Timeless

CHAPTER 46

H earing Quinn coming her way and waiting for her to do so because she somehow just knew that Quinn would wrap her up in her arms before saying good morning, Abby turned in Quinn’s arms and smiled at her.

“Hi,” Quinn said.

“Well, hi there. I was going to make us breakfast and bring it to you in bed.”

Quinn kissed her and said, “Yeah? Can you stop leaving the bed before I wake up so that I can actually kiss you good morning in bed instead of having to come find you?”

Abby had, yet again, not been in bed when Quinn had woken up. This time, Quinn had found her in the kitchen.

“The odds are in your favor,” she replied and wrapped her arms around Quinn’s neck.

“What are you making?”

“Oh, breakfast is cereal and coffee. I’m very grown up,” she joked.

Quinn laughed and replied, “I’d hope so after what we did last night. I was also hoping we’d do it again this morning before I have to go to work.” She kissed Abby’s neck.

“When do you have to go so you can open on time?”

“I’m usually there an hour early to do other stuff before people walk in. Why?”

“Well, it’s only eight… We’ve got time, if you can skip breakfast. Then, I can pick us up something from the good coffee place while you do whatever you need to do.” Abby kissed her.

“I can skip breakfast,” Quinn replied.

“Bed?”

“No. Here’s fine.” Quinn turned Abby back around to face the counter.

Abby laughed until Quinn wrapped her up in her arms, slid her hands under Abby’s shirt, and then cupped her breasts before she slid one hand down and into Abby’s pants.

“You’re not wearing underwear.”

“No, I’m not. We went to sleep naked. I just grabbed pants as quickly as I could so that I wouldn’t wake you up.”

“Feel free not to wear underwear anytime you want.” Quinn nibbled on Abby’s neck.

An hour later, they hopped back into Abby’s shower, strictly to clean up this time, and shortly after, they dressed and were out the door. When they arrived, Quinn went into the shop, and Abby walked down the street to get coffee and bagels. With their food and beverages in hand, she headed to the antique shop a few minutes later, but something caught her eye. It was a bench with a phone number, company name, and a person’s picture.

“Simon?” she asked herself and stared at the photo of a man in a black suit, white shirt, and blue tie.

He had a kind smile and even kinder eyes. Then, Abby remembered where she’d seen him before, so she rushed to the shop and found Quinn packing up an item to be shipped out.

“Babe,” she said, breathing hard.

“Did you run back here? Miss me that much?” Quinn teased.

“What? No,” Abby returned and set the paper bag with their bagels, along with their coffees, down.

“Okay, ouch, Abs. We just said, ‘I love you,’ for the first time last night. You’re already sick of me?”

“Again, six centuries later, I don’t think that’s likely, but not the point right now. The realtor.”

“I’m confused,” Quinn said. “Must be the lack of sleep and the lack of coffee.”

“Quinn, the realtor who dropped off the box – his name was Simon.”

“Okay. So?”

“Simon Litchfield. He works for Your Dream Home Realty .”

“Terrible name for a company,” Quinn noted, shaking her head.

“Babe, I need you to focus right now.” She took both of Quinn’s hands in her own and stared into her eyes. “Quinn, his name is Simon. I didn’t put it together at the time because it was before we’d met Cheryl and Diana.”

It took another second, but then Quinn’s eyes went wide.

“Simon? As in–”

“I think so, yeah. I felt something just now. His face is on a freaking bench out there. It was like I had to stop, and when I did, it hit me. That’s Simon. He’s Cheryl and Diana’s son.”

“I guess the age fits. And he wouldn’t look like them because he was adopted.”

“Exactly. But Cheryl and Diana didn’t live here. How did he end up working at a real estate company in this town?”

“And how did he end up selling the farmhouse where Deb and Harriet lived?”

“I have no idea. I haven’t looked up Cheryl and Diana yet. I meant to, but you and I were starting this very important thing, and we have so much else to do. Pictures, that book, and–”

“Yeah, back to that, actually. How did it end up in the farmhouse? We never figured that out.”

“I bet Simon would know,” she suggested.

“You want to find him?”

“ Find him? Babe, his face and phone number are on the bench down the street. I think we just need to call him.”

“I can’t believe I met him and didn’t put it together.” Quinn shook her head.

“Why would you? It was before you met me. Neither of us started putting anything together until we met.”

“We can actually meet him? I know I did, but I didn’t know it was him at the time, so it doesn’t count.”

“I think so, yeah,” Abby replied. “Want me to pull out my computer and do some research on Cheryl and Diana first? I think it might be weird for us to ask him a bunch of questions about them; kind of how Deborah thought we were strange for asking her about Deb and Harriet, so she basically fled the shop.”

“Yeah, okay. I want to know what happened to them, too.”

“I’ll look it up now. You get back to work, hot stuff.” She winked and smacked Quinn’s ass.

“Hey!” Quinn laughed.

“I love your laugh,” Abby confessed, wrapping her arms around Quinn’s neck. “It’s one of my favorite things.”

“One of?”

“Well, the orgasms are definitely up there, too.”

Quinn laughed again, kissed her, and said, “I love how we can be this way with each other. It feels different than how they all were together, but no less important or even more important, if that makes sense. I just know that I love you, and I know it’s soon, but it’s also right.”

“I feel the same way. I love you, too.”

Quinn smacked Abby on the ass this time, making her laugh, and off Abby went, pulling out her computer, turning it on, connecting to Quinn’s Wi-Fi, and typing the names into search, along with the word ‘obituary.’ She waited next to no time for the results to appear, and she looked through a few of them, not finding what she needed until she finally landed on what she thought might be them. Quinn was in the front of the shop by the time Abby read through it once to herself, but she returned after dropping off her laptop up front, looking at Abby now.

“Find something?”

“Cheryl died first. She had cancer.”

“Oh,” Quinn said. “I don’t know why it hurts so much, thinking about how they all had to die so that you and I could exist – at least, in part – but it does.” She leaned against the front counter.

“Diana died two years later. It doesn’t say what she died of in the obit, so I don’t know. They lived together the whole time, though. It says Cheryl was survived by her son and her best friend. No mention of the man she had to marry, so he must have died before her.”

“Best friend, huh?” Quinn said.

“Well, they couldn’t say what they really were to each other, could they? I guess maybe they could have that time, but they grew up when it wasn’t safe, so they probably decided to stick with the lie instead of the truth; that they were–”

“Madly in love with each other for decades?” Quinn interrupted softly with a smile aimed right at Abby.

“Want that for us already?”

“I’ll settle for the ‘madly in love’ part, and we’ll work on the decades,” Quinn replied.

“Hey, you’re not moving in just yet. We’ve only had two dates, Quinn Elizabeth.”

Quinn chuckled and said, “What about Simon?”

“I haven’t looked him up yet. But do you want to see if we can call him?”

“It’s Sunday. He’s not working.”

“Babe, he’s a real estate agent. They work weekends. I’m pretty sure they work all the time.”

“Oh, right,” Quinn replied. “Yeah, if you want to. But what are we going to say?”

“Maybe we just tell him that we have some questions about some of the items in the box or something; see if he can tell us more about them.”

“What if he can’t or isn’t interested?”

“I don’t know. We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.”

“Okay. You want to call him now? I’m about to open the shop.”

“Can we?”

Quinn nodded, walked over to the desk that Abby was sitting behind, and leaned back against it. When Abby looked up the same website she’d been to before to get his number, Quinn took her hand, and Abby used her other one to dial and put the phone on speaker.

“You’ve reached the office of Your Dream Home Realty . We’re not available to take your call right now. If you need to reach a particular agent, please enter their extension at the beep. If you don’t know their extension, please wait for the menu.”

“What do we do?” Quinn asked.

“Wait?” Abby asked back.

Three names were read to them by the autoresponder machine before the name Simon Litchfield and his extension number were mentioned. Abby pressed the three numbers and the pound sign before she even thought it through. Then, the phone started to ring again.

“Simon Litchfield,” he greeted.

“Uh…” Abby looked at Quinn with wide eyes. “Hi. Is this Simon Litchfield?”

Quinn laughed silently.

“Yeah, this is Simon. Can I help you?”

“Um…”

“Simon, my name is Quinn Jordan. You came into my antique shop not all that long ago and dropped off a box of photos and books.”

“Oh, yes. Hi. What can I do for you?”

“Well, I was hoping you might be able to tell me a little more about the box and the items inside it. I’ve… got some questions about… things.” Quinn shrugged at Abby.

“I don’t really know much about it. It was in the attic of a house I’m selling, like I told you before.”

“Right. Um… Maybe you could still stop by sometime and we could ask you some questions?”

“Questions about what? It’s just some old pictures and an old romance novel, right?”

“And a book that looks handmade,” Abby added. “Like someone typed it themselves and bound it.”

“What?” Simon asked. “Is it, like, a pale blue on the outside?”

Abby’s eyes widened, and she said, “Yeah. Why?”

“Because it shouldn’t have been in there. I didn’t even realize I’d lost it. Shit,” he said. “Can I come by and pick it up? It belonged to my mothers.”

Abby swallowed at hearing him call Cheryl and Diana his mothers.

“I must have accidentally put it in there. You didn’t sell it, did you?”

“No,” Quinn said quickly. “We still have it.”

“Good. I’m showing a house in a few minutes, and then I have to go to the house where I found the box, but after that, can–”

“You’re going to the farmhouse?” Abby asked.

“Yes. And who is this? Sorry; there are two of you, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’m Abby. I’m Quinn’s girlfriend. I’m the one who called you. Quinn’s here, too. You’re on speaker.”

“Okay. Well, yes, I’m at the farmhouse later today. I’ve got someone interested in buying it. The seller is looking to offload it quickly, so I’m hoping to make that happen for them today, if I can. I can stop by after, if you’re still open.”

“Can we come to you?” Abby asked. “After the shop closes?”

“You want to come all the way out here?”

“Yes,” Quinn stated. “When will you be done showing it?”

“I don’t know. Probably around four, depending on how long the couple takes when they get there.”

“Okay. We’ll be there at four, then,” Quinn replied. “I can close early,” she added to Abby.

Abby nodded.

“Is that all right?” Abby asked Simon then.

“Sure. I appreciate you bringing it to me.”

“No problem.”

“Do you need the address?” Simon asked.

“No, I’ve got it. We’ll see you there,” Abby replied and nodded toward the picture of the house on her computer screen.

“Great. Thanks again,” he replied and disconnected the call.

Abby figured that Quinn probably didn’t hear that last part, though, because as soon as her eyes connected with the image on Abby’s screen, her shoulders dropped. Abby held on to her, knowing that Quinn was seeing something in her mind. Then, a few seconds later, Quinn was done processing the vision and came back to the present.

“What did you see?” she asked. “Deb and Harriet?”

“No, Cheryl and Diana.”

“Really?”

“I think they came back. They visited Paul again. Well, not visited, but they drove by the house, and he was there. They saw him again. Then, they drove off. They were older, and–” Quinn looked down.

“What?”

“Cheryl had something around her head, like a wrap.”

“Chemo,” Abby said quietly.

“I hope you never have to remember that part of her life.” Quinn squeezed Abby’s hand in both of her own.

“Me too,” Abby replied. “They must have wanted to see him one last time before…”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“Hello? Are you open?” a customer yelled from the front.

Quinn brought Abby’s hand to her lips, kissed it, and said, “I have to get up there.”

“I didn’t even hear the bell over the door.”

“You get used to it,” Quinn replied, kissing her hand again. “I’ll come back in a few. Feel free to write.”

“God, I owe my publisher a book.” Abby put her face in her hands.

“Hey, you’ve got this.” Quinn stood up. “On my way!” she yelled to the customer and left Abby alone in the back of the shop.

Abby could hear the conversation that was taking place at the front of the shop about a chair that the customer was interested in, but she stopped paying attention to it after a minute as she got up and walked to the names on the wall, the height chart that her son from another life had probably drawn for his family. She wished Vincent had done something to protect it from fading. She’d talk to Quinn to see if they could maybe cover it with something now to prevent further damage. Abby ran her fingertips over the spot next to Paul’s name and got a vision.

“Mama, why did you, Papa, and Uncle Jacob go to war?” Paul asked.

“Why are we talking about the war, Paul? It’s over, baby,” Harriet replied, running her hand into Paul’s hair as he lay in bed, preparing for sleep.

“Papa and Uncle Jacob didn’t come home. I miss them.”

“I know. I miss them, too. It’s all right to miss them. They loved you very much, and they’re watching over us right now.”

“They are?”

“You bet they are,” Harriet said with a smile. “We all went because we thought it was the right thing to do; to try to help people how we could. Your papa and Jacob died heroes, Paul.”

“Were you a hero too, Mama?”

“No, I–”

“Yes, she was.”

Harriet turned to see Deb standing in the open doorway to Paul’s bedroom.

“She took care of people, like your papa and Uncle Jacob. She helped them get better so that they could get home to their own families. Your mama is definitely a hero, Paul.” Deb walked over and kissed Harriet on the forehead. “And as hard as it was to be without her here, we are both very proud of her, aren’t we?”

“Yes, Mama,” Paul replied.

Harriet smiled softly up at Deb and turned back to her son.

“Well, it’s time for bed, my love. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Mama,” he said to Harriet.

“We love you so much.” Harriet leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Always.”

“I love you, too. Always.”

“Hey, where’d you go?” Quinn asked, bringing Abby out of it.

“Deb and Harriet with Paul.” Abby turned around. “Hey, I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Quinn replied. “Always.”

Abby smiled and shook her head a little in disbelief.