“And you know, I have my inheritance in a trust, it’s complicated, he... you know, it’s probably better to wait, anyway.”
She said, “Yeah, but he should also say screw it, beg you to marry him, do it, and not worry about anything else. That would be romantic.”
“Yeah, but... I just wonder if we’re done.”
“Aw, honey, that’s not good.”
I shrugged.
She said, “You just saying that to keep me from lecturing you about being out on the porch at all hours with a boy?
“You’re not my mom.” Then I said, “I really miss my mom.”
She came closer and hugged me. “This is a lot you’re dealing with.” She checked my face, to make sure I was cool. “Want to go sit in the kitchen?”
“Yeah.” I pulled away from the hug and we walked into the kitchen and I pulled the milk from the fridge, saying, “But back to the matter at hand, you could have come out there, joined the conversation. It wasn’t private, it was just small talk with Torin on the porch, no big deal.” I said, “Wait, areyoujealous? Is it because you think he’s hot?”
She sat in the chair. “Well, I did call dibs, and you know it, that’s an ironclad rule, but that’s not it. You’re in arelationship. I’m just looking out for you.”
I poured milk in a glass. “Want one?”
“No thanks.”
I sat down at the table. “I’m just comfortable talking to him, he’s nice.”
Jen said, “There’s something else going on there, you’reverycomfortable with him even though you know literallynothingabout him. I’m just looking out for you, he’s encroaching, and I’m watching you fall for him, he’s hot and so gallant, is that the right word?”
I said, “Yeah, that’s the right word, but I’m not falling for him. I can’t explain it, he feels familiar. Like I know him. I told you about my dream, right?”
“Who knows? I generally tune people out when they talk about dreams — remind me, but give me the short version.”
I sipped from the glass of milk. “I have a recurring dream, it started a few years ago, I’m a little girl and…”
I thought about the dream and how the big man had put something in my hands, something that seemed…familiar.What was it?I couldn’t look down and see, I couldn’t remember his face, just his voice, just the darkness and the sounds of the owls, twit-twooooo, twit-twooo. How it all smelled and looked and even how it felt, familiar, but also, I had never ever been there before.
I shook my head and finished, “The voices in my dream have an accent like Torin.”
“That provesnothing,honey, just that you’re a loon looking for answers in dreams. I know the answer without interpreting your dreams — Torin is sexy and he’s showering you with attention. You’re flirting with him.”
I scowled. “I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m just telling you one of the reasons why I’m familiar with him, it’s because of this dream. I’ve never gone to Scotland, never known anyone from Scotland, but somehow there’s this dream and…”
She counted on her fingers. “You’ve watched Braveheart, you’ve celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day?—”
“Different place, dummy.”
“...and you have an overactive imagination. He’s likely watched Braveheart too, this is how he’s wooing the ladies.”
I scoffed. “Wooing the ladies! I amnotbeing wooed. I’m not flirting with Torin, I’m not begging for attention, I’m with Cooper, fully, this is just a rough patch. We’ll get through it. Cooper is overreacting to Torin, that’s all.”
“Cooperisoverreacting, totally.” She exhaled.
I said, “I can’t believe Cooper asked him all those questions and still didn’t believe his answers.”
“Yeah, Cooper was being very hardheaded, but you can’t be soft-hearted in reaction, you know? Don’t forget, Torin’s a total stranger. Doesn’t even have an ID.”
I chugged half the glass and wiped my mouth with a cloth napkin. “Because he’s a time traveler, right? That’s the only explanation. Did you change your mind?”
“Nah. Itisthe only explanation. I can’t think of anything else. I mean, I don’t really believe in time travel, but he is clearly a time traveler. That was not just a ‘cool story’, that was true as hell. I have no doubt.”
