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Chapter 16
He watched her from the rear-view mirror, as if she was trapped in time. Even though he could barely see her face, he remembered it as if he was standing there right in front of her. He remembered every curve of her face, every curl of her hair, every stare from her deep blue eyes, and every smile from her lips. Every memory that tormented his heart made him gasp for air. His eyes wept as every breath from his chest was being sucked out from his lungs. It became painful to see her hazy silhouette cast a shadow in the dark, but he kept his eyes on Isabella nonetheless, until she was gone.
Standing there listening to her words, he couldn’t take it any longer. The pain of her leaving him just like that, smiling over the fact she’d be going back home, hurt. It hurt like nothing had ever hurt before. Not that he didn’t understand where she was coming from. Of course she wanted to go back home, to see her brother, to live in her own world. But that she was so overjoyed with happiness about it shattered his heart into millions of pieces. For days he’d carried this heavy curtain of sadness on his shoulders, and tonight was just more than he could take.
When he first heard Isabella read that letter, for a brief moment, he felt hope form in the deepest corner of his heart. Isabella had always said that she would have to go back to save her brother from a life of misery. But now that they knew he was okay, Liam thought she might change her mind and stay. But that hope was blown up like a sand castle by a tsunami. She laughed, her face lit up, she looked as happy as when they’d made love to each other. But this time he wasn’t the cause of her happiness. Maybe getting far away from him and this world were the reasons for her cheerful mood. How could he have been so wrong about her feelings? He really thought she cared for him. For days he had been torturing himself by supporting her decisions. The truth is, for days he’d wanted to pull her into his arms, passionately kiss her, tell her he would not let her go. But why make it harder on her? So he’d kept telling himself whenever the urge to kiss her arose—which was every darn minute he was with her. But that was all over now as he watched her rejoice over returning to 1881.
Liam pulled over to the side of the road. He could no longer drive. His hands felt limp, falling to his side. He leaned into the car seat with his head pulled back and with a blank stare directed at the car ceiling as if he could see the sky. He tried to hold back until he couldn’t, and all he could do was scream. Liam yelled, hitting the steering wheel with his fist until his hands gave up on him. He checked his phone, hoping she’d called or left a message. Checking over and over, for nothing. “You fool…” he whispered to himself. Maybe he should just let her go now. Not even bother to show up or to say goodbye tomorrow. She might not even care anyway. There was no reason for him to stand there like an idiot, waving her farewell, and then cry out in the street for the whole world to see as the woman he loved disappeared forever. Liam checked his phone for one last time. Nothing. He threw his phone toward the passenger seat.
“Fuck!”
It was eleven thirty. Isabella, Dan, and Henry got to 5thStreet early to make sure they had enough time to go over every little detail again. It was a cold, clear night. For the first time, for what seemed like forever, Isabella was wearing her Victorian dress again. Henry and Isabella had picked it up from Liam’s apartment in the morning. Much to her surprise and shock, Liam wasn’t there and left his key under his doormat, stating he was occupied with an urgent meeting at the office. But to Isabella it seemed more as if he was avoiding her, and the pain that it left was unbearable, deeply etched into her heart.How did it get to this?
Dan scanned her from head to toe, nodding in approval. She looked like a true, Victorian lady again. She had tried to put the necklace and earrings on Dan had kept for her, but Isabella insisted they were a gift. Dan didn’t try to resist as she knew that Isabella would not have it any other way. She gratefully put them back in her pocket, holding on to them as if they would give her the strength she needed to see her beloved child go.
Isabella let out an exhausted sigh. The last weeks were nothing short of tiring. Constantly chasing leads, her feelings for Liam, time travel… It had all left a mark on her. It didn’t help either that she was up all night. She and Henry had spent all night talking. Not in a romantic way, but as family. Isabella learned that Henry had lost both of his parents very young and that a close family friend had raised him, doing everything he could to turn him into a worthy duke, including his responsibility to fulfil his family’s oath and find Isabella. As weird as it was, they both agreed there was a connection between the two of them. The kind of connection between people of the same blood. They exchanged stories about their family, the estate, Britain, and her time travel to America. Henry’s cheerful nature and colorful tales managed to distract her from her depressed mood—for a few seconds here and there that is.
Isabella looked down to check her phone for the millionth time.
“Nothing?” Dan leaned over to her, carefully fixing the ruffles in her dress, and gently pulling back the few strands of hair on her forehead.
“No,” her voice trembled. She tried to sound normal, but that was simply impossible. She couldn’t hide her sorrow, even if her life depended on it. With an excruciating smile, she handed her phone back to Dan.
“I won’t need it any longer.”
Dan gently pushed it back to Isabella. “There is still a bit of time. He might still call…” Isabella shook her head with tears rolling down her face. The sorrow was slowly eating away at her. She could only pray that this agonizing pain would subside with time, as she otherwise had no idea how she could ever begin to manage it.
“He won’t. And I can’t blame him,” she almost whispered, looking down onto the floor. Henry stepped right next to Isabella, taking away the phone. Her heart sank as the only thing left that she held from this time disappeared from her grasp.
“I don’t want to be the bad guy, but there is no more time. We have to get in position.”
Isabella nodded as her gaze turned toward the street, scanning for something that wasn’t there. “Yes, of course.” She forced her gaze toward Henry like ripping away a part of the past. “Thank you for everything you and your ancestors have done for me. I want to apologize for my brother’s more than inconvenient inheritance arrangements.”
Henry sympathetically put his hand on her shoulder. “Please don’t. After all, he was just watching out for family. Our family.” He gave her a warm smile. “And it made us sort of interesting. I mean, how many other dukes can claim time travelers in their family?”
Isabella smiled back at him. It was quite incredible. All these generations later and her brother’s kind heart was still running in the family. Dan checked the time. “Geez…we gotta hurry! It’s eleven thirty-four!”
Without wasting another second, Isabella threw herself around Dan’s neck, holding her close for one final moment. This woman had shared what little she had with her, cared for her, and unconditionally loved her. Tears flowed down both of their cheeks.
“Dan, I will never forget you. Thank you for everything you have done for me.”
Dan squeezed her tightly for the last time before releasing her. “Go now, and show those 1881 abusive male pricks that they can’t mess around with a street-smart girl from Philly.” Dan shook her fist.
“I promise.” She smiled at her warmly.
With the heaviest heart a woman could possibly carry, Isabella squeezed Dan for a final time before letting go. She walked into the middle of the road, right where she had first woken up in the arms of the man she would never see again. A man she loved dearly. A man who meant the world to her beyond time and space.
Dan placed the Victorian shilling in front of her, moving several steps back as if there would be some sort of explosion about to happen. Isabella threw her head back and looked up to the sky. She could see the stars shining brightly above her. She came into this world as a spoiled entitled girl, and would leave as a strong, independent woman. Then she closed her eyes.
If I could just see him one more time…
“Now!” Henry’s voice echoed in the background.
Just once…
“You have to wish to return! It’s eleven thirty-five” Dan joined Henry’s cries.
Isabella opened her eyes. Her gaze cascaded beneath her where the coin glinted next to her feet. She bent over to grab it, trying to focus her mind on returning home. She braced herself as her hand reached over, when she noticed something just at the corner of her eye. Was her mind playing tricks on her? Right in the middle of the road, just a few feet away from her, there he was! Her touch just inches away from the coin. Liam! But before she could stop, before she could cry out to him, before she could take it all back, she could already feel the cold silver in her hand.
