Come Down In Time (A Time Travel Romance) (14 page)

The highway seemed the same. The
scenery along the side of the road seemed the same. Jamie thought
about nothing but what had happened to her in the last few months as
she drove down the road to Grahamville, a place that she no longer
wanted to be. She tried to figure out how the time travel worked.

She had started her journey on
the day before graduation, giving her time to stop Tommy from picking
her up. She had called Nate, but he didn’t know who she was because
it was 2001. She had saved Grandpa’s life because she was a doctor,
even if no one else knew that. Those events, probably mostly saving
Tommy, had changed the course of history enough to change the 2013
she had traveled back from.

For some reason, Jamie had gone
to college and divorced Tommy. She remembered when she was living her
first timeline that she told Tommy if she went to college, she didn’t
know what might happen. In another timeline with Tommy, she had
obviously gone to college, and then to medical school.

Jamie knew one thing for certain.
She would never have left Tommy to attend medical school after she
went back in time. Not after she had gotten Tommy back through the
miracle of time travel. There was no way she could have done that.
But she might have left him in another timeline, where she had
married Tommy young and he had never died. She might have been
tempted by the prospect of college and a whole world waiting for her
away from the farm.

She would have been a very
different person if she left for college with Tommy alive and not
dead. She wouldn’t have been haunted her entire life about Tommy
and his accident and blaming herself for it.

It was so confusing. Jamie
couldn’t figure it out. She went round and round in circles in her
mind, trying to determine how everything had happened.

Somehow, though, in that
quagmire, she had still ended up at the clinic in Grahamville.
Nothing made sense. She didn’t know what to do but keep driving. A
couple of hours later, Jamie drove into her driveway. She looked at
her key ring and saw the key that she thought would open the door. If
not, she didn’t know what she would do. She might not even live in
this house.

The key did open the door, and
Jamie stepped in and turned on the light. The room was painted an
off-white color and not the pale gold she had painted it on her first
time around. She walked into the kitchen. It was an emerald green
color and not apricot. The bedroom was a sage green color. In that
other timeline, Jamie had chosen completely different colors than the
colors that greeted her now.

Jamie looked in the closet. She
saw vividly colored blouses and skirts and not the more subdued
colors she had worn before. She didn’t recognize the clothes in her
closet, but she knew they were hers.

She sat on the bed and stared at
the floor. Her cell phone made an unfamiliar signal that sounded like
a train. She looked at the screen and saw it was Stacie. At least
that much was familiar.

“
I’m so glad you’re back,”
Stacie said when she answered. “I’ve been dying to tell you my
news.”

“
What news?” Jamie asked.

“
I’m sorry,” Stacie said.
“I’m being selfish. How is your father?”

“
He’s doing very well,”
Jamie said. “He’s adjusting to a new way of eating. But what
news?”

“
Nate and I got engaged!”
Stacie practically screamed. She was breathless and excited. This new
2013 was really screwed up.

“
What about Dustin?” Jamie
asked.

“
Dustin? Why are you asking
about him? I haven’t seen him for years.”

There was silence on the line
then. Jamie couldn’t think of what to say to Stacie.

“
I’m sorry,” Jamie managed
to croak out. “I thought that you thought he was the one for you. I
guess I’m a little surprised.”

“
I guess I did say I hoped to
see Dustin again,” Stacie said. “But that was just late-night
girl talk. I’m in love with Nate.”

“
Congratulations!” Jamie
said, hoping she sounded sincere. “I was just surprised, that’s
all. But I’m so happy for you.”

“
I was wondering if you’d be
my maid of honor,” Stacie said, but she sounded uncertain about
that. Jamie must have really thrown her for a loop when she mentioned
Dustin.

“
Of course. I’d love to,”
Jamie said with an enthusiasm she didn’t feel. Even though she was
completely in love with Tommy, it wasn’t easy to come back to a
world where she was no longer the most important person in Nate’s
life. She had lost out all around. She had lost Tommy and she had
lost Nate.

“
We were wondering if you and
Clay could go out Saturday night to help us celebrate,” Stacie
said.

Who the hell was Clay? What had
Jamie been doing in this timeline. She didn’t know how to answer
Stacie or how to find out who Clay was.

“
That sounds like fun,” Jamie
said. “Let’s do that.”

They ended the call and Jamie
took off her shoes and lay back on the mattress. She had no idea who
Clay was, but it was going to become a problem very quickly, she
thought. She had nothing to do but cry then. Cry for Tommy and Nate
and herself. She had no idea how to navigate this timeline.

She checked the fridge and found
two containers of banana cream pie yogurt. She guessed that would be
her supper that night because she was too tired to go to the grocery
store. The TV seemed to offer the same syndicated shows and news
programs as before, and she watched mindlessly for a while as she ate
the yogurt. And then her phone rang with that annoying train sound.

She looked at the screen and it
said CLAY. Her heart raced, but she decided to answer to see what she
could find out about this new life. “Hello,” she said.

“
Hey, babes. I’ve been trying
to call you for days,” a deep male voice said.

“
Clay?” she said.

“
Of course, babes. Who else?”

She hated the word “babes.”
She hated him calling her that. How dare he, really? She was a
married woman.

Jamie faked a laugh. She was in
no man’s land with this conversation, traveling by the seat of her
pants. She had to figure out who Clay was and what her relationship
with him was.

“
Stacie called me and said she
and Nate are engaged,” she said.

“
You’re kidding?” Clay
said. “I was wondering when that was gonna happen.”

“
Clay,” she said. “Do you
like your job?” She was trying to find out what Clay did for a
living, how she might have met him.

“
I like it all right,” he
said. “I’ve got my issues, but you know about that.”

No, she did not know about that.

“
I was just wondering if it had
gotten any better,” she said. She was falling without a parachute.

“
Well, I was going to wait
until I saw you to tell you this. They’ve offered me the director
job of the ER.”

So, he was a doctor, too. She was
finally getting somewhere.

“
But, I wanted to talk to you
before I accept it,” he said. “Since we’ve been talking about
making things permanent. I thought we should make the decision
together. You might not want to live in Knoxville.”

So, he was in Knoxville. And,
she’d been having serious discussions about the future with this
person that she didn’t even know.

Jamie didn’t say anything.

“
Jamie?” Clay said. “Are
you still there?”

“
I’m here,” she said. She
didn’t know who Clay was, but there was no way she was going to see
him, let alone get into a permanent relationship with him. She had to
find a way to end this.

“
While I was at home, I had a
lot of time to think,” she said. “And I realized that I’m not
ready for a committed relationship. I’m sorry if that hurts you. I
know you’re a good person. But I’m just not ready. I need to take
some time to reassess everything. I need to take care of my parents
right now.”

“
What are you saying, Jamie?”
Clay asked. “I thought we were going for the long haul here. What’s
changed?”

“
I can’t explain it very
well,” Jamie said. “But I know that I’ve got to be on my own
for now. I don’t really want to be in a relationship. It’s not
you, it’s me.”

Clay chortled sarcastically.
“That’s the most famous kiss-off of all time,” he said.

“
I’m sorry. I don’t mean to
make light of it. And I don’t want to hurt you. But I’ve made up
my mind. I need to be alone right now.”

“
This isn’t making any
sense,” Clay said. “But I’m going to give you some time and
then I’ll get in touch. This just isn’t right.”

Jamie just wanted to get off the
phone with this stranger. “Thanks for understanding,” she said.
“I wish you the best of luck. Goodbye.” She ended the call. Clay
called back a few minutes later, but she didn’t answer the phone.
There was no way she was going to fake through a date and certain
discomfort when that date wanted to go home with her and get in her
bed. She was married to Tommy, and she was not an adulterer.

Jamie had no idea the level of
intimacy she had with Clay, but whatever it was, it had to stop
immediately. She got her phone and blocked his number. It was cruel,
she supposed, but the kindest thing to do under the circumstances.

As she did every night when she
went to bed in the last couple of days, Jamie prayed she would wake
up in bed with Tommy. Prayed she could resume her life with Tommy and
not make any mistakes that would change their future. She was
learning as she traveled through these timelines. She hoped she was
learning.

What had triggered her going back
to 2013 into an unrecognizable world? She had thought it was the
overhang that held the secrets. But she had been catapulted out of
2001 while she slept in the bed with Tommy in their cottage. She had
tried to go back to 2001 in the overhang, but it had not worked.
Jamie didn’t know what the secret was. She just knew she had to get
back to Tommy.

Jamie drove to the clinic the
next morning, but her heart wasn’t in it. She felt she was in the
wrong place, the wrong time. As much as she cared about people and
wanted to help them with their medical problems, she just wanted to
go back to Baker. She wanted to find her way back to Tommy. She
wasn’t going to be able to do that in Grahamville.

Tiffany greeted Jamie with a hug
when she opened the door to the clinic.

“
We’ve missed you!” she
said. “It’s been so busy, but I really missed seeing you here.”

Jamie hugged Tiffany back.
“Thanks, Tiffany,” she said. “It’s good to be missed.” And
it was good to be missed, to have people who cared enough about you
to miss you.

Stacie came in a few minutes
later. “He put a ring on it,” she said, laughing, holding out her
hand. “We’re getting married!” Tiffany rushed over to Stacie
and oohed and ahhed over her ring. Jamie decided there was no reason
not to be happy for Stacie. She wasn’t going to be with Nate no
matter what.

“
It’s gorgeous!” Jamie said
admiring the emerald-cut diamond on Stacie’s finger. “Just
gorgeous.” She gave Stacie a hug and Stacie hugged her back.
“Thanks,” she said. “I know I’m going to irritate the hell
out of y’all, but I’m just so happy!”

The waiting room was starting to
fill up, and Tiffany called the first person back. “Mr. Owens,”
she called. And old man got up from his chair and walked back through
the hallway. Tiffany led him into exam room one. Stacie went in to
take his vitals and find out why he was there. Then Jamie walked in,
holding Mr. Owens’ chart in her hands.

“
Mr. Owens, I understand you’ve
been having some headaches,” she said.

“
Yes. I’ve had headaches
before, but not like this.”

Jamie talked to Mr. Owens for a
while and decided to send him to the hospital for CT scans on his
brain. “Just to be on the safe side,” she said. “In the mean
time, we’re going to prescribe some mild pain killers. I’ll give
you some samples today. You let us know if they don’t help.”

She went into the supply room to
find the samples. Nate walked in while she was rooting around in the
cabinets. Jamie turned to look at him and was surprised at the
emotion she felt. She had loved Nate, deeply. She had been living in
a world where Tommy didn’t exist when they got engaged, a world
where Tommy was never coming back. She admired Nate. She wanted to
give him a hug, but that was not appropriate given their new
relationship in this new world.

“
I understand congratulations
are in order,” Jamie said. She walked over to Nate and gave him a
chaste hug. “I hope you and Stacie will be very happy,” she said.

“
Thanks,” Nate said. Clearly,
he didn’t relish the attention.

“
I’m looking for some samples
for Mr. Owens,” she said, turning back to the cabinets.

At the end of the day, Stacie
came up to Jamie. “Can you and Clay go out with us on Saturday?”
she asked.

“
I’m sorry, Stacie. Clay and
I broke up last night.”