Perhaps Another Time by Maggie Maloney

Author:Maggie Maloney [Maloney, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: eXcessica Publishing

Thirteen

Amanda spent a good part of Tuesday morning alone in the sunroom, leafing through every magazine and catalog that was heaped atop the glass and chrome end table beside the sofa. Bored, she stepped outside and roamed the patio, then the yard, where the delightfully warm spring air and budding crocuses made a mockery of her depression. She went back inside, sat in the living room, went to the bathroom, changed the dressing on her wound, tidied up in the kitchen. She glanced at the time on the microwave display: 10:40.

10:40? That was all? Why, the days at LaChance moved by more quickly. At this pace, how was she ever to get through the next three without a single thing to do? It was her own fault; she could very well have returned to 1879 by now, but hadn’t exactly put up a fight last night when Jesse insisted she keep her appointment on Friday. She knew that going along with him would only prolong her misery, but somehow envisioned that as easier to bear than leaving him would be.

The faint sounds of Jesse moving about rose from the basement. On Sunday, he’d told her he planned to take some time off from work while she was here. But last night, when they were both good and depressed, he ‘suddenly realized’ that he was behind on a project for a jewelry store at the mall, and ‘really ought to do some catch-up work this week.’ She didn’t object. It would be easier for both of them if they saw less of each other.

But now she couldn’t amuse herself for even one morning. Idleness must certainly be one of those things that improves with practice, she surmised. On impulse she quietly descended the basement steps and went into the studio.

She spotted him behind the large rectangular window at the far end of the studio. A thick, heavy door was partly open. She opened it wider, stepped inside, and saw him seated at a large, shiny white table. It was strewn with devices and apparatus straight out of a Jules Verne story; more tiny amber lights than stars in the sky, some flashing rhythmically; fathoms of black, tangled wires; buttons, switches, and knobs of every description. He was wearing a pair of rather comical earmuffs with a curly black wire attached to them, busily turning some of the knobs with his left hand while playing short passages on a silent keyboard with his right. He didn’t seem to have heard her come downstairs, nor did he seem aware that she stood right behind him now.

Amanda waited, cleared her throat needlessly, and waited some more. She moved beside him and stood there with her hands clasped before her. Finally, he turned, saw her, and flashed an alluring smile.

“Hi, Mandy,” he greeted her in a voice that was much louder than necessary.

“Hi, Jesse.”

He reached up and took the earmuffs from his ears, leaving them dangling around his neck. He leaned over and pushed a button.

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