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At the entrance to the Grand Hotel grounds, Elise stopped short, turned her perfect face toward his, and said, “I just lost the most important person in the world to me. I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to lose her. But even now, I know the pain follows you.” She swallowed and then turned her eyes back toward the ground. “And I’m so sorry that anything like that ever had to happen. You don’t deserve it. Nobody does.”
Neither of them spoke for a while after that. Wayne allowed Elise to lead them across the green grass, around the lilacs and lilies and the bright pink and purple roses. They continued to walk beneath trees, and then on toward the steps, which led up toward the Grand Hotel’s world-famous porch.
As Wayne walked behind her, he tried to imagine it: Elise as a California woman, in the wake of her mother’s death—learning suddenly of this film,Somewhere in Time,and her mother’s role in it.
Suddenly, a silly movie about time travel and everlasting love became an answer to a question Elise had probably had since her childhood.Who is my father? Where did I come from? Who is my mother, really?
At the top of the staircase, Wayne watched as Elise paused and turned around to gaze out across the grounds.
“I’ve only seen it once,” she whispered. “But that scene when Jane Seymour calls for him and runs across the grounds...” She shook her head and bit hard on her lower lip. “I’ve never felt that way about someone. Never felt that urgent fire to run toward someone as quickly as I could because I couldn’t take another moment without being in their arms.”
Wayne wasn’t sure what to say. In his memory, he had loved Tara with that very fire and when she had been taken from him, his insides had felt like ice for a very long time.
Elise turned back and stepped onto the porch. Together, the two of them entered the hotel, which creaked ominously with the autumn winds. The carpet, the décor, the chairs, the paintings that hung on the walls: everything seemed of a different time. Elise’s eyes grew wide as she walked slowly through.
“I haven’t stepped foot inside before,” she said, pausing near an old, black and white photograph of the hotel itself. “It’s where my mother stayed during the filming. Apparently, Dean Swartz would sneak in to meet her.”
After a long pause, Elise turned to look at him. That eye contact felt like a punch through the stomach.
“Sounds like his love for her was enormous,” Wayne offered.
Elise nodded sadly. “Not enormous enough, apparently.” Her shoulders slumped slightly as she added, “Where were you last night, Wayne? I’m sorry to ask. The whole island has been very eager to tell me just how little you want to be tied down—that you’re not the kind of guy to get involved in anything. And I guess I have to understand that, especially after all you went through. But the text message, just minutes after I was meant to arrive...”
“It was cruel,” Wayne whispered. “And I can’t take it back. But you have to believe that all I wanted in the world was to sit across from you at my table last night. I had the meal made and everything.”
Elise pressed her lips together. “Maybe you just realized that it’s too complicated?”
Wayne shrugged. “Everything is complicated. That’s one of the only things I’ve really come to terms with over the years. Nothing ever gets easier, and it’s all a mess.”
“Maybe I should get that tattooed on my back,” Elise said.
Wayne was so surprised at the joke that his laugh was a little too loud. The woman who operated the reception cast him a strange look.
“That kid. The one you saw on the boat,” Wayne said finally. “He just came home after a long, long time away. None of us thought we would ever see him again. When I got word that he was coming home, I dropped the ball and ran up to Cindy’s. Everywhere I looked, I was overwhelmed with memories. Tara and I, we kind of adopted that kid for a while because he didn’t get along so well with his parents. And...”
Elise’s eyes gleamed. She stepped toward him, bowing her head slightly.
“So another person has come back to Mackinac Island for a reunion with the Swartz family?” she asked with a soft laugh.
Wayne chuckled. “I guess there’s something in the air.”
“I guess so.”
The receptionist bustled toward them. Her eyes were like the little pinpoints of needles, there behind her cat-eye glasses.
“Excuse me. Wayne? I’m sorry to say, but if you’re not a guest at the Grand at this time, we need you to step out. We’re going to have the reception cleaned.”
Elise and Wayne returned to the porch, where Elise stuck her elbow into Wayne’s ribs and said, “Every beautiful woman on this island knows your name.”
Wayne rolled his eyes. “I told you. I’m trying to overcome my reputation. I did a pretty good job of building it...”
“I mean, when I looked over to find you on that dock in Mackinaw City on my first day, I knew what kind of guy you were,” Elise said. She placed her elbows on the white railing of the porch and gave him a sneaky smile.
“Oh, did you? You already knew that I’m a kind and considerate gentleman? That I go out of my way for my friends? That I would be overly willing to let you stay at my place when your bed and breakfast burned to the ground?”
“Here we go. Now you’re just complimenting yourself.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
