Page 27 of Stolen Time

And the thing that made him even angrier was that Charles’s escapades had all but pushed the memory of his dinner with Deborah far away. Now that he was resolved on his course of action, Seth did his best to remember what it had been like to sit across the table from her, to watch the lively play of emotions on her lovely features and listen to her speak…to feel her hand on his arm as he guided her up the hill to Aunt Ruth’s house.

Yes, that was what he wanted to think about right now.

The rest of this mess could wait until morning.

When Seth awoke, he wasn’t in a much-improved mood. About the best he could say about his sleep was that he hadn’t suffered any nightmares, even while he tossed and turned, doing his best to find a position that would allow him to fall back into slumber and prevent his mind from continually jumping back and forthbetween the problem of his brother Charles and the realization that he was beginning to feel a lot more for Deborah Rowe than simple neighborly concern.

A lukewarm bath helped a little. Not that he could linger in it for more than ten minutes at most, since he had to be at work at seven, but still, he felt a bit more human as he combed his hair, then went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. As far as he’d been able to tell, the night had been quiet enough.

Then again, what had he been expecting? Despite all those tortured thoughts he’d suffered overnight that had conjured images of Chicago-style shoot-ups on the streets of Jerome, he doubted such nightmares would actually come to pass. No, the bootleggers would be doing their level best to avoid any sort of confrontation, which meant his brother was probably safe…for now.

Maybe.

A more immediate concern would be facing Lionel Allenby at work today. Although they didn’t interact on a daily basis, the chances were still greater than fifty percent that Seth would at least see Allenby in passing, even if they didn’t have much to say to one another. Would he be able to hide what he knew about the mine superintendent?

If the man was even involved at all. All Seth had to go on were suspicions, and the belief deep in his gut that Lionel Allenby would have had no reason to have his team close up the exploratory shaft if he hadn’t decided it was the perfect drop-off site for the local bootleggers. It was possible that one of the men who’d dug the shaft had passed the information along to the people manufacturing the whiskey, and Lionel hadn’t been involved at all.

However, that didn’t explain why he would have ordered it closed so quickly.

Once again, Seth’s thoughts kept chasing themselves, and it didn’t seem as though a second cup of coffee would do much of anything except make him even more jittery. Instead, he got out some cornbread from the pantry, cut himself a slice, and made himself eat it slowly and deliberately, doing his best to focus on the moment rather than a million possibilities he couldn’t control.

The exercise of preparing even such a meager breakfast helped a little bit, as did his morning rituals of shaving and brushing his teeth. By the time he emerged from his bungalow, he thought he might be able to face the day without letting anyone know that he’d seen something troubling…and potentially dangerous…the night before.

His route to the mine took him past Paradise Lane, and Aunt Ruth and Uncle Timothy’s house. Seth couldn’t stop himself from wondering if Deborah was up yet, or whether she was the type of person to sleep in.

Then he had to shake his head at himself. No matter what kind of sleeper she was, night owl or early bird, he had to believe his aunt would have her guest up at nearly dawn. She was not a supporter of sloth, even in a lost young woman who couldn’t recall who she was or where she’d come from.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. At least Deborah remembered her name, and if their conversation of the night before was any indication, she also retained vague recollections of visiting certain places and performing certain tasks, even if she didn’t have any real context to go on. Seth had to believe this was a promising sign, and that sooner or later, she would have recovered enough of her memories to recollect something of her origins.

And while he certainly didn’t want her to go wandering through life with no clear idea of where she’d come from, he also dreaded the day when those lost memories would finallyresurface, like an ancient shipwreck revealed as the tide went out. Because once she knew who she was, she’d be gone forever.

Or…would she? He might have been flattering himself, but he couldn’t help thinking they’d had a certain kind of connection the night before. In that moment when their eyes met…before he, like a coward, had looked down at his plate…he could have sworn he saw the same longing in her expression that he knew he felt in his soul. If it was possible that she was coming to care for him, then maybe she would want to stay here in Jerome.

Oh, sure,he mocked himself as he drew near the gates that allowed entrance to the United Verde.A beautiful, smart woman who could have anyone she wanted is going to be fine with living in the back of beyond with a mining foreman, in a bungalow barely big enough for one person.

Deep down, he knew that evaluation of his home wasn’t entirely fair, that with its two bedrooms and nearly one thousand square feet, his little house was certainly of a size to accommodate a couple…and maybe one child. Anything more than that, and of course they’d need something bigger.

Should he be laughing at the way his thoughts had completely gone off track? He hadn’t kissed Deborah, hadn’t told her that he had feelings for her, and now he was imagining a future where they were married and had children?

Well, thoughts were free, he supposed, and it wasn’t as if he planned to share these innocent fantasies with anyone else. It was enough that she’d excited his heart and soul, had made him believe for the first time that such a future might be possible for him. True, she was a civilian, and those pairings were always a little more fraught for the parties involved. But there were many such couples in the McAllister clan, and he had to assume they weren’t uncommon in other witch clans as well, just because magical families always had to take care that they didn’t become too inbred.

Obviously, he would have to be very, very sure of Deborah before he revealed that side of himself…which meant waiting to see how matters progressed, and also waiting to see what happened when and if her memories began to return. He certainly wasn’t going to take such a large step until he knew for certain that she wanted to stay in Jerome with him.

Until then, he would only do his best to get through the day ahead…and hope the Goddess might offer some inspiration as to what he should do next.

9

SHOP ’TIL YOU DROP

Any hopesof treating my stay in 1926 as a mini-vacation were dashed the next morning when Ruth McAllister knocked on my door before the world was even light outside my window and said, “Breakfast in half an hour!”

I sat up in bed, blinking, and pushed my disheveled hair away from my face. In that moment, I realized she’d allowed me to sleep in the day before because I was newly at the house and still probably in shock over losing my memories, but now I needed to conform to the household schedule.

Which apparently included getting up at o’dark thirty.

After allowing myself a small curse, I shoved back the covers and got out the day’s clothes, then headed over to the bathroom. I supposed it was something of a comfort that there were two upstairs, so at least I didn’t have to share with Ruth and Timothy. Still, it was a heck of a rush to get the bathtub filled enough so I could have a quick splash, and as for my hair, forget about it. Luckily, I didn’t have an oily scalp and could go three or four days before it started to look kind of nasty, but I knew I’d have to wash it tomorrow, even if that meant getting up at four in the morning.

Perish the thought.