Forever Layla: A Time Travel Romance (11 page)

She smiled and her shoulders relaxed. “Like a handsome prince?”

“Yes, only you will have to save him and everyone else. It will all be on you to do the rescuing. And when you feel scared or sad in the future, you have to swallow it and keep a smile on your face. It’s so important. They can’t know how much you hurt or how scared you are.”

“Why?”

“Because it isn’t fair
to make them suffer too.”

She seemed to miss the last part. “I have to rescue the prince? That’s funny.”

Not really
. But I just smiled. I was already overwhelming her.

“Will we get married?”

I shrugged and smiled at her. “That’s the way the stories go, right?”

She giggled and nodded her head. “Will we have a baby?”

“The most remarkable baby ever.” I held back the tears that formed as I swallowed. I knew too much. I knew the good and the bad. That was the curse of my life. “Now let’s go and get you that new pretty dress and take you to your grandmother’s house.”

*

I SAT IN THE CAR staring at the old familiar house and swallowed. How long had it been since I’d seen my grandmother? How I missed her.

“Is this where my grandma lives?”

I looked back at the little girl. “Yes it is.”

I stepped out and opened the back door. I took the bag of clothes
and items we’d purchased when she got the dress she was now wearing. I remembered how tight things were. This would at least get her started.

I took the little girl’s hand and walked up the steps to the porch. I knocked and held my breath. The woman opened
, and my heart was in my throat. I wanted to throw my arms around her. I wanted to feel at home. I hadn’t felt that way in so long.

“Can I help...?” she grabbed at her throat. A joyful look of desperation came over her. “Lisa?”

She thought I was my mother. “No ma’am. I’m…” I choked for a moment and had to swallow. I’m with DSS. I…I’m sorry but your daughter, Lisa Kelly Parker is…I glanced behind me at the little girl and then back and my grandmother. I’m sorry. She got sick and didn’t make it.”

“No! No! No!” A yell from her gut followed as she braced herself in the doorway. “Not my Lisa.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I failed her. I failed her. Over and over I failed her. It’s my fault. Not my baby. I didn’t do en
ough. I didn’t…” She turned wild eyes at me. “I didn’t protect my baby. I didn’t believe her when she said he touched her. I didn’t want to believe that’s why he had moved in with me.”

I swallowed as I realized what she was saying.

“She wouldn’t bring the baby back to live at home if he stayed. We argued about it. I refused to believe it. I thought he loved me but after she ran off, he didn’t want to stay anymore and then I knew.”

I swallowed, not remembering any men ever hanging around grandma’s house. “Is he gone now?”

“Yes. Long gone. In prison, last I heard.”

I looked at my grandmother and swallowed back the emotion. There was so much I’d not realized as a kid. “Before Lisa passed, she relinquished custody of her daughter to you.”

The old woman’s gaze followed down my arm to the little girl, seeing her for the first time since we’d arrived. “She looks just like Lisa, but with darker hair.” My grandmother bent down and grabbed hold of the little girl and held her to her chest. “Thank you, Jesus, for giving me a second chance to do this right. Thank you. Thank you.” She wouldn’t let go of little me as her chant changed. “I won’t let you down this time, Lisa. I won’t let you down. I’m changed.” Tears still poured down the woman’s face as she stepped back to look at me.

“I will do it right this time. I know better. I know better. I was too broken to help anybody back then. Not even myself.” She shook the emotions away. “I’m sorry about all that.” She swiped at her tears and then her nose and sniffed a bit. “Please come in.” She pulled the little girl into the house, kissing her cheek over and over as I followed
, looking around the living room, swallowing back the memories. I had to hold it together and act professional and detached.

Chapter 11

Layla

I
PULLED INTO THE PARKING lot of the office, parked in Drake’s normal spot, and walked in. Mr. Duke was hunched over some paperwork. He glanced up when I dropped the keys on his desk. “I’m glad you came back. I was worried.”

“You shouldn’t be. Wasn’t the first time I stole your car and your money.” I plopped into the seat in front of him. “You still keep a bottle in your desk?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. I stopped bothering since someone kept throwing it out.”

I shrugged. “How was the office without me?”

“Busy. Do you know how much traffic we get now? How often the phone rings? How many customers and potential customers now walk through that door? Nearly drove me to lock the doors and pull out my bottle.”

“You just said you don’t have one anymore.”

“I don’t. That’s why I didn’t.”

I half laughed. “Yeah, actually I do know. I’m the one who deals with that on a daily basis... remember?”

“Well, you’re promoted to office manager, and you’re finding another you to add to the office.”

“I’m one of a kind.”

“That you are.”

“That reminds me,” I reached down into my purse and pulled out the cards. “Speaking
of becoming an actual employee—I have my documentation now.” I handed the cards to him. “But I still want to go by my nickname, Layla.”

He took the cards and looked them over. “Driver’s license pictures are t
he worst. You look like a drug addict on this.”

I shrugged.
“I had a bad case of the flu.”

“And in need of a hairbrush.”

“Hey, I was sick!” I shouted, indignant.

“I thought you said you were from California. This is a South Carolina license.”

“I lived in South Carolina first, then moved to California. Now back to South Carolina.”

“I guess I’m not the only one who has cleaned up lately. Maybe that’s why you knew how to help me.”

He stood and took the cards over to the copy machine. “Well, I’m glad you are ready to come on board.” He glanced down at the license. “Lisa Kelly Parker.”

I stood and snatched the card from him. “I told you to call me Layla.” I took a deep breath as I accepted who I was fully. “I’m changing it legally as soon as I can. Lisa Kelly Parker is dead.”

*

I
TOSSED AND TURNED ON the sofa that night, recalling the day I’d seen my mother’s dead body and my grandmother alive again. I’d gone home and even eaten Grandma’s chicken stew again. She’d been so happy about getting her granddaughter, she’d hugged me. She smelled just like I remembered. Her scent, a mixture of baby powder and liniment. Maybe I could visit from time to time. Did I remember my “case worker” visiting after delivering me to Grandma? No, I didn’t.

I choked back a sob. I had to let that part of my life die again
, and it hurt. It hurt the first time I realized my mother was gone for good, but it tore me to bits the day I lost Grandma. I sucked in the pain and emotion. I didn’t like overwhelming feelings. My normal response to them was to swallow them down into the pit of my stomach—find busy work and ignore the feeling and put a smile on my face. That gnawing pain in my gut was easier to deal with than the emotions. That’s where they stayed because there was no need torturing others with my heartaches.

I rolled over again and thought of David. He was my promised dark
-haired, blue-eyed prince. I sat up and gasped for air. I knew his future…our future, and I knew what we would create together. There was potential to change the world. I swallowed, thinking of the timeline of it all. Little me was four. I would go back in time at age twenty-four. I sat up and started counting on my fingers. My rules for the guy I would give my heart to had ventured off the path. What was it I told my younger self today? It was my job to rescue everyone else. I had to work hard. I had to provide. I could do that. I was good at it. It was
his
job to discover time travel. And the world would be forever changed by what we would become.

I lay back down and took in the thoughts. I thought of the years ahead and pushed them aside. The only way I could live with any joy at all would be to take most days as if I knew nothing and lived in the moment. If not, I’d live in dread. But I did know some things and realized I had to take action on them soon or everything would go off course.

*

I
WOKE WITH A JOLT and sat up on the sofa. It took me a moment to remember where I was when I heard more tapping on the door. I pushed the comforter from me, stumbled to the door, and looked out the peephole to see David, before opening.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I spoke, “Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I was worried about you. I went by the office after school yesterday, and you weren’t there. Drunk Duke was scrambling around the office and couldn’t give me an answer about where you were or when you’d be back. I came by here later and you weren’t here either.”

I shut the door behind him and took in a deep breath as I thought of how to answer him. I stalled with, “Don’t call him that. He’s cleaned himself up.”

“Where did you go?”

“I just had some personal matters to take care of.”

“Like?”

It was then I noticed he had a bag and a drink carrier with coffees. “You brought breakfast?”

“Yeah, and stop dodging.”

I followed him into the kitchen and leaned against the counter where he spread out the biscuits and hash browns. There still wasn’t any furniture in that room. “Mr. Duke needed me to turn in a driver’s license and social security card so I could be hired officially. I went and got those.” That was the truth, just not all of it.

“Where did you get them from?” David took a bite of his biscuit.

“I…remember the idea that I’d find the social security number of someone deceased
. Let’s just say I knew where to look because of where I’m from.” I pulled the egg and bacon from the biscuit and nibbled on it before heading to the fridge for some cut up fruit to go with it.

“Ah, I see. So what’s your new name?”

“Layla. I’m having my name changed legally as soon as I can.”

“But what if the family of the deceased comes looking for you or finds out.”

“They won’t. They don’t even know she’s dead. With no ID on her, she became a Jane Doe.”

“Then how did you know?”

I shook the image of my mom’s naked blue body from my mind and had to step away from my breakfast. “My childhood wasn’t like yours. I was around things. I saw and heard things no child should. Please, don’t make me say more.”

David shook his head. “I won’t
. I’m sorry.”

“I’m putting that behind me. I’m looking toward
to the future. OUR future.”

David moved closer, placing his hand on the small of my back. “I like the sound of that. I promise, I will find a job and find a way to do that and school so you feel secure in this.”

I stared into his blue eyes until I couldn’t breathe. His arms around me were so strong. I realized I did feel secure about it all. Even the parts that scared me. “No, I’ve changed my mind about that. It’s your job to increase your knowledge, to feed your genius mind. I’m to do the rest. I’ll pay the bills and worry about the here and now. It’s up to you to get us to the future.”

David’s forehead scrunched as he scanned my face. “Are you sure? I thought you wanted me to grow up more?”

“You will. We both will.”

He lifted his hand and grazed my cheek with his fingers. “I can’t believe I get a future with you. I’m the luckiest man in the world.” Then he moved his hand away
, and his mouth met mine. The emotions were electric. All the ones I’d suppressed were released. The good, the bad, the wonder, the unknown and the known, and I gave myself to the kiss and the future that came with it. I grabbed hold of his neck for support, letting my fingers weave into his dark hair and pulled him closer. His lips left mine and trailed down my cheek to my jaw and then to my neck, sending bolts of electrically charged energy down that whole side of my body. I gasped for air, grasping at his hair with my fingers, hoping I wasn’t hurting him. He pushed me against the wall and pressed into me.

“What in the world is going on here?” David’s mom’s voice cut through the moment
. She stood in the entrance to the kitchen.

David moved away from me and stepped between his mother and me. “Mom, what are you doing here?”

The angry middle-aged woman stood akimbo, her jaw muscle strained. “I’m asking the questions here.” His mom glanced over at me, her look toxic. “What is she doing here? Why is the blanket from out guestroom on the sofa?” His mom reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. “I noticed the power bill for the old office was high for an empty building and came to see what was going on.”

I stepped in front of David to address his mom. “Mrs. Foster, David has been helping me out. We met at the beach when…well
, I was abandoned by my ride and he gave me a place to stay there while I figured things out. He brought me back here and has been letting me stay while I got back on me feet. And I have now. I have a job and plan to pay you back for the electricity and back rent.”

David’s mom went silent as her lips tensed into a strai
ght line before she finally spoke again. “David, go get in your truck and go to school.”

“Did you forget I graduate on Friday? Today’s senior skip day.”

“Then go in your truck to wherever all the other KIDS YOUR AGE are gathering today and let me speak woman to woman with your friend here.”

“Her name is Layla
, and I’m not leaving you here with her.”

I pu
shed David toward the door. “Go. I can handle this.”

He shook his head. “I’m not abandoning you.”

I sighed and looked back at his mom. “David is a wonderful young man. You should be very proud. I don’t want to drive a wedge between you two, but…”

His mom only glared at me.
“Then don’t drive one between us. Find someone your own age to play house with.”

David interrupted, “Mom, stop it. I won’t let you talk to her that way.”

“I’ll talk to her however I please.”

“Layla is my future, whether you like it or not.”

His mom turned to face him with her finger in his face. “You’re just a kid. You don’t know who or what your future is yet.”

“No, I’m an adult.”

“You may be a legal adult, but as long as you live under my roof…”

David threw his hand up in exasperation. “Then I won’t live under your roof.”

She gestured to the walls. “What, live here? This too is my roof.”

I shook my head at them both, feeling sick
at being the cause of the discord. “I’ll move out today.” I walked over to a cabinet and pulled out some cash from where Mr. Duke had been paying me and placed it on the counter. “This should cover the use of the place. David was just helping me. I promise. Nothing has happened here between us. Please don’t fight because of me.”

His mother threw the money back at me. “Keep your money, if it will get you out of here faster.”

She looked at David. “Have her out by this evening.”

His mom stomped toward the door before turning around and pointing at him. “And be done with her for good or you don’t have a home to come back to.”

“Then I won’t come home.”

“We’ll see if you’re ready to be an adult and pay your own way in life.” She turned and stormed out the door.

David

I STARED AFTER MY MOTHER, clenching my jaw. Then I turned back to Layla. Liquid emotions pooled in the corners of her eyes. I stepped closer to her. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She shook her head and stepped away.

I followed after her. “No, it’s not okay. She’s still treating me like a kid. Like she can pick who I hang around with. I’m not a kid.”

Layla still hadn’t turned around to face me. I was afraid
for a moment that she was realizing what a kid I really was— thinking of how my mom had ordered me about. What if she realized she could do better if she left and forgot all about me?

Instead she turned around, threw her arms around me,
and rested her chin on my shoulder. “You’re not a kid. Your mom loves you, and she really is trying to do what’s best for you. But being a dentist isn’t it. We
are
meant to be together. We have to be together.” She pushed away from me. “I need to shower and get dressed. I wish the computers at work were connected to the internet.”

“What for?”

“So I could look for apartments when I have a moment.”

“I don’t think most rentals around here would be on the internet. We aren’t like that here yet.”
I backed away from her. “I’ll grab us a couple of newspapers and be right back. We can both look. I’ll give you a ride into work and then come back with some boxes and get you packed.” I glanced around. “At least you don’t have much.”