The Wild Card #3
“Then I shall deliver you safely to her. Now that you’re less conspicuous, we’ll take the scenic way, along the boardwalk. I promised you an enjoyable afternoon. If possible, I intend to keep it.”
“Are you always this persistent?”
“When I want something.”
The corner of his sensual mouth lifted in a lazy half-smile, revealing a sexy dimple in his right cheek.
“What about my clothes?”
He held up a brown paper package tied by a string. “Any more objections?”
Cami smiled. She wanted Gina to see her walk into the hotel dressed in high Victorian fashion and with Seth. She could have fun.
Seth offered her his arm. Cami wrapped her arm through his.
“I’ll give you an hour.”
Cami walked with Seth down Pacific Avenue, relieved that the other actors were similarly dressed in period costumes. They turned right on to Kentucky Avenue which brought them to a wide wooden footpath. The famous Atlantic City Boardwalk. Yet it wasn’t. At least not the boardwalk she knew.
Nothing looked familiar. They walked past several hotels, some under construction, their signage identifying them as The Ambassador and Chalfonte House.
Where were the larger casinos on the Boardwalk – Bally’s, the Taj Mahal and the Showboat?
She understood the streets close to the hotel were made to look Victorian as part of the reality-show set, but they were well away from there.
A flicker of apprehension twisted her stomach. Something wasn’t right.
Cami studied the planks of the walkway. “These boards look new. I’d think they would be made to look old, like everything else.”
Seth looked at her speculatively. “Why would you think everything here is old? This city is the height of fashion and innovation.”
“Let’s just say it’s not what I expected.”
“The Boardwalk is new. A hurricane a few years back destroyed the old one. The city only recently finished its rebuilding.”
Hurricane? She hadn’t heard of a hurricane destroying Atlantic City. That would have made the national news, like New Orleans. She wiped her damp palms on her dress.
Seth led Cami across the wooden footpath to walk along the ocean side of the boardwalk. She said, “You must live here. You seem to know the city well.”
“No, I have small farm near New York City. I’ve made several excursions to the Boardwalk recently. Where do you call home?”
“Iowa, a little town near Des Moines.”
“You are very far from home. Little wonder that at the hotel you looked lost.”
Cami watched the waves welling up from the deep blue ocean, lapping at the ankles of sunbathers wading in the surf.
The women and girls wore dresses, stockings and shoes, even in the water.
The men had rolled up the legs of their trousers or wore knee-length knickers and suspenders.
They couldn’t be part of any reality show.
It was too far from the hotel and the people playing in the water were not acting.
A thought hit her. What if she wasn’t in her world any more, but in theirs?
Cami stumbled and then doubled over, a whalebone from the corset jabbing her in the ribs. Seth’s grip on her arm tightened.
“Are you ill?”
“Yes. No. I’m not sure. Let me catch my breath.”
“On your left.” The voice called out close behind.
Seth’s gut clenched. He grabbed Cami and whirled her away in time to avoid being run over by a cart on wheels racing down the boardwalk at breakneck speed.
“Hey, slow down,” she yelled at their backs. “Give me your cell phone. I’m calling the police. They’re going to kill someone.”
Seth nestled her closer to him, enjoying her pliant body. He could feel her heart racing. “Do you always attract so much trouble?”
“Apparently.”
“I don’t know what you meant by cellophone, but the police are not necessary.” He tipped her chin to meet his gaze. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“Safe maybe, but what about sane?”
She clutched his arm, her expression deadly serious. “Seth, tell me about this year. Don’t ask why. I need to know.” Her voice sounded strained. Did she regret walking with him?
“There’s not much to tell, except it’s the year of the great World’s Fair in Chicago. It begins in a few days.”
“Oh God. That makes it really 1893.” She buried her face in his shoulder and trembled. “Gina won’t be waiting for me. It can’t be. I can’t be here.”
Seth held her tighter. “Yes, you can. Forget those men. No one will hurt you. You’re with me now.”
“You don’t understand. The future’s been decided. I shouldn’t be with you.”
He didn’t understand her distress, but wanted his future to include her. He ached to kiss her. But a small insistent voice at the back of his mind told him this was not the right time.
She shifted restlessly, her movements a whisper of silk against wool as she pulled away. “This has been a nice diversion, but I must get back to the hotel.”
He brought his hands to his chest and covered his heart. “Oh, Cami, you wound me greatly. I’ve only rated a ‘nice’ when my goal has been ‘spectacular’.”
She grinned, his teasing breaking the visible tension on her face. “Seth, it’s not you. You’ve been nothing but kind.”
“Is someone other than Gina waiting for you? Perhaps a husband or fiancé?”
“No. There’s no one waiting for me now.”
“Then I can’t possibly let you go without gaining a higher rating. Permit me one last chance to win your heart.”
Five
At the next street corner, Seth drew Cami into a small candy shop. “Wait here. I have a surprise.”
Where would she go? It wasn’t as if she could board a bus or train and ask to be taken to the twenty-first century.
A few moments later, Seth returned holding a small bag. “No one can resist famous Atlantic City saltwater taffy.”
He offered her a piece. Cami took one and began walking again. She’d spent way too much time with him. She was worried.
Silence, as thick as mud, oozed between them as they chewed the taffy.
Cami kept her voice even, distant. She didn’t want to become too involved with his life. “Why was that poker game so important to you?”
Seth sighed and furrowed his brows. “I wanted to do something I believed in. That game was my last chance to help my nephew, but it no longer matters. I’m done.” The wistful sound in his voice caught her off guard.
“Why doesn’t it matter? If you believe in something, you should fight for it. Don’t give up.”
“It’s too late. Tomorrow is the last day I have to get the bank loan I need to open a new school in New York, a special school to help my nephew. Although I won the card game, it wasn’t enough. It’s over.”
Cami didn’t think she’d heard him right. “Who are you?”
“Seth Nathanial Warner.”
“Warner . . . Warner, oh my God. You’re the Seth Warner. I should have put it together before now. You’ve got it all wrong. You’re the beginning of the Warners who’ve built several schools for needy children in this area, not New York.”
“Whoa, slow down. I don’t know who or what you’re talking about, but it’s not me. I only desire to open one school to help my nephew and maybe a few others.”
“I know. It’s how they all started.”
“How what started?”
Cami stopped speaking. If she revealed what he ultimately accomplished in his life, would she have a negative influence on the present? She had to take that risk. It must be the reason she was here: to inspire Seth and prevent him from quitting.
She took his arm. “Come with me. I have something I want to show you.”
Cami led Seth back across the boardwalk and down several quiet side streets. She wasn’t sure she could find it again, but knew it was near the lighthouse. They passed many summer cottages, elaborate two- and three-storey homes, displaying beautifully coiffed lawns and wide porches.
Cami continued walking, scanning each house. Halfway down Artic, she stopped. “There it is.”
“There what is?”
“Your new school.”
Seth groaned. The dilapidated, three-storey house needed fresh paint, the roof was riddled with Swiss-cheese holes and the wide, wraparound porch sagged in several places.
“No. It’s too small.” He shook his head. “It isn’t at all what I had in mind.”
Cami grabbed Seth’s hand and pointed to the house. “Yes. This is – could be yours. Imagine the possibilities. You can’t give up on your dream now. Not when you’re this close to success.”
Seth pulled her to face him. “What makes you passionate?”
Cami was surprised at his question. “My work. I love to teach, same as you.”
“No.” He tapped her heart. “In here. All you’ve spoken of is what you must do for others. What do you dream for yourself?”
Cami was taken aback. There wasn’t anything she did for fun, for herself.
“I don’t know. I don’t let myself dream . . . in there.”
“I’d like to change that.” He took her face in his hands and brought his mouth down to hers.
Their lips touched, lightly at first, then more demanding as they both tumbled into the moment, their tongues entwining.
He tasted like everything she’d always wanted; sweet and dangerous. Hot desire clawed at her.
Cami clamped down her emotions and pulled away. “I . . . can’t do this. Not now, not ever.”
“I can’t believe you don’t feel me in your heart.” His hand skimmed the front of her jacket, sending tremors through her.
Cami ran a finger along his jaw, enjoying the slight rough texture. “I believe in you and your school. If you go to the bank tomorrow, you’ll find this house is not only for sale, but will sell at a very reasonable price.”
As she drew back, he captured her hand and covered his heart. A strong, rapid beat thumped against her palm. “Come with me.”
Cami had no idea what the future held for her, but knew his future didn’t include her. “I can’t.”
The last rays of sunset had faded to a deepening blue as they stopped in front of the Harbor House.
“Seth, I’ve had a ‘spectacular’ day. You’ll never know how great it’s been.”
He stroked her cheek. “You deserve ‘spectacular’ every day.”
Cami’s mind was in turmoil, her heart in an uproar. She hadn’t realized how much she missed being kissed and touched and held in a man’s strong arms. “This isn’t my reality.”
“I can make it so. It doesn’t have to end here . . . now.”