Chapter 27
San Francisco, California
The sounds of the gambling hall next door woke me up early the next morning. Sam had already left our bed, which wasn’t unusual for him. He often got up earlier than me to start the fire and put the pot of coffee on to boil.
Mama spoke as if I would have a long and happy life in San Francisco and wouldn’t even entertain the idea that I might not survive past today.
She asked me to write a journal that I would one day leave to the San Francisco Historical Society so she could know all about my life here.
It felt like a tangible link to my family, almost like writing letters to relatives back East. Only, I wouldn’t receive replies.
I let the tears trail down my cheeks, hoping I wouldn’t wake Hazel or Johnnie, who were asleep on the floor.
The pain of losing my other family was gut-wrenching, as I knew it would be, but a ribbon of hope wound through the grief.
I had known I was leaving, so it wasn’t as devastating as it might have been if I hadn’t been given the choice, though it still hurt.
It would take a long time for the edge of pain to wear away, and I needed to give myself the grace to mourn.
I’m not sure how long I cried. But as the sun started to brighten the room, I suddenly realized that I couldn’t hear Sam getting the coffee ready.
Concern tightened my chest, and I got out of bed to look for him.
He wasn’t in the kitchen.
Johnnie’s slate was on the table, and there was a message in Sam’s handwriting.
Happy birthday, my love. Meet me at the hotel when you wake up.
I quickly dressed, and when Paddy entered the kitchen as he usually did, I told him where I was going and left the note for Father to see. They would make sure the children were cared for while I was gone.
The sun was now up, and San Francisco was bustling with activity. My heart continued to pound as I walked down Montgomery Street and turned on to Clay to climb the impossibly steep hill. I hadn’t breathed a word to Sam about seeing Bess, and he didn’t know that I was going to stay in 1849.
There was so much I wanted to tell him.
I just wished I wasn’t so worried about the fire and The Annals of San Francisco. There was still going to be a fire. The other books I’d read hadn’t changed.
I wasn’t sure why Bess had asked me to trust her, but I had risked everything to stay here.
Portsmouth Square was not as busy as it would be later in the day, though there were a few people doing business as I crested the hill and had my first look at the new San Francisco Hotel.
The gold had allowed Sam to build it in record time with the help of several laborers, and it was bigger and better than before.
I stood for a moment, marveling at how much they had accomplished in three weeks. The wooden building was three stories tall with a covered front porch, real glass windows, and a sign that proudly declared the San Francisco Hotel hanging above the porch roof.
Nervous excitement filled my stomach as I crossed the square and opened the front door.
The inside was just as beautiful as the outside.
A large front dining room had wooden floors, plaster walls, and tables and chairs that Sam had commissioned from the furniture maker.
To the left was a staircase that led up to the second floor, and at the back of the dining room was a door that probably led into the kitchen.
It opened, and Sam entered the room, a sad smile on his face when he saw me. In his hand was a tiny orange kitten with white feet. “Happy birthday.”
I laughed and rushed across the room to enter his embrace.
“Do you like it?” he asked as I wrapped my arms around him.
“The hotel or the kitten?”
“Both.”
“I love it. Hazel will be so happy.”
“I wanted the hotel finished before—so you could see it—”
I looked up at him, my heart in my throat. “I’m not leaving, Sam.”
He pulled back. “What?”
“I’m staying here, with you.” I suddenly felt a little bashful. “If you’ll let me.”
“Ally!” He set the kitten on the floor and then lifted me off my feet in the most exuberant embrace I’d ever been given.
I laughed, breathless, my arms around his neck to hold on.
“If I’ll let you?” He grinned, his brown eyes sparkling. But then he became serious as his emotions shifted, and he set me on my feet. “I love you, Ally Kendal, with every beat of my heart. I’ve never wanted anything more than you.”
“I love you, too.” Tears filled my eyes at the look of affection and tenderness in his dear face.
And then he kissed me, and it was unlike any of the other kisses we’d shared. Nothing held us back, not time, people, expectations, or fear. It was just Sam and me.
“I don’t even want to think about the future,” he said breathlessly as he laid his forehead against mine.
“Then let’s not.”
“What about tomorrow?”
I pulled away from him, needing a little space to tell him about Bess. I wasn’t sure how he would respond. “I saw Bess. She is staying in a hotel in Los Angeles in 1929.”
He frowned. “You share the same paths?”
“It’s not that uncommon for time-crossers to find each other. But not all time-crossers do, so I couldn’t be sure that she was also in 1929.”
He let out a deep breath and said, “Was she surprised to see you?”
“Yes. But she knew about my other path because she recognized me from the movies. If I wasn’t an actress there, I don’t think she would have realized I was also a time-crosser.”
Sam nodded, but he was also pensive. His feelings toward Bess had to be complicated. “How did you find her?”
“She was the one who had The Annals of San Francisco. I looked in the index like you suggested and found her address.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before now?”
The kitten started to meow, so I lifted her off the floor and cradled her in my arms. “She asked me not to tell you until I had made my final decision.”
“You technically haven’t made it. You could go back tonight if you wanted, and stay awake past midnight on your birthday there tomorrow.”
“I don’t want to go back. I have made my final decision.”
“Even if it means we’ll both die?”
“Bess said we’re supposed to trust her.”
“Did she say we wouldn’t die?”
“No, but she said I needed to make the decision I would have made if I didn’t have foreknowledge. And the choice I make is you.”
Sam walked toward the window, his shoulders tight as he shook his head. “I’ve been hurt so many times by Bess’s time-crossing. Why should I trust her now?”
“She never meant to hurt you. Not once.” The kitten was soft, and she nuzzled up next to my chest, purring as I pet her.
“But she did hurt me. More than anyone else.” He turned back to me. “Why would this time be any different?”
“I’m not sure what else to do. I don’t know how to stop this, and even if I tried, I might lose this path, too.
” I joined him near the window and took his hand in mine.
“Sometimes, all we can do is take a step of faith, Sam. Even if things don’t look promising, I trust that God has a purpose for everything we go through.
We’ve done all we can think of to stop this, but we can’t manipulate it anymore.
I will fight with everything inside of me to withstand whatever we might face, and I will pray that God protects us.
” I stepped closer. “But, if He chooses not to, then I have to believe He has a greater plan than mine.”
He touched my cheek. “That sounds like the theme of my life.”
“It’s the theme of all our lives. We do what we can with the understanding we have, and then we choose to trust God with the rest. It’s not always easy, or without pain and suffering, but He has been faithful and will continue to be so.”
“If all the hardships I endured brought me to you”—he lifted my hand to his heart—“then how can I not trust God with the rest? What greater things does He have in store for us?”
I smiled as tears filled my eyes. If Father’s school hadn’t failed in Concord, I would have never come to California.
And if Papa’s studio wasn’t failing in Hollywood, I would have never asked Sam to take me to the Yuba River, where I fell in love with him.
I couldn’t deny that God had brought beauty from ashes.
“But that doesn’t mean I’ll ignore the threat,” Sam said, running his finger over the kitten’s back. “I’ll be on guard tomorrow, both day and night. I won’t lie down and allow history to unfold without fighting it.”
“I won’t either.” I laid my cheek against his chest as his arm came around me. “I’m worried about tomorrow, but all I can really think about right now is tonight.”
A slow smile tilted his lips as longing filled his eyes.
“I need to stay awake past midnight to ensure I don’t go back to 1929.”
“Are you asking me to help you stay awake, Mrs. Kendal?”
I nodded as warmth filled my cheeks.
His thumb caressed my arm, sending gooseflesh over my body. “I like that idea,” he said.
“I thought you might.”
I loved planning a future with Sam, even if I wasn’t certain how long that future would last.
“For now,” I said, “I think we’d better introduce this kitten to her new owner. Where did you find it?”
“A ship came into the bay yesterday, and I heard there was a litter of kittens.” He shrugged it off as if it was no concern, but I knew what it would mean to Hazel.
We left Portsmouth Square and returned to Sydney Town just as the door to Bess’s Place was opened by Paddy for business. Instead of going in the front, we went around the back to the kitchen.
I offered the kitten to Sam, since it was his gift to Hazel, but he shook his head. “You give it to her.”
“No.” I laid the kitten in his hands. “You are the one who made her dreams come true.” I smiled. “You seem to be in the habit of doing that, Mr. Kendal.”
He kissed my cheek. “I think it’s the other way around, Mrs. Kendal.”