Time for Love (35 page)

A petite figure dozed in a chair near the window, a book hanging loosely from her hand. “Jessie?” she whispered. No response. She cleared her throat and spoke a little louder, “Jessie?”

Jessie’s head popped up. Her smile turned radiant when she saw Alex’s open eyes. “Alex! You’re awake. Let me get the doctor.”

Before Alex could say anything, Jessie was out the door calling for help. Within moments, the room swarmed with doctors and nurses. After poking and prodding her for a quarter of an hour, they pronounced she was doing well and advised her to get some rest. Jessie came back in as they exited.

She fluttered around the room a moment then settled back down on the edge of the bed. “I was so worried about you.”

“How did I get here? How did you find me? I don’t really think I was expected to come back.”

Jessie’s smile had a hint of wickedness that made Alex grin in response. It was so good to see her once again. “Well, I haven’t
exactly
made things easy on that Sawyer man since you left.”

“Oh?”

“Of course I’ve been worried about you ever since you told me what you were going to do, and then one day I was watering your plants, as I said I would, when you got a call from Steven Evans.”

Alex attempted to sit but pain shot up her side, and she immediately sank back down.

Jessie darted forward at her gasp, a worried frown back on her face. “Here let me fix this for you.” She pushed a button on the bed’s side rail, and the bed slowly lifted until Alex was sitting in a more comfortable upright position.

“Thanks,” Alex got out between breaths, clutching at her chest as she labored to breathe, and the pain slowly receded. “Go on, tell me about Steven.”

“He’s been frantic about his sister and was calling to see if you had learned anything more. When he mentioned she’s a doctor, I realized Sawyer must have lied to you. Steven and I have been hounding Sawyer ever since. We’ve both called the police, but they’re not really following through. I wouldn’t doubt that money has exchanged hands.” Her disgust was evident in the way she fairly spit out the words. Then the mischievous grin came back. “Of course, that didn’t work with the reporters.”

A laugh exploded out of Alex before she could suppress it. When it didn’t cause an upsurge of pain, she let loose some of the mirth inside. Breathing heavily once again, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes; she gradually quieted down and admired Jessie. “Oh, I wish I could have seen it. That Sawyer’s so used to everyone doing exactly what he wants—when he wants it—it must have thrown him for a loop when a reporter showed up.”

“Yeah, well, he wasn’t too pleased that I knew where you had gone. The man can curse like a sailor.”

“What did you tell the reporter? I’d think they’d ignore anyone with such a crazy tale.”

“I knew better than to mention the time travel aspect. I just told him you had disappeared shortly after meeting with Sawyer, and the same had happened to your sister in England. The guy started looking into Sawyer and found a number of other disappearances that could be tied to him, though loosely. He had no real evidence, but Sawyer apparently tried to order the reporter around and just managed to piss him off instead, so the guy refused to drop it. So when you turned up, Sawyer called me in so I could see for myself that you’re alive.” She frowned. “I’ve been giving him hell over your condition. Care to tell me what happened?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Take your time, I’m not going anywhere.”

****

Little by little, and over the course of several days since Jessie and the doctors kept insisting she get her rest, Alex told Jessie all about her time spent with Nicholas. She tried to brush off her feelings for him as nothing more than a passing affair, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. Jessie’s gaze bore through her, attempting to penetrate straight to her heart.

Jessie wasn’t her only visitor. She also received frequent visits from Charlotte’s brother, who couldn’t hide his worry even though Alex reassured him at every visit that Charlotte was fine.

Steven was very handsome, in a boyish way, that endeared him to Alex straightaway. Though he was actually a few years older, she began to see him as her younger brother. She had the strongest feeling she needed to watch over him, strange as the thought was considering she was the one lying in a hospital bed recovering from a near fatal wound.

His dark hair seemed perpetually messy, and she resisted the urge to suggest he get a haircut. His smile was infectious, and he often joked he must surely have at least one vampire ancestor who passed on his sharp canines and preference for rare steak.

Though she knew he struggled with worry, Alex cherished the time spent with him as he regaled her with tale after tale of Charlotte’s wild childhood. She had apparently been quite a handful in her younger days. He had obviously doted on her when they were kids, and they had remained close as adults.

Jessie and Steven kept her so busy and entertained during visiting hours that the time flew by. Alex worked with a physical therapist who praised her progress and determination to recover quickly.

Alex left only reluctantly at the end of each session when a nurse came to escort her back to her room.

Even frequent visits from Sawyer, who pushed for detailed reports of her trip—which she refused to give—were welcome. Adrenaline would course through her body as she fought her disgust for the contemptuous little man who had so deceived her and who knew how many other innocent people who had the misfortune of straying across his path. His visits gave her something to focus her energy on and kept her from wallowing in the pit of misery she sank into each moment she was left alone.

Her thoughts would return to Nicholas in those moments. Deep in the night when everyone slept and even the night nurses spoke in whispers, Alex would lie awake, her heart aching and silent tears wetting her pillow. After the tears dried on her face, she would fall into a fitful slumber, where dreams of Nicholas always ended with him drifting farther and farther away.

****

Though it felt like forever, Alex recovered swiftly, and soon it was time for her to leave the hospital. As she awaited her official discharge, Jessie bustled about the room keeping up a steady stream of light-hearted chatter and packing the few items Alex would be taking home.

Jessie’s voice trailed off, and Alex looked up to see Sawyer standing in the doorway. He nodded stiffly to Jessie, a disapproving frown on his face.

She smiled brightly in return. “So, heard anything from Jim at the Times lately?” she asked, not even bothering to keep her tone civil. She had not been pleased when Alex had refused to press charges against Sawyer for kidnapping. They had argued for over an hour before Jessie gave in and acknowledged it wasn’t an option given the extraordinary circumstances. Alex would end up painted as a head case.

“The man calls me at least once a week,” he grumbled. “I need to speak with Miss Turner, please excuse us.”

“It’s okay, Jessie,” Alex reassured her friend, before she could respond. Sawyer had been careful to visit Alex only when Jessie was unlikely to be around, so they had only come across each other once or twice since Alex’s return. That they could barely tolerate each other was plain to see. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll wait in the lobby. Steven’s bringing his car around.” Alex and Jessie planned to stay at Steven’s flat for a few days before they took the long flight home.

Jessie cast one more suspicious glance at Sawyer and left, leaving the door open wide behind her.

“Interfering little…” Sawyer’s sentence was lost as he turned to close the door, but Alex felt the heat rush to her face in anger over his treatment of her dear friend.

“You can just keep your vicious little thoughts to yourself,” Alex said. “She’s a wonderful woman who was simply concerned for my safety. The only reason you don’t like her is because she’s smarter than you and didn’t cower in fear when you tried to control her.”

“She never would have known anything about me if you hadn’t told her. Against orders, I might add.”

“You can’t order me about you know, I don’t work for you. I wasn’t under any obligation to—” She held up her hand to stop his response. “You know what? We’ve been over this enough already. What do you want now?”

“I want to assure you that should you change your mind about returning to your rightful place in time, you have only to call me, and I will arrange for your passage through the portal. I see now that it was a mistake to trick you, but the fact remains, you don’t belong here.”

“I told you. I’m not going back.” Alex shivered, though the air was quite warm in the small, cramped room. An image of a dark cave and shimmering portal assailed her senses. She shook her head to clear it of the vision and looked into Sawyer’s eyes.

“I don’t belong there either, that has been made perfectly clear.”

****

Dinner that night was Chinese take-out at Steven’s place. Alex tried to keep up her end of the conversation, but her thoughts wandered. She was staring out the window when she suddenly realized Jessie and Steven had fallen silent and were watching her. “I’m sorry. Did you ask me something?”

They cast meaningful glances at each other, and Steven nodded his head to Jessie. She took a deep breath and reached out to hold Alex’s hand. “We’re worried about you, honey.”

“I’m fine! They never would have let me leave the hospital if I wasn’t.” She attempted a smile but knew it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I’m not talking about your health, and you know it. You’re miserable. You’re trying to hide it, but it’s obvious. Do you love him?”

Alex’s head jerked up, and she stared at Jessie. She had listened to all of Alex’s descriptions of her adventures but had never once asked her directly about Nicholas. Now that Alex thought of it, Jessie had pretty much avoided the subject.

“It’s plain to see she does,” Steven responded.

Wait a minute. She hadn’t even mentioned Nicholas to Steven. What did he know about him?

He smiled at her. “Jessie and I have been talking.” He reached over and grabbed her other hand. “We wanted to wait until you were better before we discussed this with you.”

“Yes.” Jessie squeezed Alex’s hand gently. “We can’t stand to see you so melancholy. I met you when you were at a low point in your life, and even then you were never this unhappy. So…” She took a deep breath. “…we’ve been talking and decided you should return to him.”

“What!” Alex exclaimed. “I almost died, and you want me to go back?”

“From what you’ve described, it sounds like that particular danger has passed. You’re miserable here. So what’s to prevent you from returning and being with the man you love?” Jessie asked.

“He sounds like a nice guy. He rushed to your rescue and all that; I thought girls loved stuff like that.”

Steven’s grin was contagious, and Alex found herself responding.

“Yeah, well. He does have a certain heroic charm.” Alex’s grin was swift and quickly faded. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought about the night she was shot. She relived the terror of seeing Lord Stone aim the gun at Nicholas, the pain that tore through her along with the bullet, and the anguished look on Nicholas’s face as he caught her.

“Unless you’re scared?” Jessie’s quiet voice asked.

“Humph! I’ve traveled through time, served as a sailor on a nineteenth century cargo ship, survived a knife fight, been tied up in a pitch-black cave with my presumed dead twin sister, been shot—What’s left?”

“That he might not love you as you love him?”

“Oh, that,” she replied weakly. “Yes, there’s always that.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

September 18, 1818

Nicholas ignored the noise of a carriage stopping on the street before his front door. His mother and sister likely returning from whatever entertainment they had attended that evening, though it seemed a touch early. He would learn all the details of the evening, whether he wanted to or not, at some point the following day. He was in no rush.

They continuously plagued him with all the invitations that flooded the house, including the one for this evening, though he couldn’t recall where they had gone. Even though it was the mini-season and London was much quieter at this time of year, there appeared to be no end to the social whirl. Each night the same, just another display of silly young girls hoping to snare a rich and titled husband. He had no interest and had yet to consider attending even one of the myriad events that consumed fashionable society.

Had his mood been any less morose, he would have considered it amusing. Those same lords and ladies who were so eager to have him present at their next ball would run from him in fear if they hadn’t been blinded by his new title and wealth. They would even offer up their lovely daughters on a platter to gain a match with a Marquess. He couldn’t help compare them to Alex who hadn’t minded his scars and could care less for his title or fortune.

But none of it was able to gain more than a flicker of interest. Four months had passed since he said goodbye to Alex in that hospital room, and his thoughts were still consumed with her. His life was empty without her at his side. He thought constantly of how she would have reacted to each and every event that forced its way into his notice.

He’d briefly considered returning to
The Reliant
until he recognized there would be no relief from that quarter. His ship, and especially his cabin, would be full of memories of her.

At least here, in his home, there were no memories, only crushed dreams. He had pictured her gracing his home, sharing his life, bearing his children. Now she was gone. He had made the choice, better to lose her to another time than lose her to death. It was a small consolation.

A murmur of voices followed the opening of the front door. Not family then, his mother and sister could never manage such a quiet entrance. Silence was a foreign concept to the two of them, he thought fondly. They’d spent too many mute years living under his brother’s thumb, to waste any time restraining their voices now they were free.

He wished he could put Alex behind him, if only for their sakes. He loved them and should have cherished his homecoming. He’d been denied it for so long. Instead, he could only notice that Alex wasn’t with him, and without her, this house could never be a home.