A Gift of Time (The Nine Minutes Trilogy Book 3) (3 page)

Chapter Four

Tommy

1976,
The Motel, Fort Lauderdale

“
You’ve got it
. You’re doing fine, Kit!” Grunt grinned at her
from the passenger seat. “Just let up on the gas a little bit. You don’t need
to hit the brake to slow down. There’s not another car in sight. Ease your foot
off the gas pedal, and the car will slow down on its own. And remember, don’t
use your left foot at all. I can see you’re struggling with that. Believe me,
you’ll get used to it, and you’re doing great.”

Ginny huffed
out a breath. “I know. I know. It just seems like this car is so powerful. I’m
not sure if I can drive something that seems so aggressive, Grunt. Of course,
I’ve never driven, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it just seems
maybe he could’ve given me something a little more my style. Maybe something
more like Moe’s car.”

Grunt
glanced at her. He wanted to tell her she had a style all her own, and he
couldn’t think of any mold—or car, for that matter—that she would
ever conform to. She looked so serious with her hands at the ten and two
o’clock positions on the wheel.

“You need to
relax,” he said. “You look too stiff and uncomfortable. There’s nobody around.
Enjoy the ride.”

She smiled
at that and chanced a quick glance to her right.

“It’ll be so
nice being able to drive myself around, Grunt. I can’t wait to pick up Sarah Jo
and just head to the mall or the movies or the beach, or even the library.
Well, not really the mall. You know how much I hate shopping, but it’ll be fun
to get out, you know?”

Grunt smiled
back at her, but there was no sincerity behind it. He’d thought at first she
would shun the over-the-top birthday present from Grizz. She wasn’t the type to
be impressed with fast and fancy cars, and Grunt had been right about that. But
she didn’t see the sparkling new Trans Am as a toy to be flaunted, to make
herself feel good. She saw it as a means to return to some semblance of an
average life. Having time with a girlfriend, doing what other girls her age
were doing. And he didn’t like that one bit.

They were
quiet as ABBA serenaded them with “Dancing Queen.” It was coming from a
state-of-the-art stereo sound system that rivaled even his own.

“I hope you
don’t think I forgot about your birthday, Kit,” he said after a few moments. “I
ran out and got you something as soon as I realized that this,” he motioned
with his hand around the interior of the car, “was a birthday present. It took
me a couple of weeks because I was having it personalized, but I brought it
with me and thought I could give it to you over lunch.”

He wasn’t
being absolutely truthful. Of course, he knew when her birthday was. He just
couldn’t let her or anybody else know, so he acted like he learned it for the
first time when Grizz presented her with the car.

He reached
down with his left hand and retrieved something from behind her seat. She
peered over at the neatly wrapped package he held in his hand.

“You got me
a birthday present?” She smiled as she moved her eyes back to the road and,
without giving him time to answer, added, “I can’t believe you bought me a
present. Thank you.”

“You don’t
even know what it is, and you’re already thanking me?” His tone was light,
teasing.

“It doesn’t
matter what it is. Just the fact you thought to get me something and wrapped it
means so much.” Then she added shyly, “I’ve never opened a present before.”

He felt a
stab of pain in his heart for her. He knew what that felt like. He’d never
opened a present before, either. He quickly regained his composure.

“Get over to
the right so we can get on 95. How about we head down to Miami for some real
Cuban food? Does that sound good for lunch?”

She
hesitated for a second, and he knew what she was thinking.

“Don’t worry
about Grizz, Kit. I told him I would spend the day giving you driving lessons.
He knows I’m smart enough not to take you to familiar places. We’re heading far
enough south. It’ll be fine.”

She nodded
and smiled as she gave the car a little more gas. He could sense she was
feeling a little giddy. Was it the sense of freedom that came with driving her
very own car, the T-tops off and the air blowing her ponytail around? Or was it
the anticipation of opening a present? It didn’t matter. He could tell it
stemmed from a deep-rooted happiness or perhaps just a sense of belonging, and
it warmed his heart to witness it.

Forty-five
minutes later, they faced each other in the tiny booth at the little restaurant
that offered the most authentic Cuban cuisine in all of South Florida. The
tantalizing aromas teased their senses as the warm breeze caressed their faces
through the open window. They could hear the drone of traffic through the
window screen. They had just ordered their meals, and Grunt tried not to smile
as Ginny practically bounced around in her seat. She was excited about his
present, and it made his heart swell.

Kit, he
corrected himself. He had to catch himself many times in the past several
months when he’d started to call her Ginny and not Kit. He wasn’t supposed to
know her real name, and he hated the nickname Grizz gave her. She wasn’t Kit.
She was and always would be Ginny. He couldn’t wait for the day when he could
call her by that name to her face. A day when they would be free from what he
considered a barbaric lifestyle.

He shook the
thoughts aside and reached for the package next to him.

“Well, I
guess you’re ready to open this.” He grinned, handing the gift over.

She took it
from him and held onto it, gazing at it with an expression he couldn’t read.

“Happy
birthday, Kit. I hope you like it.”

She looked
up at him, and he tried to decipher the expression on her face. She was turning
red. Was she embarrassed?

“Open it!”

She didn’t
say anything, just looked at him then at the package and back at him again. She
was hesitant, and he quickly realized why. She was savoring the moment. He let
her. He didn’t say anything for almost a full minute.

“It’s okay
to open it, Kit,” he said finally. “I promise you, it won’t be the last one
you’ll ever open.” He smiled at her then, a sincere and genuine smile that came
from the heart. He wanted to give this woman the world. And one day he would.

He watched
as she carefully undid the tape on each end and then in the middle. She did her
best not to rip the actual wrapping paper. After gently removing her present,
she just stared at it, tears welling up in her eyes.

“You
shouldn’t have, Grunt, but I’m so glad you did.” Her voice was a whisper. “It’s
beautiful, and I’ll treasure it forever.”

She lovingly
stroked the dark leather cover. Clutching it tightly to her chest, she looked
up at him with the most beautiful brown eyes he’d ever seen.

His breath
caught in his throat as he imagined her looking at him that way for a different
reason. Looking at him with eyes that cherished him as much as she cherished
her gift. He cleared his throat and added in a voice gravelly with emotion.

“There’s
something else. If you look closely at the bottom right, I had your initials
embossed. I had them made small enough so they wouldn’t be noticeable unless
you were looking for them.”

He
immediately saw the question in her eyes.

“It wasn’t
hard to figure out your real name, Kit. I’m not stupid, and Sarah Jo recognized
you as the girl from her rival school that supposedly ran away. But,” he
quickly added, “they goofed at the printers.”

She looked
down at the Bible and squinted to see the letters.

“G.L.D,” she
said quietly.

“I can send
it back and get you another one. I just didn’t want to wait so long that you
thought I forgot, so I chanced giving it to you now.”

He reached
across the table as if to take it from her, but she pulled it out of his reach
and held it to her chest again.

“I want to
keep this one,” she told him.

He breathed
a sigh of relief. Good. He wanted her to keep it. The printer hadn’t made a
mistake when embossing the Bible. It had been his intention all along for it to
have the initials that would represent her future name. Guinevere Love Dillon.
He even imagined them laughing about the happy coincidence after they’d been
blissfully married for years. Relief washed over him.

“Besides,”
she added with a big grin. “It’s not what’s on the outside of this book that’s
important.”

He looked at
her with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s about
what’s on the inside. Just like people. Don’t you think? It’s what’s on the
inside that really counts.”

Chapter Five

Carter

1981,
Fort Lauderdale

“
Ann Marie! Ann
Marie! Wait up!” Carter yelled as she ran
toward her friend.

Ann Marie
O’Connell continued to walk through the hallways of Cole University. She went
out the door and headed to the parking lot, lost in thought about the class
she’d just left. It was Introduction to Psychology. She found the class
interesting, but if she was honest with herself, she didn’t like it that much.
She especially didn’t like the part about labeling and assigning personality
types to people. It made her squirm, and she didn’t know why. If it weren’t
required, she would drop it in a heartbeat.

“Gosh, you
must have earplugs in!” she heard from over her shoulder and realized her new
friend, Carter, had come up behind her.

She smiled
at Carter as she let her catch up and they walked toward their cars. Darn
it—she still wasn’t used to her alias, Ann Marie. Between Guinevere,
Gwinny, Ginny, Kit, and now Ann Marie, she’d almost driven herself nuts with
confusion. But maybe that’s what Grizz’s intentions were with the gang names.
Confusion. She could understand it a little bit. But truth be told, she didn’t
really care that much anyway. She would even have gone back to being Priscilla
Celery, the silly name from her first fake I.D. if it meant she could go to
college. Thank goodness she didn’t need to. She was now in her second semester
at Cole and was thriving. She loved college.

“Do you have
plans for the weekend?” Carter asked. Before she could answer, Carter added, “I
thought you might like to come to my place and study. We have that big test
coming up, and I could sure use the help. This isn’t exactly my favorite
subject. Interesting enough, but just not my thing.”

Ginny—Ann
Marie—stared hesitantly at Carter. This wasn’t the first time she was
invited to Carter’s house, and she hated to refuse her again. She’d had a
million excuses as to why she could never get together during the weekend or
the evenings. She was always available to grab lunch after school or even meet
at the library to study with Carter and their other friend, Casey, but she was
careful to never socialize beyond school and most definitely never on a
weekend. Studying at Carter’s home seemed too intimate somehow. She was always
concerned about letting down her guard and possibly slipping up about her past.
She didn’t want to draw unwanted attention to herself.

She looked
at Carter’s hopeful expression and had a change of heart. She decided that,
yes, she would accept this invitation. She didn’t think Grizz would care. She
was certain after mentioning Carter and Casey a few times that Grizz probably
had them investigated. Well, if he hadn’t already done it, she was sure he
would after hearing she had accepted this study invitation. It was a good thing,
having a friend. She’d been lonely. Sarah Jo was still upstate attending
school, and Ginny wanted this. Needed this.

Two nights
later, Ginny found herself sitting in Carter’s small apartment. Carter’s little
home resembled a tiny zoo. Three cats, two dogs, and assorted birds, gerbils,
mice, and other small critters called this one-bedroom apartment home. Ginny
had to compete with the sounds of the birds squawking from their cages.

“So, before
we get started, tell me why that hot guy I’ve seen you with—what’s his
name again, Sam?—tell me why he calls you Kit,” Carter said as she handed
Ginny a glass of soda.

“Yes, his
name is Sam.” Ginny shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Maybe this wasn’t such
a good idea. She decided to change the subject.

“You go first,
Carter. Tell me how you came to be here and about all of this.” She motioned
around the room. Just then, an orange cat jumped up on her lap and snuggled in.
Ginny looked down and smiled, then up at her friend. “I’ve known you a couple
of months, but I really don’t know a lot about you. I mean, I know you go to
school at Cole, and you work at the grocery store, but what else? Tell me
something I don’t know.”

Carter
giggled. “Sure, as long as you promise to introduce me to Sam. He is so damn
good looking!”

Ginny sat
back and listened—and learned there was more to her new friend than she
could’ve ever imagined. Carter Coulter had been born with a silver spoon in her
mouth. A child of wealth and privilege, she’d grown up in a real
honest-to-goodness mansion on Cape Cod. She discovered when she was very young
that she couldn’t live up to what her wealthy parents expected of her, so while
her sister and brother were being privately tutored in classical piano, foreign
language, and sailing, Carter could be found in the kitchen with the servants
or in the stables with the horses.

“I realized
at a young age that I wanted nothing to do with that lifestyle.” Carter
shrugged and took a sip of her drink. “I can’t explain it, Ann Marie. It’s like
I was born into the wrong family. Where my sister and brother thrived on the
things that type of lifestyle afforded and expected, I shunned it at every
opportunity. My mom was a socialite, and I was a chore for her. She wanted
children she could parade before her snooty friends. It—it’s like we were
all in competition with each other, and the child with the most store-bought
skills won. We were trophies. Ignored unless it was showtime. I barely knew my
parents. Still don’t know them and don’t care to. I’ve been on my own since before
I graduated from high school.”

“You gave it
up? Your family, love, security—all to do your own thing?” Ginny’s mouth
hung open as she glanced around the small but clean apartment.

Carter
snorted. “Financial security, maybe. Love? There was no love. Like I said, I
barely knew my parents. I was raised by nannies. And when my mother realized
firing them because they couldn’t control me didn’t work—I was going to
do what I wanted anyway—she just gave up. When I got kicked out of the
umpteenth prestigious prep school for raising a family of rats in the
kitchen...” Carter gave Ginny a wide smile. “Well, let’s just say my mother
developed a case of the overdramatic vapors and told my father to handle me. He
only knew one way to ‘discipline’ me—” She used her hands to air quote,
then continued, “By telling me that if I didn’t graduate from Uppity Upperson’s
School for the Overprivileged and Short on Conscience Academy for Snobs, he
would cut me off. Which he did, and which is why I’m here. I took what little
money I had of my own, got myself to Florida, got my GED, and enrolled at Cole.
You already know I work full-time at the grocery store, and I go to school
almost full-time, and every spare minute I get I use to come back here and take
care of my animals. They’re my family, and they’re all I need.” She paused
before adding wistfully, “I do miss my horses, though.”

“So you
don’t miss your family?” Ginny looked at her.

Carter
smiled. “I was born into the wrong family. There was nothing to miss, Ann
Marie.”

Ginny sipped
her soda and decided she had been right about Carter, right to come here. She
had wanted so badly to trust this new friend, but had had a hard time letting
Carter warm up to her. She was still so guarded about her own roots. To hear
about someone who came from almost the exact same background, with the
exception of all that money, gave her hope. She wasn’t entirely alone. They’d
both come from homes where they were not wanted, were used for ulterior
motives, and were virtually ignored. Ginny had been used by Delia to keep her
household running. Carter’s parents had tried to use her by making her into a
show ornament for their wealthy friends. It was different, but the same in a
sense. She couldn’t explain it, but suddenly she felt an almost kindred spirit
with Carter.

“I’ve never
met a girl named Carter.” Ginny’s brows knitted. “Actually, I’ve never met a
guy named Carter, either.”

Carter
grimaced. “I have my parents to thank for that one. Does the name Carter ring
any bells?”

Ginny looked
thoughtful, shook her head, “No. I mean, that’s our president’s name, but other
than—” Her eyes widened as Carter nodded at her.

“Let’s just
say my parents are very politically connected.” Carter rolled her eyes.
“They’ve been friends a long time. Who would’ve guessed one of my father’s
childhood friends would end up in the White House?”

“Wow,” was
all Ginny could think to say.

“So, your
turn,” Carter said, bringing Ginny out of her thoughts. “Start with Sam. Will
you introduce me, and why does he call you Kit?”

Carter
wiggled her eyebrows, and Ginny smiled. “I will absolutely introduce you to
Sam. He is cute, isn’t he?”

“No, he’s
not cute. He’s adorable. Dimples and all. And quit avoiding the question. Why
Kit?”

“Oh, that’s
just a nickname,” she answered casually. “My husband calls me Kit. You know,
it’s short for Kitten.” She blushed.

“I like it.
You don’t look like an Ann Marie.” Carter leaned way back in her chair. “So
when can I meet your husband? You don’t strike me as the marrying type. I guess
that tattoo on your finger, which I’ve never quite been able to read ’cause I
haven’t gotten close enough, is your wedding band. Am I right?”

Ginny
subconsciously tucked her left hand beneath the cat on her lap.

“My husband
isn’t really the social type. He’s a lot older than me, and because of that, we
find it hard to socialize. It’s difficult to find friends or couples in our age
group that like the same things as us. You know what I mean?”
          

Carter
smiled kindly at her new friend. She could tell Ann Marie was struggling with
something. Carter didn’t mean to come off as nosy, but she was just so excited
to have made another friend, one that she could sense was the real deal, she
was a bit overzealous in her questioning. She wanted Ann Marie to trust her.
And more important than that, she wanted it for the right reasons. She had
grown up around so many phony people, and she wanted friends she could
genuinely connect with. She would have to figure out a way to let Ann Marie
know she was sincerely interested in her life, that there was no need to put on
false pretenses. Carter could be trusted with whatever it was Ann Marie
couldn’t bring herself to share.

“So, Kit.”
Carter grinned and gave her a level gaze. “Has anybody told you that you are
one lousy liar?”