Page 21 of Caught in Time
“We’ll talk about this later. Don’t go anywhere but back to Annabelle’s house. I want you to stay home and get some rest.”
Drawing a ragged breath, Spencer got up from the bench, turned away from Charlotte, and strode up the path to the house.
The next morning Spencer stood in the doorway of Charlotte’s bedroom at Annabelle’s impressive townhouse, heart aching as he watched the woman he loved dress. He did not know what to believe, but he would be devastated if at the end of the day he found that she was not fully in charge of her faculties.
Testily he asked, “If you are from the future, tell me when the war ends.”
“April, 1865 in the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.” Her answer came without hesitation. “The Union wins. General Ulysses S. Grant is the commander of the Union Forces at that time and General Robert E. Lee surrenders to him. Could I possibly make up anything that detailed?”
He opened his mouth to reply and then rapidly closed it. Could she be telling the truth? The progressive ideas about medicine she so often spoke of and the countless times he’d caught her and Annabelle in the middle of a bizarre conversation—Spencer still wasn’t sure who or what Pink Floyd was or what he, she, or it had to do with the dark side of the moon—he made a mental note to ask her about that someday.
After Charlotte had dressed, they went downstairs to the parlor where Annabelle was waiting for them.
“Where is this proof you spoke of?” he demanded, staring at Charlotte.
Annabelle turned to Charlotte. “You told him?”
Charlotte shrugged.
“I had to! It was a choice between telling him the truth or letting him believe that I didn’t love him or want to marry him,” she replied.
Annabelle crossed the parlor and opened the small door located behind the bookcase and pulled the box containing Charlotte’s futuristic belongings from the safety of their hiding place. Quickly she handed the box to Spencer and allowed him to feast his gaze upon the proof of Charlotte’s words.
To say he was shocked would have been a gross understatement. Holding Charlotte’s driver’s license in one hand and her cell phone in the other, he collapsed back onto the sofa, shaking his head in disbelief.
“It can’t be. It is impossible, impossible,” he murmured repeatedly. After a moment Charlotte handed him another picture.
The photograph was amazing, like nothing he had ever seen before.
It was a picture of her and was all in color. She wore blue trousers and a long sleeved blue and orange shirt with the wordsSSU, Class of 2018emblazoned on the front. Spencer knew of no way for her to fabricate such evidence, but it was still several moments before he was able to speak.
Over bitter cups of Confederate “coffee,” the women explained everything they knew until Spencer’s head was fairly spinning. Relief that the woman he loved was not crazy was intense, but it didn’t make coming to grips with the situation any easier.
“Why don’t you use your advanced medical knowledge to save people’s lives? If you had told me—someone—we might have saved those poor soldiers at the hospital.”
Charlotte sat beside him.
“Who would have believed me? Certainly not you.”
“She’s right,” Annabelle said, nodding in agreement.
“Besides, anyone crazy enough to believe us wouldn’t be able to make much difference and we would probably just wind up in the madhouse anyway. In any case, we cannot change the future—nor should we. Whatever happens, we are part of it. We must live our lives as though we don’t know anything.”
Spencer nodded, grasping his lover’s hand and squeezing it in evidence of his profound, immense relief.
“You’re probably right. I don’t necessarily believe the future will be exactly as you say, and there is still a great deal you two don’t know.”
Spencer turned to wrap a reassuring arm around Charlotte and changed the subject slightly.
“I’ll protect you, love, but you must be careful. Go nowhere unattended and do nothing that could be construed as suspicious. I’m so sorry that I didn’t believe you without this proof,” he apologized. “My heart is just overflowing with love for you, my darling. All my hopes of Heaven and earth depend on your answer. There is nothing honorable and possible I would not dare, to have your love. Your love and tenderness are the oasis of my life. In friendship, love and truth, I am truly yours. I love you with all my heart, my darling. Will you make me the happiest man on earth and consent to be my wife?”
After his long, heartfelt speech, his breath caught as he waited for her decision.
“Before I give you an answer, I don’t want you to feel insecure because I don’t come from this time. Don’t worry about what I think of you. I do not laugh at your attempts to treat your patients or think any the less of you for your lack of medical knowledge as compared with that of my time. I think you are a wonderful, caring, and generous man! Not to mention brilliant! My life was very different before I met you, but I wouldn’t change it now for the world. I believe that I was meant to exist in this time and place—to live out my life with you. I love you, too. You must know that. My answer is yes, yes, andyes!” Charlotte exclaimed jubilantly.
Happiness coursed through Spencer. He had never been so happy in his entire life. His heart was irrecoverably lost, and it was Charlotte’s forever.
