***
MATHEW WOKE WITH a start and sat up. Unfamiliar walls surrounded him—a mix of dusty library and antique hotel. A gas lamp perched on an end table. And the hardwood floors were freezing cold to his bare feet. Where was he?
Then he remembered going back in time again and meeting his sister. Unbelieving his memory and his eyes, he dressed in his wholly inadequate clothes again, awkwardly overdressed for the time, and stepped out to the kitchen where his sister prepared breakfast.
Now, Mathew was very comfortable with his sexuality, so he wasn't afraid to admit that the man standing next to his sister was a very attractive dude. Mathew wished he'd been gifted half the gene pool as this man he assumed was April's husband. At least Mathew's namesake would grow to be a dashing young man. A pang of sorrow hit him when he realized he would never see the baby grow up. All the worse when he realized he'd lost the last family member he had. April was never coming back home.
Mathew would be completely alone, and that was the most depressing way to start the day.
"Hey there," April said when she turned. "Are you okay? Matty, come here. Meet Sam, my husband. Sam this is my brother."
A broad-shouldered man capable of crushing him like a bug extended a large calloused hand. "Nice to meet ye, Matty." And he had an Irish accent. Mathew was precisely ten inches tall right now, but he was thrilled his sister had found her happiness. It was just hard to show it at the moment.
"Um, Matt is fine. Thanks."
"Veterinarian, huh? April told me ye fix animals like a doctor. I'd say, her skills were exceptional when we needed them."
The baby cried and April whisked away little Mathew into her bedroom.
"I take pride in training my employees well," Mathew said to Sam. "She was one of my best."
"Dinnae worry about her. She's in good hands here."
Mathew smiled. "Is she doing okay? I mean, it's a bit of a shock from our lifestyle to this." He waved his hands around.
"Are ye talking about cars and planes and things?"
"Yeah, have you been to the future?" Mathew didn't understand how anyone with a taste of creature comforts would reject them for—his gaze roamed over the strong jawline, trim beard, and bright turquoise eyes—never mind.
"No. Honestly it sounds scary."
"Verity was terrified at first. Thought cars were beasts." He chuckled and Sam gave him a disapproving stare. Mathew cleared his throat. "But that was understandable. I couldn't imagine jumping over a hundred and sixty years into my future. Yikes."
Sam nodded and turned back to pouring...
"Are you making pancakes?"
"April's favorite."
"Yeah, I know." There was an aura of an alternate reality around him, as if he were a ghost shifting through different times in history. How did Kiko feel time hopping for years? What an existence she must've had. Although Kiko appeared twenty, he wondered how old she actually was.
Mathew's fingers searched his pockets for his phone. He couldn't offer the man much in thanks, but he could offer a glimpse into the future.
"Sam, would you like to see it?"
"See what?" he asked and flipped a row of pancakes on a cast iron pan.
"The future."
"I'm no' leaving April. No temptation out there would ever make me consider it."
"Pictures. Movies. You don't have to go anywhere. Sit down."
The iron sizzled with each flip, wafting the scent of fresh browned pancakes. Sam tossed a towel over his shoulder and sat at the table. Mathew woke his cell phone and tapped the photo gallery. He turned the screen toward Sam. Inane photos of him and Becca at the clinic, he and Verity, and a photo of Verity in a plum dress from the designer shop. Sam's brows where high and his mouth gaped like a fish.
"This is real?"
"Camera in the phone." He found a video he made while driving, of a motorist on the verge of total road rage. He pressed play and Sam scooted back in his chair. Music from his phone played in the background as a Tahoe swerved lanes and honked incessantly. "It's a movie I made. I was driving. Don't tell anyone, it's not safe."
"I can see that. Well," Sam said and April opened the door to the bedroom with a sleepy baby. "I'm glad my wife is here, safe with me. And I thought I had a safety problem in my town."
"This town isn't safe?" Mathew asked.
"Hasn't been for a while. Jaime Perez and his minions have taken over the Grignon estate up the hill. Some days I wonder if it was such a great idea to kill the man. Jaime's worse. We have an accord, Jaime and I, otherwise he would've been back here in a second to steal April."
Mathew's eyes widened in alarm.
"Aye, but dinnae worry. No one is dumb enough to lay a hand on her, or little Matty."
"What's going on out here?" April asked.
"I showed my brother-in-law here a video I made of a road rage incident."
"Matty! Don't scare him like that. Honey, that's not normal driving."
"Ye dinnae go that fast?"
"We do. We don't normally swerve and honk, and film it." His sister squinted at him.
"That was enough future for me. I understand yer comment, April, about the horses. I dinnae see any." Sam got up, shaking his head, and served up the pancakes. His sister set the baby down in a bassinet and joined him at the table. The three of them ate, and Mathew watched as April threw her leftovers out the back door.
"What are you doing?"
"Feeding the dogs." She smiled and exchanged glances with Sam.
Mathew glanced around the room and failed to see any pet paraphernalia. April chuckled.
"They're strays—mostly."
Mathew reached into his back pocket for his wallet—for the account card. He'd intended to it be a nice diversified investment for his present self, but with all his problems finally cleared, he didn't need it. And just in case his sister needed help, it was one last paycheck for her.
He opened the wallet and a gunshot echoed across the fields.
Chapter Nineteen
Astor, Wisconsin
1853
VERITY HAD ONLY ONE suitcase packed for her journey across the country. She didn't own much and didn't need much on the road. The wintry morning was chilly as usual for a December in Astor. She would miss her brothers, but she wouldn't miss the farm. Verity could die happy knowing she would never see another cornfield in her life.
She had changed into practical layers of dress for the season and the cloak wrapped around her shoulders kept out most of the blistering cold. She packed her beautiful plum dress. She couldn't wear it anywhere, but it reminded her of Mathew. Her heart wouldn't let her leave it behind.
She loaded up a horse from the stable and mounted. She headed east to swing by a place in Bridgeport. The roads were clear except a few patches of snow. Most of the trees were barren, and the rest were evergreens brushed with white cotton. The once golden fields were now brown with winter hibernation and speckled with early snow patches. Cold seeped past her wool cloak, and she shivered. The saddle offered none of the horse's warmth.
At the bridge crossing the Fox River into Bridgeport, two men on horseback stood guard. She had heard Jaime's men kept the bandits at bay, but she had never seen the bridge guarded. Of course, she didn't get out much. Verity recognized these men. They'd introduced themselves while she hid in her secret cubbyhole. Joe Pool and Rob Bertrand stood sentry on their mounts. She didn't know which was which, but they were Jaime Perez's men. Her back stiffened when she approached. Hopefully they wouldn't recognize her after all these months.