“I know,” Lachele stroked her hair. “Let’s do this before you lose your nerve again.”
“Oh, I forgot Heather’s root beer!”
Lachele laughed. “I think she’d forgive you.”
“You do?” Alyssa frowned. “I’m not so sure.” She ran into the kitchen and got the bottle of Barq’s that was waiting in the refrigerator door. “Let’s do this!”
Alyssa picked up her note she’d written to herself. “I’m just going to read this aloud. It took me forever to figure it out.”
Dr. Lachele read the note and nodded. “That’s perfect for what you want. Now read it aloud, so I can work my magic. Just so you know, everyone always passes out when they go back.”
Alyssa frowned. “What if the wrong man finds me?” she asked.
“It’s never happened. It’s going to be fine. Remember, I do this a lot now.”
“It’s a strange thing to do, you know. No one sends their friends back in time to a different country to find the love meant only for them.” Alyssa still didn’t exactly trust the process, but it was still worth trying to see her friends again.
She read the note aloud and waited. It only took a few moments, and she was tumbling through time, passing out in a bed of grass beside a small lake.
*****
Kendrick McClain had finished training his brother’s men for the day, and he was taking a leisurely walk around the loch. He had a cut on his shoulder that his grandfather needed to tend to, but he just wasn’t in the mood to go see his grandparents. He didn’t know why, but he felt like he needed to be at the loch.
He was squatting at the edge of the lake, his muscles rippling, when he spotted a lass not very far from him. Hewalked to her and looked down at her. “Where are ye from, lassie?”
When she didn’t respond to him, he shouted for some help. The first people he saw were his twin brother, Bryson, and his wife, Holli. “Bryson, come quickly! This lassie looks hurt!”
Both Bryson and his wife ran toward him, Holli’s hand going to cover her mouth as she dissolved into tears.
“Should I get Grandfather?” Bryson asked, unsure of what all his brother had checked with the lass.
“No,” his wife answered, staring down at the body. “That’s Alyssa.”
The brothers had grown up hearing the names Alyssa and Holli. And one day Holli had appeared from the future and a place they called New York. And now here they stood over the Alyssa they’d always heard about.
Bryson slapped his brother on the back. “I think we’ve found ye a wife!”
Kendrick looked at the woman on the ground and back at his brother. “I didn’t make a promise to marry the next woman who came from the future, now, did I?”
Holli went to her knees to look at her friend, straightening her skirt and carefully trying to see if she was all right.
When Alyssa awoke a moment later, the first thing she saw was her friend. “Holli?”
Holli nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. “Don’t mind the tears. I hear that’s what happens when you’re expecting.”
“How long have you been here?” Alyssa asked, wondering how the time passed in the past as opposed to how it passed in the future. The question was already making her head hurt.
“Only about three months.” Holli took Bryson’s hand so he could help her to her feet. “Come on. Heather and Beth are going to be so excited to see you!”
“I know who Heather is, of course. Who’s Beth?”
“You have to see to believe.” Holli watched as Kendrick pulled her friend to her feet. “Are you dizzy at all?”
Alyssa nodded. “A little.”
Holli nodded. “That’s from the time travel. It’ll dissipate soon.”
Bryson looked at his brother. “Make sure she doesn’t fall.”
