked her thumb on a button a little harder than was probably necessary to shut the sound off. A second later, she was gone, spewing gravel in her wake.

Jane pushed her hair back with both hands, tipping her head skyward. “I don't even know where to begin.”

“I apologize, Jane,” Zach said. “I was so in
trigued by the automobile that I used poor judgment.”

“You,” she said, poking him in the center of his chest with her finger, “are not to get anywhere near a car again unless I'm with you. Got it?”

He nodded, but couldn't help smiling a bit at her anger.

“And
you,
” she said to her son. “You lied to Mrs. Curry. How many times have I told you about honesty?”

“Well, gee, Mom, I couldn't tell her the truth. That Zach didn't know how to drive because he came from another time, and stuff. She wouldn't have believed me.”

“You…you…” Jane looked helplessly at Zach. Zach shrugged.

“Besides, you lied to her, too.”

“Well, yes, but…” She blinked slowly. “Cody, I…” And finally shook her head. “You're right. I lied, too, and it was wrong. Unfortunately, I had to.”

“So instead of never telling lies at all, we should never tell lies unless we have to?” Cody asked innocently.

The child's intelligence was astounding. And Zach knew the boy was only teasing his mother at this point. Fortunately, Jane knew it, too. He could tell by the narrowing of her eyes. She dropped down to her knees and took her son by the shoulders. “There might be times, Cody, when you have to tell a lie to other people, especially if you're doing it to avoid hurting someone or causing a whole lot of trouble, or because you know you won't be believed anyway. But there will never, never, be a time when you will
have to lie to me. Understand? No matter what you have to tell me, Codester, I'll believe you. So you'll never have to keep the truth from me. All right?”

Cody smiled. “Okay, Mom.”

“Good.”

“Can I go ride my bike now?”

She nodded, and he turned and raced away toward the back of the house.

Zach couldn't take his eyes from her.

“What are you looking at?” she asked when she met his gaze at last.

He shook his head slowly. “I…” He cleared his throat. “Your son is very lucky to have you for a mother, Jane Fortune.”

A pink blush crept up her neck and spread into her face. Zach resisted the urge to reach out with his hand, and feel the warmth of it.

She blinked, perhaps in confusion. “Compliments aren't going to get you out of this, Zachariah. You screwed up.”

“Mrs. Curry will get over it.”

“Sure she will, but not before she's told everyone in town that I'm a shameless hussy who's captured herself one hell of a hunk and is parading him around right in front of her impressionable son.”