Across the Winds of Time (5 page)

I shook my head in mute silence.

Darius sighed. “I do not understand how you have come to be here—in this time. When is this time...exactly? I have been studying the dates on the headstones since yesterday when I first...em...arrived,” he gestured toward the cemetery in general, “and I presume we are in the second millennia?”

I gave him a dubious look but provided the current date. He blinked and raised an unsteady hand to his forehead as if to brush away cobwebs...or confusion.

“It doesn’t seem possible. I buri—” He stopped abruptly and stared hard at me.

“I’m sorry?” I wondered whom it was that he had buried.

Darius shifted his gaze to the ground and shook his head again.

“Nothing,” he murmured. “I meant to say that I do not understand how you can be as you are.” He looked up again and gestured toward me with a tanned hand. “How it is that you can look so young? So many years have passed.” He turned and looked toward the white stone that had caught my attention earlier. “It seems so difficult to believe this was only a meadow once. You must remember that?” He returned his gaze to me, and all I could do was shake my head.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What years have passed? Where did you come from? And when? You said you ‘arrived’ yesterday? Arrived from where? Are you suggesting that you’re a—a ghost?” My voice rose to a squeak, reminiscent of a mouse.

Darius’s grave expression broke into a grin.

“Don’t smirk at me! Do you think this is funny? Are you nuts? You
are
nuts, aren’t you? Because if you’re not, then I am!” I jabbed a thumb toward my chest. My cheeks flamed.

Darius sobered his expression and pressed his lips together firmly before clearing his throat.

“By nuts, do you mean crazy?” He shook his head firmly. “No, I do not think I am insane. Neither do I think you are. But for some reason, we have been brought together again, and I, for one, am deeply grateful.”

I shook my head in disbelief. What was he talking about?

“Molly, my love, I do not know what to say. I am at a loss as to how to convince you of something that I do not fully understand myself. I do not believe we are insane, but I am certain that something beyond our control has happened—a miracle that I dare not examine too much lest it disappear.”

That he was miraculously handsome, I could not deny. And that something beyond my control was occurring also seemed too real to dispute. But I had to fight the spell he had apparently cast over me. Because if he hadn’t, why hadn’t I hightailed it out of there at once? I decided to bring the mysticism of the situation under some sort of control. My practical Sara would have known how to handle this situation. But then, this wouldn’t have happened to her at any rate.

“Where do you live?” I remained obsessed with the simple question. One eyebrow raised, I crossed my arms and waited for his answer. Although how he was going to stand there and try to be serious in that museum piece of a suit, even as well tailored to his long and lean figure as it appeared to be, was beyond me.

I watched him scan the cemetery, his face showing the same desperation I’d felt myself all too often in the last half hour.

“I am afraid my answer remains the same. It would appear that I live here at the moment,” he murmured in a bemused tone as he returned his blue gaze to my face.

I winced at his answer. Definitely insane. So handsome and so totally off his rocker.

I must have recoiled more visibly than I thought, because he reached a tentative hand in my direction.

“Don’t touch me,” I whispered as I backed up a step. I ached as I fought against that tender familiarity I felt with Darius, but I couldn’t allow myself to continue in this strange dream...or nightmare. Could I?

“Molly, I will not hurt you. Please believe me.”

“I don’t know what to believe. I don’t believe in ghosts, I know that.” I was so near to tears that my voice shook against my will.

Darius looked around. “Sit with me a while, Molly, and we will try to understand what has happened...together. You knew my name. You know we are intertwined in some way. I am not a stranger to you.”

I looked into his turquoise eyes. No one with eyes that clear and beautiful could harm me, it just didn’t seem possible. I dragged in some air, dropped my gaze and allowed my tightened lips to curl into a small half-smile as I nodded.

“All right,” I murmured.

Darius’s quick intake of breath brought my head up.

“Good!” he murmured with a broad smile. The lines of his forehead smoothed and he gestured to a bench under the shade of one of the large oak trees. He reached to put his arm under my elbow in a distinctly old-fashioned manner, and I jerked.

“Forgive me,” he murmured and clasped his hands behind his back once more. “I am not used to...not touching you.”

“What?” I came to a standstill. The intimacy of his words shocked me. Though I had only moments before kissed him with a passion I didn’t know I was capable of, that had been some sort of temporary aberration...and best forgotten.

“No matter what just happened between us, Darius, I do not know you. We have never met. And we have never...um...touched.” I reddened at my inarticulate phrasing.

Darius tilted his head in the most charming way and searched my face for what seemed like an hour but must have only been a few seconds. I fought to keep my gaze on his.

“I understand, Molly. Or at least I am trying to.” He ran a harried hand through his hair. “It would appear that you and I have different memories, and I must go slowly with you. I cannot bear to lose you again, and I will do anything to keep you.”

I cannot bear to lose you again, and I will do anything to keep you.

He spoke the words every woman wanted to hear from a tall, dark and handsome man. I was no exception. So, I did what all women confronted with such declarations of love would do. I clenched my fists and stomped my foot in response.

“Now, listen! I am going to walk away this instant if you don’t stop talking that way. I don’t know what you’re talking about. And you’re scaring me. I’m just too morbidly curious about this whole thing to walk away right now, but if you don’t stop making these vague references to some great romance that I don’t remember, I’m leaving.” I slammed my arms across my chest and squinted at him with my best steely-eyed look. “I mean it,” I added for good measure.

Darius’s lips twitched, but to his credit, he did not laugh though he looked as if he wanted to. He pressed his lips together.

“Yes, Molly, my dear.” He inclined his head. “I shall behave.” He kept one hand behind his back in a courtly gesture and extended the other in the direction of the bench. “Shall we?”

I swept ahead of him as if I had transported myself back in time and wore a fabulous silk dress that swished angrily as I stormed ahead. Less than a minute brought me to the wrought iron bench which graced the foot of the oak tree where I’d first seen Darius. I was acutely aware of him close behind me as I dropped onto the bench in a most unladylike fashion, silk dress forgotten.

Darius did not sit immediately but looked up at the tree, which hummed loudly as the leaves rustled in the wind.

“This tree was just a small seedling when last I saw it. It has grown into a magnificent oak, has it not? I did not know if it would withstand the winds on this hill.”

I followed his gaze upward. The grand tree was indeed beautiful, massive...I guessed about 48 feet in height, and appeared to be quite sturdy. There was no doubt it had been there a long time. The wide trunk hinted at longevity. I had no earthly idea if I believed that Darius planted it or not. He certainly believed it.

I lowered my gaze to study his face and found him looking at me with a smile of...affection.

“I know that you and I are at some sort of impasse, Molly. We do not understand what has happened. And you do not believe much of what I say.”

I started to protest, but he held up a hand.

“Your face is very easy to read, my lov—Molly.”

His eyes seemed to twinkle...or maybe it was just my imagination.

He placed his hand lightly over his heart and grinned. “Observe even now how impossible it is for me to refrain from endearments. I trust you will forgive me a few indiscretions.”

I tried to give him a hard stare, though my heart wasn’t in it. In fact, my heart wanted desperately to hear his endearments, though my brain told me I should probably schedule a visit to a mental health therapist as soon as I returned to Seattle.

“Perhaps we could come to some form of understanding between us? I know you think I am...em...insane. If you could suspend disbelief for a while and grant me the benefit of doubt? I know my appearance here in the cemetery seems...unusual.” He rubbed his jaw as he paused. My gaze focused on his broad, tanned hand, and I found myself wishing he would touch my face again. He sighed and continued.

“I believe that I am not in my own time, and I have no idea how I arrived in yours.” His face tightened and he looked away toward the valley for an instant. “Nor do I understand how it is that you are here—in this time.”

At this, I couldn’t stay quiet. “Where else would I be? Are...are you suggesting that I...” I grimaced “...
lived
in your time? And I don’t even know when that was, by the way,” I pointed out.

Darius brought his gaze to mine as I spoke. The crisp blue of his eyes softened as he looked at me, and my heart skipped a wayward beat.

“May I sit?” he asked.

“Oh, sure,” I mumbled. I made a pretense of scooting over to the edge of the bench, but I already huddled at the far end of the bench, and he had plenty of room to sit. His formal question evoked an improbably old-fashioned set of manners that wasn’t common in this day and age. It was almost easy to believe he was from a different time.

He lowered himself to the seat with graceful ease and clasped his hands together on his lap as he turned to look at me. He searched my face for a moment. Under his scrutiny, I willed my features into a blank expression, and I hoped he didn’t notice I wasn’t breathing. He sighed and turned his face forward to survey the cemetery. I gulped for air.

“I did not realize the cemetery would grow so large when I donated the land to the town.” He seemed lost in thought, and I wondered if he was going to answer my question. I wasn’t going to let it drop. I pounced... verbally speaking, that is.

“When was that?”

He turned toward me, chewing on a corner of his lower lip for a moment before answering.

“1880.”

I heard myself gasp as if from a long way off and felt the blood drain from my face. I knew what he’d been hinting at, but to hear him say it out loud was...surreal.

He began to speak quickly, and I struggled to focus on his exact words.

“I wish you could remember, Molly. You loved to walk up to this hill, raise your arms in the wind and pretend you could fly. You would come up here often while I worked on the house—the house that I hoped would be our home.”

I shook my head soundlessly, unsure if the weak gesture was meant to tell him I couldn’t understand what he was saying or that I didn’t believe anything he was saying. I hardly knew which.

Darius kept his gaze on me while he spoke. He reached for my hand once but hesitated and then pulled back. He dragged in a deep breath. The pounding in my ears told me I was holding mine again. He cleared his throat and continued.

“In the early days, when I came out from Virginia, these hills and valleys were wild and fertile. Forests and thick foliage abounded along the edge of the Missouri River. The land was difficult to tame.” He looked past my shoulder, toward the valley. “But it seems heavily farmed now. I wonder how many men work this land. And how many horses and plows they must own!”

An unexpected giggle escaped my throat, and I clamped my hand over my mouth. Oh, surely I wasn’t going to break out into hysterics!

Darius turned to me with a tentative smile.

“I am pleased to hear you laugh at long last. And what have I said to amuse you?” he murmured with a sparkle in his eyes.

I dropped my hand from my mouth to gesture toward the valley. “I don’t think anyone uses horses to farm anymore, Darius. It’s all done by heavy equipment like tractors.”

“Ah, yes... Tractors. Of course.”

I threw him a sharp glance. Did they have tractors in the late 1800s? He sounded as if he knew what I was talking about, but I wasn’t entirely convinced. He looked away toward the valley again. I still needed some answers from him. I ignored the small voice in my head which demanded answers to the question,
“Why are you still sitting here with this delusional man?”

“Darius, what are you doing here?” I tried to face him directly, but a sudden gust of wind blew a handful of hair across my face. I brought shaky hands to my head to restrain the hair. . “I mean...are you really...?” I let my gaze wander toward the stones. I couldn’t say the words. “If you’re really...” I winced. No, I really could not say the words. I could only nod in the direction of the stones.

“What are you doing here?” I repeated helplessly. I realized with horror that some part of me had actually begun to believe him...some
very
small part.

Darius dropped his eyes to the hands clasped in his lap.

“I don’t know, Molly.” He dragged in a ragged breath, his smile shaky. “I have little experience with this myself. In fact...none. I am not certain what has happened.” He shook his head and turned his palms up in an empty gesture.

“Can you...? Will you...um...disappear again?”

I crossed and re-crossed my legs anxiously. His gaze followed my movements, lingering on my legs before he looked away quickly. I looked down at my jean-clad legs for a moment, awaiting his answer.

“I do not know,” he shook his head. “I am not sure I want to disappear, as you say, for fear of losing you again. I would much rather stay with you.”

I heard those wonderfully poignant words of love again and had the same awful reaction. I jumped up and began to pace before him, my arms barricaded across my chest. Jumbled thoughts erupted into a barrage of chaotic sentences.