Come Down In Time (A Time Travel Romance) (22 page)

Tommy walked over to Jamie’s
mother and leaned down to hug her. He felt like a giant next to
Jamie’s five-foot tall mother. Jamie’s mother hugged Tommy and
started to cry a little. “Everything is okay now,” Tommy said.

Jamie’s mother looked over at
her. She looked confused, but she was happy, too. “What’s going
on?” she asked.

“
I told you it was impossible,”
Jamie said. “But all you need to know is that Tommy and I are back
together. We’re getting married again.”

“
But you just got back here
today,” her mother said.

“
I know,” Jamie said. “I
said it was impossible.”

Her mother sat down at the table.
Tommy put his arm around Jamie and they both looked at her, smiling.
Jamie’s mother put her head in her hands and cried. Jamie walked
over to her and put her arm around her. “It’s okay now, Mom.
Everything is going to work out like it was supposed to.”

Tommy held Jamie’s hand as she
talked to her mother. He wasn’t going to let go ever again.

“
Your father’s going to be so
happy,” her mother said.

“
I’m going to get some things
from my room,” Jamie said. “I’m going to stay with Tommy
tonight in the cottage.”

Her mother nodded as she wiped
her eyes with a tissue.

Tommy followed Jamie up to her
room and she grabbed her suitcase and purse.

“
Make sure it’s there,”
Tommy said.

Jamie put the suitcase on the bed
and opened it up. She drew out the folded paper that had the map on
it. She unfolded it and Tommy looked over her shoulder.

“
This is it,” she said. “We
need to learn it like the back of our hands if we decide to go back.
This is all we’ve got. It won’t be there in 2001.”

Tommy picked up her suitcase and
Jamie put her purse strap over her shoulder. They walked down the
stairs and back into the kitchen. Her mother still sat at the table.

“
Mom, tell Dad I love him,”
Jamie said. She didn’t know what might happen to this timeline if
she went back to 2001, but for now she could do everything right. “I
love you both, for all time,” she said.

Her mother waved at them as they
walked out the back door. They waved back, then shut the door. The
rest of their lives was beginning. They walked to the opening in the
woods and walked all the way through to Tommy’s side.

Jamie followed Tommy down the
path beside the cornfield and the woods. They walked through his
garden and up to the farmhouse. Tommy opened the door and stepped
inside. Jamie was right behind him.

Granny was already standing
there, right inside the door. She held her arms out to Jamie. Her
hair was completely white now, but she looked as strong and sturdy as
ever. Jamie went to her and hugged her. “I know you’re back,”
Granny said. “I saw you through the window today. I know you’re
back.”

“
Yes,” Jamie whispered in
Granny’s ear. “I’m back, and I’m never leaving again.”

When she and Granny pulled away
from each other, both were crying soft tears. Jamie had missed Granny
so much. She didn’t know why she had left her in that other
timeline, or maybe several timelines. She didn’t understand it. She
only understood that she was here now and she wasn’t going away.
She never wanted to go away again.

“
Is that you, Jamie?” Grandpa
said. Jamie looked up and Grandpa was standing in the doorway to the
kitchen.

“
It’s me, Grandpa,” she
said. He looked surprised, but he also looked very pleased. A smile
started at his mouth, and then he was grinning. Jamie walked over to
him and hugged him.

“
It’s good to see you,
Grandpa,” she said. “I’ve missed you and Granny so much.”

“
We’ve missed you, too,
girl,” Grandpa said. “What brings you here?”

Jamie looked over at Tommy, then
back at Grandpa. “Tommy brings me here,” she said. “We’re
getting married again.”

Grandpa whooped the loudest whoop
Jamie had ever heard. These were her people, this was her family. She
cried as she hugged Grandpa again.

Like in the early days of her
marriage to Tommy, Jamie helped Grandma set the table. Grandma lit
candles, which meant it was a very special occasion. She got out her
fine china from the china cabinet and put the plates carefully on the
table. She brought a bottle of blackberry wine up from the cellar and
put it on ice.

Jamie helped Grandma put the
chicken and dumplings in a big soup tureen, which she placed in the
middle of the table. She got the biscuits out of the oven and put
them in a basket lined with cloth napkins. She stirred the green peas
on top of the stove and added butter before she put them in a covered
bowl. Granny took tomatoes out of a bowl and sliced them up onto a
plate, then set them on the table. It was a celebration.

When they sat down at the table,
Granny sat between Tommy and Jamie and grabbed her hand and Tommy’s
hand. Grandpa sat at the head of the table, and Jamie grabbed his
hand with her other hand. They all bowed their heads to the higher
power.

“
Thank you, God, for bringing
Jamie back home to us,” Granny said. “You have answered our
prayers, and we are thankful.”

“
Amen,” Grandpa said.

“
Amen,” everyone else said.

Grandpa poured the blackberry
wine into their glasses. “This is from my best year,” he said.
“2001.”

Jamie ate a lot at supper. It
seemed such a long time since she had tasted Granny’s chicken and
dumplings. The tomatoes were fresh and sweet in her mouth. Grandpa’s
blackberry wine was smooth as she drank it. They laughed and talked
during supper, just like they used to do. Granny asked about the
wedding and Jamie and Tommy looked at each other and laughed. They
had made no plans.

“
What do you think, Granny?”
Tommy asked.

“
I think you should get married
in the garden,” Granny said. “Like before.”

“
I think you’re right,
Granny,” Jamie said. “We’ll just make it family this time, and
everything will be easy.”

“
I’m going to want to make a
cake and some other things,” Granny said.

“
Of course,” Jamie said.
“I’ll help you.”

After supper, Jamie put the food
up and washed all of the dishes. She and Tommy hugged Granny and
Grandpa, then walked down the road to Tommy’s parents house.

“
I should have asked,” Jamie
said as they walked. “Is your dad alive now?”

“
Yes, he’s alive and doing
well. My brother and sister have been gone for years, but Dad’s
still alive and kicking. Mom’s doing well, too.”

They walked into the back door
and through the kitchen to the den. Tommy’s parents looked up from
the TV when they walked in. They both looked from Tommy’s face to
Jamie’s face, back and forth, trying to understand why Jamie was
there.

“
I know you’re surprised,”
Tommy said.

“
Yes,” his mother said. “Very
surprised.”

“
We wanted to let you know that
we’re back together,” Tommy said. “We’re getting married
again, but that is just a formality. We’re still married in our
minds.”

Mrs. Grisham, who had looked so
beaten down the last time Jamie had seen her in the grocery store in
that other timeline, put her arms around Tommy and then Jamie. Mr.
Grisham stood to the side at first, but then he put his arms around
everyone.

They stayed and talked for a few
minutes with Tommy’s parents.

“
We’re going to go home now,”
Tommy said. “It’s been a big day. But we’ll be getting married
in the next few days. But think of us as still married.”

Tommy and Jamie walked hand in
hand down to the cottage. Tommy pushed the door open and Jamie
stepped in for the first time in several months, though it had been
ten years in Tommy’s timeline. Everything looked the same as the
last time she had been here. Tommy opened the refrigerator and pulled
out a bottle of wine. He set it on the countertop and opened it.

“
Let’s go to bed,” he said.
He took two wine glasses from the cabinet and Jamie followed him to
the bedroom. Tommy poured the wine and handed her a glass.

“
I started out today, like
every other day for the past decade, without you,” Tommy said. “And
now, you’re here again.”

“
I’m never leaving you,
Tommy,” she said. “I never wanted to leave you as far as my mind
can say. Never. I’ve been trying to get back to you.”

Tommy went into the bathroom and
started running water in the bathtub. He came back and sat on the
edge of the bed with Jamie. They took sips of the dry white wine.

“
Have we decided where we want
to be?” Jamie asked.

“
I think so,” Tommy said.
“But if you feel differently, then I’m going where you’re
going.”

“
I’m thinking we need to stay
here,” Jamie said. “Everyone is so happy. We’re so happy. We’re
not too old to have children. We can still have a good life.”

“
I agree,” Tommy said. They
clinked their wine glasses together, having made the decision.

Tommy went back into the bathroom
and turned off the water. He took his clothes off and got in the tub.
He called to Jamie. “I’m waiting on you,” he said. “Bring the
wine.”

In her head, she remembered Darma
and Blackbird telling her that Tommy was waiting for her. She walked
into the bathroom and stripped off her clothes. She poured more wine
into her glass and Tommy’s glass before she slid into the tub.

“
We need to go to the overhang
tomorrow and gather the things that Blackbird needs,” Jamie said.

“
I know,” Tommy said. “We’ll
go first thing.”

When they got out of the tub and
dried off, they headed for the bed. Jamie snuggled against Tommy’s
chest in the crook of his arm for a moment. But then they started
kissing each other and rubbing against each other and making love to
each other like there was no tomorrow. Jamie had been through so
much, that she worried there might not be a tomorrow. She took what
she had right then and held on. Tommy pulled her on top of him and
she slid him into her. She gathered him in her arms and pulled him up
so that they were both sitting, Tommy inside of her, her legs wrapped
around him. She rocked her hips as Tommy thrust upward. Jamie leaned
down and kissed Tommy before throwing her head back, her body back,
and screaming. Tommy put his hands over her breasts and moaned,
loudly.

As they lay back on their
pillows, holding each other’s hands, Jamie said, “I’m afraid to
go to sleep. I know it’s not the full moon yet, but I’m still
afraid.”

“
I’m afraid, too,” Tommy
said.

“
We need to learn that map,
just in case,” Jamie said. “I’ve been through too much, too
many timelines. We’ve got to know that map.”

Tommy took the map out of Jamie’s
suitcase and brought it over to the bed. Jamie sat up and together
they studied it.

“
I think I’ve got it,”
Tommy said. Once we get into North Carolina, we follow Route 25 for
five miles. Chancy has marked that on the map. Then we turn left and
go on Route 88 for three miles, then we turn left again and follow
Route 97 for another seven miles. That gets us to Chancy’s mother’s
place. From there, we keep going down Route 97 for a mile, then turn
onto Route 123 for another .9 miles. Then we turn off to the right on
a dirt road and go .2 miles. He’s got a big arrow there, pointing
to the right. I guess that’s where it ends. That must be the
beginning of the path to Blackbird’s cabin.”

“
Do you have it memorized,
Tommy?” Jamie asked. “I think I do, but we need both of us to
know it.”

“
Yes, I’ve got it memorized,”
he said. “Hopefully, we aren’t even going to need it.”

“
Hopefully,” she said.

She and Tommy got back under the
covers and held on to each other. They eventually fell asleep. When
Jamie woke up she reached over to the other side of the bed and felt
Tommy. She sat up and looked at him. It was definitely Tommy. She had
not entered a timeline where she was with someone else in some other
bed, some other time.

Tommy woke up and looked at her.
“Are we still in 2013?” he asked.

“
Yes,” Jamie said. “It
seems like we are.”

She got up and made a pot of
coffee. She found eggs and sausage in the fridge and fried them up
before popping pieces of bread in the toaster oven. Tommy sat at the
table and she poured him some coffee. She sat down with her own cup
of coffee while the bread toasted.

“
It can’t change unless it’s
a full moon,” Jamie said. “But as soon as we eat, we need to go
to the overhang and get the things for Blackbird. Then we need to get
in the car and drive to him. I don’t want to take any chances.”

“
What time is it?” Tommy
asked.

“
It’s ten after eleven,”
she answered. “We’ve overslept. Let’s get a move on.”

They ate their breakfast
hurriedly, then put on their clothes.