Lightning Only Strikes Twice (32 page)

Luke stood on her step, hands in his pockets, looking exhausted.

Her breath caught at the sight of him.

“Luke!” She opened the door wide, wanting to throw her arms around him, but his expression stopped her. “What’s wrong? Has something happened to your father?”

“No. He’s resting. I checked with the hospital just before I came over.” His mouth tilted in a brief smile.

Relief flooded her. Thank God. “Then why aren’t you with him?

“I’m headed over there now,” he said. “I have specific instructions to bring you with me.”

She frowned in confusion. “From whom?”

“My dad.” Luke lifted her jacket from unresisting hand and held it out for her.

She slipped her arms through the sleeves and then closed the front door. “Why would he want to see me?”

“He wouldn’t tell me. But he was quite adamant.”

Dazed by the request, she followed Luke to his car and climbed in when he opened the door.

He settled into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“Your father really asked to see me?”

“He wants to meet my girlfriend.”

“Your pretty blonde girlfriend?”

He chuckled. “No. You.”

“That can’t be right.”

Luke glanced at her. “Why not?”

“Because he told me to stop seeing you.” As the words came out, she realized they hadn’t discussed that part of Mr. Maxwell’s visit yesterday.

“Is that why my dad came to see you?”

“I’m sorry.” She bit her lip. “I was going to tell you, but then…”

“We found us, again.”

She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. With Luke’s father demanding she stay away, it would have been easier to believe it had all been a dream. “He doesn’t want you involved with the granddaughter of a cheat.” Her voice broke. No matter how untrue, it still hurt. “I should have told you sooner.”

“We’ll work it out.” He covered her hand.

Their fingers naturally intertwined and warmth infused her to the core. Maybe he cared for after all.

“Do you know how badly I wanted to come over last night?” he said.

Her heart tripped. “As much as I wanted you to?”

He smiled. “More.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m not sure what happened to us. But I can tell you this—as much as I’m relieved to know I’m not losing my mind, I’m more thrilled you’re back in my life.”

“Luke…”

“Don’t.” He released her to negotiate the turn into the hospital parking lot. “Don’t say anything. I know we have things to work through. Right now I just want to enjoy being with you.”

She’d wanted that too. Luke was her past and her present. If they could clear up this ugly mystery between them, he could very well be her future.

As they entered the hospital, Annie realized she hadn’t called her work. She noticed a bank of phones and veered toward them.

Luke caught her elbow. “Where are you going?”

“To tell my supervisor I’m running late.”

“Ask for the day off,” he said.

She grimaced. “As much I’d like that, I can’t. I’ve already given my two-week notice. I need to train my replacement.”

“You quit your job? Why?”

“I…I’m moving away.” She took a deep breath. Yesterday’s revelation changed everything. Yet, if she couldn’t resolve things with Mr. Maxwell, then moving away was the right decision.

Luke stared. “I can’t believe how close we came to never seeing each other again.” He handed her his cell phone. “Use this. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

Annie wished she could bottle the warmth Luke’s words offered. Instead, she took the phone and placed the call and refused to let her boss’s disgruntled permission diminish the joy of Luke wanting her close.

They rode the elevator to the third floor. As they walked into the intensive care unit, a nurse stopped them.

“We’re here to see Arnold Maxwell,” Luke explained. “I’m his son.”

“His nurse is with him right now. Give her about five minutes, then you can go in.” She directed Luke and Annie to wait in a room just outside intensive care.

The room was occupied with other patients’ families and they couldn’t sit together.

Annie glanced at Luke, feeling awkward as she took a chair at the opposite side. This was a place for families, close friends. She was neither to Mr. Maxwell. She would have been more comfortable if they’d been alone. Then she felt ashamed of the selfish thought. Seeing Luke’s dad, making certain he was going to recover, was more important than her unease.

Regardless of what she and Luke shared in the past, whether or not they had a future together, hinged on his father accepting her.

****

Annie stood in the doorway and nervously wiped her palms on her pant legs.

Arnold Maxwell stared at her over the tubes pushed inside his nostrils. His vulnerable position didn’t lessen the power of the man. He intimidated her, even from his sick bed.

“Come closer,” he rasped. The nurse had raised the head of his bed so he appeared to recline comfortably.

She glanced warily at Luke.

He winked and gave a slight nod.

Encouraged by his solid strength, she crossed the floor to stand beside Mr. Maxwell’s bed. “I’m sorry for what happened,” she said.

“Sorry you saved my life?” Arnold raised an eyebrow.

“No!” She touched his arm. “Of course not. I’m sorry I caused your heart attack.”

Arnold looked over at Luke. “She told you I was at her house when this happened?”

Luke nodded.

“Did she tell you why?”

“She did.” Luke’s voice held hint of icy disapproval.

Annie felt a measure of relief, knowing Luke was on her side. Then remembered, this wasn’t about “sides.”

The older man pursed his lips. He studied first Luke, then Annie. “You didn’t cause my heart attack.
You
saved my life,” he told her. “I probably would’ve died if I’d been anywhere else.”

She shook her head. “Anywhere else and you wouldn’t have gotten upset.”

“Not what the doctor said.” A muscle in his jaw jerked slightly. “I was a ticking time bomb. Would have gone off anyway.”

“What else did the doctor say?” Luke asked.

“They’re scheduling me for surgery to unclog the damn arteries.”

“When?”

“Next couple of days. First, they need to see if I live that long.”

Annie shuddered. She was bound to this man because of what happened. She may not like some things he said, but she didn’t want him to die. Especially for Luke’s sake.

Arnold must have felt her tremble. He placed a large hand over hers.

“That’s why I needed to see you, Annie,” he said. “Can I call you Annie?”

She blinked. “Of course.”

“Good.” He tried to clear his throat.

Luke found a cup of water and held it out for his father.

“Thanks, son.” Arnold took a sip and handed the cup back. Then he looked at Annie with narrowed eyes. “Rick said you’d understand.”

Annie tilted her head. Had she heard right? “Did you say Rick? My grandfather?”

Arnold let out a short chuckle, which turned to a cough. He held a hand to his chest. “Damn, that hurts.” He glanced at Luke. “Don’t ever get into a fight with this girl. She’s a lot stronger than she looks.”

“Dad, what are you talking about?” Luke said. He appeared as confused as Annie felt.

“CPR,” Arnold said. “She nearly broke a rib.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She let go of Arnold’s arm and stepped away from the bed. “We should let you rest.”

“No!” Arnold tried to sit up, but Luke put a hand on his father’s shoulder.

At that moment, the nurse rushed in. “Arnold, your visitors need to leave now.”

Arnold glared at the nurse. “No. I have to talk to them.”

The nurse looked at the heart monitor, which had taken a jump when Arnold moved.

“Please,” he asked.

Annie watched the standoff between Luke’s father and the nurse. She was sure the nurse would escort them out any second.

Turning to Luke and Annie, she said, “Don’t upset him. The doctor insists he remain calm.”

“It’ll upset me more if you kick them out,” Arnold warned.

The nurse silenced her patient with a look.

“We’ll do our best to keep him calm,” Luke said.

The nurse looked at her watch. “I’ll give you five more minutes.”

“Twenty,” Arnold said. “I have lots to discuss.”

The nurse’s mouth tightened to grim line. “Ten.” She raised a finger to stop Arnold’s objection. “And then you rest for two hours before the next visit.” Before Arnold could protest again, she left the room.

“Ten minutes doesn’t give me much time,” he told them. “Guess I’d better get started. Now where was I?”

Annie was amazed at Arnold’s will power. “You were saying something about my grandfather.”

“Ah, yes. Rick.”

Hearing Arnold talk about her grandfather as though they’d just met yesterday for lunch unnerved her. “How well did you know my grandfather?”

“I’ll start at the beginning…” Arnold reached out a hand. “More water, please.”

Luke handed him the cup again.

Arnold took a sip and gave it back. “About ten years ago, Rick was going to sell me the property in White Rock.”

Annie nodded. “I read about it in his journals. He must have changed his mind.”

“You’d like to know why, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes. So far, in my reading, he doesn’t mention why he didn’t go through with the sale.”

“Well, first you have to understand his purpose for selling.” Arnold squirmed for a more comfortable position.

Annie waited anxiously for him resume.

When he seemed settled, he continued. “Rick needed the money to send you to college. He wanted to give you an opportunity for a better life. He contacted my company and we negotiated terms. Even drew up the contract. One afternoon, we took a tour of the property. We hadn’t planned to stay long. And then a storm rolled in from the west.”

Annie’s vision blurred. The room started to spin as though she was tumbling off a merry-go-round.

“Annie!” Luke was beside her in an instant. “Are you all right?”

“I’m a little lightheaded.”

She took his arm as he settled her on the edge of the mattress. “I should have eaten breakfast this morning.” Luke’s strong presence steadied her. She glanced at him, feeling warmth radiate through her. “Thank you.” She looked at Luke’s father. “I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

“If you’re sure…” Arnold said. He glanced uncertainly at Luke and then back to Annie.

She nodded.

“Let’s see…Rick and I hiked the hill behind the old mill that day. He wanted to show me the tree where his grandfather had carved his family’s initials.” Arnold chuckled. “Your old man could sure tell some stories.”

“I know.” Annie smiled, remembering.

“Well, there’s no other way to tell you, but to simply say it.”

“Say what, Dad?” Luke asked.

Arnold glanced between Luke and Annie. “Until yesterday, I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”

Annie was glad she was sitting. She didn’t know how, but she knew exactly what Luke’s father was going to say next.

After taking a deep breath, he continued. “One minute we were looking over the property, I was listening to one of Rick’s old tales and the next…we were in 1899. White Rock, at the turn of the century.”

Chapter Nineteen

How Luke found the chair, he didn’t know. He was just glad he hadn’t collapsed on the floor of his father’s hospital room.

His own father
and
Annie’s grandfather had gone back in time? Like Annie and him?

Except they’d gone back to 1899—
eight years
after Annie and Luke had been there. Could his life get any stranger?

“Dad,” Luke said, swallowing the disbelief in his throat. “Time travel is not possible.”

His father remained silent for a moment. Then he smiled. “You believe me, don’t you, Annie?”

It wasn’t really a question, but she answered it just the same. “I do.” She looked at Luke. “So does your son.”

His father’s eyes had a perceptive glint. “I know.”

“What did you and my grandfather do while you were there?”

Arnold Maxwell’s scowl wasn’t from pain. Luke had seen the expression when his father struggled with a difficult project.

“We didn’t adapt very well, I can tell you that. It was particularly hard on Rick, meeting his grandfather and his own father as a young boy.”

Luke recalled the baby Elizabeth had carried. Annie had spoken of a baby when she woke up in the grove after their accident. He must have been born while Luke was chasing down the shaman.

“Elizabeth’s child.” She smiled. “He would’ve been about eight years old then.”

Arnold nodded. “Sounds about right.”

“How—” Luke’s voice croaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “How’d you handle the situation?”

“Like I said, not very well at first. We didn’t have the advantage of seeing all these science fiction movies you kids grew up on. I’ll tell you, it was overwhelming to say the least. For a while there, we thought the sheriff was going to lock us away in the loony bin.”

“What stopped him?” Luke asked.

“Not what. Who. Doctor Smyth.”

Luke always suspected the doctor knew more than he let on. The old doctor must have figured it out after all.

“You must have been there when the fire broke out in the town,” Annie said. “Why didn’t you prevent the town from burning?”

Luke watched his father’s face as he waited for the answer. A hint of red tinged his dad’s cheeks.

“I’m afraid neither of us were very good citizens.”

“What do mean?” Luke asked.

“You have to understand,” Arnold said. “We didn’t know exactly what had happened to us. It looked more and more like we’d never return home. Given what we both knew about the future…well, I’ll just say we sort of took advantage.”

****

“My grandfather would have never done something like that.” Annie didn’t want to believe what she hearing.

“I’m afraid I wasn’t a good influence for him. Nor him for me.” Arnold waved a dismissive hand. “We honestly thought we were stranded. That we’d live the rest of our lives there. I won’t go into all the details. Just the ones you both need to know about.”