Now and Forever (66 page)

Slowly he turned around and saw a sight that was beyond reason. The basket appeared to his eyes as perfect as it had on the day he climbed aboard and the balloon -- Sweet Jesus! The balloon was a vivid crimson red and it was growing larger with each second.

"The magic fire," he whispered, staring in wonder at the flames rising up from the basket to inflate the balloon. "This cannot be."

"Maybe not," said Shannon, grabbing the lip of the gondola, "but it's happening right here in front of us, Andrew, and we both know why."

He thought of Zane and Emilie and their hopes for the future...of Rebekah and Josiah and their children. Did their futures rest on his shoulders alone? Was he meant to be a hero, after all, the kind of man Shannon deserved?

But what did any of it matter if they were separated by time, destined to live out their lives in loneliness?

"I love you, Shannon Whitney," he said. "I would mark myself a liar if I said the past does not call to me but, in truth, I cannot envision a world without you."

"Then ask me, you fool! Ask me to come with you."

"I cannot," he said, his heart at war with his head. His gesture encompassed the house, the land, the rectangular pond. "How can I ask you to abandon all that you have for love of me when I can offer you naught save a life of hardship and uncertainty."

"Wealth doesn't guarantee happiness, Andrew," she said quietly. "I know that first-hand."

"You do not know what you are saying, lass."

"I know exactly what I'm saying. I know what it's like to be rich but I don't know how it feels to be happy. You can show me, Andrew. Only you can do that."

"I have no home, no prospects, not even the guarantee that we will end up in the same world I left behind."

"I don't care," she said, as joy filled her heart. "I have enough faith for both of us. Don't you see?
This
is why you came, Andrew. You came to find me."

He looked at her hard and then his hazel eyes crinkled and his mouth curved upward and laughter -- joyous laughter -- rose up from the depths of his lonely soul. "Aye," he said, gathering her into his arms. "And I will never let you go."

"There are things I expect from you," she said sternly. "I want to love and be loved in return. I want us to be partners. I want us to be kind and tolerant of each other's faults and I want your children." A smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Did you hear me, Andrew? I want to bear your children."

"Aye," he said, his voice gruff with emotion. "'Tis great good fortune that we wish the same things from life, mistress."

"And about that 'mistress' business, Andrew." She poked him in the chest with her forefinger. "I think we'd better make it legal."

"You are proposing marriage?"

She looked up at him then started to laugh. "Will you marry me, Andrew McVie? Will you carry me off into the sunrise in your hot air balloon and make an honest woman of me? Will you love me forever and ever?"

"I would gladly take you as my wife, lass, but know that I do not believe in divorce. When we say our vows before God, we will be wed into eternity."

"Eternity," she said, her voice a whisper. "I can't imagine anything that could please me more than sharing eternity with you."

They turned to look at the balloon which bobbed high above the gondola now.

"'Tis almost ready," Andrew said. "Soon it will begin to rise."

"We can't go yet," she said, reality sinking in. "I have to pack my belongings."

"There is no time, lass. It will leave with us or without."

"One minute, Andrew! I promise."

She was as good as her word. She returned moments later, carrying a large satchel.

"You will turn my hair grey, lass," he said, swinging her into the basket as the balloon shuddered, eager to rise. He tossed in her bag then leaped in after her. "What was of such importance that you risked our future?"

"Patience, Mr. McVie!" Her smile was one of mystery and promise. "You'll find out in good time."

He reached for the satchel but she pushed him away, laughing, but not before he saw a most familiar item tucked among the assortment. "'Tis the picture of us from the newspaper."

"For our children, Andrew." The look she gave him was one of such love that it filled his heart with joy. "It will help us explain a miracle."

He thought of a girl with her beauty and generosity of spirit, of a boy with her courage and wit. Once he had thought himself destined to walk this world alone but then he found Shannon and suddenly the future glittered before him, more precious than gold.

"'Twas an adventure," he said, holding her close as the balloon shuddered again then began to rise.

"That it was," Shannon whispered, resting her head against his shoulder. "But now it's time for us to go home."

"Aye," he said, as the sun pierced the clouds. "'Tis time we did, at that."

Epilogue

"You don't look so good," the little girl said as she peered up at Dakota.

"Thanks a lot," said Dakota, ruffling the child's hair. "I'm getting too old for these late nights." She glanced around the front yard of the shelter. "Everyone accounted for?"

One of the mothers flashed her a thumbs-up.

They had arrived back at the shelter as the sun rose over the tops of the trees. If it hadn't been for the strange clouds towering overhead, it would have been a beautiful morning. As it was, the kids were ready for breakfast while their mothers looked pleased to have made it through the night.

And Dakota felt like she'd been run over by an eighteen-wheeler.

"I make great scrambled eggs," said one of the mothers. "You're welcome to stay."

"I'd probably fall asleep with my face in the toast." She grabbed her purse and car keys. "I'm going to head for home."

"Take some donuts with you," the woman said. "You're too thin."

"God bless you and your children and your children's children," said Dakota while the woman filled a bag with jelly donuts. "I don't know who decided double-digit dress sizes were against the law but the man should be shot."

Her ancient Mustang was covered with a light mist and she ran the wipers for a few seconds to clear the windshield. She wondered how Shannon and Andrew were getting on but decided against stopping by. God knew, they'd been through enough for one night. Besides, she wasn't feeling all that well. She was not only tired but weak, as if she'd been sick in bed for weeks and this was her first day on her feet.

Bed, she thought, backing down the driveway and turning right on the road. Bed and a good twelve or eighteen hours of sleep should do it.

A flash of something red caught her eye and she braked slightly. It wasn't much, just the tiniest hint of something barely peeking over the trees by Shannon's house. An odd fluttering began deep inside her chest. It reminded her of the way she'd felt each time she'd swooned over Andrew McVie. Strange that she'd be feeling that way now when he was nowhere in sight.

She looked over toward the red spot over the treetops and the fluttering intensified.

"The balloon!" The words tore from her throat. It was happening right this very minute and she suddenly knew this was Andrew's last chance to go back where he belonged.

Minutes later the Mustang skidded to a stop in Shannon's driveway and found herself staring at the balloon and gondola as they drifted a few inches above the driveway.

Her heart did a little leap as she saw Shannon and Andrew waving to her from the basket.
They're together,
she thought with elation. And they were going home. Her eyes swam with tears as she noticed the shimmer of gold all around them, bathing the two travelers in its benevolent glow.

And they even had matching auras....

The balloon began to rise higher. Already the gondola was a foot off the ground.

"Wait!" she yelled. "I have something for you."

"Hurry!" Shannon called out. "We haven't much time."

She tried to race but her legs felt leaden and she had scarcely enough energy to put one foot in front of the other.

The gondola rose another foot.

"It's jelly donuts!" Dakota yelled, tossing the bag to them. "Don't squish them whatever you do." Their next meal would be a century or two late. They might need a snack.

The bottom of the basket was at waist level. The crimson silk was growing more vivid in color; the gondola, even more substantial. She looked down at her hands. Her arms. Her aura was gone. She touched the basket. Her aura returned. She released the basket then watched in horror as her physical self grew transparent, almost as if she were about to disappear.

Fatigue made her head swim and she struggled to hang onto her equilibrium. She felt so weak, so temporary, as if her soul and her body were parting company. She was dying! The only thing anchoring her to the mortal world was that hot-air balloon and in another second it would be gone and she--

Shannon stared at her in obvious horror. "Andrew, my God! We have to do something."

"What's the matter?" Dakota managed. "I finally found a diet that worked...."
 
Always leave 'em laughing, Wylie. Can't you even be serious when you're about to kick the bucket?

Andrew leaned forward until he was half out of the gondola. "Give me your hand."

"Absolutely not. If I swoon again, I'm a goner."

"As I see it, mistress, you have but one choice."

He leaned over the basket and grabbed Dakota by the arms, swinging her into the gondola with them as the balloon rose toward the clouds.

"A fifth wheel in two centuries," Dakota said as her heartbeat slowly returned to normal.
 
"It's not too late if you want to back out. Tell me to leave, why don't you? I could jump. I'd probably only break a leg or two but what's a fractured limb between friends?" She waited. "Guys, I was just kidding. If you want me to leave, I'll--"

But Andrew and Shannon hadn't heard a word. Wrapped in each other's arms they were already in a world of their own.

A big fat lump formed in Dakota's throat and she blinked back tears. There was something about destiny being served that brought out the romantic in her.

"A fifth wheel," Dakota said again, turning away. But somehow the words no longer stung.

They sailed up into the clouds and her fears vanished like the morning mist. It was a beautiful late summer day. The sun was shining. The air was sweet. There was an adventure waiting for her out there and she was glad she was her mother's daughter, eager to take that first step into the unknown.

She heard the sound of soft laughter and turned toward Shannon and Andrew. The golden glow still surrounded them, but there was something more, something that had nothing to do with auras and everything to do with the power of love. Her eyes grew misty as she shamelessly watched them. Andrew looked at Shannon as if he held the secret to life in his arms. And Shannon! Shannon looked up at Andrew with such pure joy that Dakota found herself struck once again by the miracle of love.

You never knew when it would happen to you. You never knew where. He could be doctor, lawyer, Indian chief, or a renegade Patriot spy. The only thing that mattered was that you'd found the other half of your heart

She smiled and turned away once again as Shannon rose up on tiptoe for Andrew's kiss. Sometimes you even had to travel across the centuries to find it.

Her stomach growled and she plucked a jelly donut from the bag.
Raspberry,
she thought as she took a bite.

It was a good omen.

She could feel it in her bones.

~~The End of Tomorrow & Always~~

Destiny's Child

Book 3 – Crosse Harbor Time Travel Trilogy

by

Barbara Bretton

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.