“I don’t know that there is any way to make this…work.”
He cupped her cheek in his hand. She closed her eyes as he quoted her favorite verse from “Maud” in a husky tone. It reminded her of that night they discussed poetry.
“‘Half the night I waste in sighs,
Half in dreams I sorrow after,
The delight of early skies;
In a wakeful doze I sorrow,
For the hand, the lips, the eyes,
For the meeting of the morrow,
The delight of happy laughter,
The delight of low replies.’”
If she tried hard enough, she could picture him in the past with her instead of Arthur; it was him that had actually been there, after all. Her heart beat rapidly inside of her chest. So much uncertainty…
He leaned down and whispered, “I dream of you. Nothing I do can erase that time from my mind. I’ve missed you and waited. Please don’t walk away from me now.” Mathias remained completely still. “Would it help if you knew what happened to them…the children.”
She jerked at his words. “Oskar and Johanna?” Anya had started to accept that it was all real. Her love was real. This was…real. “You know where they are?”
“They’re not children, of course, not anymore, but yes I had them sent to England. They live near Seabrook. Asher made sure they were taken care of.” That was Catherine’s husband. “It was his contacts that I used to smuggle them out. I asked him, on one of my returns, how to handle it. I know you thought they went to California, but this was for the best. I don’t actually have any contacts there, and well, I lied. I’m sorry.”
That explained how he’d known what to do. He’d been able to act like quite the spy. “It’s enough to know they survived and they’re happy.” They had done one thing right. At least she could have some comfort in that. Arthur and Ana had died, but the children lived. Not all had been lost… It also told her that Mathias may have made some mistakes, but he meant well. This man also understood her like no one ever had. “I love you,” the words were low and her voice hoarse as she spoke. “I’m scared.”
“I am too,” he admitted. “But I think we can figure it out together.” He brushed her hair away from her face. “And I desperately want to kiss you.”
“No one is stopping you,” she teased.
Mathias didn’t need any further encouragement. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She sighed in contentment. They had a lot to work through, and she had so much to learn about her gift. The last thing she wanted to do was accidently time travel again. That dream, or vision, for lack of a better description, led her to the man she loved with all her heart. That must have been what her grandmother had meant when she’d given it to her. She had told her to follow her heart, and perhaps it was time to follow that advice and give in to what it wanted most—Mathias.
