If I Could Turn Back Time by Mary Frame

Author:Mary Frame
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mary Frame

Chapter Fifteen

“I might have to steal this. It’s amazingly comfortable.” He rubs his hand on the fabric covering his shoulder, then lifts up the neckline and sniffs it.

“Are you sniffing my robe?”

We’re in the living room, reading, fire still blazing. The windows are black panels of darkness, but inside it’s all cozy and warm, like we are in our own little world. I’ve changed into my comfy lounge pants and T-shirt.

“You smell nice. You know what else,” he sniffs it again and then frowns, “you kinda smell familiar.”

We’ve moved closer together. Every time one of us gets up to grab a book or refill the wine or get some water or a snack, we end up nearly touching in the center of the sofa.

“That’s not creepy or anything.” I flush with embarrassment—and because everything about him is familiar to me, too.

“It’s not creepy.” He sniffs again. “It’s more . . . unusual.”

“Is that a better adjective?”

“What’s wrong with unusual? I’d say it’s better than creepy. I’d rather be odd than normal, actually.”

“Well, you’ve accomplished that goal.”

“I’d say we have that in common, tinfoil hat lady.”

I laugh. “You can’t steal it. It’s one of the few things that bring me joy.” Maybe I shouldn’t admit that. I duck my head, staring down at the page in front of me.

He reaches over, his hand warm as it covers mine just for a split second. “I need joy, too. I’m the one who’s dead. Besides, I wear it better.” He leans even closer, our shoulders brushing together. “Maybe I’ll disappear with it on and then request to be buried in it. Then you’ll really never get it back.”

I shake my head. “You know, you’re surprisingly flippant about your own death.”

“I think I’m in the denial stage of grief.” He pauses. “Can you grieve your own death?”

“I don’t know, is inappropriate humor one of the stages?”

He laughs, eyes alight with humor and appreciation. “Obviously.”

I grin. It’s sort of thrilling, making him laugh.

His gaze dips to my mouth and then back up so quickly, I might’ve thought I imagined it if it weren’t for the instantaneous rush of heat it pumped through me. “Besides, I’ve got these newfound time-traveling abilities because I’m supposed to live forever.” He taps on the page with his pointer finger. “It’s a total trip that they changed history. Isn’t there a thing about that? Like it’s bad? Butterfly effect and whatnot? Like even changing one minor thing can cause a total space-time continuum disaster?”

“In movies maybe. But this isn’t Back to the Future.”

“Except that’s literally the best eighties movie.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Uh, yeah it is.”

“Labyrinth is the best eighties movie.”

He considers this. “Not a terrible choice. Okay, fine. Maybe time is more like the multiverse.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, like in the Marvel comics. There are multiple realities, multiple branches of time with different existences. There’s another Amelia out there somewhere with three kids and a husband living in Iowa.”

“Iowa? Really?”

“That’s the part that throws you off? So, you could be married with kids in another reality?”

“Not likely.

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