Love Lasts Forever (24 page)

“Willow, it’s me. It’s Thor, love. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

His assurances meant nothing. The earsplitting screams continued. Water pooled her eyes. Tears spilled down her cheeks. The droplets drenched his hand. Each one drowned a piece of his soul. He gulped for air, but the sinking sensation was unrelenting. A self-deprecating curse tore from his gut. He ducked his head low. The feeling of helplessness shamed him.

The cries subsided into hiccups. Hysteria faded into understanding. She covered his hand with hers, splaying her fingers across the back of his hand. In the next moment, her arms flew around his neck. She slammed her entire weight against him, and he crushed her to his chest.

“Thor! You came!”

Sobs wracked her slender frame. Unshed tears stung his eyes. He blinked to hold them at bay. This moment belonged to her. His hands rubbed her back in circular motion, reveling in the warmth their connected bodies generated. Relief at finding her in time halted his speech.

“I—I’m so sorry. That sounds so inadequate…”

“I was so scared.” Her confession came after her tears stopped. “He was tr-trying t-to . . .”

“I know.” He pressed his mouth to her forehead. The slight kiss made them both shudder. “Ssh,” he murmured. “It’s okay now. It’s okay.”

“He was taking us to a br-breeding plantation. He said he wanted to make sure I was pr-prepared.”

“Sonuvabitch.” If the blow to his head didn’t kill Grady Falls, Thor planned to see that a good ass-kicking would do the trick. Right after he was sure Willow was okay to move.

“I thought he was going to kill me,” she added. “He kept hitting me. I didn’t think he’d ever stop.”

Her quiet words reminded him of her injuries. He held her at arms length to re-evaluate her wounds. Blood trickled from a split lip and swelling began to close one of her eyes. He cleaned the blood with the hem of his shirt. A raw steak would have to take care of her eye. He hoped they’d find one somewhere. The wild mass of her black hair created an interesting halo around her head. He tenderly brushed the unruly mane away from her face.

“I must look a sight.” She tried to duck her head, but he would not let her. “Thor, don’t.”

“You’re beautiful.” His mouth curved into an appreciative smile. “There’s a little bruising around the edges, but you’re still a raving beauty.”

She accepted the compliment without protest. Her one good eye narrowed to a slit as she tried to look around the woods. Thor realized she needed her spectacles. He reached inside the jacket draped over her shoulders for the eyeglasses. The timepiece brushed against his fingers, and he pulled it out first. When he reached inside again, he found the spectacles and gave them to her.

Willow pushed the glasses up her nose. “How did you find us?” She peered around his shoulders. “Did you see Big Nat? Is he okay?”

“He’s on the back of the wagon. I didn’t check him too closely, but I know he’s breathing.”

Thor glanced at the watch. Time passed quickly. Since abandoning an enraged Leah in the glen, the hours flew by. The image of hiking back to Pleasant Hill in all her finery and clutching her bag of deception made him chuckle. Then he remembered the reality of the times. Monty, her driver, probably had to carry the spoiled brat on his back, her rantings screeching the poor old man’s ears off. By the time she reached daddy dearest, Thor and Willow’s misdeeds were embellished to gigantic proportions. Warren Eugene Davis was a man who would stop at nothing to avenge his precious daughter. Snarling dogs and gun-carrying men were probably already hot on their trail. Apprehension crept along his spine. They did not have another moment to waste.

He stood and extended his hands to Willow. A loud crack echoed inside his head. Once again, his world went black.

* * *

A kaleidoscope of images danced before his eyes. Most were jumbled and blurred. Thor tried to focus, but the shapes would alter, leaving him confused. Only one image remained unchanged.

The face of a beautiful woman with chocolate brown skin and large black eyes haunted him.

In a warm, husky voice, she called his name. The sound of her voice set him aflame. Flames of desire burned hot, but somehow, succumbing to passion was all wrong.

Urgency rippled through him. With a pang, he realized danger loomed all around her. Hands grabbed at him, but he pushed them aside. A surge of energy awakened him with renewed vigor. Her name tore from him.

“WILLOW!”

“Thor!”

The hands grabbed him again. His hand balled into a fist, and he pulled his arm back. Seconds before his fist connected with flesh, he recognized the face of his older brother directly in front of him and the voice of his father on his left. Thor lowered his hand to his side. He stared at his family in wonder.

“What are you doing here?”

Cal’s mouth dropped open. Unintelligible words spurted from him until he was finally able to say, “Knucklehead!”

“The doctor said we’d have to give him time. Wandering around for days . . . Of course, he’s disoriented.” Bo pushed Cal aside and reached inside the Bronco for Thor. “Come on, son. You’ve been out in the sun too long. Let’s get you inside the cabin.”

Thor jerked free of his father’s hold. “I can’t go with you. I have to find Willow. She needs me. Leah and Grady sold her to a breeding plantation. I told her I’d protect her.”

“It was just a dream, Thor.” Bo closed his hand around Thor’s arm in an unyielding grip. “You can let go of it now.”

“It wasn’t a dream! I was there. Grady tried to rape her, and I stopped him. Oh, God . . . Grady. If that no good sack of shit lays a hand on her, I swear I’ll kill him!” He tore out of his father’s grasp and pushed himself from the Bronco. His footsteps pounded the ground as he headed for the surrounding woods. “WILLOW!”

“He’s really lost it,” Cal said.

“Enough!” Bo growled. He grabbed Thor and shook him roughly. “Listen to me! You were dreaming.”

Stunned, Thor’s breathing slowed. He looked beyond his father and brother to their surroundings. The Magnusen fishing cabin stood only a few feet away. Weathered and worn from generations of use, the building appeared the same from all his memories. He wandered away from them until he reached the old creek. The same watering hole where he met Willow, except this one was dry. Weeds blanketed the bank, and everything was the way he remembered it from childhood.

The back of his neck throbbed. His head spun.
How could the last few days be a dream?
Willow was real. 1860 was real.
Dammit, I met my great-great-grandparents, and they were real!
His knees shook. Clutching his head and the memories that didn’t make sense, he surrendered to the ground.

“It wasn’t a dream,” he said quietly. “I was there, and she was real.”

“Uh huh,” Cal said. “Yeah, let’s go back to the cabin. Get you some water, and put you into bed. Everything will make sense after you get some rest.”

“I don’t need rest. I know I was there.”

Bo knelt in front of Thor. His brows creased with worry. “Where, son? We’ve been looking for you for days and filed a missing persons report with the sheriff’s office. If the highway patrolman hadn’t called us, we’d still be looking.”

He answered with quiet assurance. “Right here at this cabin in 1860.”

* * *

“You don’t believe me.” Thor looked from his father to his brother and back again. They wore the same expressions: indulgence, love, and concern. He removed the ice pack from the back of his neck and threw it down on the wooden tabletop. “I’m not making this up. Look at me! Look at this bump. Look at these clothes! Where would I get clothes like this?”

“From the old trunk over there,” Cal answered, pointing to the wooden case. “We must have seen that old suit a hundred times growing up. You just put it on and went for a walk.”

“Cal, look at these pants and the shirt! They’re practically brand new! If they were sitting in the trunk for over a hundred years, they’d be moth eaten for God’s sake!”

“Don’t use His name in vain,” Bo warned.

“But Pop.” He crossed to his father and thrust the hem of the shirt under the older man’s nose. “See that blood. It’s fresh.”

“You bumped your head.”

“It’s Willow’s blood, not mine. Besides, my skin isn’t broken so it couldn’t come from me. I swear to you it’s Willow’s.” He hitched a harsh breath. “That bastard Grady beat her badly. She has bruises everywhere, and her bottom lip is split.”

Speech became difficult, but he pressed on. “I made her so many promises, and now, she’s all alone. With that lowlife piece of shit!” His voice cracked.

Thor turned his back to his family and strode to the fireplace. The photos on the mantel caught his attention. One of Eva and Anders stared back. Their stoic faces accused him. His head dropped in shame.

“Time travel is impossible,” Cal said quietly. A chair scraped across the floor and heavy footsteps thumped across the wooden floorboards. “It doesn’t happen in real life. The idea of it can be a good escape, but you gotta come back to reality. I’m only saying this because I love you.” He wrapped his arm around Thor’s shoulders and hugged him. “Maybe it’s time you talked to a professional.”

“I don’t need a shrink.” He rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. When he looked at his brother, he said, “I haven’t lost my mind, but I will if I don’t find a way to get back there. Willow needs me, and I’m not about to let her down.”

* * *

“You don’t believe me,” Willow stated quietly.

Her hands clutched Reverend Brown’s jacket as the horse they shared galloped toward home. Anders shared his horse with Big Nat, and they followed close behind.

“Thor was with me. He didn’t leave me alone.”

“You were in a horrible situation,” Brown replied over his shoulder. “That man threatened you in a most grievous manner. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if your imagination took hold. Nobody would fault you.”

“I didn’t imagine it, Reverend. Thor was holding out his hand to me to help me stand, and that horrible Grady Falls hit him on the back of his head.” She paused to catch her breath. “Thor’s face drew up with the pain, and then he was gone. Didn’t you and Mr. Anders see him? We have to go back and see if we can find him.”

Brown closed his hand over hers. “Willow child, we saw no sign of him. We saw Big Nat coming to on the back of the wagon and we saw a stray horse, but there was no sign of Thor out there. There’s just no way we can go back. By now, they’ll know that Big Nat is missing and will become suspicious about you and Thor. We have to keep going. I ’spect that Thor has done the same.”

“He wouldn’t just leave me!” she protested. “He was there! He gave me back my spectacles, and he gave me this coat to wear. He’s hurting and needs help. If they find him, you know they’ll string him up. I beg you, please, don’t leave him.”

Deep sobs shook her. She buried her face against her adoptive father’s hard back. He reached behind himself and patted her arm.

“Don’t cry, child.”

“I can’t help it, Reverend,” she choked. “I love him. If they kill him, I’ll want to die, too.”

“You shouldn’t speak like that.” Reproach hardened his voice. “You haven’t known him long enough to love him.”

“What does time have to do with love? You don’t know him like I do. He’s a special man who comes from a special place. He wanted me to go back with him, but I didn’t believe he meant it. Now I wish I’d told him yes.”

The horse hooves played a rapid cadence as they raced through the woods. Brown spoke over the rhythmic beat. “What special place? Where did he want to take you?”

“To his home.”

“In Atlanta?”

“He never really said. The place didn’t matter. The time made all the difference. He said that I didn’t have to go to Oberlin. I could go to any college I wanted and be anything I wanted. He said that my dreams could come true. The only dream I want to come true is to find him again and to know that he’s safe.”

“What do you mean by ‘time?’ ”

Willow sighed. If he didn’t believe that Thor vanished right in front of her face, how in the world would he believe that Thor traveled back in time? “You’ll think I’m telling tall tales.”

“Try me.”

She trusted Reverend Brown with her life. When she thought of a father figure, his pale features came to mind more often than Elijah’s earth-toned complexion although she loved her slain father dearly.

The Browns loved her. Reverend’s fierce over protective behavior was born out of that love. He wanted to shield her from the ills of their society and from immoral men who would take advantage of her. She sensed he admired Thor’s willingness to help The Cause, but felt he still harbored suspicions as to Thor’s motives. He couldn’t see what she saw in Thor, and she doubted if he’d believe his claims of being from the future. She was not sure what to do.

“You can tell me anything, Butterfly.”

Willow smiled through her tears at the use of her parents’ pet name. Elijah had called her by that name instead of using Willow. Her father often said she reminded him of a graceful flying creature, and one day, he wanted her to spread her wings and fly. Reverend Brown had used the name, too, but stopped after her parents died.