All My Tomorrows (24 page)

"Of course, dumpling," Maggie said.

Jessie then reached for Jordan and hugged her as well.

Chuck raised his eyebrows in surprised then placed his daughter inside the car and buckled her in. He closed the door and faced Jordan and Maggie. "I don't have the words to thank you enough. You have made today very special for Jessie."

"She's a special, girl, Chuck," Maggie said. It was our pleasure."

"What she said," Jordan said with a crooked smile while extending her hand to Chuck.

"I'll be in touch over the next few days to set up the paperwork for the foundation, Jordan."

"Thank you, Chuck."

"No need to thank me. You're giving my daughter's life back to her. I'll talk to you soon."

Jordan draped her arm around Maggie's shoulder as they watched Chuck and Jessie drive away.

* * *

"Hollinbeck, you owe me an explanation."

"It's not my fault, Mr. Robinson. Malone pulled our funding because of that bitch Jordan Lewis," Hollinbeck explained.

"What exactly did Ms. Lewis do?"

"She apparently has come up with a cure for complete spinal cord injuries. Don't ask me how she did it. The technology just doesn't exist today. She tricked us."

"She tricked you? How?"

"She said she had already tested the device on a human subject, but what she failed to say is that she was the test subject."

"How exactly does that qualify as tricking you?"

"Don't you see?" Hollinbeck said. "Never before in the history of SCI's has a complete break been cured. She was walking back and forth across the front of the room like she had never been injured. Never in a million years would anyone believe she had a severed spinal column. She was vague about her credentials and she withheld information we needed to make informed decisions."

"Yet she was able to convince Malone of her authenticity."

"Apparently. By the way, did you know Malone is the founder of the JEM Foundation?"

"Yes, I did know that. It's public knowledge, by the way. If you had done your homework, you would have known it too."

Hollinbeck fell silent and stared at the floor.

"Your negligence has cost the institute a significant amount of money, never mind potential future recognition and funding. I hold you personally responsible for this, Hollinbeck. If you know what's good for you, you'll make this right. I don't care how you do it, but you need to fix this. Your reputation just may depend on it. Have I made myself clear?"

CHAPTER 28

"Hey Gina, this is Jordan. Are you and Sam up for a cookout and bonfire tonight?" Jordan said into her phone.

"Hi stranger," Gina said. "We haven't heard from you in about two weeks. We wondered if maybe you transported back to the future or something."

"Very funny, Gina. Actually, a lot has happened over the past week or so. I'll tell you all about it when you come over."

"Cookout and bonfire, huh? Hold on a sec."

Jordan listened as she heard Gina ask Sam if she was interested in going to Jordan and Maggie's for dinner. Jordan smiled as she realized that was the first time she had ever heard the farm referred to as Jordan and Maggie's.

"Okay, I'm back," Gina said. "Sam wants to know what we can bring."

"Rumor is she makes a killer strawberry rhubarb crisp."

"Done. We'll bring the fixings and make it at your place. When do you want us to come over?"

"Any time you'd like."

"Well, since you've made me curious about what's been happening with you two, we'll be over in about an hour."

"Sounds like a plan. See you soon."

* * *

"Okay, Jordan, now take the wooden spoon and mix the butter, brown sugar and oats together until it starts to clump, then finish blending it with your fingers," Sam said.

"You seriously want me to put my hands in butter?" Jordan asked.

"Yes, it's the best way to make the crisp layer. Trust me. It will be fine."

"If you say so, Sam."

"I do. Now keep mixing while I spoon the rhubarb mixture into this baking dish."

Maggie walked into the kitchen from the side porch carrying the packaging from New York strip steaks. "Steaks are on the grill and Gina is keeping an eye on them," she said.

Sam looked up quickly. "You're letting Gina cook?" she asked.

"She didn't do such a bad job on the burgers we had at your place a couple weeks ago," Maggie reasoned.

"Ah, actually, they caught on fire, but we saved them before they became hockey pucks," Jordan confessed.

Maggie grabbed the spray bottle and garlic salt from the cupboard. "I guess I'd better give her a hand then."

"How does this look, Sam?" Jordan asked as she tipped the bowl of oats toward Sam.

"Not too bad. Now, go ahead and spread it evenly over the top of the rhubarb, then put it into the oven. I've already pre-heat it to three hundred fifty degrees. Oh, and set the timer for thirty-five minutes."

"Got it." Jordan followed her instructions carefully then grabbed four wine coolers from the refrigerator and carried them out to the side deck. She passed Maggie on the way out.

"After you deliver those, do you mind coming back to help me carry out place settings?" Maggie asked.

"Sure. I'll be right back."

Over the next few minutes, Jordan and Maggie worked to prepare the picnic table on the side deck for four, and then carried out salads and corn on the cob, while Sam and Gina finished grilling the steaks. Soon, they were all sitting around the table filling their dishes and eating their meal.

"The steaks are perfect, Sam," Maggie said.

"We're missing something," Jordan said. She looked around the table for clues. "Ah, steak sauce. I'll be right back." While she was inside, the timer on the oven went off. "Sam, the timer went off. How do I know if it's done?"

Sam came into the kitchen. "Let me take a look at it." She opened the oven door and peered inside. "Nice and golden brown. Perfect," she said. Sam retrieved the pot holder and removed the baking dish from the oven, then shut the oven off. "We're going to leave it right here on top of the stove to cool. By the time we've finished our dinner, it should be cool enough to eat."

"So, Jordan, what's the big news you have to tell us?" Gina asked as Jordan settled into her place at the table.

"Well, I gave my presentation a little more than a week ago to the spinal institute, and within four days, I received a rejection letter in the mail."

"Seriously? They rejected your proposal? On what grounds?" Sam asked.

"On the grounds that I didn't provide any evidence of my educational background or experience. The letter indicated that I was too much of an unknown for them to risk investing that kind of money."

"Well that sucks," Gina said.

"I thought so too until my cell phone rang just moments after I received the letter. The call was from Charles Malone."

"Charles Malone… Charles Malone. Where have I heard that name before?" Gina asked.

"Isn't that the name of the benefactor at the spinal institute? I remember you mentioning him the last time you were at our house," Sam said.

"Yes, that's him. Anyway, he came to the farm and we had a long discussion about the implant. He wants to set up a private foundation to fund the development. We also talked about his daughter."

"Thirteen and wheelchair bound," Gina said.

"Yes. Her name is Jessie."

"So you two talked about the implant. So what happened next?" Sam asked.

"Chuck returned a few days later, with his daughter in tow."

"She is a very sweet young lady, and she took immediately to the horses. We even made time for a horseback ride to check on the new foals," Maggie said.

"She took immediately to
you
, Maggie," Jordan said. "It's almost as though she bonded with you instantly."

"Yes, she did," Maggie agreed.

"So he came to the farm just for you to meet his daughter?" Gina asked.

"That, and to bring me something else. Let's say it was an act of good faith to let me know he was serious about funding the foundation."

"So what did he give you?" Gina asked.

"Give me a minute and I'll show you." Jordan rose from the table and went into the house, returning a few moments later with a manila envelope, which she opened and dumped onto the table."

"Holy shit!" Gina said as she picked up the birth certificate, social security card and passport. "These look amazingly authentic. He must have paid some serious money for them."

"My thought exactly," Jordan said.

"He's put his neck on the line to get these, Jordan," Sam said. "I'd say he's pretty serious about the foundation."

"So now that we have Jordan's identity problem taken care of, who'd like to help me plan a wedding?" Maggie asked.

* * *

Maggie and Sam sat on the front porch swing watching Jordan and Gina toss a baseball back and forth in the barnyard.

"You do know your life is about to take a drastic turn," Sam said.

"I suspect it will," Maggie replied. "For starters, once the foundation is established, Jordan won't be around much. She's actually decided to keep the apartment in Burlington until she understands what her work schedule will be like. If she ends up working late into the evenings, it doesn't make sense for her to drive forty minutes home just to get up five or six hours later and drive back in."

"How do you feel about that?"

"Are you asking me if I trust her?"

Sam shrugged. "I guess I am."

"I trust her implicitly. I'm convinced she wants to keep it for the sheer convenience, and besides, she gave me a key, so I could drop in unannounced at any time. I don't think she would have done that if she had ulterior motives in mind."

Sam nodded. "I thought as much, but I just want to be sure you're not hurt. You were pretty devastated when you and Jordan split up a few weeks ago, and I don't ever want to see you in that state again."

Maggie rested her head on Sam's shoulder. "Thank you for looking out for me, my friend."

Sam kissed the top of her head. "Any time, little sister. Any time."

They rocked back and forth in silence for the next few minutes.

"Have you told your parents about Jordan?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I have. I talk to them weekly. I haven't gone into any detail about her, for example, they don't know she's a research scientist, but they know she's here and that we are in a relationship. They know that I love her."

"Did they voice an opinion about Jan leaving?"

"They haven't said a word about Jan."

"I assume they'll come for the wedding."

"Yes. In fact, I need to call them tonight and chat about when they can come home so we can get the plans moving."

"Are you going to tell them about Jordan's unique situation?"

"I'll tell them about the foundation, but Jordan and I don't think it's a good idea to tell too many people about the time travel thing. Jordan says that her very presence here will have an effect on the future and she wants to minimize that. Hell, just the fact that she saved me from falling off the cliff will have an effect on the future, but we don't know how that will manifest itself at this point."

"She needs to be careful not to do anything that might change who she is here in this time, or she ultimately may not be the Jordan you fell in love with."

Maggie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, for example what if she did something here that might prevent her from becoming handicapped in the future? If she did that, she probably wouldn't have become a scientist. She'd be a different Jordan all together. Didn't she say it was her injury that prompted her to study spinal cord injuries in college?"

Maggie suddenly sat up. "Oh, my God!"

"Maggie, what is it?"

Maggie ran into the house with Sam right behind her.

"Maggie, talk to me," Sam said as Maggie grabbed the truck keys from the kitchen counter top.

"I've got to fix this," Maggie said as she ran past Sam and out the door.

"Maggie, wait," Sam said as she watched Maggie run across the barnyard and climb into her pickup truck.

Jordan and Gina stopped tossing the ball as the scene unfolding before them between Maggie and Sam caught their attention.

"Where is she going?" Jordan asked as they watched Maggie tear across the field.

"I don't know. We were talking about paradoxes when all of the sudden, she grabbed the truck keys and ran out the door," Sam said.

Jordan grabbed Sam's arms. "What paradox, Sam?"

"We were talking about how things might be different if you had never been paralyzed in your future life."

Jordan's brow creased deeply as she thought about the possible scenarios that might change her own future. Finally, it came to her. "The well," she said. She turned to Gina. "Gina, I need to stop her. Let me take your truck."

"You can take my truck, but I'm going with you," Gina said.

"Me too," added Sam.

* * *

Maggie pulled to a skidding stop beside the filled-in well in the north pasture. She jumped out of the truck and grabbed the pointed shovel from the back, then walked to the edge of the hole. To her surprise, the hole wasn't completely filled.
How can this be? Jordan filled it in almost three weeks ago. It must be the soil settled with the rain.
Just then, Maggie heard the sound of another vehicle approaching. She turned to see Gina's truck stop a few feet away from her. The first one out of the truck was Jordan.

"Maggie, what are you doing? Are you out of your mind?" Jordan exclaimed. She took the shovel from Maggie and began shoveling more dirt into the hole.

Maggie grabbed the handle of the shovel and prevented Jordan from continuing. "No Jordan. Stop. You can't do this."

Gina and Sam got out of the truck and stood by, watching the interaction between their friends.

"Let go of the shovel, Maggie," Jordan warned.

"Or, what? What are you going to do, Jordan?" Maggie challenged.

"Maggie, you don't realize what you're doing here," Jordan tried to reason.

Maggie shoved Jordan backward letting go of the shovel in the process. "No, you don't realize what you're doing. Jordan, if you fill this hole, you and Sally will never fall into it. You will never be injured. You will never study spinal cord injuries in college. You will never become a research scientist. You will never meet Kale and Andi, and you will never find my diaries. Jordan, if you fill this well, you will cease to exist in this world. If that's what you want, then fine, fill the goddamned well. I'm going back to the house. This is your decision, Jordan."

"Hold up, Maggie. I'll go with you," Sam said. Sam sent a meaningful look in Gina's direction then followed Maggie to the truck.

Jordan threw the shovel to the ground and closed both hands into fists at her sides. A deep growl emitted from her throat and her whole body shook in anger.

"She's right, you know," Gina said. "Obviously, the hole is still deep enough to cause your accident in the future, but if you fill it to the top, who knows what might happen to you — not to mention what it might do to Maggie."

"Do you have any idea how it feels to be stuck in a wheelchair for eighteen hours a day, every day for fourteen years, Gina?" Jordan asked.

"No I don't, but think about it, Jordan. If you and your horse never stepped into that hole, your entire life in the future would be different. Everything that drove you to travel through time to get here would evaporate — including your drive to save Maggie from falling to her death. You would have had no knowledge of Maggie. Who knows, you may have grown up to be a carpenter, or a teacher. You may have met someone, fallen in love and lived happily every after.