Fire, The (39 page)

"What about today? We left Wallace that same night."

"We left in a different time stream. We left on a different July 22, 1910. I can't explain it. I don't understand the physics myself and I have two science degrees. I just know that when I finally got to know you at the school, I decided that I couldn't live without you. I'm ashamed to say that the past four months have been dedicated to bringing you back with me."

Kevin's stomach tightened when he saw Sarah frown. He wasn't certain what was swirling through her mind, but he was pretty sure it wasn't good.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"I'm thinking several things. I'm surprised, of course, and a little taken aback. I tend to think of love as a spontaneous thing, not something that is planned and mapped out weeks or months in advance. I'm also very flattered. I've dated exactly five men in my life and none has shown me the love and respect that you have."

"There is nothing staged about my feelings, Sarah. I love you."

Sarah met his eyes.

"I know," she said. "That's why I feel comfortable giving you an answer now. I don't know all that I'd like to know, but I know enough. I will marry you, Kevin Johnson. I will marry you today, tomorrow, or even next year. I will live in this scary, exciting world of yours for as long as you will have me."

She smiled warmly.

"Now, take me home, Mr. Johnson. The stars are out and the moon is bright. I want to see a little of both before I call it a night."

CHAPTER 67: KEVIN

Ninety minutes and fifty freeway miles later, the future Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Robert Johnson stared at the universe – or at least the part of the universe they could see from a street bench in downtown Wallace, Idaho, on a crystal clear night on the first day of summer.

"It's beautiful," Sarah said.

"What's beautiful?"

"The sky is, silly. I've never seen so many lights above. It reminds me of the night we went to the park, the night you first kissed me."

Kevin threw an arm around his fiancée, his official fiancée, and pulled her close. Except for three college-age men who loitered outside a tavern that catered to restless tourists, they had the street and, for all practical purposes, the city to themselves.

"That was a long time ago, Sarah, a hundred and three years ago to be exact. The details, frankly, are kind of sketchy. I don't remember it."

Sarah pinched his arm. She pinched it again when he didn't respond.

"OK. You win. It was the best kiss of my life."

"That's better."

"That was a nice night," Kevin said. "It really does seem like a long time ago though."

"I know."

"So much has changed, even here," she said.

Kevin felt a sense of unease as Sarah nestled into his side. He wasn't sure he was up for any more questions at eleven fifty on a Friday night.

"What do you mean?"

"Wallace is laid out differently. There used to be more streets. We used to be able to walk up Sixth directly to Garnet. Now it's blocked off. I didn't see the Marshall house either. I looked for it this afternoon when we drove out of town. Is it still around?"

Kevin paused before responding. He knew he had an obligation to give her some answers and give her the truth, but he didn't think he was obligated to give her everything now.

"No. It burned to the ground many years ago."

"That's too bad. It was such a beautiful house," she said. "Do you know what ever became of the Marshalls or anyone else we knew?"

Kevin leaned back and lifted his head. He didn't like where the conversation was going.

"I don't."

"Do you plan to find out?"

"No."

"Why not? Aren't you the least bit interested?"

"Not really."

In fact, Kevin was
very
interested. He had wanted to know the fates of Sadie, Andy, Maude, the Marshalls, Josie White, and others for weeks, even as he interacted with them on a regular basis, but he ultimately decided that knowledge of these fates would serve no useful purpose. If it served no useful purpose, then there was no point in seeking it out.

Kevin looked at Sarah and saw the wheels in her eyes continue to spin. He had intended to feed her curiosity but had instead deprived it of nourishment.

"What about changing things? Have you thought about going back to 1910 or any other year and changing the past? Think about what you could do, what we could do, with the knowledge of today. Think about what we could do with all of those treatments you were talking about."

"I think about it all the time. Sometimes I lay awake at night thinking about what I could do by bringing even a single medical book back to 1910."

"Then why haven't you?"

"I haven't because it's not my role to play God. It's one thing to change the lives of selected individuals. I've already done that with several people, including you. It's another thing to change the course of history. That kind of change has consequences, sometimes negative consequences. I'm just not prepared to go there right now."

"I understand."

Seeing that Sarah probably didn't understand, Kevin tried to steer her in a more positive and realistic direction. He put his arm around her, pulled her close, and kissed her on the head.

"It's not like I left everything as it was, Sarah. I brought you back. I changed two lives, the lives sitting on this bench. That's a big thing in my book, a very big thing."

"I agree," she said.

Kevin shifted his body to accommodate hers as she burrowed into his side. Five minutes later, he sat up, put his hand on hers, and lifted it from her lap.

"We've had a long day," he said. "It's time to go home."

At twelve thirty Kevin opened a large door and led his bride-to-be into a house that had belonged to the Johnson family for one hundred ten years. He threw his keys and his cell phone on the kitchen counter and took Sarah to the living room, where moonlight that spilled through a large paned window provided the first floor with its only illumination.

"Can I take your sweater?" he asked.

Sarah nodded. She slowly removed a V-neck button-front sweater that she had worn on the walk and handed it to Kevin, who placed it gently on the back of a recliner.

Kevin removed his windbreaker, threw it on another chair, and then returned to a woman who had seemed to grow lovelier with each passing hour, a woman with a smile on her face.

"What do you want to do now?" she asked in a mischievous voice.

"I just want to look at you."

"You've been looking at me all night. Have you not seen enough of me?"

"I haven't," Kevin said with a laugh. "I'm not sure I ever will either."

Kevin placed his hands on her face and gave her a tender kiss.

"Thank you," he said.

"Thank you for what?"

"Thank you for saying yes. Thank you for agreeing to marry me."

Sarah tilted her head and raised her brows.

"Did you really think I wouldn't?"

Kevin nodded.

"I didn't know what to think. I'm asking quite a bit of you."

Sarah threw her arms around his neck.

"You're asking the woman you love to marry you, to spend the rest of her life with you, and to presumably bear your children. That's asking what every man asks."

"You know what I mean."

"I know what you mean. I also know it doesn't make a difference. When I agreed to be your wife, I agreed to do so without conditions. I do want to see my family again. I want to see many things again, but I'm prepared to give them up if I have to. You are my future now."

Kevin shook his head.

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that."

"I can guess," she said.

He leaned forward and kissed her again, first softly and tentatively and then more forcefully and purposefully. When she responded in kind, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Within seconds the two moved as one across the living room floor toward a doorway that led to the stairs, the second floor, and a bedroom Kevin had not used in five months.

"Kevin, I don't know."

"I do."

Kevin kissed her on her lips, her cheeks, and her slender neck. He charged ahead as he had rarely done before and never with someone who loved him as much as he loved her. He found Sarah's mouth again as they moved toward the stairs. When she sighed, he repeated the greeting. When she moaned, he let his hands explore.

"Oh, Kevin."

Sarah put her hands on his face and kissed him with a force that took him aback. He could feel her hesitation recede with each step and her desire grow with each bump in the dark.

When they reached the stairs, he lowered his hands to her hips and began to lift her tank top, which he'd already pulled out of place on the breathless waltz from the living room. He worked on it slowly but steadily as they stumbled step by step to the second floor in a sweaty embrace. By the time they reached the pitch-black hallway, she was bare from the waist up.

Sarah stopped to catch her breath and grabbed each of his hands, as if to slow a train she had no intention of stopping. When she regained what was left of her composure, she sighed softly, and again threw her arms around his neck.

"I love you, Kevin. I love you more than life itself," she said, "but if I give in tonight you had better keep your word."

"What?"

"You'd better marry me."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Kevin?"

"I'm already standing at the altar."

CHAPTER 68: KEVIN

Wallace, Idaho – Saturday, June 22, 2013

Kevin stared out his bedroom window and looked at a simple structure that had turned out to be the answer to his dreams. The chamber of stones may have been a second-rate storage facility, but as a gateway to a better life it was top-notch.

"Good morning."

Kevin looked over his shoulder and saw an angel smiling in his bed.

"Good morning."

"You look rather serious, Mr. Johnson. Did the sun fail to rise?"

Kevin smiled and laughed to himself. He tried to recall if he had ever seen Sarah in a bad mood and couldn't. Getting used to sunshine
every
day would require an adjustment.

"No. It's out there. I was just thinking."

"Were you thinking about me?"

"Is there anyone else in the room?"

"I hope not," Sarah said with a giggle.

Kevin turned away from the window and gazed at the woman who had agreed not only to be his wife but also to be his wife in the twenty-first century, a distinction that made all the difference in the world.

"You look fetching, Mrs. Johnson."

"I'm not fetching. I'm naked. I'm not Mrs. Johnson either, but I'm looking forward to the day I can wear that title proudly," she said. "I trust I won't have long to wait."

"You won't," Kevin said. "I kind of like the idea of a June wedding."

"I do, too, so long as you're talking about June of this year."

Kevin chuckled.

"I am."

Kevin tried to reconcile images of the modern beauty hiding under his sheets with images of a teacher who wore tea gowns and her hair in a pile and couldn't do it. For all practical purposes, they were two different people.

Sarah sat up and threw a pillow behind her back.

"Is this where I make you breakfast and fetch your slippers?"

"No," Kevin said. "This is where I make
you
breakfast and tell you I love you."

"I like the sound of that."

"You should."

Kevin climbed back into bed and kissed Sarah softly. She had not lost her ardor overnight.

"That was nice."

"It was supposed to be nice."

Kevin studied her face and noticed a change. Sarah seemed far more relaxed and at ease not only with her surroundings but also with the idea of making a social leap that would have probably seemed unimaginable even a few weeks earlier.

"Do you feel different?" he asked.

Sarah took a breath.

"I feel alive. I never imagined that something like that could be so wonderful."

Kevin kissed her again.

"I'm glad. I kind of rushed things, but I'm in no mood to apologize. I've been dreaming of a night like last night for weeks, months even."

"Months?"

"Months."

"I have too," Sarah said. "I know proper women aren't supposed to think of such things, but I've decided that propriety belongs in 1910."

Kevin laughed.

"I agree."

"I'm glad you concur. However, now that you've had your way with me, we should probably discuss a few things."

"Had my way? You wound me," Kevin said as he put a hand over his heart. "You make last night sound so . . . one-sided. I merely showed you my affection."

"Fair enough. Now that you've showed me your affection, we should probably discuss a few things."

Kevin smiled.

"What would you like to discuss?"

"Well, we could start with children. It seems like a timely topic. I suppose you would like to have three or four strapping sons."

"That's where you're wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I want daughters."

"Daughters?"

"Daughters. Don't get me wrong. I'd welcome a son but, if I had my way, I'd prefer to have daughters – each as intelligent, kind, and beautiful as her mother. Six sounds about right."

"Six?" Sarah said with a laugh. "You're awfully ambitious, Mr. Johnson. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you wanted to be a modern-day Jethro."

"Maybe. But that's what I want. I know. It sounds like a nightmare."

Sarah reached for his hand and kissed it.

"No. It sounds like a dream. I'd like to have daughters too."

Kevin threw his arm around his fiancée and took stock of the morning. He wasn't just having a good start to his day. He was having a good start to the rest of his life.

Deciding that he wanted to maintain the wonderful vibe as long as he could, Kevin pulled Sarah close and held her in blissful silence for fifteen minutes. He spoke only when his curiosity got the best of him.