Yellowstone Heart Song (Yellowstone Romance Series Book 1) (22 page)

“Oh, Aimee.” Jana hugged her friend close. “I remember when your parents died. It was awful. You were distraught then, too, but,” Jana paused as if searching for the right words. “This . . . the way you’re shutting down . . . frankly it’s scaring the life out of me.”

Aimee didn’t respond. She sobbed on her friend’s shoulder. Her body shuddered violently.

“I can prove to you that Daniel was real.” She looked up suddenly with a hiccup and raspy voice. “According to Zach, he was born here in California, I think at Anaheim Memorial. Is there a way to access the medical records archives from twenty-five years ago?”

“This sounds so weird, Aimee.” Jana shook her head. “You’re saying this guy lived in the past, but was born in the present? Do you realize they’ll lock you up in the psych ward if you talk like that?”

“I’m not crazy,” Aimee whispered.

“I know that,” Jana reassured her.  She was silent for a moment. “Listen, I think I know someone who works in the records department at the hospital. Let me make a phone call, and we’ll look into this. It’s important to you, so it’s important to me.”

“You’re the best friend in the world.”

A half hour later, Jana hung up the phone. “I talked to Allison in the HI department. She said it might take some time, but she’ll research it. If she can’t find anything in the computer, we may have to see if someone can look up an actual file at Anaheim Memorial.”

“Thank you.”

“It might take her a few days to get back to me. Did you still want to catch that flight tomorrow? If so, I need to pack.”

“It won’t be the backpacking trip we planned,” Aimee said. “But yes, I need to get back there. Only for a few days.”

“Okay.”

Aimee slept fitfully in her bed that night. She woke frequently, sobbing. Several times she called out Daniel’s name in agony.

The next morning, as Aimee and Jana headed for the airport, Jana asked, “don’t you want to call Brad and at least tell him you’re okay?”

“No.” Aimee shook her head. “I’m not ready to face him.” She looked Jana squarely in the eye. “I broke it off with him before I went to see Zach at the hospital, before I ever met . . . Daniel.” Fresh tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. “Brad was smothering me, controlling my life. I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“I know that. I’ve seen it for a long time. I should have said something to you a long time ago. I never liked the way he treated you. He never mentioned you had broken the engagement.”

“I did. I gave him back his ring.” She held her face in her hands and cried quietly.

“My God, Aimee, this guy, whoever he is, has really gotten under your skin, hasn’t he?” Jana said sympathetically. “I heard you cry out to him last night.” She squeezed Aimee’s hand. “What will you do if you find him?”

“I’m not going to find him, Jana,” Aimee cried. “He’s long dead. Don’t you understand?” Aimee had really hoped that Jana would believe her.

“Right, the time travel thing.”

“You of all people have to believe me,” Aimee pleaded. “How do you explain my longer hair, and everything else about me that has changed? That didn’t happen in two weeks. Those changes happened over three months, the three months I spent in Yellowstone in 1810 . . . with Daniel.”

Jana seemed to think this over for a minute. “Suppose I do believe you,” she said tentatively. “What exactly are you hoping to find when we get there?”

“I don’t know.” Aimee sighed. “Somehow I think it’ll make me feel closer to him.” She stared out the window of the cab, not really seeing anything at all. She let the tears roll down her face in silence.

****

They landed at Jackson airport in Wyoming, rented a car, and drove north to get to the park. Aimee stared silently out the window while Jana drove. The grandeur of the snow-capped Teton mountain range went unnoticed, and there was none of their usual excitement as they entered the park through the south entrance gate. From there, it took them the better part of three hours to get to their destination.

As they approached the Madison Junction area, Aimee said, “Pull into the ranger station parking lot.”

 Jana barely had the chance to put the car in park before Aimee rushed out the door. She made her way down the gravel walkway and stood next to the log cabin ranger station and bookstore, looking across the Madison Valley. New tears flooded her eyes. Up on the rise of her familiar meadow, Aimee gazed down at the river.

“This is where Daniel’s cabin was,” she said quietly, distantly. “This is where I’ve been for the last three months.”

She walked toward the river. Gone was the pristine state of the meadow and riverbank. In its stead were several well-worn trails where countless tourists had trampled the grass. Aimee stopped at the river’s edge, and gazed longingly into the water. This was where Daniel had forced her out of the river. She smiled slightly at the memory. Back then she thought he didn’t like her.

“Oh, Daniel, what became of you,” she said quietly. Impossible as she thought it was, she cried again in earnest.

“Can someone dehydrate from crying too much?” Jana asked teasingly.

“It hurts so much,” Aimee sobbed. Her voice was raspy, and the tears streamed freely down her face. She sank into the grass and put her face in her hands. Several people strolling the riverbank stared. Jana sank down into the grass and held her tight. Tears trickled down Jana’s face as well.

“Is everything okay?” someone asked.

Jana responded quietly, “she lost a friend, and this was their favorite place.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the tourist said, and stared at Aimee with pity before moving on.

“Aimee, we really should get going,” Jana finally said. “We can go and get a hotel room in West Yellowstone. It’s closer than driving all the way back to Jackson tonight.”

“I can’t leave.” Aimee’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I can’t.” She sniffled and wiped her nose along her shirtsleeve.

“We have to, Aimee. We can’t stay here,” Jana said gently. “It’s time to let go.” She stood up and stretched, then gently pulled on Aimee’s arm.

Aimee stood slowly, and stared at the peacefulness of the meandering river. Every now and then, a circular ripple appeared on the water’s surface as hungry fish bobbed their heads out of the water to snap at one of the countless evening bugs that swarmed the river. Swallows darted up and down over the water to take their share of the insect feast in the dimming light.

“Daniel,” she called. “Daniel, I love you . . . you are my heart song.” She had no more tears left in her. She was hollow, empty. Something squeezed her heart as if wringing out a sponge, wringing out all the happiness. Reluctantly, she allowed Jana to take her by the arm, and with her head bent toward her chest, she turned and walked back up the slope toward the parking lot.

Chapter 20

Three days later, back in California, Jana received a phone call from her friend Allison in the health information department at the hospital.

“Hey Jana, I have some information on that patient you were asking about.”

Jana’s heart rate sped up in surprise. “Oh? What did you find out?”

“Well, there was nothing in the computer system, so I made a call to someone in HI at Anaheim Memorial. She did me a huge favor and went into their archives.” She hesitated, then went on, “Please, if any of this gets out, both her and my jobs are toast, you know that, right?”

“I’m aware we’re breaching patient confidentiality, Allison.” Jana sighed impatiently. “This is really important, and I swear to you that no one is going to find out.”

“Okay.” Allison sounded eager to spill the information she had. “Well, this is a really strange case. Twenty-five years ago, on January 20th, 1985, a man named Zachariah Osborne brought his wife Marie Osborne to the emergency room. The woman was in labor. She had a seizure brought on by eclampsia, and the seizure caused a brain aneurysm. They were able to take her baby by C-section before she died. It was a boy. The birth certificate has his name listed as Daniel Osborne.”

Jana inhaled sharply. “You’re kidding me.”

“I thought that was information you wanted.”

“I don’t know what I was expecting.”

“Well, here’s the really weird part. The man disappeared not minutes after his wife died,” Allison paused for dramatic effect. “And not only him, but his baby and his dead wife disappeared along with him . . . poof . . . not a trace. The little information on his paperwork has a fake address and nothing else.”

“Wow, that is weird.”
My God, Aimee’s story is panning out
.

“Why did you want to know about this case?” Allison asked. “It’s like something out of the twilight zone.”

“Yeah,” Jana said absently. “Look, Allison, I really, really appreciate this. I owe you big time. I need to go.” Without further explanation, she hung up. She stared out the kitchen window for a few moments, digesting the information she just received. So, this Daniel Osborne really did exist. But did it mean that he was from a different time? It sure corroborated the story Aimee had told her.

She headed up the stairs to Aimee’s bedroom. Since coming home from their very brief visit to Yellowstone, Aimee had pretty much shut herself in her room. She came out only to use the bathroom, and Jana had to almost force her to come to the kitchen for something to eat.

Jana was lost as to what to do about Aimee’s depression. Aimee was her best friend, and in all the years growing up, high school and the dramas of teenage breakups, losing her parents, and going to nursing school together, she had always envied Aimee’s positive outlook on life. This experience, whatever it was that she had experienced, was killing her. And Jana didn’t know what to do about it.

She took a deep breath, and knocked softly on Aimee’s bedroom door. She waited but received no answer, so she quietly entered. Aimee lay in a fetal position on her bed. She was dressed in the same pajamas she had worn for the last two days, and hugged her pillow close.

“Aimee?” she called softly. “Are you awake?”

“I’m not hungry,” Aimee’s muffled voice responded automatically.

“Good, because I didn’t bring you any food,” Jana said lightly. “I just got off the phone with Allison.”

No response.

“Remember?” She prodded, and sat on the bed. “Allison from HI at the hospital.”

No response.

“Aimee, I believe you.” She tried a different tactic. “There is a record of a Daniel Osborne born on January 20th, 1985.”

Aimee turned her head. Bloodshot eyes blinked up at Jana. 

“The mother died due to complications, and then everyone - the father, dead mother, and baby – they all disappeared and haven’t been seen or heard from again. Aimee, I believe your story is true.” Jana squeezed Aimee’s hand.

“You believe me?” Aimee asked tentatively.  “Daniel is not a figment of my imagination. He is . . . was . . . real!” Aimee sat up, and looked at her through swollen eyes.

Jana hugged her close. “I believe you that you went back in time and spent three months with him. As crazy and unimaginable as it sounds, I believe everything you’ve told me.”

“Thank you,” Aimee said with a relieved sigh. She raised herself to a sitting position. “I just needed you to believe me. I didn’t make it up, I didn’t make Daniel up, and I didn’t make up how wonderful it was being with him.”

After a long silence, Jana tentatively asked, “What happens now, Aimee? You can’t go on like this. Frankly, you’re scaring me to death.”

“I don’t know,” Aimee sighed. “All I do is think about him, what became of him. He was the best thing that has ever happened to me. He was so right. Everything I experienced in that time felt so right. I am so out of place here.” Her shoulders slumped.

“Well, it’s natural to grieve when you lose someone. But you are still alive, and you have to go on living. What can I do to help you get on with your life?”

“I just need more time.” Aimee sounded as if she was trying to convince herself as well as Jana.

“I will do anything for you, you know that, right? I just want the old you back.”

“I’ll try to be more cheerful.”

“Just come back to the land of the living, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

“Then come down to the kitchen and have something to eat,” Jana coaxed. “I haven’t touched that triple fudge chocolate ice cream in the freezer, but I can’t hold out much longer. How about we have some of that?”

After a long pause, Aimee sighed and got up off the bed. “Okay,” she said slowly. “You’ve hit on my weak spot.”

They headed down the stairs to the kitchen. Jana reached for the container of ice cream in the freezer, and scooped some into two bowls.

“What did you do in Yellowstone for three months without ice cream?” she asked lightly. “You always swore you’d never be able to survive without that for very long.”

“I found a new passion,” Aimee said quietly. “Something much more delicious than ice cream.”

Jana smiled at her.

“Tell me more about him.” At least she had Aimee talking. Hopefully asking questions about this Daniel person wouldn’t turn the waterworks on again.

Aimee told her in greater detail about Daniel and their budding relationship.

“Sounds like something out of a romance novel,” Jana said. “The dark and mysterious hero rescues damsel in distress and sweeps her off her feet.” She made a dramatic sweep of her hand through the air.

“Something like that. I never believed in love at first sight, but I was a goner the moment I first saw him. He wasn’t too friendly at first, but later I found out it was because he was attracted to me, too, but didn’t quite know how to deal with it.” Aimee gave a short, sad little laugh. “You know, he asked me the day before Zach showed up if I was pregnant.”

Jana’s eyes widened.

“Now I wish I was. Then at least I could have a part of him with me.”

“Why would he ask you that?” Jana asked. Then understanding dawned on her face. “Oh yeah, right. Depo . . . no periods. I guess he must have wondered about that, huh? How did you explain that one to him?” she grinned.

“I didn’t.” Aimee sighed. “Like most everything else I ever told him, I either modified and stretched the truths, or avoided the subject. Not once was I ever completely honest with him. Except when I told him I love him.”

“So, if he really loves you, why doesn’t he just time travel here?”

“I told you, his father never told him about the time travel thing. And Zach told me he was through time traveling, and said it just wasn’t the natural order of things. He’s always felt uncomfortable with it. He was grateful that it saved his son when he was born, and he’s come here to this time periodically to get a heart work-up, but he was done with the whole thing now, and was going to get rid of the time travel device.”

****

Aimee inhaled deeply to brace herself from tearing up again. Her voice cracked despite all her efforts. “So you see, there is no way he will come back to this time again. I never even got the chance to tell Daniel the truth about me,” she added sadly.

“What do you suppose Daniel did when you disappeared?”

“I have no idea.” Aimee expelled a long, drawn-out breath. “I’m sure he searched for me for a while. Zach probably talked him out of looking too long and hard. I just hope he got on with his life.”

“Just like you need to go on with yours,” Jana said meaningfully.

“Yeah,” she replied, defeated.

The doorbell rang. They looked at each other before Jana went to answer it.

A familiar voice reached her ears, and Aimee groaned.  Why did Brad have to show up here? Why now?

“Hey Jana, I was on my way home from the hospital, and thought I’d . . . oh my God, Aimee?”

Brad swept past Jana from the living room into the kitchen. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her off the barstool at the kitchen counter in a fierce embrace. Unaffected by his touch, she remained limp in his arms.

After a moment, he released her and looked at her face. “Where have you been? We’ve all been so worried about you, and . . .” He paused and really looked at her while holding her at arm’s length. “You look awful. What happened to you?”

Anger suddenly replaced Aimee’s depressed mood. She was no longer afraid to stand up to Brad. She had faced life and death situations in the last three months. This man no longer made her feel inadequate.

“Thanks for the honest as always assessment of my appearance, Brad.” Her tone was icy. “It’s nice of you to notice.”

“Aimee, what have you been up to?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And why haven’t you called? Dear God, we were thinking the worst had happened when you just disappeared.”

“Brad, I really don’t want to discuss my whereabouts with you at the moment. Last time I checked, I’m still a free person to do as I want. And the last time I talked to you, I broke off our engagement, remember?”

“So you just decided to disappear off the face of the earth for a while?” he asked. His voice rose in anger.

“Yes, maybe that’s exactly what I did.” She stood squarely in front of him, and didn’t waver as she stared up into his face.
He’s taller than Daniel, but not as broad
. There was no comparison between the two.

“See, this is the problem, Brad. You think you need to manage my life for me. I can do that just fine on my own. And I need to be able to do the things I want to do without asking your permission first, like some little child.” She practically shouted at him now. “Back off, Brad, and give me my space.”

Brad stood silent for a moment. He ran his hand along his jaw.

“At least tell me where you’ve been. You look,” he paused, apparently searching for the right words, “different. You’ve lost weight.”

“I’ll tell you where I’ve been,” Aimee said in a low tone. Jana stood behind them, still at the door, and shook her head, her eyes wide with panic.

“I went to Yellowstone, just like I told you I would when you pretty much said I couldn’t go, remember? I went to Yellowstone on my own, and I survived a wilderness trip on my own. I am capable of living on my own, do you understand? I. Don’t. Need. You!”