If this is purgatory…Then there was a chance. She could make things right. She could set everyone free. Including herself.
Thelma delicately pulled back the paper wrapping on the bouquet she left in Bill’s grave. She extracted one small peony and sniffed it before turning toward Mary’s final resting place.
She said nothing to the woman as she placed the peony on the marker. Then, “Thank you. For being there for Bill. He always deserved someone better than me.”
Thelma accepted her fate. She accepted Bill moving on and loving another woman. Knowing that he had this woman named Mary, someone he loved enough to have buried next to him, meant thatThelma was free.
She stood, brushing debris from her knees as she openly thought of Sandy, who would have laughed to know all of this had happened to her dear Thelma.
“You got yourself into trouble again!”she imagined someone behind her saying.“If I wrote a story about this, nobody would believe it. Yet leave it to Thelma Erickson to find a time-traveling fog and decide to cheat her way into a better life! Welcome to the future, honey!”
Thelma laughed into the back of her hand. If this were purgatory, then it wasn’t so bad.
“What the…”
“Uh…”
Thelma gasped, finger pointing to the windshield.
There it was. The Impala.
It wasn’t any worse for wear than the night she drove it into the future. Besides the ancient license plate and a couple of new dents from where the FBI researchers banged it up a bit, the Chevy Impala would soon be the biggest hit on the block, whichhappened to boast quite a few residents who were vintage car aficionados.
Agent Wilcox stood on the sidewalk near the Impala. Not too far away, a black FBI SUV was parked with Agent Thornwood behind the wheel. He was the first to greet the Van der Graafs as they got out of Robbie’s car and took in the scene before their house.
“We’re done with it,” Agent Wilcox said after nodding to the family and shaking Robbie’s hand. “Put our prints all over it. Had our nerds sniff through every corner, looking for any evidence of time travel for us to research. Eh, nothing. S’how it always goes.” He cleared his throat before handing Thelma her keys. “It’s yours. Just make sure you get your license updated before driving it. Oh, and!” He stopped himself on his way to the SUV, where Agent Thornwood waited. “Get some seatbelts in that thing! It ain’t legal as-is!”
Megan let out a low whistle before running up to inspect the Impala. She cupped her hands around her eyes to get a better look inside the window. Thelma jangled the keys in her hand. They felt exactly the same as the night she collected them for a drive to the market.
“Good God,” Robbie said next to her.
Thelma closed her hands over the keys. “What?”
He continued to stare in disbelief at the Impala. “Jesus, it’s true, isn’t it?” He turned his head toward her. “It really happened like they said. You just drove into the fucking future like you were on a milk run.”
Thelma kept her thoughts to herself as she placed the keys in her purse and sighed.Now you’re getting it?She knew her son was reluctant to accept reality, but…
God, he was such a man! Couldn’t simply believe what he was being told! Had to seek outhisown evidence and wait until…
Thelma started laughing.
“What?” Robbie barked at her.
There was no use halting her mirth just to answer him. He could figure it out on his own, couldn’t he?
He’s just like his father.
Thelma headed inside, still laughing. She’d inspect her caraftershe put down her things and took a little time for herself. It had been a long day, after all.
Chapter eight
Group
Therapy as a concept was still something Thelma had to get used to, after a life of associating therapists and psychologists with “crazies” and the severely mentally infirmed.It just wasn’t done.That was something she had to get through Megan’s skull every time her granddaughter wondered why Thelma put up a fuss about therapy… let alonegrouptherapy.
The government made it clear that these sessions were mandatory. Had Thelma had a job, she would have been excused to go to the biweekly gatherings held in the FBI annex building, the same location as her history classes. For convenience, these often stacked on the same day, giving Thelma an excuse to get out of the house without any of her family breathing down her neck.
The classes were insightful, if not overwhelming. Thelma was aghast at everything related to Vietnam and now spent her weeks learning about the “Summer of Love,” The Beatles, and the first moon landing. She was granted a front row seat when the instructor played the recording for the class and went overthe impact it had on American culture.Everyone knew where they were when they watched it.Just like everyone knew where they were when JFK was shot.
