A Husband in Time (19 page)

“He is?”

“Uh-huh. We swore an oath. Those were my first two wishes, and they both came true. And there's only one more to go. And I think it's come true, too.”

Swallowing hard, Zach whispered, “What's the third wish, Ben?”

“I want a mother,” Benjamin whispered, closing his eyes and smiling softly. “I want a real mother, who will live with us and who will love me for al
ways.” He tilted his head, and looked at his father. “I know you've been looking for one for a long time, Father, but you never find any really good ones. Anyway, it doesn't matter now, because I have her all picked out.”

“You do, do you?”

Benjamin nodded firmly, then looked toward the door, his eyes lighting up. Jane stood there, and Zach was left with no doubt about the identity of the woman his son had chosen. And then Cody crowded past her, and raced to the opposite side of the bed. The two boys chattered excitedly, seemingly forgetting the presence of the adults in the room. Jane took Zach's arm and gently led him into the hallway.

“You look worried. Zach, you ought to be relieved. He looks so much better.”

Searching her face, Zach saw the telltale traces of tearstains. “I'll never get over how deeply you feel things, Jane Fortune,” he whispered, tracing those marks on her cheeks with his fingertips.

“What is it you're worrying about?” she persisted.

He shook his head. “A hundred things. A thousand. My son is well, though, so what right do I have to complain? I'd live in the streets and be happy.”

“Is that it? You're wondering where you'll live when he's released? Zach, you know you're welcome to stay with Cody and me for as long as—”

Shaking his head, Zach turned away from her. “And how long would that be, Jane? How long do you suppose it will take a man like me to find a means to earn a living in this time? I don't even know where to begin.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Zach, you're a genius.”

“No. I was a genius. Surrounded by modern technology, I'm a bumbling fool.” He sighed hard, and began to pace. “I'm back where I began. A man with little wealth and no social standing. No security. Nothing to offer a woman—” He bit his lip, and broke off.

“A woman?” Jane repeated. “Zach, I know you miss Claudia, but you can't possibly be thinking of going back there and bringing her—”

“Can't that brain of yours think about anything but Claudia?” he snapped. She blinked hard at his harsh tone, and Zach instantly regretted it. But the woman was so frustrating! Ah, but who did he have to blame for her misconceptions? No one but himself. “I'm simply trying to illustrate how ill-equipped I am to make a living for myself, much less anyone else, amid the modern technology of today's society.” He hoped that covered his slip, as well as his bad manners. He was too tired to think this through right now, and too frustrated to be this close to her without touching her. He recalled her telling him that her family was one of the wealthiest in the country. Good God, he felt as if he'd gone backward in time all over again.

“Modern technology, my foot,” she snapped, and then she spun him around to face her, with more force than he'd expected. “You traveled through time, Zachariah Bolton. No other scientist has managed to do that, not with the help of every scrap of modern technology available today. Not one. You're
still a genius. And you'll find a way to apply that brain of yours in today's world. I know you will.”

He swallowed hard, but nodded. “Perhaps…”

“I'll help you,” she told him. And he knew perfectly well she meant it.

“Why, Jane?” he whispered. “Why are you so good to me?”

Lowering her chin, she shook her head slowly. “We've been through hell together, Zach. I…like to think we're…friends. And besides, you'd do the same for me.”

I'd cut out my heart for you, he wanted to tell her. But, of course, he couldn't. Not now. Especially not now. In fact, maybe it was better that she go on believing he was pining away for selfish little Claudia.

It wasn't what he wanted her to think. Not at all. He wanted to tell her…to tell her that he had done what he'd never in his life believed himself capable of doing. That he'd fallen in love with her. He wanted…good God, he wanted to ask Jane Fortune to marry him. Ben loved her. And, dammit, so did he.

But how could he ask that of her? He knew she was trying to get by without her fortune, but it was there, all the same. It was there. And what would she want with a man who was only steps away from being a pauper? She couldn't be expected to continue giving to him and Ben. He couldn't ask it of her. Nor of himself.

He looked at her, everything in him aching to tell her that it was her he loved, not Claudia. But instead, he clamped his jaw, and said nothing.

D
ammit, why did men have to be such utter fools? She'd had it with them. Or… Well, she'd thought she'd had it with them. Until now. Now she'd made up her mind that no man would ever figure anything out unless a woman drew him a picture. Oh, she had her pride. And pride was all well and good, but facts were facts. And the fact was that more than her heart would be broken when Zachariah Bolton marched out of her life. Cody would be shattered, as well. He loved Zach madly, and had claimed little Benjamin as his very own brother. It would kill him to lose those two. And Benjamin was just as enamored of Cody. Not only that, but the boy seemed to have become attached to her. And, God, how she had fallen in love with that little tyke. Those carrot curls and those big blue eyes and that mischievous grin. He'd been home from the hospital for a week now, and he'd dug himself a permanent place in Jane's heart. She loved him so much she felt as if she'd given birth to him. And she was not going to let him go. Not without a fight.

That damn thickheaded Zachariah Bolton had been brooding for days, heartsick, no doubt, over losing the selfish little witch he'd fancied himself in love with. And when he wasn't moon-eyed over his lost
love, he was scheming and plotting ways to earn a decent living in the 1990's. There was no doubt whatsoever in Jane's mind that the second he got his hands on a dependable income, he'd take his son and march straight out of her life. Which was why she hadn't told him what she'd discovered when she finally got into that old safe that was stored in the attic. If she told him, she'd lose him. She'd been waiting, hoping against hope that he'd realize he belonged with her. Maybe even begin to love her a little bit.

But the jerk hadn't come around, even after a week, and she was beginning to think he never would. Time to change tactics.

Besides, she couldn't keep the information from him much longer. But she'd made up her mind that when she told him about that, she was going to tell him everything else, as well. Might as well lay it on the line and go for broke. Her delaying tactics certainly hadn't been effective.

So she was going to tell him, flat out, tonight. She'd had all she could stand of watching him pine for another woman, and not even notice her. Enough was enough. More than enough, thank you very much.

 

It was driving him insane, living with her! Dammit, she seemed to go out of her way to be near him, tormenting him with her presence until he thought he'd go mad with wanting her. Must she wear those formfitting jeans all the time? Must she always leave her hair loose and flowing, for God's sake? Couldn't she bundle it up, spinster-style, just once? And for the love of God, why did she have to
smell
so good?
Why did she have to sing in the shower? Why did she have to be so blasted loving and caring to his son that it melted his heart each time he saw it. Why?

He wanted her. Not just in his bed, but right to the base of his soul, he wanted her. He'd thought he'd loved once, but with every day that passed, he realized more and more how dim his young yearnings for Claudia had been in comparison with the real thing. But he hadn't told Jane. He had his pride, dammit, and right now he had nothing to offer her. Nothing at all. He'd been slowly growing more and more frustrated as he sought to find his place in this new world, to understand where he fit in, to find a way to earn a living, for heaven's sake. But he hadn't. Not yet.

But he would. He'd find his way and he'd make Jane his own. It was the waiting that was driving him to distraction.

“Zachariah?”

He turned to see the object of his every waking thought, standing in the doorway of his workroom. He caught her unaware, and in that instant before she felt his gaze, he saw her pain, etched into the porcelain features of her face. Pain he'd caused. Hell, she cared for him. And he'd been a fool to let her go on believing he didn't feel the same. In that moment, he changed his mind. He couldn't wait any longer. To hell with his pride. To hell with his income, or lack thereof. He'd deal with that later. It was important, yes, but not as important as what he felt for this woman. Nothing was as important as that.

Jane had moved Cody to another bedroom, worried about prolonged exposure to the time warp that
existed, invisible, here in this one. Benjamin had the room beside Cody's, though they spent most of their time together in one place or the other. Usually wherever the Nintendo machine was set up at the time. Zach had set up a cot in here.

Jane was not smiling when she met his eyes. Lord, he'd done something to make her angry. Well, he deserved her anger for allowing her to doubt him so long. And he couldn't blame her, could he?

“We have to talk,” she said.

“Yes, we do,” he said. “It's long overdue.”

“Not here. I don't want to wake the boys. Downstairs, okay?” And without another word, she backed out into the hall, closing the door behind her.

Zach drew a fortifying breath, and got to his feet, closing the journal where he'd been recording his thoughts. Jane had suggested he try his hand at writing, and he'd begun with the life story of the town's most famous resident—himself. He'd have to write the ending as if it were fiction, though he knew full well it was not. Jane had assured him the project would sell and earn him a substantial amount, but it was a long process, and he needed something in the meantime.

He'd been impatient, thinking he couldn't wait. That he needed an income before he could tell Jane how he truly felt, and knowing he could not,
would not,
wait much longer to make Jane his. If she'd have him, that is.

Shaking his head, he walked downstairs, preparing himself for the worst.

 

Jane's loins were girded. She stood in a rigid posture when Zach entered the living room, and vowed
she wasn't going to take pity on his poor broken heart.

“Coffee?” she said, when he took a seat on the sofa.

“No.”

“All right then. I guess I should come right to the point.”

“If you don't mind, Jane, I'd like to go first.”

She blinked at him, her pretty eyes puzzled. “You would?”

Zach nodded.

“Actually, yes, I do mind. I've been rehearsing this in my mind for hours, and if I don't get it out right now, I never will.” Jane paced the length of the living room, walking away from him in brisk strides, her luscious hips swaying as she moved.

Zach pursed his lips. “All right, if you insist. I must admit, you've piqued my curiosity. Whatever could you have to say to me that would require so much preparation?”

She whirled on him. “Damn you, Zachariah Bolton, you have to be the most hardheaded, utterly
dense
man I've ever known.”

“Now, wait a minute!” Zach jumped to his feet, intercepting her as she paced back the other way, catching her shoulders in his hands and staring down into her blazing eyes. “I know I've made you angry with me, Jane, and I'm sorry.”

“Angry? Zach, you've made me more than angry. This is beyond anger. I want to slap you. The way you've been walking around as if there's a dark cloud over your head ever since you left the last cen
tury. I'm sick and tired of watching you pining away for that brainless, air-headed, vapid, overly made-up, self-centered bitch.”

He frowned down at her. She was breathless now, but he could see she was only warming up. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let you go on believing I was still pining over Claudia. It was unforgivable, Jane.”

“Yes, dammit, it was! When are you going to wake up and see her for what she is…was, I mean. Zach, she walked out on her own flesh and blood. Not once, but twice. The second time when she had every reason to believe he was on his death bed. How in the name of God can a man as intelligent as you are think he's in love with a woman like that?”

He shrugged. “I don't, Jane I never really did.”

“Well, I'm sick and tired of seeing it, and that's all. I've been waiting and waiting for you to wake up, Zach, because I don't want you to leave me…us. But dammit, I can't stand watching this anymore. I'm twice the woman that Claudia ever was and it's high time you realized it.”

“Ten times, easily.”

“I don't want to…what?” Jane stopped yelling, drew a breath, and stared up at him.

“I said you're ten times the woman Claudia is. More than that. Perhaps a hundred times, Jane. And I haven't been pining away for her at all. In fact I haven't given her a second thought since we came back here.”

Jane blinked. “You haven't?”

“No, I haven't.”

“Well, then…why have you been…so…”

“Depressed? Ah, Jane, it has nothing to do with
Claudia. Nothing at all, I promise you that.” He let his hands fall upon her shoulders, met her eyes fully, so that she could see the sincerity in his own. He didn't want her doubting him. Not ever again. “In fact, there's something you should know. That night, that night she spent in my room. Nothing happened between us, Jane. She wanted it to, but I…I found I simply wasn't interested anymore.”

“You weren't?”

He smiled and looked at her. “You sound so amazed, Jane. Did you really believe me that gullible? I knew perfectly well she only came to me because my wealth and standing had suddenly made me desirable in her eyes. And because her wealthy husband died, and left most of his fortune to his nephews. You're right, she's utterly selfish. Her heart is made of solid stone…if she even has one.”

“But I don't understand. All this brooding you've been doing—”

“The source was purely financial. I hate being a burden on you and Cody.”

“Burden,” she snapped, rolling her eyes. “You know better.”

He nodded. “I guess I do. It's more than that. Jane, I've been feeling so low because I've been having trouble dealing with the fact that I have nothing to offer you.”

“Nothing to…”

“But I've decided to swallow my pride, Jane, because I can't wait any longer to tell you how I feel.”

She blinked up at him. “H-how?”

Zach smiled very slightly. “Utterly, madly, completely in love with you,” he said softly. “And irre
vocably devoted to your son. And determined to make the both of you mine.” Her lips parted, but no words escaped. “I know I'm in dire straights right now, Jane, but I won't be. I'm a reasonably intelligent man with a strong back. I'll find a way. I'll dig ditches if I have to, darling, but…”

“I'm so sorry,” she whispered. And for a moment, his heart stopped, because he thought she was going to turn him down. “Zach, I'm not sure you're going to forgive me for this…but…”

“But what? You don't feel the same? Jane, you do. I know you do, I see it in your eyes and I feel it when…” He let his words trail off, because there were no words powerful enough to show her that they were meant to be together. He pulled her closer to him, tight and hard against his body, and he bowed his head, capturing her pliant lips beneath his, kissing her so deeply and so passionately that she couldn't possibly doubt the truth. Heat grew and sizzled in his veins when their tongues met and twined, and her hands threaded into his hair, and she fed hungrily from his mouth.

And at last he lifted his head, met her blazing eyes. “Don't tell me you don't feel anything for me, Jane,” he whispered.

“I…I wasn't going to,” she replied, a bit breathlessly. She stiffened her spine, and gently extricated herself from his grip. “I'll never tell you that, Zach. But there's something you need to know.”

At her insistence, he released her, but reluctantly.

She went to the coffee table and picked up a stack of aged-looking papers, and when she straightened,
she handed them to him. “Here. These belong to you.”

“What…” Frowning, Zach took them.

“I found these in the safe that was stored in the attic. The safe itself was an antique, but worthless unless it was usable, of course, so I called a locksmith, when we first moved in. I found these things inside, and tucked them away and forgot about them. I didn't even think of them again until you and Ben came here to stay.”

Zach sorted through the papers, nodding in recognition. They belonged to him, all of them. Stocks, savings bonds, investment certificates and the like. “I really don't see what difference is makes, Jane. These are over a century out-of-date, worthless and—”

“They're probably worth a fortune, Zach.” She lowered her head, eyes focused on the floor.

“What?”

“Well, most of those banks on the notes are still thriving. Some of those companies you invested in then are multimillion-dollar conglomerates today. Take my word for it, Zach, I know about these things. A century's worth of interest adds up to quite a hefty sum.”

Zach shook his head slowly as the information sank in. He held in his hands the very thing he'd been agonizing over for days now. “Jane, for God's sake, why didn't you tell me about this?”

Biting her trembling lower lip, she lifted her gaze to meet his. “Because I didn't want you to leave.”

“You—”

“I didn't want to lose you, Zach. I kept telling
myself that if I could just keep you here long enough, maybe you'd start to feel for me, what I…what I feel for you.”

“What you feel for me?” He realized then, that she still hadn't told him what she did feel for him. And he waited, though far from patiently.

She closed her eyes. “I was afraid you'd take Benjamin and leave when you realized you had the means. And, well, I love him, too, Zach.”

“Too?”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “Too.”

Zach shook his head. She swallowed hard, so hard he heard it, saw the motion of the muscles in her throat as she looked up at him and nodded.

“I've been slowly going insane with wanting you, needing you…
loving
you, Jane Fortune…but I convinced myself I couldn't ask you until I had something to offer—”