Page 22 of Christmas Past
After all, time travel was a tricky thing. He wanted to believe this was the same timeline where they’d saved Ruby McAllister from Jasper Wilcox’s clutches and where everyone knew about Devynn’s peculiar gift, but he didn’t know that for sure.
“Let’s see who’s there first,” he said after a long pause. They’d been standing on the sidewalk opposite the store, close enough to see something of what was going on inside but not so close that he’d been able to tell for sure who was working at the shop.
Devynn nodded, and together they crossed the street and approached the big plate-glass window so they could peer into the store and get the lay of the land. Inside, Seth saw a young man — probably in his early teens — working behind the counter. He had dark blond hair and blue eyes, and seemed halfway familiar.
“Is that…?” Devynn began, then paused. She hadn’t met Arthur, Seth’s nephew, during the brief time they’d spent in 1947 Jerome, but of course she’d known of his existence.
“I think so.” The boy was taller than he’d been during their last visit, and something about his face had grown a little leaner, showing signs of the man he would become one day.
A day Seth would never see, because with any luck, he and Devynn would be back in the twenty-first century by then.
She reached over to give his hand a squeeze. “It’s going to be okay.”
Was it?
At any rate, they couldn’t stand out here on the sidewalk all day, or they might as well have just remained holed up in the bungalow. A bell jingled as they pushed open the door, and Arthur looked over at them, his eyes widening in shock.
“Uncle Seth? But I thought — ” His voice cracked on the last syllable, although Seth wasn’t sure whether that was because of stress or because the boy’s voice had begun to change. “I mean, my dad said he didn’t think you’d ever be back.”
Neither had Seth. By necessity, he hadn’t said a whole lot to Arthur during their one and only meeting, but it seemed that Charles must have told his son something about his uncle’s time-traveling adventures. That was both a relief and a worry — a relief because they wouldn’t have to invent a cover story to explain their presence here, but also a worry because Seth had no idea how much Arthur knew or how he’d react to the full truth, that his uncle had decided the future was the place for him, leaving his family behind.
“It’s complicated,” Seth said, and hoped he could leave matters there.
“I suppose it is.” Arthur came around the counter, and once again, Seth was struck by how tall he’d gotten. The boy he remembered was now nearly as tall as Seth himself. “And sort of crazy, too, I suppose. Time travel seems like something out of those science fiction stories Cousin Freddie likes to read.”
“It feels that way to us sometimes, too,” Devynn said with a wry smile.
Arthur grinned at her in response. He didn’t resemble either of his parents all that much except in coloring, and in fact, reminded Seth more of photos he’d seen of his father when Henry was that age. “I bet it does.” He paused there, the grin fading. “A lot has changed since you were here last fall.”
Ah, so that was how long it had been. Nearly a year. “Changed how?” Seth asked.
Arthur’s expression grew downright somber. “Well, Mom passed away last month. She’d been sick for a long time, but it was still hard, you know? And Ruby was married just a few months before then — to Patrick McAllister, from Payson. He’s a cousin, but you wouldn’t have met him, of course.”
Abigail was dead. Seth did his best to process that information, to try to determine how he even felt about the news of her passing. She’d never been particularly warm to him — well, at least not after she realized he wouldn’t be her consort — and she’d been even less friendly to Devynn. But she’d still been family, and even though he’d known she would die young and pass the prima mantle to Ruby when her heir was still in her early twenties, it was still something of a blow to come face to face with that reality.
“I’m sorry to hear about your mother,” he said quietly.
Arthur nodded, his friendly features very solemn. “It was peaceful at the end. And honestly, I think she was ready. She’d been in pain for my whole life, really.” He brightened a little as he added, “But Ruby getting married has been great for everyone. Patrick fits right in, and they’re very happy. She’s really come into her own as prima.”
Seth couldn’t quite hold back a surge of curiosity after hearing that comment. He’d always wondered what Ruby would be like as prima — the stories about her in the McAllister clan made her sound almost legendary — and now it seemed he might have a chance to find out. “Do you think she’d want to see us?”
“Are you kidding?” Arthur chuckled. “Ruby’s been hoping you’d come back ever since you left. She said she had a feeling your story wasn’t over yet.”
That sounded like something Ruby would say. Seth found himself looking forward to seeing her again, to discovering what kind of leader she’d become.
“And your father?” Seth asked, knowing it would sound odd not to inquire after his brother. The Goddess only knew that Charles’s relationship with Abigail had been complicated at best, but losing the person you’d been with for several decades still had to be difficult. “How is Charles?”
Arthur’s expression became more strained. “He’s managing, I suppose. Mother’s death hit him hard, even though everyone knew it was coming. He’s been spending more time down in Cottonwood, working with some of our cousins who moved there after it became obvious that the mines weren’t going to stay open forever. I think being here in Jerome reminds him too much of everything he’s lost.”
Seth nodded. Charles had lost his wife, his brother had disappeared mysteriously, and his hometown had almost died around him. No wonder he might want to escape to a place that held fewer painful memories.
“But we live in the apartment over the store — Ruby got the prima house up on Paradise Lane, of course — and he still spends a lot of time here,” Arthur continued. “Some of the cousins help out while I’m in school, but I try to be at the store as much as I can. It’s good experience for me, since Father said I’ll officially inherit the place when I turn twenty-one.”
“You’re doing a fine job,” Seth said, although he reflected that it seemed as if Charles expected a lot of a boy who was barely fourteen.
Then again, Charles and Seth had worked in the store from the time they were twelve. Not full-time, of course, but they were there after school and on the weekends, and longer than that during the summer. Child labor laws had been very different in the past from what they were in the twenty-first century.
“Thanks, Uncle Seth. That means a lot coming from you.” Arthur paused, then asked, “How long are you planning to stay this time?”
