Max by Izzy James

Author:Izzy James [James, Izzy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780985229177
Publisher: Bent Knee Press
Published: 2019-12-05T16:00:00+00:00

6

Grams stared into the fire in her voluminous plaid flannel night gown.

“How was the party?” Olivia asked.

“Not much of one. Sheppard was the only one who showed up besides me.”

Olivia removed her coat and slumped into the opposite chair.

“Did you have a nice time?”

“Nah. Sheppard and I were never really close. She made her excuses and I made mine and I came home.”

“I’m sorry, Grams.”

Grams glanced up from the fire. “It’s okay. Attendance has been dwindling for the past year. I think we were all worried about retirement, what we would do, would we have any friends.”

“Retirement is claiming them?”

Grams eyes slipped back to the fire. “Yep. They’ve found their way.”

“You’ll be sorry to see it end.”

“Yes, I will, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t.”

“Did you eat?”

“I did. There’s some cheesecake in the kitchen if you’d like a piece.”

“That is something I’d miss.”

“Why would you have to miss it?”

Olivia turned her back to the all-seeing eyes of her grandmother and made for the closet.

“On the way home I was thinking about Max and how different things are for him here. And that led to thinking about how different it would be for me if I went to his time.”

“Be careful.” Grams made her way to the kitchen. Olivia went the other way around.

“What?” A silly giggle bubbled out in spite of her attempts at control.

Grams swung around quickly to face her. “He is cursed.”

Olivia felt the smile drop from her face. “I know that. I think it’s only natural to think about it. I mean who gets to meet someone who’s travelled through time? Nobody. That’s who.”

“Except us.”

“Yes.”

“And that means we have a responsibility to help him break the curse and get back to his own time.”

“What if God allows him to stay here?”

“What if He doesn’t.” Grams wasn’t asking a question. She pronounced a judgement. Olivia had seen this decided opinion behavior before. She was done thinking about it, she’d decided the way it was going to be, and she was usually right.

“Okay, okay. It’s still not wrong for me to imagine and think about things.”

“Imagining and asking him about his time is one thing. Imagining yourself in his time—with him—is an entirely different thing and you know it.” She pointed her finger. “It’s dreaming. And dreaming about things you can’t have is dangerous.”

Only if it can’t come true.

Grams placed a couple of Christmas-decorated paper plates on the counter. Olivia cut the cheesecake. Grams ran a k-cup of tea through the machine.

They went back to the fire. Grams was right, of course. It was dangerous to think of going back there with him. Riding in an open carriage under the stars on a cool fall night. Dancing with him in a crimson dress.

What would he think of the two new outfits she’d commissioned? An authentic mantua in indigo with a pale apple-green petticoat. Created by Ingram’s, it cost a pretty penny, but she wanted to look the part for the Christmas Open-Town. The deep chocolate-brown riding habit was pure indulgence.

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