21. Future Perfect
21
FUTURE PERFECT
We were back. Even with Ruby’s prima -in-waiting energy boosting us, I still hadn’t been sure whether it would be enough to send Seth and me to the time and place we’d been hoping for — namely, as close to when and where I’d left as possible.
With Bellamy staring at Seth in shock but otherwise not seeming to be too worried about my absence, I had to guess that I hadn’t been gone for too long, maybe only a few minutes or so.
Or maybe not even that. Crazy to think that everything I’d experienced in the past had taken barely any time at all.
“This is Seth McAllister,” I said quickly, knowing I’d need to ponder the mechanics of time travel later on, when I had more time to sit down and think. “And Seth, this is my friend Bellamy. He and I met…a long time ago.”
She blinked. Although she knew a little about my talent — namely, that it had something to do with time but wasn’t controllable, which was why I never used it — this was the first instance where she’d been confronted by the reality of what my unpredictable gift might actually mean.
“You’ve been gone a lot longer than five minutes, I think,” she replied, speculation in her eyes, even as her mouth quirked a little.
“Much longer,” I said, thinking of my weeks in 1926 and 1884…those terrifying days in Flagstaff in the late 1940s.
To my surprise, she grinned. “I like the dress.”
Right. Seth and I were both still wearing our ’40s clothing, all of which I knew was going to be way too hot for a June evening in Jerome.
“The clothes were fun,” I admitted. “But honestly, I’d kill to get into something a little more comfortable.”
“Well, let me take you home,” she said, then looked back over at Seth. “You’re probably going to want some modern duds, too, I would assume.”
His hand brushed against the wool trousers he wore. “I suppose that would be a good idea.”
“Let me see what I can rustle up,” she told him. “You’re too tall to wear either of my dad’s stuff, but I can go through this month’s donations and see if there’s anything that’ll work.”
Seth’s brows pulled together at Bellamy’s mention of her two fathers, but it seemed he decided now wasn’t the time to ask questions about their family dynamics. “I would appreciate that.”
By “donations,” she’d meant the monthly closet clean-out bags the McAllisters gathered before sending them to various charities in the Verde Valley. Although I hadn’t contributed — I’d barely been in town for a month and had left about half my clothes in Flagstaff — I knew the donation bags were probably the best option to put together some sort of wardrobe for Seth without having to go shopping.
Which I assumed we would still do at some point, but for now, it would help to get him out of those heavy 1940s clothes and into something a little more suited to the current weather in Jerome.
“Then let’s go,” I said, and Bellamy nodded.
“You’ll need to talk to the elders,” she warned me.
As Seth and I began to follow her out of the mine shaft, my foot bumped against something solid, and I bent down to see what it was.
My phone, looking a little dusty but otherwise unharmed by its fall. Thank God for phone cases.
After I picked it up, I inclined my head toward Bellamy to acknowledge her comment. I’d already guessed I wouldn’t be able to slip Seth unnoticed into my life, and that the McAllister elders would need to know something about this newcomer in their midst.
All that could wait, though. For now, it made more sense to go home and get ourselves situated, and then decide what to do next.
Well, beyond partying for the next couple of weeks to celebrate our safe arrival in a future we now could share.
“Sure,” I said easily.
Bellamy cocked an eyebrow, telling me she wasn’t sure if she bought my too-casual attitude. However, she seemed to guess that a lot of the explanations could be put aside for now, because she didn’t say anything else, instead touching her key fob so the doors to her car opened and we could climb inside. Seth’s eyes widened as he took in the way they’d obeyed her silent command, but I only gave him an encouraging smile.
“Go ahead and get in,” I said. “You take the front — you’re taller.”
He looked dubious for a moment but then seemed to realize the most important thing to do right then was to get to some sort of home base so we could begin to settle into the reality that we really had reached my present…and that meant we could begin creating a future of our own.
When he walked into the bungalow, he paused for a moment and looked around, a smile beginning to settle on his lips. “I like it better this way. I wasn’t sure what the place would look like in the future.”
“Yes, someone undid all the damage before I moved in,” I replied, then glanced up at the ceiling. The beams were now the original dark brown they’d been when the place was built in the teens, all the white paint that had been applied to those beams and the trim sometime in the 1930s or ’40s gone as if it had never been there at all. “Although I think you’ll see that the kitchen is a lot different.”
His gaze moved past the living room into that space, and he took a step forward so he could get a better look at the gleaming stainless appliances and the smooth quartz countertops.
“I think I’d need a degree in engineering to use any of those,” he remarked, and I came over and took his hand in mine, then went on my toes so I could kiss his cheek.
“Oh, it’s not as hard as it looks. But we won’t need to worry about any of that for a while, because I’m definitely taking you out to dinner tonight to celebrate being here.”
His eyes lit up. “I think I’d like to visit a twenty-first-century restaurant.” A pause, and he added, “But isn’t it sort of late for that?”
“Not at all,” I assured him. Yes, Bellamy and I had gone up to the mine shaft after we were off work, but it had only been a little past seven at that point, and even though I’d just lived through what felt like months in other times, the hour now was just inching toward seven-thirty, meaning Seth and I should have plenty of time to grab something to eat.
Time. I knew I’d never look at it the same way again. Getting lost in it for all those weeks had given me a much greater appreciation for the here and now…for all the wonderful sights and places the two of us could explore together.
Someone knocked at the door then, and I hurried over to open it. Bellamy stood outside on the porch, a large plastic trash bag hanging from one hand.
“I found lots of stuff,” she said cheerfully. “So I hope some of it fits. But at least now the two of you won’t have to wander around looking like a couple of rejects from a swing dance competition.”
“Thanks,” I replied, grinning at the description even as I took the bag of clothing from her. “Seth and I are going to get something to eat after this. Want to come along?”
She pursed her lips. “Nah, you two could probably use the time alone to get adjusted. I already talked to Tricia and told her what’s going on, and she said the elders will definitely want to talk to you but that it can wait until morning.”
“I’m supposed to be at the store — ”I began, belatedly realizing that tomorrow was Friday and I was scheduled to start at nine-thirty.
Bellamy waved a hand. “I’ll cover for you. This is way more important.”
Maybe it was. And it did feel as if Seth and I needed to take a little time for ourselves before we started acting as if everything was completely back to normal.
Even though I hoped we’d get there very soon.
Seth was able to scrounge several pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts from the donations bag that looked decent enough. However, I knew we should keep things casual rather than attempt anything resembling fine dining, so we went to Bocce in Cottonwood and had pizza and wine, and walked along Main Street afterward.
“It’s so different,” he said as he looked from side to side, his gaze analyzing the buildings on both sides of the street. “But at the same time…I recognize everything.”
“Well, they’ve worked hard to preserve as many of the historic structures as possible,” I replied. “Just like up in Jerome. So I suppose I was hoping it wouldn’t feel too strange.”
“It does, though,” he said. By that point, we’d reached the corner of Main and Pima Streets, and he paused there, watching for a moment as several self-driving cars slid past, their progress nearly silent except for the crunch of their tires against the pavement. “In a good way, though. This place feels alive and happy.”
Yes, it did. Although Cottonwood hadn’t suffered as much from the mine closures as Jerome did, the last time we’d been here it had been in the late 1940s, in an era when people were still recovering from World War 2 and the general economy of the area was just beginning to bounce back from its downward decline. Now, though —
Well, now the tourist industry kept everything humming, as well as all those local wineries.
Speaking of which….
“We should go wine tasting tomorrow,” I said, and Seth lifted an eyebrow.
“Bellamy made it sound as if we needed to talk to the elders.”
“After we do that,” I replied. “It’s not going to take all day. And Bellamy already said she’d cover for me at the store, so we’ll be free afterward.”
A nod. “It’s amazing to me that the mercantile is still going strong after all these years.”
“Oh, it is,” I assured him. “And I’ll take you to see it. But I think we’ve earned a little R&R.”
He didn’t ask what that meant, so I had to assume either the phrase was one he’d heard before or he didn’t want to inquire about it, since we had more important things to think about.
“Yes,” he said, and looped his arm with mine. “I think we have.”
Although I’d bumped into the McAllister elders individually after moving to Jerome, this was the first time I’d had to deal with them in anything resembling an official capacity. Tricia had sent me a text saying to meet at her house at ten the next morning, so that was where Seth and I showed up, full from a wonderful breakfast at the Mine Café and relaxed and ready for almost anything, thanks to the way we’d made love the night before and then once again fallen asleep in each other’s arms.
Levi, of course, and Tricia McAllister, brisk and efficient, looking like she was about to go out to brunch in her sleeveless sheath dress and careful bob, and wispy Allegra Moss, who was in her seventies, decades older than the other two, were already there, waiting in the large, airy living room of the house Tricia apparently had lived in for decades. Although I’d passed by the home plenty of times when I was lost in the past, I’d never learned who lived there back then. Not Ruby, of course, since when she was prima -in-waiting she’d lived down the street from Seth, and after she became the head of the clan, she’d occupied the big white Victorian that Angela had inherited after Ruby’s death.
Even though all three elders wore pleasant expressions, I couldn’t help being a little nervous as Seth and I sat down on the sofa, although I knew that technically, the elders didn’t have a lot of say over what I did, since I wasn’t a McAllister.
But Seth was. He might have come from a completely different era, but he was still part of the clan.
After exchanging introductions and hellos, Tricia said, “We wanted to welcome you to Jerome, Seth. I’m sure all this must be something of a shock for you, but I hope it won’t take too long for you to adjust.”
“I don’t think it will,” he said, sounding confident. We held hands, and I could feel his fingers tighten on mine ever so slightly as he added, “Devynn told me something of what I could expect.”
“That’s good,” Levi said. “I know what it’s like to begin a new life in a different place.”
More than most people, since Levi hadn’t even started out as human, but a being called into existence from nothing by the prima -in-waiting of the de la Pazes, who’d been desperate to find a consort. It turned out her soul mate was a McAllister, and Levi had come to live in Jerome, over time becoming an inseparable part of the community.
“And we’ll do what we need to in order to make sure you settle in unobtrusively,” Tricia added. “Driver’s license, Social Security card, credit history. Whatever it takes.”
Something they’d probably need to reach out to the Wilcoxes for, since I didn’t think the McAllisters had any real computer hackers among them, and I knew my cousin Jeremy was an absolute genius at that sort of thing. I supposed I should have realized Seth would need all that paperwork to start over. To be fair, though, most of the time we’d spent together in the past, we’d been focused on not getting killed and not really thinking about all the minutiae involved in getting him to be a legitimate member of modern society.
Seth’s brow had creased at Tricia’s comment regarding a Social Security card, since the institution hadn’t even existed in 1926. But he seemed to realize it would be better to put aside his questions for now, because he only nodded.
“We’re all very relieved you made it here safely,” Levi went on. “How were you able to manage that?”
The moment had come. Over dinner the night before, Seth and I had agreed that we needed to tell the truth about the amulet, just because bringing such a powerful artifact into this time and place seemed like the sort of detail that probably should be divulged to the people in charge. It didn’t seem as if the elders had thought our arrival merited the presence of Angela and Connor at this meeting, and I was okay with that. They’d meet Seth eventually, after all.
So I launched into an explanation of how we’d seen Lorenzo the Magnificent performing in 1884 Flagstaff, and how we’d realized he was using the amulet to enhance his powers.
“He wasn’t happy to surrender it,” I concluded, “but he also knew deep down that what he was doing was wrong. So he let us take it.”
“And its power was what got you back to the present day?” Allegra asked, and Seth and I exchanged a glance.
“Well, we had a couple of missteps along the way,” I replied. “And in the end, I think it was Ruby lending her power to us that helped just as much as the amulet did. A group effort, I suppose.”
All three elders looked startled at my mention of Ruby McAllister. “You met Great-Aunt Ruby?” Tricia said.
“Well, she was only twenty-one and nobody’s great-aunt at that point,” I said. “But yes, she helped us a lot.”
“May I see this amulet?” Levi asked.
I’d known one of the elders would probably make that request. Still, it felt a little strange to pull the artifact out of my purse and hand it over to him.
His eyes narrowed as he examined the various runes and sigils engraved in the bronze, the smooth, blood-red glow of the garnet embedded in it. “This is a thing of great power,” he said, and the other two elders sent him worried looks.
“You recognize it?” Tricia said.
“Not as such,” Levi responded. “But some of these runes…they are older than this world, older than time itself. Whoever created the amulet, they were tapping into a power that human minds can’t completely comprehend.”
To my surprise, he handed it back to me. Somehow, I’d gotten the notion in my head that he might try to hang onto it, or say it was something that shouldn’t be in the keeping of anyone except the elders or possibly the clan’s prima.
But it seemed that Levi believed if Seth and I had found the precious artifact in the first place, then we should be the ones to keep it.
“You should get a good safe for that thing,” he told me. “Something with a biometric lock, I think — and as many protection spells laid on it as possible.”
“I will,” I said, shoving it back into my purse. “As soon as I can.”
Maybe the wine tasting would have to wait.
The three elders had a few more questions after that, but I guessed they mostly had wanted to meet Seth and assure him he would always have a place in the community here — and let me know that they would take care of getting him settled so he would be able to integrate seamlessly into this new life.
I knew I needed to reach out to my own family as well and let them know a very important someone had become a part of my life. But since it wasn’t as though I’d been missing, and they had no reason to believe I’d been in danger, I thought I could put that contact off for just a little while longer while we handled some necessary logistics.
“We’ll need to go to Prescott,” I told Seth after we left Tricia’s house. “I don’t think there’s any place in the Verde Valley where we’d be able to get the kind of safe Levi was talking about.”
“It’s important, isn’t it?”
“Levi thinks so, and that’s all the persuasion I need,” I replied. “But I think we’ll still have time to hit a couple of wineries after we get back, even if we have to stick with the ones here in Jerome and Cottonwood rather than driving over to Page Springs.”
“I think I can live with that,” Seth said with a grin.
And that was what we did — went over the hill to Prescott and found a safe at the local big-box electronics store so we knew the amulet would be protected. Afterward, I introduced my time-traveling boyfriend to the delights of Trader Joe’s, with the two of us stocking up on so many goodies, we probably wouldn’t have to eat out for at least a couple of weeks.
Not that I planned on staying home the entire time. There was too much I wanted to share with Seth, too much I needed him to see.
Including the store. Rachel wasn’t there when Seth and I dropped by, but it seemed she’d left a present for us.
“Rachel found this,” Bellamy said as she pulled out a manila folder filled with what looked like old newspaper clippings and notes. “I told her about you and Seth, and she said something about an old mystery being finally cleared up.”
Puzzled, I opened the folder. Sure enough, there was an article from a newspaper that didn’t exist anymore, the Cottonwood Herald .
Mining Accident Claims Life of Jerome Resident, it said, and I raised an eyebrow.
“That’s how they explained it away,” Seth murmured.
Because yes, the article said that one Seth Lewis McAllister, 24, of Jerome had perished in a cave-in at an exploratory mine shaft, and was survived by his brother Charles and his parents Henry and Molly.
“I suppose they had to come up with some sort of story,” I said, then looked over at Bellamy. “Why did Rachel have this?”
“Her father gave it to her, sounds like,” Bellamy replied. “I guess he was Charles McAllister’s son?”
Of course. That was why the store had come to Rachel all those years ago — she was actually Seth’s great-niece and the oldest remaining heir.
“I’m sorry she wasn’t here,” Seth said, looking disappointed. Yes, all the McAllisters were his distant relatives in one way or another, but it had turned out that Rachel was his great-niece, and I knew he must have wanted to strengthen that connection.
“You’ll meet her soon,” I said firmly. “And so many others.”
With that promise still hanging in the air, Seth and I thanked Bellamy for the clippings and then headed down to the bungalow. As we walked, I wondered if I might be able to convince Margot, its current owner, that it needed to be returned to Seth. After all, it had been his house first, and although it seemed as though he’d abandoned the place, the truth was just a little more complicated than that.
Even if she didn’t want to give it up permanently, I had a feeling she’d allow us to rent the house for as long as we liked.
Inside, cool air filled the space, thanks to the glories of modern air conditioning. I set the folder with the newspaper clippings down on the dining room table and then looked over at Seth. We’d had some wine, just enough to make us the slightest bit tipsy, but he now seemed very thoughtful.
“We’re home, aren’t we.”
It wasn’t a question. No, it felt to me as though he needed to say those words aloud to affirm to himself that we truly had reached our destination, and now there was no longer any need for us to wander in time.
No, this was where we were supposed to be. My time-travel gift had given me plenty of grief over the years, but in the end, it had helped to bring us safely out of the past and into a world where we could begin the next phase of our lives.
I went to Seth and took his hands in mine, pulling him close so I could touch my lips to his, could let him know that yes, we had finally come to the place where we were supposed to be.
“Yes, Seth,” I said. “We’re home.”
This concludes Seth and Devynn’s story. The Witches of Mingus Mountain series will continue with Bellamy’s story in Wind Called , releasing in May 2025.