Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
I feel both happy and sad as I drive back up the highway. I know I’m only a minor character in the scenario, but Nia inadvertently destroyed part of my life too. If Jarvis hadn’t been living under the weight of that guilt, we almost certainly would have had a happier marriage.
My heart skips a beat as I think about him now and the last time I saw his face, totally crushed as he finally admitted what had been holding him back all this time.
And then I remember our time together in Scotland, and how I caught glimpses of his vulnerability and the feelings he still had for me.
I take the turn-off at Coolum and head for his house.
I can barely breathe as I knock on his door. Everything has changed.
At least, in my world, it has.
After a moment, he opens it.
“Hey,” I say softly.
“Hey.” He looks mildly surprised to see me. “What are you doing here?”
“Can I come in? I have some important information to share with you.”
He raises an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”
“I promise it’s positive news. But a bit to get your head around.”
He steps to the side to let me in, and I walk down the hall.
I haven’t been inside this house for a long time, but it weirdly feels like home.
I hadn’t expected that. Maybe it’s because Jarvis left up all the artwork and furnishings we purchased together after we got married.
I took a bit of it myself, but my apartment in Shell Beach is quite small, and I didn’t have much space to put stuff.
And the energy here is strangely comforting. I thought it would feel empty or hostile, but I kind of want to just curl up in the corner of the couch and switch on the TV like I used to when I lived here.
Jarvis follows me and ushers me to the couch. “Do you want a drink?”
“Uh, just water for now.”
“Okay.” He retrieves a glass before joining me but maintains a polite distance. “What’s this earth-shattering news you had to make a special trip for?”
I inhale deeply. “I just got back from talking to Nia.”
His eyes widen. “What?”
“I recently obtained some information that made me question whether you really were responsible for her ending up in that car accident, and it turns out she already knew Radford before you got her the audition.”
He frowns. “What are you talking about?”
“They were secretly dating. I’m not sure if Radford really was sketchy, but either way, it was her decision to be with him—months before you spoke to her. Apparently Nia didn’t want to look like she’d slept her way into an audition, so she pretended she didn’t know him when you introduced them.”
Jarvis looks like he’s having a hard time processing this information. “Seriously?”
“And not only that—she was the one driving his car when they had the accident. They were both drunk and on drugs, and when they crashed, she pulled him from the passenger side, but a truck did a hit and run on her, causing the paraplegia. She already had a prior record, and she didn’t want to lose her licence, so it seems she never mentioned the truck in case they found the driver and he told the truth.
“Oh my God.”
“It looks like Cameron didn’t know what really happened either, so he blamed you.”
Jarvis narrows his eyes at me. “Nia just voluntarily told you all this when you confronted her?”
“Uh, sort of.”
“Why would she tell a complete stranger all this?”
I bite my bottom lip. “I may have found some proof before I went to see her.”
“What kind of proof?”
I figure I’ve come this far. I might as well tell him everything.
“You know how when we were on the flight to Scotland and you drank that stuff that made you have a weird dream?”
Now he looks wary. “Yes?”
“It was actually a time-travelling compound that puts you back in your younger body. I was there too, and it was me you were talking to at the community centre.”
He presses his hands to his face. “What the hell are you saying right now?”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, and I meant to tell you earlier, but I was the girl who worked at the T-shirt shop on Main Street.”
He drops his hands and studies me intently. “That can’t be true. I thought it was just a dream, and my subconscious made it look like it was your face. Otherwise I would have recognised you when I first met you for real.”
“Well, apparently you didn’t. Admittedly, I had different hair, and my features changed a bit as I got older. And you did say you only ever saw me from a distance. Maybe it did vaguely occur to you I looked like that girl when we met, but you didn’t think it would really be me.”
“This is insane. I can’t actually believe I time travelled. If you’re telling the truth, what else happened there?”
“I helped you prepare breakfast at the community centre for the homeless. And there was an elderly lady called Dorothy… and she interrupted us… kissing.”
Jarvis’s face reddens. “So that was… that was actually you?”
I nod, feeling my own face heat up.
“Why didn’t you tell me what was really happening?”
“Because I didn’t want to make things weirder than they already were. And I didn’t know which version of you I was talking to.”
“You didn’t push me away.”
“No,” I say softly. “And when we got to Scotland, I read an email you sent to Florence about how you wanted to reach out and tell me…” I can’t bring myself to finish the sentence, because I don’t want to make any assumptions.
I worry this might all be too much for Jarvis to take in, but he seems to be surprisingly accepting.
“Okay, let me just recap. That was really us back in 1999. Also, you knew I’d been thinking of contacting you in the present. And then you obtained some sort of proof about the car accident with which to confront Nia today.”
“Yes. I actually went back to 1999 again yesterday and witnessed the accident firsthand. Nia wasn’t paralysed in that version because I got to the scene before the truck.
He shakes his head. “This is crazy.”
“Anyway, the point of my whole visit is to tell you that you don’t have to pay for Nia’s medical costs anymore. You’re free. Both financially and emotionally.”
He only seems to realise this fact as I say it, and he breathes out a puff of air. “You’re right. Everything I thought about the situation was wrong.”
“I told Nia to make Cameron pay back any cash he might have kept. And I think you should consider pressing charges against him.”
“Right now, I don’t want to think about any of that. Just knowing it’s over is enough.”
“You may feel differently later, but I’m glad I could help.”
He grabs my hand. “Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
My mouth goes dry as our eyes connect. I can’t help but remember the kiss we’d just been talking about.
Jarvis reaches out with his other hand and strokes my cheek. “God, you’re beautiful. I’m so sorry I put you through all that hell. And for no reason.”
“I wish I’d known sooner,” I say softly.
He looks at my lips, and my heart pounds in anticipation.
I close my eyes, feeling him move closer and closer.
And then his mouth is on mine.