Come Home to Me (26 page)

“Whooooaa,” Billy exclaimed loudly. A gravel path led to several horse corrals in one direction, and another barn that looked vaguely more like what she was accustomed to, even if it was nearly three times as long as even a large barn at the local livery. Beyond the corrals, the road led up a gentle incline to the largest house Rachel had ever seen. How was it possible to construct a log cabin in such an elaborate style? And the windows! Never in her life had she imagined a glass window could be so large. From a distance, she judged several of them to be taller than she was.  

For a while, we’ll have to live with my folks, but there’s plenty of room
. Rachel’s face flushed. Jake’s words from their wedding night came back to her. Inhaling a deep breath, she headed up the path, hoping her shaky legs would carry her all the way. Reaching the top of the rise, another house came into view several hundred yards away.  It didn’t look quite as grand as the main house. Strange looking brightly colored objects on black wheels stood in front of the dwelling.  They vaguely resembled some sort of carriage or wagon. She wondered if these were the airplanes Jake had referred to that could travel two-thousand miles in less than a day.

A woman’s laughter reached Rachel’s ears, followed by the deeper chuckles of a man. Rachel’s head whipped around. Coming up behind her, two people strode quickly up the path. Rachel’s gaze settled on the woman, and her mouth dropped.

“Cover your eyes,” she hissed at the boys.

The couple approached, and Rachel’s face flamed. She tried not to stare, but she couldn’t help it. Her chemise covered more than what this woman wore, and she walked around in bright daylight for all to see! A red and white checkered sleeveless shirt was tied in a tight knot just below her breasts, barely covering them. Her mid-section was completely exposed. She wore skin-tight blue britches that couldn’t even qualify as britches. They barely reached past her rear end. Daring a glance at the woman’s face, a jolt of recognition shot through her. She looked almost identical to the laundress at Fort Laramie. This was the woman Jake had told her about. What was she doing here?

Rachel’s heart filled with renewed apprehension. Was this how women dressed in the future? She swallowed back her growing fear. Jake had told her repeatedly that he loved her because she was different from the women he was used to. She would not allow the nagging thoughts in her head deter her. He’d never expect her to wear such scanty clothing.

“How cute,” the woman said to the shorter man next to her, her arm wrapped tightly around his waist. “I love how authentic everything is here. You even have girls and kids dressed up as pioneers.”

The blonde man looked at Rachel with smiling eyes. “You lost, sweetheart?” he asked. His brazen speech reminded her of Jake when she first met him. She raised her chin.

“I’m looking for Jake Owens,” she said firmly, unwilling to be intimidated. The man’s eyebrows shot up. His eyes roamed slowly over her, as if assessing her like some prized heifer at auction.

“Aunt Rachel, why is that lady not wearing any clothes?” Tommy chimed in beside her.

“I told you to cover your eyes,” Rachel scolded between gritted teeth. Her face flamed, and the woman laughed.

“Last I seen him, he rode off to the south pasture earlier,” the man said slowly, still studying her with narrowed eyes.

“And where is that?” Rachel asked. She adjusted David to her other hip. The boy was getting heavier with each minute. Her insides churned with apprehension.

“Is there a problem here?” Another man strode slowly down the path from the direction of the house, a dark scowl on his face. He glared at the blonde woman with a disapproving look. Rachel’s eyes widened. He was an older, taller version of Jake! There was no doubt in her mind that this was Tom, Jake’s brother.

“Hey, you look like Uncle Jake,” Tommy yelled, and the man shot a wide-eyed look of surprise at the boy. In the next instance, his head snapped up to look at Rachel.

“Shorty, don’t you have work to do?” he growled. “Miss Sandra is late for her riding lesson.”

“Already had one,” the blonde purred, and winked at the man called Shorty. The blonde man cleared his throat, then quickly pulled the woman with him up the path.

“You’re Tom Owens?” Rachel ventured a guess, and held her hand out to the man who reminded her so much of her husband.

Slowly, he took her hand in his, and nodded, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Please, I need to find Jake. I –”

“By God,” he said loudly. “He wasn’t pulling my leg.” He continued to stare at her, then at the boys. “You’re Rachel.”

“Yes.” She nodded, holding back the tears in her eyes. Jake had told his family about her?

“He’s down at the south pasture. It’s where he’s been going to be alone.” Wonder filled his eyes.

“I need to see him,” she whispered, and swallowed the lump in her throat.

“If you’ll trust me with these boys, he’s about a mile down that path.” Tom pointed to a narrow trail leading away from the gravel road.

“I’d be much obliged, Mr. Owens.” She lifted David from her shoulder and handed him into Tom’s waiting arms.

“Are you our uncle, too?” Billy asked, looking up at the tall man. He smiled brightly.

“Reckon I am. How about we round us up something good to eat, and you let your Aunt Rachel find Uncle Jake.”

“Yeah,” both boys agreed loudly.

“Thank you,” Rachel whispered, and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“He’ll be glad to see you.” Tom nodded.

Rachel turned and dashed down the trail.

****

Jake sat in the tall grass, his horse grazing contently next to him. A hazy mist rolled over the hills in the distance, the tops of pine trees barely visible. He leaned back on his elbows, and closed his eyes. The humming and chirping of crickets and countless other bugs mixed with the sounds of the metal jingle of the horse’s bit. A slight breeze caressed his face. For a moment, he imagined that he was back on the vast Nebraska prairie.

He inhaled a deep breath, the fragrant aroma of wildflowers filling his senses. He almost regretted that he told his folks and Tom about his idea of adding a pioneer theme to their dude ranch. No doubt it would generate new business, but it would also be a constant reminder of his time in 1848.

Would his heart stop hemorrhaging before he lost his sanity? Rachel was with him wherever he went, whatever he did. This was his second day home. How long before thoughts of her didn’t feel like a knife slicing through his chest? His dreams of her during the night had been so vivid; he reached for her in the dark, only to wake to a lonely bed.

Listening to the wind swoosh through some nearby pines, he almost heard her voice calling to him. The chestnut gelding suddenly raised his head, grass fluttering from its mouth. Jake listened. Someone was calling his name. He sat up, and turned his head in the direction his horse’s ears pointed.

Several hundred yards in the distance, someone was running toward him, a figure in a long dress. Jake bolted to his feet. He blinked to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. His heart slammed against his ribs. It couldn’t be! She called his name again.

“Rachel,” he yelled, and sprinted up the trail. It wasn’t an illusion. Not this time. She was real.

“Jake,” she called again, and seconds later their bodies collided. Jake wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground, afraid that if he let go, she’d vanish again.

Rachel clasped his face between her hands, a wide smile on her face as she sobbed loudly. Jake covered her mouth with his, savoring the feel of her in his arms, inhaling her soft scent. His hands ran along every contour of her body to convince his mind that she was real.

“I love you, Jake,” she breathed against his mouth. “Forgive me for not believing you.”

Jake pulled his head back, trying to catch his breath. “How?” It was the only word he could produce. How had she managed to convince the reverend to send her here? The old man had been adamant that it wasn’t possible to send Rachel to the future. In a way, he didn’t really care. She was here, and that was all that mattered. He kissed her mouth again, then her cheeks, and back to her mouth.

“I’m home where I belong, Jake. With you,” she said between gulps of air. She smiled up at him, and he eased his hold on her a mere fraction of an inch.

“I love you, Rachel. The reverend said it couldn’t be done.” He ran his hands along her cheeks and cradled the back of her head. All the pain, all the anguish in his heart flowed out of him. She was here, and she was real.

“I had a compelling enough reason for the reverend to send me here,” she said. “He said it was a one way trip. I can’t ever go back.”

“Good,” Jake said firmly. “What’s more compelling than the fact that we love each other? I hope to never meet that man again.” His jaw clenched, anger surging through him for all the pain the reverend has caused him. The anger vanished as quickly as it appeared. Without the reverend, he wouldn’t have met Rachel.

Rachel cleared her throat. “Jake.” She hesitated. He offered a wide smile, his hand caressing her cheek, and waited for her to continue. “Jake, you’re going to be a father. I’m in the family way.” Her eyes widened in an expectant look, and revealed a brief hint of panic.

Jake expelled a breath of air. “Rachel,” he whispered. His heart skipped a beat at what she’d said. He placed his hand over her flat abdomen. “I . . . I don’t know what to say, except . . . I love you.”

Instantly, her face brightened in a smile. “The boys are here, too,” she said. “I think the reverend was feeling guilty about what he did to us. When I told him I was expecting, he realized he had to send me here. He said you couldn’t return to the past.”

Jake didn’t care about what the reverend was feeling. His insides warmed, and a powerful sensation of love wrapped itself around his heart.  A few minutes ago, his life held no meaning. In the blink of an eye, that had all changed again. Rachel was here. She was his forever. He was going to be a dad! He cradled her head between his palms, and stared into her blue eyes.

“I knew from the minute I first saw you that you were my destiny, no matter what the reverend seemed to think.” He gently kissed her lips. “I’m the happiest man in the world, and I promise you that not a day will go by Rachel, that you’ll ever regret your decision to come home to me.”

Epilogue

The old man stood on the hill overlooking the valley below. Spread out before him were several barns and corrals. On a slight rise to the north stood a large ranch-style home. A short distance away, several more log cabin style homes were nestled against the edges of a patch of pine trees. He clasped his hands behind his back, and let the wind blow though his hair and across his face.

Two small children, a boy and a girl, ran in circles in the yard in front of one of the smaller homes. The little girl appeared to be a few years older than the boy, who waddled like a duck after the girl. Three older boys rode their bicycles up and down the gravel path connecting the homes. Drawn to the scene, the old man headed down the hill, keeping to the shadows of a cluster of pine trees close to the house.

A woman emerged from inside the home. Her long dark hair was swept back in a ponytail, and her modest skirt that reached well below her knees fluttered in the breeze.

“David, don’t ride that bike so fast. You’re going to crash and break your arm again. Remember how much you hated having that cast on last time?” she called to one of the older boys. “Tommy and Billy, I thought you wanted to help your Uncle Tom fix the engine in his truck.”

All three boys skidded to a halt in front of the woman, and dismounted their bikes. The two older ones hurried off toward one of the barns in the distance, and David dashed into the house.

The woman knelt to the ground and opened her arms wide, a bright smile on her face. The little boy waddled toward her, but the girl got there first.  The woman embraced them both.

A man emerged from the other side of the house, and walked up to the woman. He reached for the little girl, and held her high up over his head. She squealed with delight. The little boy reached up his hands, and began to cry.

“You’ll get your turn,” the man said. The woman stood to her feet, the love in her eyes unmistakable as she turned her gaze to the man.

He reached one arm around her waist, and pulled her to his side.

“I can’t believe it’ll be five years today that I came here,” the woman said, smiling up at the man.

He chuckled, and hugged her close. “Remember how astonished my folks were when I introduced you and the boys? I think they were afraid to say too much. They were just pleased as punch that I married such a nice and old-fashioned girl.”

“And Tom never divulged our secret,” she added.

“Who’d believe it, anyhow?” His face turned serious. “Do you have any regrets?”

The woman leaned up and kissed him gently, her palm touching his cheek. “None,” she whispered.

The man’s wide grin returned. “Ready to go watch that movie you’ve been dying to see?” he asked. She nodded, and kissed him again. She lifted the little boy to her hip, and the family disappeared inside the house.

The old man’s gaze lingered for a few more minutes, then he turned and walked slowly back up the hill.

He’d been wrong, no question about it. Perhaps there was such a thing as destiny. In all his years of granting second chances, he’d never considered the power of the human capacity for love to guide a person onto the right path. Jake and Rachel were proof of that power.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he pondered this phenomenon. He would have to rethink his objective from now on. Perhaps a lack of finding one’s true mate was the reason many people strayed from their true path. Apart from finding one’s way again, a second chance could also be granted to finding one’s true love. If centuries separated two people who were meant to be together, he could do something to bring them together.

The old man’s chest heaved in a sigh. He would have to ponder this some more. Right now, it was time to meet his next assignment.