Between Two Worlds (32 page)

“You have to go,” Gabriel told her, unwavering. “Save Fletcher.”

“I… I…”

“I’m going to miss you.” He grabbed her and branded his lips to
hers, searing her with a passionate kiss that she’d never forget. When they
parted, she stepped onto the bridge in a daze.

“Please tell Charlotte and Lucy goodbye for me,” she whispered.

He nodded, and she whirled and ran so he wouldn’t see her tears
mixing with the mist.

The rain stopped the moment she reached the other side. Same as
before, the sun glowed like an orange globe from the clear turquoise sky. She
heard the blare of car horns and the noise of the city buzzing around her. Not
far ahead, Georgia and Fletcher were being ushered toward a taxi cab. She
turned around to look back across the bridge. It was gone. And so was Gabriel.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and ran.

“Stop!” she yelled, dashing toward the little man  helping Georgia
and Fletch inside the car.

He spun around and grinned, and tipped his cap to show her a nest
of red curls. His green eyes sparkled like gems. “Miss Marshall. Nice to see ye
again, lass.”

A slow, sad smile spread across her face. She handed him the
striped umbrella. “Thanks for letting me borrow this, Sam.”

Four Weeks Later

“I wish you and Fletch weren’t moving out of my apartment just
yet,” Delaney moped. She and Georgia were taking their morning coffee together
at the breakfast table. They were both dressed in shorts and tee shirts. “I’m
going to miss having you guys around.”

“You’ve been so kind,” Georgia replied. She put her hand over
Delaney’s. “But I need to get us settled into a place of our own before
Fletcher starts school. This is a great opportunity for us. I can hardly pass
it up.”

“I know. I can’t believe how well things have turned out for you
in such a short time. Fletch is completely over the scarlet fever, you lucked
onto a job at the hospital, and now you get to move into a furnished
apartment—in a very nice part of Phoenix, I might add.” She plucked a donut out
of the box in front of them and took a bite. “The stars sure were in alignment
the day we took Fletch to the hospital.”

Georgia giggled. “Why do you say that?”

“Because that handsome, single Dr. Eddings was the ER doctor on
duty. He took one look at you and fell head over heels.”

Georgia blushed. “I don’t know about that, Delaney. I think it was
pure luck that he took a shinin’ to me.”

“Baloney! It was more like divine intervention. When he found out
you were new in town and needed a job, do you really think it was pure luck
that you got an interview for that opening at the hospital? I’m happy you got
the position, but you don’t realize how many people apply for those jobs and never
get a call back, let alone an interview.”

Georgia shrugged and helped herself to a donut.

Delaney continued. “
Then
, he tells you his sister is
leaving for a year in Europe, and the person who was going to house-sit her apartment
has backed out. Wallah! Now you and Fletch have a place to live for a year.
And
in the meantime, you’ve gone out with Mr. Wonderful almost every night
since you two met. That’s more than luck, my dear, naïve Virginian magnolia
blossom.”

Georgia laughed. “None of this would have been possible without
you, Delaney. You’ve given my son and me the opportunity to live a wonderful
new life. We’re so thankful. I’m so grateful for what you did.” She grew
serious. “You had a Mr. Wonderful, too. You sacrificed your happiness with Dr.
Whitman for Fletcher. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.” She
smiled thoughtfully.

Gabriel’s hazel eyes and delicious mouth flashed into Delaney’s
mind. She wondered what he was doing at that very moment.  Was he missing her,
the same way she missed him? He was all she’d thought about since returning
home. She couldn’t get him out of her head, no matter how she tried. She
dreamed about him every night and thought about him every waking moment.

Every day since she’d been home, she’d walk to the spot, wondering
and hoping the bridge would be there. But it never was. It was as if the bridge
between her two worlds had never existed. The riverbank where the water had
once flowed was just a dried up gulley in the middle of a concrete neighborhood.
She would have thought she’d dreamed the whole thing if Georgia and Fletch
weren’t there in the flesh, proving beyond a doubt that her time traveling
journey had really taken place.

She hadn’t seen Samuel McKinney again since that day either. He’d
driven the three of them to the hospital in his cab and then disappeared. She
thought it was just like the mischievous leprechaun to leave her alone to put
all the pieces of her life back together again.

“Mornin’,” Fletch said, shuffling into the kitchen rubbing his
eyes.

“It’s about time you got up, sleepy head,” his mother said,
ruffling his hair, which stuck up on end. “Doctor Eddings is going to be here
soon to take us to the new apartment.”

Fletch’s eyes widened. “And I get my own room, right Ma?”

“That’s correct.”

“Are you coming with us to the apartment, Delaney?” He gave her a
hug.

“No. I’ll leave you and your mom to yourselves today. But I’ll
come by and visit once you’re all settled in. I want to see that new room of
yours. You’re not going to get rid of me so easily. Sit down and have a donut.
I’ll fix you some juice and bacon and eggs, too, if you want them.”

He grinned, straddled a chair, and nodded yes to the bacon and
eggs.

She turned the gas burner on and had just taken the bacon out of
the fridge when a knock sounded on the door.

“I’ll get that,” Georgia said. “It’s probably Mark, although he’s
early.” She glanced at the Timex watch on her wrist, an extra that had been
lying around in Delaney’s jewelry box. When the door opened, Delaney heard a
familiar voice greet Georgia. She tossed the package of bacon on the counter
and ran.

“Dad!” She hugged her tall, silver-haired father. “Why didn’t you
tell me you were flying in? I would have met you at the airport.” She welcomed
him inside and introduced him to Georgia, the new friend she’d told him about
when speaking to him on the phone after returning from “her trip.” Her dad had
been the first person she’d called, once Fletch was safe in the hospital.
Turned out, he
had
tried to call her cell phone several times and been
worried sick, until he’d talked to his former partner. Mr. Pendergrass had
mentioned their conversation and assured him Delaney was probably on a tropical
island soaking up some rays and not to be concerned.

When Fletcher peeked around the corner, Mr. Marshall winked.
“Hello, son.”

“Hello, sir.”

“I wanted to surprise you, honey,” her dad said. “You’re looking
wonderful.” He twirled her around and gave her another long hug.

“You, too, dad. I swear you become more handsome every time I see
you. We should call you the silver fox from now on.”

“Ah, flattery will get you everywhere,” he joked.

After a few pleasantries, Georgia excused herself, and she and
Fletcher returned to the kitchen so Delaney and her dad could have privacy.

“Where’s Robin?” she asked, as she offered her father a seat on
the sofa.

“Your stepmother stayed in New York this time. She asked me to give
you her love and a kiss. So here you go.” He kissed her cheek.

They had just settled in when the doorbell rang.

“That must be Mark this time,” Georgia said, flying out of the
kitchen. When the handsome young doctor stepped into the apartment, Delaney
introduced him to her father.

“This is Grand Central Station today,” Mr. Marshall said,
chuckling.

“It won’t be for long,” Mark told him. “I’m here to drive Georgia
and Fletcher to their new apartment.”

“Have a cup of coffee while Fletch finishes his breakfast,”
Delaney said.

“Don’t mind if I do.”

“In fact, let’s all go into the kitchen. I’ll make you a cup of
tea, Dad,” she said, knowing he had stopped drinking coffee years ago.

They all took seats around the table and chatted while Fletch ate.
Delaney explained to her father that Georgia was a friend who had come to
Arizona to start a new life. He wished her luck. Once Fletch finished breakfast,
he slipped into shorts, a tee shirt, and put on his beloved Arizona
Diamondbacks baseball cap and said he was ready to go. Georgia was, too.
Delaney realized there was no need for them to hang around any longer. They
only had one suitcase each, full of clothes she had bought for them.

“Well, I guess this is it. Excuse us, Dad, while we have a group hug,”
she said, enveloping her friends in her arms. “I’ll come see you soon.”

“I’ll call you on the phone,” Fletch told her, looking at the
doctor. “There’s a phone in the apartment, right, Dr. Eddings?”

“There sure is.”

“Good!” He’d never used a phone back in 1888, and now the boy was
hooked on them. He’d even been begging Georgia to buy him a cell phone like
Delaney’s.

“Bye, D!” he shouted, running out the door and down the sidewalk
to Mark’s car.

“See you later!” she hollered to his back. The child had taken to
modern life like a duck to water.

Mark lifted both suitcases and began carrying them to his SUV
while Delaney and Georgia said their final goodbyes.

“Fletcher and I love you. The three of us will always have a
special bond because of the secret we share.”

Delaney nodded. “I love you guys, too.”

Georgia joined Mark at the SUV, and Delaney blew her and Fletcher kisses
as they climbed into the vehicle and sped off. A veil of melancholy fell upon
her. Her connection with the past had just driven off to begin a new life with
one of the few decent guys that roamed the Earth in this century.

She was happy for Georgia, but she couldn’t stop thinking about
what—or rather, who—she’d left behind in 1888. Why did her soul mate have to
live in another time and place? Why did he stay behind? Would she ever see him again?
Or would she live the rest of her life alone, only dreaming of what they could
have had together?

Delaney’s chest gripped. Tears stung her eyes. She wanted
desperately to release the emotions, to sob until she had no more tears to
cry…but her father was waiting inside. He never liked to see a woman cry. Even
if he knew what she’d been through, he’d expect her to buck up and be strong.
That’s how the Marshall men had always been—tough in business, and no nonsense
in their personal relationships. Delaney’s dad would expect no less from his
only daughter. He never had.

She stared into space.
I tried to be who you wanted me to be,
Dad
,
but that’s not me anymore. I’ve changed. I’m not a man, and I
never have been. I’m a woman with the emotions, the wants, needs and the desires
of a woman.

Gabriel was right. And Mr. Pendergrass, too. In fact, she’d known
it for some time, herself.
I’m
not cut out to be in the cutthroat
advertising business. Living
in the past has shown me what I want, and
how I want to
live my life.

She sniffled and straightened her back. “I may never marry, or see
Gabriel again, but I can make something good out of the life I’ve been given.”
She stepped back into the apartment, took a deep breath and entered the
kitchen.

“Dad, we need to talk.”

Twenty-Four

Good things came in threes, and that included surprises. Delaney
told her father she was resigning from the  advertising firm, and that she was
thinking of going into the medical field—something she could put her heart
into. The first surprise came when he let her know he supported her decision
one hundred percent.

“We all have to live our own lives,” he said, holding her hand.
“I’m sorry for pushing you into a career that wasn’t for you. I now know the
error of my ways. I realize you only wanted to make me proud. But I want you to
know that you’ve
always
made me proud. You’re my daughter, and I want
you to be happy, Delaney. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I’m so glad you’re
following your heart.”

The second surprise came when he informed her he’d sold his New
York loft and bought a boat—a big boat—and he and Robin were going to sail
around the world. “In fact, that’s why Robin didn’t come with me,” he said. “She’s
packing up the remainder of our things. We’re set to sail as soon as I get back
to New York. Which is why”—he paused—“I can’t stay tonight. I’m taking the
red-eye out. But there was no way I was going to leave without telling you
goodbye in person. It may be a long time before we see each other again. I
wanted you to know how much I love you.”

“Oh, Dad,” Delaney cried, finally letting the tears fall in front
of him. “I love you so much. I’m so glad you’re doing what makes you happy. And
thank you for supporting my decision. You have no idea how much it means to
me.”

Their eyes, their hearts, and their souls connected in that moment,
and Delaney knew she must tell her father her secret.