A Loop in Time (13 page)

It was a whirlwind romance so John saw no reason not to have a whirlwind wedding. The couple drove to Arizona so that Tim and Susan could attend. They got married at a Justice of the Peace’s office in Phoenix. Then the two of them headed off to Las Vegas for the honeymoon.

Unlike Susan, John avoided all of the places that he and Susan went to. So it was a different hotel and a different place to eat. The main reason they went to Las Vegas is because Emily had never been there before and it was kinda on the way home.

It was nice for John to spend time with his son/father. It was a part of him he never knew. Watching him grow was a special treat.

After a wonderful weekend in Las Vegas, the newlyweds went back to Idaho where John started his crop dusting season. After just two weeks of hardly ever seeing her new husband, Emily finally put her foot down one night.

“How long is this crop dusting season of yours?”

“It’s around nine months, why?”

“Are the hours going to get better, I mean are there going to be less hours?”

John saw where this conversation was going. “No, the hours will increase in a week. It will be basically eat, sleep, fly.”

“No, that doesn’t work for me.”

John had to smile inside. It was a typical Aunt Emily thing to say. He loved her for her frankness. “It’s my job.”

“I can go back to work at the café. My old boss calls me up all the time asking me to come in. I even got a call from my boss in Arizona asking me to come back. I think we can live on my income for awhile if we need to. How much is the house payment anyway?”

“The house is paid off.”

Her eyes got big and round. “Really?”

“Yes, I got a good deal on it.”

“Then we can get by on my income. Is there any savings?”

“Yes, quite a bit.”

“What’s going on?”

“Well, you know that I came from the future, right? So I know what companies to invest in and which ones not to,” John confessed.

“So you don’t need to work?” She folded her arms and was tapping her foot.

“No, I don’t, but I like flying.”

“So on your way to the airport go buy a plane, tell Fred that you are done.”

There was no argument that John could make that would work. He knew it and he knew she knew it. It wasn’t worth the breath it would take.

The next day he hopped into his car and started to drive. He also knew that Fred would be upset, but not surprised. He, himself, in the short time he was flying had seen it over and over again. A young pilot gets married and soon he’s all done.

When John got to the airport, he was a little early. Instead of waiting for Fred at the pilot’s assembly area, he headed straight for Fred’s office. Fred was just leaving the office when he saw John walking up.

“I know that walk. I’ve seen it before,” Fred said. “I can’t say I wasn’t expecting it, because I was. I will have your final check ready tomorrow. I will mail it to you. Today, I will just scratch you off the roster.”

“I haven’t quit yet,” John protested.

“You don’t need to. Have a nice day.”

“Wait, do you know of a nice plane for sale?”

“Yeah, Harold has a Cessna that he is getting rid of. Keeps it well maintained. It’s a nice four seater.”

“Thanks for everything, Fred. It’s been great working with you.”

“You lasted longer than some. Now get out of here. I have work to do.”

John got the hint and left. He called up Herold and made an appointment to test fly the plane. He then went to pick up Emily. He wanted her to see it before he bought it. The three of them had a nice flight over southern Idaho and northern Utah.

When they landed, Emily said, “I can see why you like flying so much. The view from up there is simply amazing.”

“Is this the first time you have flown?” John asked.

“Yes, the very first.”

The plane was in great condition and Herold’s asking price was reasonable, so John took it.

On the way home, they stopped at the Corner Café for dinner. Emily’s old boss came out and talked to her for a few minutes and then went in and made his signature dish. He told them they had to try it and when they did they loved it.

“How come this isn’t on your menu?” Emily asked.

“It costs too much to make,” her boss admitted.

“How much are we supposed to pay you?” was John’s question.

“Your money’s no good here today.”

“Thanks,” John replied and enjoyed the rest of his dinner.

That night John slept real well. Life had sent him for a loop, but he was adjusting and coming out better for it. Still he missed his cell phone, his tablet and the internet. One day he said he would Google something and Emily looked at him like he was crazy. He had to explain that it would be a word someday. Still she shook her head.

It was early in the morning that John got the call. Susan’s enlistment was over and she had good news. She and Tim were moving to Utah so she could go to medical school. They would be living just across the border from Idaho. It would be easy for them to pop up there on a weekend.

Tim was going into private practice and wanted to have her with him as a partner. It was no surprise to John. He remembered his father talking about going to visit Uncle John and Aunt Emily on a lot of the weekends. John had fond memories of these visits. Tim had found work in a hospital just north of the Great Salt Lake, so when Susan had expressed interest in continuing on with her education, he was all for it.

John and Emily drove to Arizona to help Tim and Susan pack. They then went back to Utah with them to move them into their new home.

The house they moved into was a white one story rambler with a large front porch. John recognized it right away by the porch swing. He had a lot of fun memories on that porch swing, sitting there with his father watching the world go by, it was just a small glimpse of the world. The house was on a hill and one could see the valley and the Great Salt Lake from it. This was the ‘Grandma’s house,’ that he remembered as a kid.

When Emily saw him staring at the porch swing, she put her arm around his and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Just having a memory,” John replied.

“Is it a good or a bad memory?”

“It’s a very good memory.” He turned and smiled at her. The truck had arrived at this point so they helped guide the movers where to put the boxes and then started unpacking them even while even more boxes were being moved in.

Both Tim and Susan noticed that John would look into a room and sigh. He seemed to know exactly where Susan wanted stuff. She finally cornered him. “You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”

“Yes, many times. I loved this place. Do you have that marshmallow chocolate chip cookie recipe yet?”

Susan was taken back a little. “I found a recipe like that in a woman’s magazine. I clipped it out with the thought of trying them someday.”

“You always had some in the cookie jar when we would come to visit. I will go shopping with you to get ingredients after we finish unpacking.”

Susan smiled, “sure, I can see how important it is. Can’t let you come to Grandma’s house without getting your favorite cookies.”

John gave out a short laugh then hugged her.

After they finished unpacking, they all went out to dinner and then went grocery shopping. That night they enjoyed the cookies while they played card games around the table.

It was nice having help just a couple of hours away. Some days when Susan would be having a hard time with finals or having struggles during a semester, Emily would go down and babysit for a week or two so Susan could get through the rough parts. The two women hit it off beautifully.

John and Emily were there in the front row during her graduation. It was a great day and they celebrated by going out to dinner.

After dinner, Susan got John aside. She had a serious look on her face. “Tim and I are thinking of adopting. We have started the paperwork. Now that I am through with school, I can join Tim’s practice. We will take turns being on call so there will always be someone home for the children. What do you think?”

“I think that’s up to you.” John said. He had not thought it out.

“I mean, you, the one with the knowledge of the future. Did we do that the last time around or not?”

“Oh,” he said. He was hesitant to answer. “I don’t know if I should tell you. You should live your life. So far it has turned out exactly like it did last time as far as I know.”

“I don’t want someone around that comes between Tim and me. What if we adopt a monster who ends up killing people? If we can stop it now, it would be better.”

“What does your heart tell you?” John was trying to put it back onto her.

“I don’t know. I want to do it, but I also am so worried. I can’t go forward, but I want to. Help me out.”

It was hard to deny Susan so he gave in. “Aunt Jamie and Aunt Elsie are wonderful and will make your life pleasant and full.”

“Twins?”

“Yes, they assigned the twins to you because of your stable marriage and financial stability.”

She gave John a huge hug. “Thank you so much!”

“Okay, but no more questions about the future. It makes me so uncomfortable.”

“I’ll try not to,” she said with a wink.

John just smiled back. Telling her no was a really hard thing to do.

 The two couples did get together again two years later when John and Emily went down to see the twins that Susan and Tim had adopted. They stayed a few weeks to help Susan adjust to the new family members. The girls were gorgeous. They both had blond hair. The twins were about a month old when they got them. One child had been a lot easier to raise than three. The twins seemed to take turns being awake.

John went back after a week, but Emily stayed. John and Susan were the only relatives that each other had so they both vowed to spend more time together. The families would spend each holiday at one of their homes. They would take turns. They never wanted to go as long as two years between visits again.

One Christmas Susan got John aside and asked, “is there anything coming up that I should worry about?” Ten year old Steven chased a ball that he had just received, with his two sisters close behind.

“What do you mean?” John asked, although he knew perfectly well what she was referring to. Emily had learned not to ask over the years, but Susan ignored ‘the rules.’

“Everything is going so well. I worry about what the future holds.”

“Pretend I know nothing of the future. There are bridges that have to be crossed, but you handle every situation perfectly well.”

“You’re not going to tell me about those bridges, are you?” Susan looked at him intently.

“No, I’m not.” John said. It would be the last time Susan asked.

They all went in for the Christmas dinner that Emily had made. While she was eating, Susan was worrying. There was a sadness in John’s eyes that she wondered about. She felt like something bad was going to happen, but John was keeping it to himself. What would be so awful that he would not talk to her about it?

John and Emily attended every major function in the children’s lives. The school plays, the Christmas pageants through graduation from high school. Then college started and then came the weddings. Susan didn’t ask, but she worried that the kids had picked the right ones. John didn’t say anything so she figured that they did.

Steven sat on the front porch swing with Uncle John during one of his visits. He got a serious tone all of a sudden and asked, “How do you know when you found have the right one? How did you know you should marry Emily?”

John had to think about how to answer that one. He decided not to. “Are you thinking of asking someone to marry you?”

“Yes. Her name is Judy. She’s adorable, she has this cute little button nose and dark black curly hair. I mean, not the type of curls that pile up on top of the head, just a kind of wavy hair.”

John smiled to himself as Steven described John’s mother. “What is your heart telling you?”

“It’s telling me to go for it.”

“Then that’s what you should do.”

“Thanks, Uncle John. I talked to Mom about it and she says you would have more insight than she does.”

“She did, did she?” was all John dared to say.

Steven married Judy from Nebraska. John cried at the wedding. When Emily asked what was going on, he replied that he had never seen his mother so happy and carefree. Emily wanted to ask what made it so she was not so carefree and happy in the future, but she bit her tongue.

When the children started to come into Steve’s family, John and Emily’s visits became more frequent. John liked nothing more than to hold little Jason in his arms. He said this particular boy would need a lot of loving.

When young Jason was around eight years old, John got up in the middle of the night and woke up Emily. “We have to go.”

“Where are we going? It’s the middle of the night.”

“Today’s going to be very bad; we need to be there for Susan and the rest of them.”

Emily did not say another word, but got dressed. They drove down to Susan’s home in near silence. When they arrived at the house, there was a police car in the driveway.

John jumped out to go up to the door, but Susan came out to the porch and slapped him hard.

Her face was red and puffy and she had been crying. “You
knew.
You could have stopped this, but you chose not to.”

Emily was shocked at what had just happened. “John knew what?”

“Steve was killed in an accident today.” The words brought more tears from Susan, then she got angry again. “Why didn’t you say something? He didn’t have to die.”

“He didn’t have to die on Second and Elm. He could have died on First Street or on Main. He would have died anyway. Time does not let you cheat death. If you are destined to die, you will die. It was his time. You have lost a son today. How about me? I have lost a son and a father. Do you know how painful that is?”

Susan didn’t understand his reasoning, but she saw the pain in his eyes and it softened her heart towards him. She threw her arms around him and then started crying on his shoulder. Emily went inside to comfort Tim. When she walked through the door she saw that Judy was there too, so she hugged her.

Judy was puzzled. “How did you get here so fast? Why did Susan slap John?”

“John had a premonition, so we started driving. Susan is just upset, she’ll get over it.”

Tim got up from the couch where he had been holding a crying Jason. He went over to Emily and hugged her. “Thanks for coming.”

Judy had heard everything that Susan and John had said to each other. It upset her, but still she didn’t know what it meant. Now was not the time to ask questions.

Susan and John came into the house still holding on to each other. Susan had cried some more but she was getting her composure back. “Judy, you and Jason can move in with us until you get back on your feet. We can move your stuff into the garage. We don’t want you going to find a job just yet.”

Judy nodded. Her eyes were bloodshot and she knew that without Steven’s income, she could not make the house payment.

“Never mind that. I will pay off your mortgage. It is important to me that you stay living in the same place. It is a good area to raise children.”

Judy was eternally grateful. She went over and hugged Uncle John. When she looked him in the eye she said, “Your cheek is really red.”

“Just a little misunderstanding.”

“Thank you, Uncle John, for your huge generosity. I will never forget it. What can I do to ever repay you?”

“You can raise that boy to be a good man. That is the only payment I will ever need.”

Susan started misting up again. She now understood what was going on. Everything happens for a purpose. It had all happened before and would happen again. Still, she had lost a son today and was sadder than she thought she could ever possibly be.

John and Emily stayed the week to take care of all of Steve’s affairs. They paid off the house, paid up the insurance on it for a couple of years and then dealt with the taxes, too. He made it so all future tax bills would go to his address in Idaho.

The funeral was held in the local cathedral. It was well attended as Steven was well known in the community for his volunteer work. Afterward John and Emily did not even go back to the house, but excused themselves and drove home.

On the way back Emily asked, “Can we afford all of this?”

“Easily. My investments are worth almost a million. I don’t want to cross that line because people start looking into who you are if you get the title ‘millionaire,’ so we are just under it.”

She sat back in the seat and relaxed but added, “I would like to travel someday. Italy would be nice, Paris too.”

“I know my Uncle John took a cruise to the Caribbean. I don’t remember what year that was. Do you want it to be this one?”

“Yes, but I get to plan it. I will be calling a travel agent as soon as I get home.”

John smiled. “Fair enough.”

It was an evening several weeks after the accident and the funeral that Judy was visiting Susan and Tim. She had wondered what happened and what was going on after she saw Susan slap John. Now was the time to get some answers. “What exactly is the relationship between you and John?” she asked Susan.

“He’s just a good family friend,” Susan replied. Her heart twanged at having to tell a lie.

“That’s the answer I expected, but it’s not the complete truth. I overheard you on the porch the day of the crash. You slapped John and asked why he didn’t say something and that Steve didn’t have to die. How would John know that?”

Tim walked into the room at that point and Susan looked up in panic to him. He got the message that the conversation was taking a bad turn.

Susan replied, “John is pretty good at predicting the future, is all. I would have thought he could have figured it out or something.”

“But in fact he did know somehow, didn’t he? He was there before we could call and tell him. Then he said that time does not let you cheat it, if you are going to die then you die. What does that mean?”

Tim was about to excuse himself but he saw how Susan was struggling so he jumped in. “Every family has its secrets. John is our secret. He does know the future. I cannot tell you why because you wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

“You did say family. I was led to believe that he was only a friend, but you said
family.
He said that he lost a son and a father that day. I heard him say it when he was still on the front porch.”

Susan let out a long sigh. “I was married to John before Tim and I tied the knot. Steven was John’s son, not Tim’s.”

Judy was wide eyed when Susan said it. “Wow, so I should have Jason call John Grandpa instead of Uncle.”

“No, he is to remain Uncle John.” Tim replied. “He would be very angry at us for telling you any of this.”

 “Why?” Judy was puzzled.

“Because, Honey,” Susan replied. “John’s real name is Jason, as in your Jason. He was in a plane wreck that somehow brought him back in time. That is why he also lost a father that day.”

Judy sat down. “I knew it. I mean I didn’t know it, but when I look into his John’s eyes, I see Jason. The facial features are the same, the crooked smile and that sense of humor. I watched them both one day, playing on the kitchen floor. They were laughing at the exact same thing.”

“You mean you believe us?” Tim asked.

“A mother always recognizes her own son, no matter how old he gets.” Judy looked over to Susan and said, “It must have been really weird being married to your own grandson!” She sounded accusatory if one listened really closely.

“He had amnesia at the time. Right in the middle of a wonderful honeymoon, his memory came back. It was very awkward.”

Judy tried not to, but she ended up giggling which caused Susan and Tim to laugh, too. It cut the tension.