Chapter Twenty-One

Early morning sun filtered through the branches of my tree. I reached over to make sure last night had not been a dream. My hand touched the empty mattress.

I closed my eyes, letting the tears seep out. But before I could imagine the worst, a hint of lemon drifted my way, followed by footsteps.

“Jessica, are you awake?”

“You’re still here?” I sat up, looking toward my open door. Renn walked in carrying a mug.

“Of course. It’s a lovely morning.” He poured a coffee for me, adding a dash of cream, and then motioned for me to join him outside.

I couldn’t get up fast enough.

“The way you like it?” Renn handed me a mug of coffee. I sat down next to him on the porch swing. “Perfect.” The fabric in my pocket threw off a pleasant heat.

“You look utterly irresistible.” Renn ran his thumb over the top of my hand. The warm sensation ran up my arm, filling my entire body.

My neck and cheeks burned carrying me back to our night of lovemaking. Major fireworks had exploded inside me. The kind that movies are made of. He touched me in places that I didn’t even know had feelings. Behind my knees, along my elbows, in the small crevice at the base of my spine. And my marks on his back, well they will be there for days.

Passion and desire breathed between us, weaving us as one. He couldn’t possibly have a girlfriend back in his time. Still, I needed to know for sure.

“What?” Renn asked. “You look like you want to ask me something.”

“I saw this girl on that disc thing you left behind,” I asked. “Who is she?”

“Holy crap, Jessica. You have my locator?”

“If that’s what you call it, yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice held a ring of anger.

“I didn’t know what it was. I found it in the bathroom after you disappeared.”

He covered his forehead with his hand. “It must have snagged on something.”

“So, don’t accuse me.”

“I’m not. It’s just never fallen off before. Luckily, Arlianna has enough clout. She ordered me a new one and somehow found me. But, my god, why didn’t you say something?”

I pushed my thumb against my cheek.

“Jessica, why didn’t you tell me you…”

“I told you, I didn’t know what it—”

“You had to know it was mine.”

“But you didn’t answer me. Who is she? That girl.”

He rested his hand on my thigh.

“A friend,” he said. He squeezed my hand. “She’s a friend.”

“How would I know that? I know nothing about you. For all I know that girl could have been your wife.” I could feel the tears starting. “Why did you leave from the bathroom, anyway? I just wanted you to hide there until my friends left.”

“It was not of my doing. Literally. I was booted into a time stream. I didn’t plan on departing like that.”

“Something just up and pulled you away?”

“Exactly,” he answered. “Maybe my locator went orbital on me. I don’t know.”

“What’s going on, Renn?” I stared into his eyes, afraid of the secrets behind them. “Please tell me.”

“I think you know.” He picked up my hand and placed it on his heart.

I leaned forward to kiss him, but kissing wasn’t going to get me the answers I needed.

“I know we have this…” I squeezed his hand. “But all that other stuff.”

“You’re not this guy Frank’s soulmate. We’ve already established that.” He touched my cheek and then ran his finger over my lips.

“But—”

He stopped me with a kiss. So delicious, leaving me wanting way more.

“We’re soulmates, Jessica. I don’t need any Central Match or data synchronizer to tell me that.”

I nodded my head as tears got mixed up in my smile. I reached up and touched his hair, so soft and silky. “Okay, but if it’s your job to match people, why did Natasha send you to get me for someone else?”

Renn gave the swing a push. “That’s the big question. So far, all we know, Arlianna and I, is that Natasha will do anything for credits, or money as you call it here in this time.” He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. “She’s made false matches in the past, sending a Matchmaker after the wrong person.”

“So that’s what she’s doing now? Just for the money?”

“I believe so. I heard rumors about some investments she’s made where she’s taken some hard losses. As soon as I questioned her authority, by saying I saw flaws, she demanded I bring you immediately.”

“But why me?”

“That I don’t know. Possibly just some random choice. I doubt she knew we were soulmates.”

“But wouldn’t that show up on her Match thing? You and me?”

“It’s not a hundred percent correct. After all, it was programmed by humans. All I can say is I’m glad Natasha sent me and not someone else who would have taken you. And then we…” I watched his Adam’s apple move up and down. “We wouldn’t have ever met.”

“So now what?” A breeze blew across the porch. The rustling of the leaves was a close second to the stirring of my heart.

Renn looked at his feet as they pushed against the pavement. “We have to keep you safe. Natasha will come for you.”

“I saw her yesterday,” I said.

He brought the swing to a halt. “I told you to stay inside.”

“You left, without a word. What was I supposed to do? I thought you were never coming back.”

He stood up and paced around the porch. “I told you. I didn’t plan on departing. And I wasn’t off having fun. I was lost and trying to get back here. If not for Arlianna, I’d still be wandering around in 1987.”

I stood next to him, gently touching his arm.

“Where was Natasha?” he asked.

“At the beach. And I wasn’t alone. I was with Kyle.”

Renn’s body stiffened. “He likes you.”

“He’s a good friend.”

“He wishes you were his soulmate.” Renn put his hands on either side of my face and stared into my eyes. “But it won’t work. You and I are meant for each other.”

“I don’t want to be with Kyle. We really are just good…best friends,” I said, placing my hand on top of his, ready to kiss him and make love right there on the porch. “We tried dating. It’s not there for us.”

“For you.”

“For both of us. Kyle’s a romantic. He just wants to be in love.”

“And I want you,” he said. “I want to stay.”

But.

The word ballooned between us. The air grew thick with our silence as he looked away from my face and down at the ground.

“You’re going to leave, aren’t you?”

“I have to, Jessica.”

And just like that my world crashed around me. Again. No. No. No. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I turned and opened my apartment door.

He grabbed my arm, pulling me back toward him.

“This is not what I want either,” he said. “But Natasha must be stopped.”

Pressure built up behind my eyes.

Without answering, Renn walked toward my tree. Her branches seemed to bend to meet him as he picked off a few leaves.

He walked back toward me, kissed the leaves, and tucked them into my hand. “While I’m gone, promise me, you won’t go outdoors.”

“That’s insane,” I said.

“Then don’t go alone and only when necessary.”

“Why should I promise you anything?”

“Because,” Renn said. “I want you to be safe from Natasha.”

“That doesn’t make sense. She came into my hospital room, didn’t she?”

“Yes, but she couldn’t do anything but scare you.”

“She did a good job of that.”

Two birds flew between the tree branches, chirping to each other. It sounded like they were arguing. If birds even disagreed.

“How long? A day? Two weeks? A month? How do I know I’ll ever see you again?”

“Time is irrelevant,” he said.

“For you maybe.” I reached into my pocket. At least I still had the fabric and would know when he was coming back. I ran my thumb over its silky surface.

“This is…” His eyes opened wide, and he stepped backward reaching out his hand. “Jessica. Something is happening to me. I’m…”

A pain ripped through my body. I stumbled backward, with my arm behind me. My hand stopped me from falling flat on my butt. Rubbing my wrist, I sat up. “Renn?”

I twisted to look behind me.

“Renn? Where are you?” I called.

I smelled the lemony air, but he was nowhere around.

Those same two birds flew by, chirping their angry chirps.

Unable to move, I stretched out on my back and stared up at the sky. It was a warm, cloudless morning.

Wherever Renn had gone, I took comfort in knowing we looked at the same sky. Or at least I hoped we did. I assumed whatever time he was in the universe hadn’t become unrecognizable.

“Promise me you won’t go outdoors alone.” What a crock. He had left me alone, not the other way around.

I waited a few more minutes, hoping he would return. He didn’t. I dragged myself into my apartment.

My journal sat on my nightstand. A reminder that my adviser was waiting for my film project. I started writing.

The way he kisses me is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. He says we’re soulmates and that this is our destiny. But he keeps disappearing to a place I can’t follow.

I wrote fast and furiously for most of the day. Taking a few breaks to check on my grandparents and eat a quick dinner. By evening, I had added another twenty pages. My idea was taking shape, while my heart was losing its edges.