Page 3 of Christmas Past
“You don’t know that for sure,” I replied.
Now he did look directly at me, and the worry in his face was so clear, I guessed even the people sitting across the room could have picked it up.
Luckily, they still weren’t paying any attention to us.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were practicing?”
The words were spoken simply, without a hint of accusation. He didn’t seem to be angry, just worried.
“Because I didn’t want to upset you,” I said. “And I was doing very small jumps, the kind that wouldn’t have caused much of a problem even if I’d gotten stuck when I landed. That didn’t happen, though. So I know I have a lot more control now than I did even six months ago.”
Because he didn’t say anything right away, I knew he was wrestling with his thoughts, coming up with all the reasons why this was a crazy idea…and doing his best to ignore the ones, maybe stronger, that were telling him he should go back to give his parents some peace of mind.
When he spoke, I could tell he’d already made the decision but wasn’t going to voice it out loud until he’d hammered out a few pertinent points.
“How do you plan to do this?” he asked. “Because if we just appear in the middle of the mercantile, people are going to ask questions.”
“Not a problem,” I said calmly. “We can use the old mine shaft to come and go — it wasn’t in use even in 1926, so we shouldn’t bump into anyone there. And we can try to find some period-correct clothes in the vintage shop in Cottonwood, but if they don’t have anything that’ll work, then I’ll see what I can find on eBay and Etsy and find out if they can overnight it here.”
Too bad we hadn’t departed from the 1920s during our last time jump, or I wouldn’t have had to worry about clothes at all. However, since we’d come here from 1947, those outfits wouldn’t work. We’d hung onto them and gone to a couple of vintage dances in Prescott — it turned out that Seth picked up swing and the Lindy hop pretty quickly — but they’d be just as out of place in 1926 Jerome as they were in the present day.
Maybe more so, since at least in our current time, vintage clothing seemed to be a style choice that never went completely away.
Now Seth was smiling just a little. “It sounds like you’ve thought of everything.”
“I don’t know about ‘everything,’” I said. “But I really think we can make this work. And because we’re moving around in time, we have all the flexibility in the world. We can go to Christmas in 1926 and be back here for our own celebration without anyone noticing.”
At least, that was the optimal scenario. If I really screwed up, I might not be able to pinpoint things exactly. Missing our wedding would be the worst outcome, of course, but there was also the rehearsal dinner and Christmas Eve at my parents’ house, and all the million and one social commitments that always cropped up during the holidays.
One good thing was that Seth and I had hired extra help — well, a bunch of McAllister cousins — to watch the store, so there wouldn’t be too much problem about us being MIA at the height of the busiest shopping season. And Rachel had also volunteered to check in and make sure everything was running smoothly. She’d officially retired after she handed over the reins of McAllister Mercantile to Seth and me, but I knew she’d be only too happy to lend her expertise if necessary.
As far as I could tell, we had all the bases covered. The only thing that remained was the go-ahead from Seth.
He seemed to still be pondering my plan about buying a vintage wardrobe for our trip in time. Sure, it would be expensive, but we had the money. The store was doing well, the bungalow had been paid off for more than a hundred years, and everyone in our respective witch clans got a monthly stipend to help pad things. Dropping even a grand on getting us outfitted wouldn’t begin to make a dent.
“It’ll be fun,” I said, and reached across the table so I could place my hand on top of his. Months had passed since he’d last worked in the mines, but those fingers were still as strong as ever and slightly callused, probably from all the hauling and stacking he did in the store’s stockroom.
A reluctant grin plucked at his lips. “I didn’t think it was about ‘fun,’” he said. “I thought it was about getting some closure with my parents.”
“Well, that, too,” I allowed. “But when I was in 1926, it was summer, and hot without a single air conditioner in sight. I’d like to experience past Jerome at Christmas and see if it was as magical then as it is now.”
He shifted his hand slightly so he could entwine his fingers with mine. “Oh, it’ll be magical,” he said.
“Does that mean we’re going?”
A silence again, although he didn’t try to pull his hand away. If anything, his fingers tightened a little — not enough to hurt, of course, but just enough to signal that he had no intention of letting go.
“Yes,” he said, and his voice was almost heavy. “I need to do this.”
I smiled across the table at him…and also sent out a little prayer to the universe that this Christmas adventure would work out the way we’d planned.
2
Seth would be the first to admit that he still didn’t understand all the ins and outs of online shopping — he much preferred to go to stores in person to get what he needed, whether that was down the hill in Cottonwood or over the mountain to Prescott, which had many more shops — but his time with Devynn had taught him that she was an expert at it.
Only two days after their conversation at The Asylum, a number of boxes appeared on the front porch of their bungalow. Since it was the holiday season and they were planning a Christmas wedding as well, he doubted anyone would think twice about the arrival of all those parcels.
Well, as long as they didn’t see what was inside.
