Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
Jenna landed with a thud and as the fog receded she realized she was back home in San Francisco.
She hoped she was in the right time. Everything look right, but she wasn’t sure.
The last thing she remembered before the fog swept her away was seeing Cormac watching her with a pained expression on his face.
Everything had happened so quickly. Jenna could hardly believe it.
She’d had one more day. One more day. Why did Edna send her back early?
She hadn’t been able to say goodbye to Cormac.
Would he know that she hadn’t wanted to leave him?
Realization struck Jenna like a ton of bricks.
She hadn’t wanted to leave him. She would have stayed and made a life there with him and Ashley and the MacKenzies.
And instead, here she was back in San Francisco.
She’d screwed up the only good thing in her life.
Could it be fixed? Only Edna could help her and there was no guarantee she’d ever show up again.
“Are you okay, miss?” an elderly woman stood staring at Jenna.
“Yes. I’ll be fine.”
“Did you fall? I was walking and I didn’t see you and then all of a sudden there you were. My eyes aren’t what they used to be,” the woman said.
“Yes. I guess I did fall. Thanks for your concern. I’ll be okay now.”
The woman walked away, leaving Jenna alone. Tears fell from Jenna’s eyes as she started her walk back to the home she shared with her cousin and Chester.
“Dylan,” she cried as she walked through the front door. “Dylan, I’m home.” Silence greeted her. Where could he be? She really needed him right now. The last thing she wanted was to be reminded of just how alone she was without Cormac.
She wandered into the kitchen and saw a sink full of dirty dishes.
“At least I know he’s in the city,” she said to herself.
She went into her bedroom and sadly sank onto the bed.
“I can’t do this without you, Cormac,” she cried.
She picked up her cell phone, which was on the end table next to the bed and pulled up the photo she’d taken of the two of them together.
Staring at it, she saw two very happy faces looking back at her.
Next she watched the short video she had of Cormac.
I can’t believe this. I’m such an idiot.
“Edna, if you can hear me. I want to go back. Please let me go back.” Nothing.
This was it. This was her life. She’d have to figure it out.
If no one was going to help her, she’d have to do it on her own.
She’d find a way to get back to him. She had to.
Jenna heard the front door open and she ran out to find Dylan and Chester both staring at her in disbelief.
She ran straight into Dylan’s arms and her cousin held her and let her cry until she had no tears left.
Chester was leaning into her legs, trying to get as close to her as possible. He always hated to see her cry.
“Jenna, tell me what happened. Why are you back?” Dylan wondered.
“I don’t really know why I’m back. I mean, I guess I know, but it wasn’t what I wanted. It’s just what happened.”
“Tell me all about it,” Dylan guided her to the living room where she sat next to him on the sofa. “Are you okay? Can you talk about it?”
“Yes. It’s all so unbelievable. I thought you were pulling a prank on me, but you weren’t.”
“I told you I wasn’t,” Dylan said.
“I know. I know. You have to admit thought, time travel seems like something that only exists in fictional stories and in the minds of scifi geeks. But now I know it’s true. I experienced time travel.”
“I’m jealous. I wish I could have been with you.”
“I saw Ashley, Dylan. She’s there. She’s married and she’s having a baby! Can you believe it?”
“Cormac told me she was there, but I didn’t know she was pregnant.”
“She is and she’s so happy. I’ve never seen her so happy.”
“What about you? Were you happy there?”
“Yes. I was, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I just wanted to come home, but now that I’m here I realize this isn’t my home anymore. My home is with Cormac. What am I going to do, Dylan? I don’t want to live my life without him.”
“Jenna, I don’t know how to fix it for you,” Dylan sadly replied. “Maybe we can try to find Edna. She’s a real person, isn’t she?”
Jenna sat up straighter and a hopeful look spread across her face. “She is a real person. And she’s a twenty first century person. She lives in Scotland.” She jumped up from the sofa. We have to find her, Dylan. You will help me, won’t you?”
“You know I will, Jenna. I want you to be happy. For now though, I think you need to rest and then you can tell me everything that happened. I want to know every last detail. Okay?”
“Okay. I am kind of tired. I didn’t sleep very well last night and this has all been so draining.”
“You go lie down and I’ll try to remember if Cormac ever told me anything that might help us find Edna.”
Jenna pulled her cousin into a hug. “I love you, Dylan. I want you and Chester to come with me.”
“I think we’d like that very much, but for now you go rest and then we’ll try to find Edna.”
“Edna! Edna, where are you?” Cormac called.
He had been in his room trying to contact Edna ever since they had returned without Jenna.
She wasn’t answering him and he wasn’t sure if yelling her name into the emptiness of his chambers was going to work.
Edna was in another century, so he couldn’t go riding off to find her.
Mayhap Lady Lena could help. They arrived back at Breaghacraig to find that she and Ewan had returned home.
Cormac would leave as soon as possible to speak with her.
He had to get Jenna back, or at the very least find out why she left him.
Why she believed the worst of him. He had been angry with Sophia, but she explained that Jonathan had forced her to trick Jenna into leaving with them.
Jonathan planned to kill Jenna back in San Francisco to collect some money that would be coming to him.
Sophia explained that she led Jenna to believe that Cormac and Cailin were going to hold her at Breaghacraig against her will.
He wondered how Jenna could believe that of him, but he knew that she usually reacted first and thought later.
She’d done it many times with him. It had never bothered him before, but she had to know he loved her and would never do anything to harm her, even if it meant he would have to give her up.
With his mind made up, Cormac went to the stables and saddled up Saidear. He was determined to find Edna and at least be able to see Jenna one more time.
“Shall I come with ye, brother,” Cailin appeared in the doorway of the stable.
“Nay, Cailin. I’d not be verra good company. I’m going to see Lena. I hope she can help me to reach her mother. I must speak with Jenna. I must let her know we were not planning to hold her here against her will.”
“Cormac, I’m sure she knows that now.”
“She may, but I must try to find her,” Cormac was behaving irrationally, which was most unusual for him. He was usually very calm and reasonable. His love for Jenna was driving him mad. He hadn’t slept or eaten since they’d returned.
“Cormac, please allow me to go with ye. I’d verra much enjoy seeing Lena and Ewan. I dinna care if ye speak to me even once on the journey.” Cailin went to retrieve Cadeyrn. “I don’t know why I’m asking you. I dinnat need yer permission, if I wish to pay a visit to Lena and Ewan, I shall.”
Cormac relaxed a bit and laughed at his brother’s plan to join him. “Fine. Ye may ride with me, but I’ve already told ye I’m not verra good company.”
“I’ll be ready in no time at all,” Cailin said.
“Do ye nae need to tell yer wife where yer going?” Cormac asked.
“No. She already knows. She doesnae wish to see you travelling alone.”
Cormac realized he was a lucky man. He had a wonderful family.
They were always there for him. He could count on it.
Now, he just needed to get Jenna back. Once outside the stables, Cormac and Cailin mounted their horses to begin their trek.
They were met by Ashley and Irene who came bearing food, which they packed in the saddlebags.
“Cormac, good luck,” Ashley said.
“Bring her back with ye,” Irene added.
“That is my plan, sister. I’ll see ye soon.” Cormac spurred Saidear forward and Cailin followed, catching up with him just outside the gates.
***
“Dylan, we’ve got to be able to find something to lead us to Edna.” Jenna had been exhaustively searching the internet looking for Edna.
“She’s not the only Edna in Scotland, Jenna. It’s not that easy. We need a little more to go on. A last name … anything.”
Jenna sifted through the cobwebs in her brain.
There had to be something she was missing.
She had a nagging feeling that the key to finding Edna was right under her nose.
What could it be? And then it came to her, “Ashley … Ashley met Edna in Scotland. I remember, she told me if I needed to contact her that I should look Edna up. She gave me the name of the inn Edna owns. What did I do with it?” Jenna began frantically searching the kitchen, rifling through drawers and cabinets.
“It’s times like this that I wish I wasn’t such a neat freak.
I probably threw it away in one of my cleaning frenzies,” she lamented.
“Maybe not. We’ll just have to look in every room. Do you remember where you were when you talked to Ashley?”
“No. I should be able to remember. She called me and said she had been staying at this little inn. What was the name of it? Urgh … I can’t remember.”
“Just relax. It’ll come to you. You’re trying too hard. Let’s go get something to eat and relax a bit. Maybe if you put it out of your mind for a while …”