She clutched his arm, her expression deadly serious. “Seth, tell me about this year. Don’t ask why. I need to know.” Her voice sounded strained. Did she regret walking with him?
“There’s not much to tell, except it’s the year of the great World’s Fair in Chicago. It begins in a few days.”
“Oh God. That makes it really 1893.” She buried her face in his shoulder and trembled. “Gina won’t be waiting for me. It can’t be. I can’t be here.”
Seth held her tighter. “Yes, you can. Forget those men. No one will hurt you. You’re with me now.”
“You don’t understand. The future’s been decided. I shouldn’t be with you.”
He didn’t understand her distress, but wanted his future to include her. He ached to kiss her. But a small insistent voice at the back of his mind told him this was not the right time.
She shifted restlessly, her movements a whisper of silk against wool as she pulled away. “This has been a nice diversion, but I must get back to the hotel.”
He brought his hands to his chest and covered his heart. “Oh, Cami, you wound me greatly. I’ve only rated a ‘nice’ when my goal has been ‘spectacular’.”
She grinned, his teasing breaking the visible tension on her face. “Seth, it’s not you. You’ve been nothing but kind.”
“Is someone other than Gina waiting for you? Perhaps a husband or fiancé?”
“No. There’s no one waiting for me now.”
“Then I can’t possibly let you go without gaining a higher rating. Permit me one last chance to win your heart.”
Five
At the next street corner, Seth drew Cami into a small candy shop. “Wait here. I have a surprise.”
Where would she go? It wasn’t as if she could board a bus or train and ask to be taken to the twenty-first century.
A few moments later, Seth returned holding a small bag. “No one can resist famous Atlantic City saltwater taffy.”
He offered her a piece. Cami took one and began walking again. She’d spent way too much time with him. She was worried.
Silence, as thick as mud, oozed between them as they chewed the taffy.
Cami kept her voice even, distant. She didn’t want to become too involved with his life. “Why was that poker game so important to you?”
Seth sighed and furrowed his brows. “I wanted to do something I believed in. That game was my last chance to help my nephew, but it no longer matters. I’m done.” The wistful sound in his voice caught her off guard.
“Why doesn’t it matter? If you believe in something, you should fight for it. Don’t give up.”
“It’s too late. Tomorrow is the last day I have to get the bank loan I need to open a new school in New York, a special school to help my nephew. Although I won the card game, it wasn’t enough. It’s over.”
Cami didn’t think she’d heard him right. “Who are you?”
“Seth Nathanial Warner.”
“Warner . . . Warner, oh my God. You’retheSeth Warner. I should have put it together before now. You’ve got it all wrong. You’re the beginning of the Warners who’ve built several schools for needy children inthisarea, not New York.”
“Whoa, slow down. I don’t know who or what you’re talking about, but it’s not me. I only desire to open one school to help my nephew and maybe a few others.”
“I know. It’s how they all started.”
“How what started?”
Cami stopped speaking. If she revealed what he ultimately accomplished in his life, would she have a negative influence on the present? She had to take that risk. It must be the reason she was here: to inspire Seth and prevent him from quitting.
She took his arm. “Come with me. I have something I want to showyou.”
