Chapter 67 The Tarnished Ring

Chapter 67 The Tarnished Ring
Shayne sat across the table from Jeffrey picking at the soft buttery rolls the waiter brought. She was looking at her mother’s plain band ring on her finger. It sat in addition to the Ruby ring that had once belong to both her mother and grandmother. She also spun the Ruby anniversary style wedding ring that her Jeffrey had given her. The new heart necklace that this Jeffrey had given her was firmly around her neck. He had been ecstatic that she had suggested he put it on her.

Shayne was thinking hard about how fast that she had agreed to intertwine her life with his, when there was a huge secret about her powers that she was still hiding from him. He knew what she could do, but he still has no idea where she had been. She just couldn’t reconcile the idea of being his wife without telling him that she already was.

“Jeffrey, I need to tell you something. I promised to be honest so if we are going to live as husband and wife, I need to tell you about how I got pregnant.” She started to tell him, before looking down at the table and taking a nervous breath. She knew she was taking a very big chance but she couldn’t hide the truth anymore.

“I’m listening. You can tell me anything.” He answered. She could feel the calmness in his gut. It gave her courage.

“Do you really mean that, even if the truth sounds crazy and when I’m done you may either have me committed or just run away.” Shayne said with a worried raised brow eyebrow.

“After what I’ve seen, it would be hard to shock me at this point.” He said with a lighthearted chuckle. She thought about the floating rocks and laughed as well.

“Okay, here goes…. Remember how I was missing for two weeks before graduation?” She paused as he acknowledged that he hadn’t forgotten. “Well, I wasn’t really missing. I was in an alternate timeline or possibly the future. The details and science are still a bit blurred but it happened. I know how crazy it sounds, but it’s true.” Shayne said quickly and watched his face to see what he would say.

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue with her. He just sat in silence waiting for the rest of the story while he rolled the napkin up and then back out again. She reached out to his emotions but she felt no concern for her sanity or disbelief.

“I was honest about the locket that my grandmother gave me. It did give me powers, but it also transported me ten years into the future. You were there, well, a much older you anyway. We had a real relationship and then it was taken away from us. I was so heartbroken thay I lost you when I first got back. I still struggle sometimes because I miss the life we were building.” Shayne explained. She wiped at her eyes and tried not to cry.

“So when you said I made a commitment to you, you were trying to tell me that we were married.” Jeffrey suggested quietly and she could feel the emotions swirling in him. She had no doubt that he loved her.

“Yes, we were legally wed. We went to the court house the day after you asked me to marry you. Of course that time, you asked me to stop a stupid argument in the coffee shop parking lot.” Shayne said with a halfhearted chuckle.

Jeffrey shook his head and made a L with his fingers on his forehead. “I hope I did better this time.” She smiled at him and nodded her head.

He cleared his throat. “Did you see something in the future that is making you push me to go to college?” Jeffrey asked. She could feel a bit of worry creeping in.

“Yes and no. In that future you gave up football and you took on Old Man Harris’s company. You were successful. But you were also miserable. I thought if I could give you a do-over, it would fix things.” She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “But I see now, you weren't miserable because of the choices you made. You were miserable because we weren't together.” Shayne said quietly as the waiter arrived with the meals they had ordered after Jeffrey’s proposal.

When they were alone again, he spoke again. “What kept us apart in that world?” His began to cut his steak.

Shayne squirmed in her seat. This was the part of the story she didn’t want to tell him, but she had promised to be honest with him. “Because I had died.”

She felt him suck in a big breath and his heart began to race. “I think this is the part where you tell me everything.” He almost demanded.

Shayne took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She opened them again and told him the whole story. She told him how she went to the future and about the fact they were still bickering like old, tired people, even after all those years. She informed him about how she had learned she had died and that he had been responsible. Shayne gritted her teeth when she told him about Shawna and how they had been married. She explained about the divorce, as well as Jamie and Shawna’s affair. The part about how they made love and their marriage was a happier section of the story. Finally she revealed Kevin and Brian’s fates, and ended with the bar fight that caused the chain to be broken.

Jeffrey sat silently for several minutes. “Did I know about the baby?” He finally asked. She could feel him sorting through everything she had told him.

Shayne shook her head. “No, I didn't know about the baby.”

She could feel his sadness, his guilt and his pain. He looks at her, “I’m sorry” he said as a tear slid down his face.

“I know, but we can’t change what happened now. Since I've been back, I realized I can't live there anymore. I may have lost that future, but I still have you. And now we have a family,” she said as she placed her hand over her stomach.

“Listen, I’m going to call in tomorrow. First thing, you and I are going to the court house and we are going to make that commitment official again. Then we are coming home so I can make love to you so passionately that it helps you forget the pain of what you lost. We are going to build that life you wanted and we will be happy,” he told her.