Finding Your Love (A Town Lost in Time Book 2) Page 6

  “Why isn’t he at school?” Katherine murmured as she stood.

  Luke waved to the children as he crossed the yard. Then he came to an abrupt halt just short of the stairs. Quite clearly he hadn’t seen Emily or Leigh seated in chairs behind the railing.

  “Good day,” he said. “My apologies, Katherine. I did not realize that you had company. I will come back another time.”

  “No need to leave on our account,” Leigh called out. She too rose to greet him, but Emily stuck to her seat.

  “Come up and join us, Luke. Why aren’t you in school today? Is it a school holiday?”

  He stepped up onto the verandah and removed his derby hat. Emily had thought him handsome in the brown tweed suit he had worn the previous day, but the charcoal pinstriped suit he wore that morning suited him even more.

  As Luke scanned their faces, Emily noted a muscle working in his jaw. She nodded in greeting but said nothing.

  “No, it is not a school holiday,” he said. “I...em...wished to speak to you.”

  “Oh!” Katherine said. “I’m sorry. Did you want to speak to me in private?”

  Luke looked at Leigh and Emily.

  “I think that might be rude. Is John home?”

  Katherine shook her head. “No, he is up at the church. Sit down,” she said. “What did you want to talk to me about? Is it something about school or what happened yesterday?”

  “Yesterday?” he repeated, seating himself on the edge of a solitary chair.

  “You know, Emily and time traveling. Now you know about all of us.”

  “All of you?” he said. “Are there more?”

  “Just one more. I think she’s back east with her husband right now. Listen, Luke, I know that you didn’t know about me, but I’m the same person you’ve known since you met me. I haven’t changed.”

  Luke’s jaw tightened, and Emily noted that he avoided looking at her. She thought she didn’t care how he felt about her—he was just a stranger—but she found herself willing him to look at her. He didn’t.

  “I understand, Katherine,” he said quietly. “I feel at a disadvantage. Because I have known you for some time, I had hoped to ask you more about your...journey, but as the three of you watch me in unison, I find myself tongue-tied.”

  “I’m sorry,” Leigh said softly. “We can leave.”

  “No, of course not,” Luke replied. “I have no questions for Katherine that you and...that the three of you could not answer.”

  Emily frowned. Had he just avoided using her name? What was wrong with the man? What had she done to offend him? More than Katherine or Leigh? She saw Leigh glance at her with a sympathetic face.

  “I never heard your response. Why aren’t you at school today?” Katherine asked.

  “I asked Miss Noble to take my classes with hers today. I simply could not concentrate.”

  Emily bit her lip.

  “That’s understandable, Luke,” Katherine said. “How can we help? What do you want to know?”

  He dropped his eyes to the hat that he twisted in his hands. The women looked at each other while he appeared to form his questions. Finally, he raised his eyes, his face troubled.

  “How is this possible? Why has the world not known of this phen–” He paused. “This before now?”

  He looked from Katherine to Leigh. Emily waited for him to glance at her so she could give him an “I don’t know” shrug, but he continued to avoid her.

  “We don’t know how it’s possible, Luke,” Katherine said. “Did Leigh tell you how it works?” She glanced at Leigh, who nodded.

  “We told him everything we know, and a lot of what we think.”

  “Indeed, Leigh and Jeremiah did their best to explain, but I wondered if you had any further insight, Katherine?”

  “I don’t, Luke. I’m sorry. As far as the rest of the world not knowing about it, no one truly believes time travel is possible in the twenty-first century either. We believe it’s fiction. Well, we believed it was fiction.”

  “I see,” he said. He looked down at his hat again, rotating it around and around as if it fascinated him.

  A lump formed in Emily’s throat. She didn’t understand why he was ignoring her in particular, but she was in no doubt that it was intentional.

  “Who are the other six people who have come to Kaskade?”

  Katherine responded. “You haven’t been here that long yourself, so you probably didn’t meet some of them. Tanya Meadows, Robert Karnes, Matthew Wayne—”

  “Matthew Wayne?” Luke repeated roughly. “Wasn’t he a teacher who left the year before I arrived?”

  “Was it a year?” Katherine asked. “Yes. In fact, he needed to go home and settle some things and had every intention of coming back the following summer solstice, but he never returned. That broke Cassie Thurmond’s heart. She moved up to Orting after that.”

  “I do not know Miss Thurmond. You are saying they courted?”

  “He was going to marry her, but his mother was in assisted living—a nursing home—and he needed to get back to take care of that. We have no idea what happened, whether he couldn’t return because of his mother or whether a person just can’t come back once they leave. Kaskade has its ways.”

  Emily listened intently to the story of yet one more romance that Kaskade facilitated. She grimaced and shook her head.

  “What’s the matter, Emily?” Leigh asked. “You’re shaking your head.”

  “Did I?” she asked, her cheeks burning as Luke finally turned his head ever so slightly to look at her. “I don’t know why.”

  Leigh glanced from Emily to Luke but said nothing.

  “How many people in Kaskade know of this?” Luke asked.

  “Not many, I gather,” Leigh said. “I haven’t even told my own family.”

  “Your family?” Luke asked “How could you tell them if you cannot return? Are you able to communicate in some way? Perhaps leave a message for them?”

  Leigh chuckled. “I can’t say that I thought of that. No, I meant my fourth great-grandfather and third and second great-grandmothers. They’re all alive and well and living near here! Do you know Harry Johnson?”

  “Yes, I know Harry. Do not tell me that he is your...what did you say...fourth great-grandfather?”

  Leigh nodded with a wide smile.

  “He is! He doesn’t know it though. He thinks I’m some kind of cousin, so I leave it at that. Like I said, I haven’t even told them. I just think it would be too much of a shock, too hard for them to understand. It happened to us, and we don’t understand it!”

  “I am afraid that it is too shocking for me to comprehend as well,” Luke said with a self-deprecating twist of his lips that may or may not have been an attempt at a smile. “I beg your tolerance. As I told Martha, I am an educated man and a teacher of others. I should be more open to new ideas and new concepts, yet I am struggling to understand this...occurrence...and I am ashamed that I cannot open my mind to this mystical...” He seemed to run out of words.

  “Phenomenon?” Katherine offered with a gentle smile.

  “It is a word I have overused in the past twelve hours, and Martha censured me.”

  “Who’s Martha again?” Emily couldn’t help but ask. She thought she’d heard the name before, but couldn’t remember when. She expected the answer from Luke, but he seemed to hesitate, so long in fact that Emily wondered if Martha was someone he cared for. A girlfriend?

  “Martha Lundrum runs a local boardinghouse,” Katherine finally said. “She and her brother, Jefferson, a lawyer, are among the few who know about us, as they’ve put a couple of time travelers up. Luke lives at the boardinghouse, don’t you, Luke?”

  It seemed obvious that Katherine had expected Luke to respond to Emily’s question as well.

  “Yes, I do. The boardinghouse.”

  Emily drew in a deep breath. Yes, it seemed more likely than ever that Luke was in love with Martha Lundrum, or at least very close to her. Katherine hadn’t mention
ed a husband, just a brother. Luke had discussed the time traveling with her, and Martha had felt comfortable enough with him to lecture him about something. What had Luke said? The word “phenomenon.” It was a good word to describe Kaskade and its penchant for snagging people to help populate it...or whatever the town did.

  The image of a Scandinavian woman named Martha Lundrum holding hands with reserved Luke Damon irked Emily.

  “Luke. Why do you keep ignoring me?”

  Chapter Seven

  When Luke saw Emily on Katherine’s porch, he wanted nothing more than to turn and leave. He had slept fitfully the night before, the image of Emily lying on the ground near the base of the school interspersed with strange visions of her flying about the night sky in an ethereal white gossamer gown with wings. In the absence of any logical explanation for the extraordinary tales of time travel, his dreams had taken on a supernatural quality, an unusual departure for him. In fact, he rarely dreamed at all.

  Given his peculiar dreams involving Emily, he had found it difficult to look at her when encountering her the following morning. He had gone to Katherine’s house in hopes of speaking with her privately, or with John and Katherine together. Upon finding Leigh and Emily there, Luke had balked. In truth though, he thought he gleaned more from all three women united regarding Kaskade’s peculiarities—far more than he wished to know.

  Luke drew in a breath at Emily’s sharp question.

  “Luke. Why do you keep ignoring me?”

  He forced himself to look at her. Charmingly dressed in an ivory blouse and brown skirt with a fetching hat settled on her auburn hair, she presented an appealing figure. The frown between her dark-brown eyes suggested anger, and rightly so. He had avoided speaking to her.

  “Forgive me. I did not mean to ignore you.”

  Even to his own ears, his words rang false.

  “Mmmm,” Katherine murmured in apparent dissent.

  Luke’s face heated, and he rubbed his jaw. “I apologize, ladies,” Luke said to all three women. “I cannot explain my behavior, even to myself. I thought I understood myself well—my traits, my flaws—but I feel a stranger to myself.”

  He forced himself to meet Emily’s eyes. She looked not at all appeased, and he shifted his gaze.

  “That’s okay, Luke,” Katherine said with a sympathetic smile. “I understand. I’m sure we all do.”

  He doubted that Emily did. Leigh kept her expression impassive.

  He rose abruptly. “I should go,” he said. “I have much to do.”

  Emily watched silently as he gave them a brief old-world bow.

  “Do feel free to come back when John is here if you want, Luke,” Katherine. “You might be more comfortable talking to him. Maybe he can answer some questions you might have.”

  “Yes, I will give that some thought.”

  Luke slapped his hat on his head and strode down the walkway, barely hearing the children yell goodbye. Upon reaching the road, he took no time to dally, and without thought, he turned to the right. He had no particular destination in mind but did not want the women to know he was fleeing more than he was departing.

  He kept his eyes forward while he moved until he imagined he was no longer visible from the porch. He slowed his step and scanned the increasingly large houses along the lakeside. Although elegant and architecturally inspiring, he had never aspired to owning such a home. If marriage ever came his way, he imagined he might purchase a small cottage, perhaps something about the same size as John and Katherine Ludlow’s modest two-story home.

  As he neared the end of Lakefront Lane, Luke paused to study the Cooks’ house. Quite sizeable and immensely attractive, Luke knew that as a schoolteacher, he could never afford such a home. At that moment, the front door opened, and Jeremiah appeared on the porch, as if he had seen Luke from inside the house.

  Jeremiah waved a hand in greeting and called out, “Luke! Have you come to see us?” He descended the porch and walked toward him. “You missed Leigh and Emily. They have gone to visit Katherine.”

  Luke swallowed. “Yes, I know. I stopped to visit Katherine and found them there.”

  “Ah! You look pale and worn, Luke, as if you did not sleep well. Am I correct?” Jeremiah had reached the gate and opened it to step onto the road.

  Luke nodded, keeping an eye on the road behind him in case Emily and Leigh returned.

  “You are correct. I did not sleep well last night, nor did I feel I could manage students today with any equanimity. Please tell me that you understand.”

  Jeremiah put a hand on his shoulder. “Of course I understand, Luke. It is inevitable that someone is shocked every year, more than one person—the time traveler and someone in Kaskade.”

  Somehow, that knowledge did not make Luke feel better. He could not help but wish that he was just awakening the previous morning, happily unaware of the supernatural occurrences in Kaskade that others knew about, secure in his understanding of the world and how it functioned.

  “I can see that I have not reassured you in the least,” Jeremiah said with a wry smile. “It is possible that you just need time to absorb this information.”

  “Possibly,” Luke said with skepticism. For the first time since he had arrived in Kaskade several years before, he contemplated seeking a position elsewhere. Nearby Orting was a small town, though larger than Kaskade. They might have a position. He would be more likely to get a position in Tacoma. If not, perhaps Seattle.

  Luke drew in a deep breath, aware that Jeremiah watched him. He forced his lips into a smile. “Yes, quite possibly I will come around given a bit more time.”

  “Good man!” Jeremiah said, clapping him on the back. “I have no patients for the next hour. Would you like to come in for coffee?”

  Luke, suddenly invigorated by a solution to a problem, shook his head. Furthermore, he did not wish to risk seeing Emily again so soon. His solution depended upon a clear head. His thoughts became unruly and chaotic around Emily, or perhaps around all three of the time travelers. He did not enjoy the sensation.

  “No, I must go, but thank you.”

  “Very well then. Do come and see us again. I believe Emily felt a connection to you. I know she would be pleased to see you again soon.”

  “Yes, of course,” Luke said. He nodded and strode away toward the end of the lane, though it was the opposite direction from where he wanted to go. Still, he did not intend to pass Katherine’s house again so soon. At the end of Lakefront Lane, he turned up another road leading north past the timber mill, pursuing a circuitous route through Kaskade. His final destination was the boardinghouse, where he intended to write a few letters of inquiry to the Tacoma School Board.

  Not normally given to spontaneous decisions, Luke felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. No, that was trite and inaccurate. He felt as if he could finally think clearly, reasonably and rationally. Kaskade had been a lovely town, and he had enjoyed his time there, fully expecting to remain forever. But Kaskade had changed. No longer was it a burgeoning little town with a future. It had become a haven for the supernatural. As a logical man, he rejected such, and he repudiated all those who participated in such abnormal activities or those who condoned the same.

  Did he feel that Emily had willingly transported herself into the past by some form of magic? No. But he did not care. He preferred to live in a town that held no secrets, a town that did not imagine itself to be a living thing that needed to survive. Luke heard the sound of the saws in the nearby mill whirring at a high pitch, as if they screamed. He gave himself a good shake and quickened his pace. He had to leave Kaskade before it ensnared him and dragged him into an inescapable web.

  Luke tried to laugh off his own melodramatics, but he could not. He reached the boardinghouse in about fifteen minutes and hurried to his room to avoid seeing Martha. Upon reaching the second floor though, he had the misfortune of meeting Jefferson, whose sympathetic expression suggested that he knew about Emily, about the time traveling, and
Luke’s reactions to the knowledge.

  As tall as Luke, Jefferson shared his sister’s brilliant towhead coloring and crystal blue eyes. Jefferson was an excellent-looking man, almost an exact masculine replica of his sister’s beauty.

  “Good morning, Luke,” Jefferson said in greeting. He kept his voice low and looked over his shoulder, further verifying that he was on the verge of discussing that which Luke would just as soon forget.

  “Good morning, Jefferson. If you will excuse me, I have some urgent matters to attend to.”

  Luke moved to step past Jefferson, but the blond man took his arm to detain him. Luke dragged in an irritated breath and eyed Jefferson.

  “Forgive me,” Jefferson said. “Martha spoke to me. No doubt you knew she would. She stated you were aghast at Kaskade’s peculiar activities, and she wondered if, as a man, I could offer you any insight?”

  Luke stiffened and stared hard at Jefferson. “Insight? Jefferson, if you know how and why this has happened, and has been occurring for the past nine years or so unbeknownst to most people in Kaskade, then certainly you may offer me some insight.”

  Jefferson reared his head. “Goodness, Luke! You are appalled. I apologize for my inarticulate use of the word ‘insight.’ I meant only to offer you some comfort in the knowledge that although we have visitors from the future, they pose no threat to us, and are in fact often quite delightful to host. Some stay, most return to their own time. It truly is all in how you view the phenomenon.”

  “Phenomenon indeed,” Luke groused, feeling quite unlike himself. “Apparently I do not view it with the same good nature that so many people in Kaskade do. For all that I have been informed that only a few people know of this...oddity, it seems as if I was the only person not to know! But I am just a schoolteacher. I have no need of such crucial knowledge, do I?”

  Luke shut his mouth, horrified by his overwrought, ill-mannered words. “Forgive me, Jefferson. I truly do have some urgent business to attend to. Good day!”

  He moved past Jefferson and entered his room, locking it behind him. He removed his hat, shed his coat and sat down at a small writing desk to pull out paper and pen. His hand shook, and he dragged in several deep breaths to steady his hand.