Time Will Tell (Timeless Series) (7 page)

Wiping the sweat off his brow, Colin couldn’t argue that point. “Damn, it’s a hot one today,” he said, changing the subject. “What do you say to a quick dip in the spring to cool off?” Most of his men utilized the spring during the summer months.

“You don’t have to ask me twice. Definitely makes working in this heat more bearable.” Gus started toward the stallion’s stall. “I just have to finish with Zeus.”

“I’ll help.” Colin used his thumb to point to the stall behind him. “Those boys have been working like fiends. They could probably use a swim too, don’t you think?”

“
Ja
. They definitely deserve a break.” Gus kept walking. “I’ll tell them on the way out.”

~

“We’re going swimming at the spring.” Gus came up behind Libby and his voice startled her. “You boys can take a break and join us.”

She turned and stared at him as if he’d grown an extra head. “We’re
, um, we’re…almost done.” She glanced down so as not to reveal her rising panic. Libby still wore her vest to aid in her deception, but it was like having a forest fire on her back. Her breasts pretty much disappeared behind it, but the second she took it off, her ruse would be up. There was no possible way she could go swimming. “We’ll finish here and meet you there.”

Gus nodded and then met up with Colin, who waited a few feet away.

The minute the two were out of earshot, Libby turned to Nathan. “What happens if we don’t go swimming at the spring?”

“I
dunno.” The boy shrugged. “I ain’t never been before. But it sounds like fun.”

“We can’t go.”

Nathan scrunched up his nose. “Why not?”

“
’Cuz we were supposed to go fishing, remember?”

Nathan nodded.
“Oh, yeah.” A sly grin made an appearance.

Libby returned his smile. “And while we’re fishing, we can take our own swim.” She’d just keep her clothes on. Nathan would understand. Then at least she could rinse off the stench of the day in order to feel normal again.

As soon as they completed raking the straw, Nathan grabbed her hand. “C’mon. We gotta tell Pa we’re going fishing. I hope he won’t mind.”

As they neared the spring, it was all Libby could do to hold herself back from jumping into the inviting pool of water. The desire to cool off and to rid herself of grime and the scent of
eau de
horses was too overwhelming to ignore. Except, that would just raise questions, which would lead to other questions.

Colin stepped onto the bank in all his glory. Water sluiced off his shoulders. Droplets ran down the length of a well-built chest, going lower all the way to… Libby’s breath hitched in her throat and she forced her focus higher. She knew she was practically gawking, but he had a gorgeous body. His muscles bunched as he wiped drips off his face and hair, holding her rapt attention.

“Come join us,” Colin called. Her gaze slid to his eyes and Libby couldn’t look away from that same heart-stopping stare. “The water’s great.”

She was tempted to do exactly as he requested. Thankfully her senses returned just in the nick of time.
Good grief!
Heat engulfed her face.
Remember, Libby, you’re an engaged woman who has no business drooling over some Adonis-like model who lives in the past. Don’t look at him.
She cast her focus at her feet and cleared her throat, struggling for an intelligent reply.

“We’re
goin’ fishin’ instead,” Nathan piped up, saving her from making more of an idiot of herself. “Is that OK, Pa?” He turned to look at Gus. “We’ll cool off at the fishin’ hole.”

“
Ja
.” Gus emerged from the water, drawing Libby’s focus. And even though he was just as well built as Colin, seeing his blue-eyed gaze or watching water sluice off his back did nothing to make her heartbeat falter. “Fishing sounds like a good way to spend the rest of a lazy afternoon.”

Libby glanced from him to Colin.

Colin’s grin widened. “If we didn’t have so much work, we might be inclined to join you.”

“C’mon, Libby.”
Nathan reached for her hand and tugged.

Still red-faced and unable to articulate a decent farewell, Libby offered a quick smile and waved. The entire time they walked away, she felt the heat of the two men’s gazes on her back. But only one gaze concerned her.

Maybe sticking around a day or so wasn’t such a good idea. Unfortunately, the thought of making it home right now was just as unsettling.

“The fishin’ hole is this way.” Nathan ran ahead. By now the two were out of earshot from Colin and Gus.

Libby shrugged. “Sure.”
Heaven help her. What she had gotten herself into?
She shuddered over the idea of actually touching live bait or slimy fish.

“Great.”

Libby only laughed, praying for the fortitude to last a day or two. She wasn’t sure she was up to it, especially considering what she’d just witnessed.

Hopefully she could figure out why she was here and make the trip home sooner rather than later. Colin Thorpe was just too tempting to be around for long without somehow giving herself away.

They walked about a mile to a small lake with trees clustered around the perimeter, creating an idyllic scene. The clear, calm water mirrored the surrounding countryside in a vivid display. Every now and then a fish would jump and produce a ripple, distorting the image for a few seconds. She grasped that she was seeing a view of the past that no longer existed. She would have remembered something this breathtaking in her own time.

Nathan walked over to a bush and moved a rock, yielding two hidden poles. “Since Pa’s
swimmin’, he won’t mind if you use his.”

Looking at the odd
-looking poles and then at Nathan, Libby felt stuck. Just the thought of wiggling worms sent chills down her spine.
Don’t think about it. Just do it, like the ad says.

This boy was her lifeline and she needed his cooperation. “
OK.” She took the pole, acting as if she did this kind of thing all the time, but when the hook pricked her finger, she dropped it on the ground.

Nathan squinted against the sun in his eyes. “You
ain’t never fished before, huh?”

Libby lifted her shoulders and slowly shook her head. “What can I say? I lied.”

“Well, I guess I can teach you.” He smiled. “First, we need worms. So, c’mon—let’s go get ’em.” He ran to a spot ten feet away and started digging in the damp dirt. She followed him and copied his movements. After digging for mere minutes, they each had worms in a pile of moist dirt, except Nathan had twice as many.

He’s such a boy.

He picked up the moist dirt, worms and all, and started toward the lake. Libby scooped her pile into both hands, held it away from her, and fell in step behind him. She tried not to think about carrying worms. Where was the
Enterprise
when she needed it most?

At the water’s edge, she dropped the pile and waded into the inviting pool, more to cool off at this point, having become accustomed to the scent of
eau de
horses.

“You’re not taking your boots off?”

“Nah.” Keeping them on while in the water would get rid of the horse manure. “I’m not taking my clothes off either. It’ll be cooler to fish in wet clothes.”

In seconds, he joined her fully clothed.

The two swam for a few refreshing minutes, after which she followed Nathan out of the water. Her wet shirt and jeans felt good against the warm breeze. Both would probably dry in no time.

Libby eyed him, still grinning. “
OK, now what?”

“Now we move over there because we scared all the fish away.” At the spot he’d indicated, both plopped down. When Libby removed her boots and laid them on a flat rock in the sun, so did Nathan.

He put a worm on the hook for her and showed her how to toss the line out. He spent a moment explaining how to hook a fish if she caught one, which wasn’t her goal, but he didn’t need to know that.

“So
, tell me about the future,” Nathan said after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “What’s it like?”

“Not much different than here. I have a best friend. We’re sworn confidants, just like us.” A vague memory of praying to see her mom again before going to sleep entered her consciousness just then. It happened on that first night she’d returned home after spending two therapeutic weeks at Twin Oaks. “Actually, I think I may have traveled through time before.” The memory sharpened. Could it have been real? Looking around, Libby wondered. Bev had believed it hadn’t been a dream. Plus, she had wished to see her mother again at least a hundred times in those two weeks. Maybe the trees had made it possible back then, too.

“So you are magical!” Nathan’s eyes grew as big as saucers.

“I guess I am.” She was here, wasn’t she?

“Yer so lucky. I wish I could do that.”

“I think I went back in the past after being on this very farm in the future.” Her being here now brought the memory to the forefront of her mind. “Want to hear about it?” Maybe talking would help her figure things out.

When he nodded, she smiled distractedly and began to tell him what happened all those years ago.

~

Learning to feed, groom, and ride the horses had eased Libby’s heartache. Still, guilt tormented her, and her most fervent wish had been to see Liz Edwards one more time to undo her last ugly words. Libby had fought with her mom, and her only memory of the night before the accident was of her yelling, “I hate you and I wish I’d never been born.”
Libby’s biggest regret was never getting a chance to apologize. She felt responsible. That because of those horrible words, Liz Edwards had died.

The night Libby returned home from her two weeks at Twin Oaks
, she dreamed of her mom. She woke up feeling weird in a bigger bed. Her pink room had changed to blue, and the curtains on the window were not Libby’s curtains.

She heard voices. Seconds later she was at the door to listen and recognized her parents’ voices. They talked about having children. Stunned, Libby cautiously stepped into the hall, tiptoed to the top of the stairs, and looked down.

Her mom and dad appeared much younger. It was too much to take in!

Tom and Liz Edwards obviously loved each other by the way they interacted. Libby couldn’t look away when her father kissed the top of her mother’s head and said, “I didn’t realize how important this was to you. We can start our family whenever you want.” Then he chuckled. “In fact
, we can get started tonight.”

Liz practically purred. “Oh, Tom, I love you.” They kissed, something Libby had observed many times before, but this scene filled Libby with love and hope. She’d never seen her parents so in love and so happy.

“Why don’t you go up?” He patted Liz’s butt after releasing her. “I need to do a few things before coming to bed.” He turned to go into the other room, but not before adding, “And Lizzie, I like that flimsy thing you wore last week. Wear it again, OK?”

Liz gave a throaty laugh.
“Anything for my Tommy.”

Libby darted back into the bedroom and waited until her mother walked past. After listening for several minutes and not hearing anything, she headed for her parents’ bedroom.

“Go away—I’m not ready yet.” Her mom reached up to take off an earring, obviously mistaking Libby for her husband. Liz glanced over her shoulder and jumped slightly when she caught Libby watching her.

She sensed her mother shouldn’t see her and didn’t even know if Liz could hear her. Yet
, unwilling to waste this chance to apologize, she took a deep breath and blurted out, “I know this seems odd. But I’ve come to tell you I love you. I’m sorry I hurt you and I just wanted you to know.”

“Who are you?” Fear and confusion clouded Liz’s eyes. She blinked. “How did you get in here?”

“Don’t be frightened. I’m your child. From the future.” Libby moved over to her mother and wrapped her arms around the shocked woman’s waist. “Somehow I’ve been able to travel back here. I don’t know how, but I’ve been granted this opportunity, and I have to use it. Mom, please remember, whenever we fight after I’m born, know that I will always love you.”

~

Libby stopped talking and glanced at a wide-eyed Nathan. “Then I found myself back in my own bed, in my own bedroom.” Despite never being able to explain Liz’s earring nestled in the palm of her hand that morning, she’d always believed the whole incident had been a dream.

“I don’t like fighting with my ma either.” No one could miss the gravity in Nathan’s voice as he added, “But I’ll try not to from now on. I don’t want her to die.”

“Most moms don’t die like mine did.” She patted his hand reassuringly. “I apparently got the chance to say I was sorry.” Libby smiled. “Of course, I told my best friend all about it. And Bev, being Bev, decided that I’d zapped back in time.” Just like Scotty used to beam Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock off the
Enterprise
. “Exactly like I came to be here.” As implausible as that seemed. Dream or not, the fact that she’d had a friend to discuss such a weird experience with was the biggest reason she’d never give up their friendship.

“Bev?” Nathan glanced at her with a speculative gleam in his eye. “That sounds like a girl’s name. Is she a girl?”

Her grin expanded. “Yeah, but not a prissy one, so you’d like her.”

“Does she travel through time, like you?”

“No.”

“Wow.” His total belief reminded her so much of Bev. “I’d love to be able to travel through time just by wishing.”

If only it could be so easy.
Libby sighed. Another sudden wave of homesickness assailed her senses. She decided to be more proactive about trying to make it home and visit the trees every night until she made it home. Hopefully, she’d be a quick study and figure it out sooner rather than later. “Remember, Nathan. You need to keep my secret.”

“I will,
’cuz yer my frien’ and yer magical.”

The two fished for a while. Finally, Nathan stood. “I need to get home. Sun’s getting low and we can’t dawdle.”

“Dawdle?” Libby stifled a laugh and put on her boots. Thankfully, everything had dried.

“Sure,
ya know—my ma says I dawdle when I’m late. I think that means I should get home fast. I’m not sure, but it sounds important so I like the word. C’mon. Don’t dawdle.” His mischievous expression charmed Libby all over again.

He strung up his fish and handed them to her. She gave him her pole and he carefully put both away behind the bushes.

Then he skipped back to her. “Here, I can carry those.”

Libby didn’t have to be asked twice to get rid
of the smelly things. She watched him run ahead. He seemed so grown-up for such a little guy.

They quickly retraced their steps. At the oak trees, she looked around. Dusk was setting in. She had nowhere to go, which brought to mind her predicament. She closed her eyes and fervently wished herself home. When that didn’t work, she glanced at Nathan. “Do you think I can stay with you?”

“I’m sure Pa will say yes, ’cuz he likes you.” He grabbed her hand and started for the caretaker’s house behind the big house.

The two walked into the kitchen, and Libby noticed at once how warm and inviting the room appeared.

“There you are, Nathan. ’Bout time you made your way home,” said a large-boned woman with Nordic good looks—blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair complexion. She saw Libby and her eyebrows shot up. “Who’s that with you?”

Nathan smiled and said in a grown
-up voice, “This here’s my frien’ Libby. I helped him work fer Pa today, then we went fishin’. He has nowhere to go, so I invited him to stay with us.”

“Set another place then.” Berta Gunderson nodded toward the cabinets. “Dinner’s almost ready.” Her curious attention returned to Libby. “So you work with horses?”

“Yes.” Libby angled her chin higher and prayed Nathan’s mom wouldn’t send her packing. “I’ve trained thoroughbreds most of my life. I heard about this place in Louisville.”

Berta clucked. “You don’t look big enough to do such strenuous work.”

“I’m plenty big and I am a really good handler.”

“I hope so.” She sighed, seeming unconvinced. “Gus and Mr. Thorpe could use a good hand.” Then her eyes narrowed and she studied Libby’s face for a few minutes before nodding at Nathan. “We’ll eat in a few minutes. Why don’t you go wash up? There’s a bowl with warm water and soap on the counter over there.”

By the time she’d washed, the others had joined in at the table.

Nathan introduced her to his sister
, Sarah, and baby brother, Christophe. Gus didn’t offer much more than a grunt when Nathan explained that he’d brought Libby home with him.

Libby sat.

Gus handed her a bowl of sweet potatoes. “So, where’d you say you were from?” He had features similar to Berta’s, but was slightly darker in coloring and towered over his wife by six inches.

“Cincinnati.” Libby placed a couple of wedges on her plate and passed on the bowl. “I came by riverboat.”

“You traveled from Cincinnati all by yourself,” Berta asked.

“Yes.” Libby nodded and began to eat, trying to act like a boy.

Berta took a drumstick off the platter. “Where are your parents?”

“Dead and gone.”
It wasn’t a lie. Her mom was dead and her dad was gone from this time. She then offered the rendition she and Nathan had created earlier.

Skepticism shone in
Gus’s eyes and she prayed it was due to her story, not the fact that she was female rather than male. His wife’s warm gaze held a more understanding glint.