An Untimely Romance: A Time Travel Romance (20 page)

“Mum,” she enquired,
“you wouldn’t happen to have seen a washing bag on your travels, have you? I
brought it back with me from Ruben’s.”

Her mum smiled, going
into the utility.

“Is this what you’re
after?” she said, returning.

Heather’s heart sank.
“Not quite,” she replied, frowning at the empty white bag her mum presented her
with.

“You can wipe that
expression off your face, young lady,” she chuckled. “It’s in the top drawer in
the dresser. Aren’t you the secretive one?”

“No, no, it’s not what
you think.”

But her mum had already
taken it upon herself to form an opinion, and stood beaming.

“Don’t worry, I won’t
tell your father.”

Heather rolled her
eyes, knowing that whatever she said would be of no use whatsoever. Her mother
was quite the stubborn old stick, and once she got a bee in her bonnet, there
it stayed.

As Heather walked back
into the main building and up the stairs, she could almost feel the room
pulling her, the clock paying its respects with its hourly chime as she passed.
The room was empty, yet on entering, she felt she was home. The drawer of the
dresser was slightly open, and she pulled the cold brass handles; it was heavy,
and creaked. The small box looked quite lost, and she held it up to her face,
lifting its lid. A lone tear dripped, followed by another, and she closed her
eyes, haunted by the sincerity of Frank’s proposal.

“Dearest Heather,
could you find it in your heart to be my wife? My feelings towards you are
unquestionable. On your acceptance, I would very much like to make an
announcement about our forthcoming nuptials at the masquerade this evening.”

She played out her
acceptance; Frank kneeling, placing the ring on her finger and looking up into
her eyes, where they would lose themselves for the rest of their lives. She
could feel the very foundations of herself crumbling, and she opened her eyes.
In the moment she had unknowingly slipped Ruben’s ring onto the third finger of
her left hand. She lay on the bed ensconced in the rich candlewick, pulling it
around herself, comforting her broken heart. There she stayed, overwhelmed. She
must have dozed off briefly, wishful dreams eventually leading to a deep and
meaningful sleep.

~•••~

Her dreams were only short-lived, broken
by a visit from the first rays of sunlight. Disheartened as to what the day had
in store, she ambled down to the annex for breakfast. She could already hear
her mother and father’s raised voices before reaching the kitchen, and got
quite a surprise as she entered the room.

“Amy, my God, it’s been
ages!”

Her sister looked up
from a plate of crisp buttered toast.

“My little sister ... I
don’t think so.” She smiled. “Haven’t you grown up? Quite the young lady now.”

She stood up and walked
towards Heather, giving her that sisterly cuddle she hadn’t received for so
long. There was a definite family resemblance, facially that is. She hadn’t got
Heather’s height and so didn’t carry her weight too well, and with a
five-foot-three-inch frame she appeared quite small and dumpy. The natural
colouring of her hair highlighted a mask of varying shades of blonde. Her and
their dad were like two peas in a pod, very business wise, and even at this
time of the day she was dressed smartly in a suit.

“Didn’t know you were
coming.”

“Yes you did, Hev, we
told you yesterday over dinner.” Her mum looked up from the breakfast table and
frowned. “I don’t know, you seem to walk around with your head in the clouds
these days.”

Heather brushed her
mum’s comment aside and turned back towards her sister.

“Well, now you’re here,
how long have we got the pleasure of your company?”

“With Cliff working
overseas for a month or more, it seemed perfect timing with the opening, oh,
and your birthday.”

Heather was quite
pleased that her husband was away, since she considered him to be quite
cantankerous and abrupt. From what she could remember, meal times always ended
up being such a drag, what with her dad and Cliff trying to lead the
conversation, whilst everything else sort of disappeared into the background.

“Have you brought the
bab with you then?” Heather asked, her last recollection of her niece being as
a baby, only a few months old.

“Yeah, Dannika, she’s
had her breakfast and is playing out in the gardens. She’ll love it here, with
all the space. Don’t think we’ll see her till she gets bored.”

Sitting down to join
them, Heather was about to take a sip from her cup when she saw that she’d left
the ring on her finger. Forgetting her tea, she quickly slipped her hands under
the table out of sight, before doing her utmost to remove it, but the twisting
and pulling were to no avail; the ring was going nowhere. Her mind returned to
her niece.

“In that case, I think
I’ll go and find her, take her down to the lake and show her the fish.”

Grabbing a couple of
pieces of bread, she slipped them into a sandwich bag,

“She’ll love feeding
the ducks...”

She was thankful for
the excuse to get out of the kitchen.

A blinding light filtered through
her eyes as she walked outside. She
felt a soft touch on her shoulder and an arm link through hers as her
sister stole up from behind to join her.

“Aren’t you the dark horse, then?
Few things you’re not telling me.” Amy laughed, stopped and looked Heather full
in the face. 

Heather’s brow rose quizzically.

“Come on, do you need reminding?”
asked Amy. “That certain Mr Brown...”

“Oh, Ruben...” Heather’s eyes
dropped.

“I met him when he popped in to
see Dad earlier. Quite a dish, I’d say.”

Loosing Heather’s arm, Amy sat
down upon the grass.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” She
smiled at Heather, patting the ground. “Be nice to have a sisterly chat, eh?”

Seating herself beside Amy, Heather
smiled back, quite shocked; though it was a nice kind of surprise, as they
hardly ever had the opportunity.

“Did you get to speak to Ruben?”
Heather asked, curious as to why Amy had brought him up all of a sudden.

“Yeah, he’s lovely. He couldn’t
speak highly enough of you. Ruben’s very polite and well mannered. I can see
why Dad’s taken him on as manager. Bit older than you, isn’t he?” she jibed.

“Yeah, must run in the family,
what with Mum and you ... ten years between you and Cliff, is it?” Heather
uttered sarcastically.

“No, Hev, I’m only joking. I’ve
always said age is just a number when you love someone. You’re virtually
eighteen anyway. Well, as far as I’m concerned Ruben’s perfect for the job, and
perfect for you. So thumbs up, sis, you’ve got my approval.”

Feeling misunderstood and running
her fingers through her hair, Heather closed her eyes, drowning out the reality
of her sister’s words.

“Yeah, you would think that,”
Heather piped up. “Everyone, including Mum and Dad, sings his praises.”

A confused frown broke out on
Amy’s face. “Dad’s been good friends with Ruben’s father for years, and he’s
seen quite a bit of Ruben lately. Mum and Dad both think he’s lovely, and it’s
nice you’re with someone they can trust so they haven’t got to worry.”

“Worry? Ha! You know, they let him
take me away for the weekend, and it was only a few days after we met.” Heather
laughed mockingly. “They’ve never worried about me; I’m beginning to wonder if
they care at all.”

Amy’s eyes rolled. “Now who’s
talking daft? Of course they care; you’ve never given them any reason to worry,
that’s all. They trust you and they trust Ruben. Dad’s known him for years;
that’s the only reason they let him take you away. You know that, don’t you?”

Heather could hear the sincerity
in Amy’s voice. 

“What with the business...” Amy
lowered her voice on the off chance of being overheard. “Between you and me,
Mum’s been having a few funny turns and getting confused, and Dad’s getting
quite worried. But ya know what she’s like when it comes to seeing a doctor.
Personally, I think they’ve taken too much on, too late in life. But God, Hev,
course they care. They love you very much. Dad’s happy that Ruben’s looking
after you so well.”

Heather sighed. “Things aren’t
always what they seem.” Tears sparked in her eyes.

“Oh?” A look of anticipation
spread across Amy’s face.

“I’ve been so stupid, Amy. I
haven’t made any friends since we moved here and I guess I just needed to
be close to somebody, anybody really. Ruben happened to be there at the right
time...” Heather chuckled quietly to herself, thinking of the irony of that
statement. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s gorgeous and he’s got some really nice
ways, but at times he’s just too much. He may be all sweetness and smiles
to everybody else, but when we’re alone and he doesn’t get his way...” She
paused, and wiped the tear trickling down her cheek. “He changes, becomes a
different person. I feel more like his property than his girlfriend, and that
isn’t love. I mean, that’s not how you feel with Cliff, is it?”

Amy shook her head and lay her
hand on Heather’s knee.

“The
perfect
Ruben,”
Heather said, rolling her eyes, “who everyone spouts on about, had the gall to
cheat on me, and me being me, stupid Heather Richardson, I just took it! And I
still came back to him! Don’t tell Mum and Dad, but there was ... er ... is someone
else, someone I loved.” She paused, correcting herself. “Still love... I mean, I
found the best man I’ve ever known and I threw him away, so maybe Ruben is what
I deserve.”

Amy grabbed Heather’s shoulders
and looked around sharply.

“Why didn’t you tell Mum, or ring
me if you couldn’t face telling her? I’ve only ever been a phone call away.”

Heather looked away, ashamed.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I
realised how bad things were. I thought our relationship was normal.” Clearing
her throat, she continued. “I guess I hadn’t anyone to compare Ruben with ...
until I fell in love with Frankie. He was a gentleman. He treated me so
differently.” She smiled, thinking back to those lost moments that she’d never
get back. “I felt like a lady, a real lady, like I was truly cared for, like...”

Heather stopped talking and looked
back at Amy, realising that her wishing was in vain.

“But that’s the past, and he’s
long gone.”

Amy put her arm round Heather’s
shoulders and pulled her sister close.

“If you’re really that unhappy,
after your eighteenth come and stop with us.” Amy placed a soft kiss on her
cheek. “You’re always welcome.”

“I don’t know where my feelings
are at the moment, and I really don’t know what I want. But I worry that if I
stay with Ruben, I’ll feel controlled and resentful of him, and Mum and Dad,
too. I’m not like you, not as strong. I need to be loved, and I need to be needed.
And I don’t think Ruben is up to the task.”

“My God, I’d have never thought it
of him. I’m so sorry that I assumed ... I thought he was.... We all did. What a
sneaky bastard! I suppose his sort always are a little crafty and manipulative,
wearing a mask to hide what’s really there – a wolf in sheep’s clothing. But you’re
wrong about something, Hev.”

“What?”

Amy looked deep into Heather’s
eyes. She sat so close that for the first time, Heather saw the start of
wrinkles that marked her sister’s age.

“You’re stronger than you think,”
Amy said. “Stronger than most.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, most girls and women who
get mixed with a guy like Ruben never get out. They rarely walk away, and the
bastards just beat them down; not always physically, but mentally, like what
you’ve already been through. And here you are, barely eighteen and you already
see the red flags, and you see him for what he is. I’m proud of you for that ...
absolutely brilliant, sis.”

Heather nodded and sighed. It felt
so nice to be heard and validated for a change. She felt like a weight had been
lifted from her shoulders.

Amy jumped to her feet angrily.

“Well, no sister of mine is going
to end up with a control freak! I think it’s time we have a convo with Mum and
Dad.”

Heather stood up and grabbed Amy’s
hand.

“Not now! Wait till after my
party.” Feeling confused, or guilty, she couldn’t tell which, Heather
added, “We might be able to work things out. He’s trying, and things
between us are gradually getting better.”

“Eh...Who are you trying to
convince, Hev?” Amy’s voice and expression were filled with concern. “Can’t you
hear what you’re saying? That attitude is what got you here in the first
place. You’re just making excuses for him. And if he’s like you say, he’ll
never change...”

“Well, I’ve made my decision, and
my decision is to wipe his slate clean. I’m going to give Ruben until my
eighteenth, and if I’m still unsure then, I’ll walk away and take you up on
your offer to stay with you for a few weeks to clear my head. But promise
me, you won’t breathe a word of what I’ve told you to Mum and Dad? Please promise;
I do love him y’know, it’s just complicated.”

Amy smiled. “If you say so. If
that’s what you really want, then yes, I promise. For now, let’s get
through your birthday, and we can discuss your decision later. You know where I
am if you need me.”

Amy squeezed Heather’s hand,
and Heather watched her sister turn and walk back into the manor to join
their parents.

She
felt an over-whelming warmth through her body, and the sweet song of birds and
children laughing rested softly against her ears.

Walking through
Freesdon Manor’s gardens, she was welcomed by the scent of pollen from the wild
roses, the last bloom of forget-me-nots and the newly mown grass. She peered
between the wispy branches of a nearby weeping willow overlooking the lake, her
eyes immediately drawn to a young girl playing. Plastic cups and saucers were
laid out neatly on a rectangular plaid picnic blanket. Heather couldn’t see her
face, as her back was turned towards her, but she could hear the conversation,
her mood light. She watched her body language and saw that her head was tilted
back, as if she found something amusing, and she heard her playful laughter
drift into the air. A menacing picture sprung to mind as she looked at her
niece and the clothes she wore: a crochet cardigan, partially covering a black
and white polka-dot dress, and light ash-blonde hair enhanced by the sun’s
natural light, cascading down her back in loose ringlets. The visions from the
Ouija board came to life in front of her eyes, and all that was missing was the
boy. The girl appeared to be lost in conversation with an empty space that sat
beside her.
Don’t be silly
, Heather thought,
just childish games, an
imaginary friend; all children have them.
The young girl stood and ran
towards her, humming. She crouched down, taking her hands.