Tempus (44 page)

“What mirror?”  I wasn’t sure what he meant, or where he was going with this.

“I wonder if I could come to you, in your mirror.  In your room.”  He looked down, embarrassed.

“Could you?”  I asked, excited by the thought.

“I have no idea.  There are rules.  Not written rules, just things that can’t be done.  Too much to explain and no time.”  He looked back at the door.  “I can go back.  I can go back to the mirror we have, in my time.  I can watch the mirror,
your
mirror.  If I see you, I could try…”

“Nothing bad could happen, could it?”  I asked.

His brows came together.  “No, I don’t believe so.  It’s up to you, though.  Only if you want to try.”

I didn’t have to consider it.  I looked at my watch.  “What time?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

I looked at my watch again.  “Okay, nine-thirty.  If you don’t see me, then wait until ten and try again.”

“If I don’t see you, may I call?”  He looked at the door again.  It sounded like someone may be standing up.

“Yes!”

He grabbed me, kissed me, and released me in less than five seconds.  He swung open a cabinet door and stuck his head in it just as his father came through the door carrying a plate and glass.  I acted like I was trying to figure out what to put away next.  We didn’t fool him.

“So.”  He said to no one particular.

“Ah, Father, sorry.  Putting some things away.”

I didn’t say a word, just headed for the door, trying not to blush.  My dad was just standing up as I walked in.  I smiled at him and reached for his empty plate.

“This was delicious!  My complements to the chefs.”  Dad grinned broadly.

“It was mostly Gabriel.  I didn’t do much except stir and stuff.”  I grabbed the plate, a bowl, and a glass.

“He’s a fine cook, then.”  Dad watched me closely.

I turned toward the kitchen so he couldn’t watch my face.  “Yes, he is.”  I said over my shoulder.

My dad followed me to the kitchen and complemented Gabriel, who was graciously humble, of course.  Dad shook his hand, and looked him in the eye, seeming to reassess him.  I didn’t know if that was good or bad.  Good, I hoped.

There was more talk between the parents as I helped Gabriel wash the dishes and put them away, as well as store the leftover food.  We didn’t talk a lot, since the ‘fathers’ were never out of earshot.  We joined them when we were finished.

My dad put his arm around me.  “Well, Jessie, I think we should thank our fine hosts and let them get on to their evening.”

“Umm, yes.”  I looked at Gabriel and his father.  “Thank you so much for inviting us.  I enjoyed getting to help, and the meal was wonderful.”

Mr. Knight stepped forward first.  “You know you are welcome any time, Miss Jessie.  We
greatly
enjoyed your company.”  He kissed the back of my hand, a brief, courteous peck.  “It has been a delight.”

He stepped back and shook my dad’s free hand as Gabriel stepped forward to take mine.  “It has been a pleasure.”  Gabriel said softly.  “Thank you so much for your assistance.  Perhaps we can do this again sometime,
soon
.”  He kissed my hand just long enough to make my stomach flutter and catch my dad’s attention.  He released it reluctantly, eyes locked on mine.

If Gabriel was still trying to hide anything from my dad, he was doing a poor job.  His father made a throat-clearing sound and snapped him out of it.  I just stood there, saying nothing else.  I didn’t trust my voice.

They both walked with us to the vestibule and outside.  My dad’s car looked so out of place in the driveway that I cringed when I saw it.  Gabriel sensed my unease and walked to stand near me when we stopped.  I could feel his energy reach out and give me some comfort as he opened the door for me.

“You’ll come back to visit us again, yes?  Both of you?”  Mr. Knight smiled.

“Of course!”  Said my dad, a little too enthusiastically.

As I slid into the seat, Gabriel whispered.  “Until we meet again.”  It was so soft; I knew my dad didn’t hear.  My heart hammered.  I reached out with my ‘invisible blue lightning,’ and caressed his cheek.  His quivering smile proved it worked.  He shut the door.

We waved goodbye as dad pulled the car around to head down the driveway.  I tried to stare straight ahead, instead of turning to look back, like I wanted to.  I could still feel Gabriel pulling me slightly, but it began to dissipate as the distance increased, until it was gone entirely.  I sighed.

My heart alone records my days and hours.
—Madison J. Cawein

“
So
.”  My dad said, eyes on the road as we pulled out to head home.

“Yes?”  I asked. 
Please don’t let him ask about Gabriel.

“So, you and Gabriel seem to get along really well.”

Oh, god.  Not this.  Nope.  Please don’t.  “Yeah, he’s nice.”

“I’m not as dumb as you thought,
am
I?”  He chuckled a little.

I turned my head and blinked at him.  “What?”

“When I said to keep your options open.  Not as dumb an idea as you thought, huh?”

“W-what do you mean?”  Oh, dear. 

“I’m not blind, Jessie.  Not yet, at least.  There were sparks flying all over the place back there.”  He laughed again.

That was a more appropriate way to describe it than he knew.  What the heck was I supposed to say to that?  “Well, I guess I’m not blind
either
.”  I tried to keep my voice even.

“Neither is
he
, from the looks of it.”  Dad was smiling, and it annoyed me.  He knew I was very uncomfortable right now.  I wondered for an instant if I could zap
him
.

“Dad,
seriously
.”

“I’m just saying, Jessie, that’s all.  I’m not trying to say you should
do
anything—or
not
do anything—I’m just
saying
it was more than obvious, in case you wanted to know if it
was
more than obvious.  That knowledge could come in handy.”

Oh, great.  I got it.  He meant Steve.  I scooted down in my seat a little.  I was supposed to call Steve.  We had an entire day planned tomorrow.  I couldn’t cancel at the last minute, but my heart was no longer in it.  There was no way to get out of it, though, was there?  No, there wasn’t.

“Penny for your thoughts.”  He said.

Seriously
?

“If you want to talk about it, whatever you’re thinking just let me know.  I know it’s not the same as having Mom,” that catch in his throat, “but I’m a good listener, and I’ve been around the block.  I’m not as stupid as I look.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid, Dad, I’ve never thought that.”

“I guess I know that, Jessie.  I just wish I could be there for you the way you need.  It has to be confusing.”  He took a quick look at the side of my face.

“What’s confusing?”  I knew what he meant.

“I know you.  You’re my little girl.”  I cringed.  “My
young woman
.” He corrected for my benefit.  “I also know how picky you can be.  Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

Great.

“Now here are these two great guys.  One you’ve known forever, and I remember how… anyway, I know what the history is there.”

I scooted even deeper into my seat.

“Then along comes this other young man.  As I said, I’m not blind.  He’s not a bad looking kid, not at all.  Seems nice, polite, a lot in common with you.  Obviously interested.”  He stole another quick glance.  “Now, what do you do?”

“I don’t know, Dad.”

“Keep your options open.”  He said it as if that solved everything.

“And exactly
how
do you propose I do that?”  I didn’t mean it to sound as sarcastic as it did.

“Go out with both of them; see which one you like better.”  He said it so matter-of-factly.

“Dad! 
Think
about it.”  It wasn’t that easy.

“What?  You already told me Steve wasn’t your boyfriend.”

“I know that, but, well, you hired Gabriel at the store.  You don’t think it would be a little weird for me to go out with your
two
employees, who will work together, who will see me at the same time at the store. 
Duh
!”  Hello?  How did he not get that?

“I could fire one of them.”  He offered.

“Dad!” 

“Well, I could fire Gabriel.  He hasn’t even started yet.”

Why
was
Gabriel working there?  He obviously didn’t need the money.  They were here for ‘research,’ after all.  No, his
dad
was here for research, Gabriel was here for
me
.  “Humph.  That doesn’t seem right.”

Dad smiled, but tried to keep it small.  “The time it took you to say anything gives me more of a hint than you know.  Has he asked you out already?”

We were way past the ‘asking out’ stage, more to the ‘making out’ stage.  “Not exactly, but…”

“But he wants to?  He will?”

I just nodded my head.  I might need Dad’s help after all, as much as I hated it.  I didn’t know what I was going to do.  Short of a natural disaster or some other catastrophic event, I would be with Steve tomorrow, and thinking about Gabriel.  I
was
an awful person.

A thought occurred to me.  “Steve won’t go anywhere.  He’s
from
here.  His
family
is here.  Gabriel moved here, and he could move away just as fast.”  That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but I couldn’t tell him what I
really
meant.

“You telling
me
that, or yourself?”  He asked.

“Both.”

We pulled into the driveway and Dad shut off the lights.  The porch light was on, and a million bugs were flying around.  I opened my door and climbed out, trudging up the stairs to the door.  I waited for Dad to catch up and open it.  I didn’t feel like digging for my keys.

As the door swung open, Dad said, “Have a seat honey, for just a minute.  I want to talk to you.”

I didn’t
want
to talk.  I wanted to go upstairs and wait until nine-thirty and cross my fingers and pray for a miracle.  Instead, I pulled out my chair and plopped down in it with a pronounced thud, crossing my arms.

My dad laughed, pulled out his chair, turned it around backwards, and sat down.  “Sweetheart, I know you know how your Mom and I met.”  I nodded.  “But you’ve never heard the whole story.  I won’t bore you with the entire thing, just the important stuff, if you’ll hear me out.”

“Fine.”  I muttered, leaning forward, putting my elbows on the table and my face in my hands.

“It was my last year of college.  I had dated this girl on and off the whole time I was there.  I had moments I wondered if she might be ‘the one,’ but every time I thought that, something would happen, and we’d go our separate ways for a while.  I thought since we always got back together, that had to mean something.”  He glanced to make sure I was listening.

“Well, what I later found out it meant was that we were just used to each other.  It wasn’t much more than that.  It wasn’t until I met your mom that I figured that out.”  He smiled a wistful smile.

“I was coming around one corner; your mom was coming around the opposite corner carrying a stack of books and BAM!  Books flew everywhere.”  He laughed at the memory.  “We were both in shock for a second, and then started laughing.  I apologized and helped her pick them up.  Of course I offered to carry them for her.”

“Anyway, I carried her books to her dorm and took them inside.  We introduced ourselves.  She was absolutely beautiful, stunning.  There was something about her eyes; I could hardly look away from them.  It was like a magnetic pull.” 
Magnetic pull
.  “When I turned to leave, I could have sworn I felt something pulling me back.”  His eyes were distant, longing.

“I turned around and asked for her number.  I never in a million years thought she would give it to me, but she did.  That was only the beginning.”  He smiled slightly.  “I never lost that feeling.  It was always as if something pulled me to her.  It was something I could physically
feel
.  For me, that’s what I believe it’s like when you find the
right
one.  It’s more than just liking the way they look, or having things in common, or knowing them for a long time.  There’s something else there to let you know.”

My eyes watered and I blinked trying to clear them.  I knew
exactly
what he meant.  I reached across the table for his hand.  I squeezed it, and for a second allowed myself to try to give him that comfort I got from Gabriel.  Dad’s eyes suddenly widened, so I stopped.  He shook his head, trying to clear it.

“You are your mother’s daughter.”  He said it with both a hint of joy and sorrow.

I felt closer to my dad at that moment than ever in my entire life.  I completely understood him, his joy, and pain, his love, and how special he was.  I didn’t know if I dared to tell him, but if ever there was a time to, it was now.