“Then what better time to jump back in time and start all over again?” Kenna grinned as she settled back in the seat. “Just think. You’ll be going back to before you loaned me so much money. I will be paid in full and you’ll be ahead. Am I smart or what?”
Or what.Trulie bit back the words before they escaped her mouth. Kenna was such an optimist she was borderline infuriating. Always upbeat and glass half-full—Kenna was the Sinclair family’s ray of sunshine. Trulie wasn’t in the mood for sunshine right now. She needed her sister to butt out, and she needed Granny to get off her back.
Snuggling deeper into the warmth of the damp quilt, Trulie stared at the droplets of rain skittering down the cracked windshield of the truck. Jump back in time and start over—at least give the past a chance. Granny had hinted at the prospect for months now—especially every time Trulie voiced a thought about switching towns because even after fifteen years, they were still outsiders in the small town of Masonville, Kentucky. Everyone pretty much gave them a wide berth unless they needed a remedy from the shop. The Sinclair women had always been the town’s oddities—some gossip even named them witches.
Trulie glanced over at quietly humming Kenna. Drops of rain glistened in her sister’s dark curls as she carefully examined each trimmed cuticle and carefully painted nail tip.
“You know Granny wants to leave you and the girls here. Alone. In this time. For a few months—maybe even a year or so until I get back. You do realize you will have the sole responsibility of running the business and holding the family together until then? That means keeping two teenage girls out of all the trouble the puberty years bring.” Trulie watched Kenna closely. How committed was happy little sister to becoming the one in charge? Could free-spirited, didn’t-have-a-care-in-the-world Kenna really lay down the law when the twins tested the limits?
Kenna shrugged as she extended one hand and compared the nail tips in the fading light of the rainy afternoon. “I can handle it. The girls won’t be that bad.”
“Granny threatened to lock us up in barrels until we turned twenty for some of the stuff we pulled. What makes you so sure the twins won’t be so bad?” Had Kenna forgotten some of the tearful shouting matches they’d had while struggling through the growing pains of puberty? Teenage years were difficult enough for normal kids. But raging hormones coupled with the strain of keeping the family’s unusual abilities hidden had made maturing a royal pain in the ass for the Sinclair girls.
“I am not the empty-headed ninny you think I am.” Kenna dropped both hands to her lap and turned sideways in the seat, staring Trulie down. “And who cares if half the town thinks we’re poor white trash and the other half thinks we’re witches? They all flock to the shop, and their money is still good no matter what they think about us.” Kenna’s voice lowered as did her gaze. “Besides ... Granny says she has plans for all of us. You need to find out just what those plans are and cash in.” Kenna’s hands tightened into fists until her knuckles turned white. Her voice became even softer. “She sacrificed everything for us, Trulie. I can’t let her down when she has done so much for us.”
And there it was. The troubled look on Kenna’s face twisted Trulie’s heart. Her sister had voiced the nagging thought demonizing her own emotions. Granny had given up everything. Left everything she had ever known and loved to keep her word to her dying daughter and make sure her grandbabies were raised right and healthy in the future.
Maybe little sister wasn’t the perennial sunshine spewer after all. Trulie blew out a deep, despondent sigh. Dammit.She had tried so hard to help Granny set them all up with normal lives, but it looked like she had failed miserably. There was no denying the Sinclair heritage, or what the Fates might have in mind. Some things were just meant to be. Trulie drew in another deep breath and curled her legs up tighter beneath her.
Reaching across the seat, she lightly trailed a fingertip across the top of Kenna’s hand. “I won’t know how to act if you’re not around. Who will I talk to when I’ve gotten in over my head?” Trulie struggled to keep her voice from breaking, struggled to keep all the dark uncertainties at bay. “Granny easily blended us into the ways of this era. Jumping back for an extended amount of time will be more difficult. If I’m not careful to completely blend in, I’ll get stuck on a rotisserie at the next village barbecue.”
Kenna yanked her hand away and rubbed it against her jeans. “Cut it out. That tickles.”
“I’m serious, Kenna.” Trulie grabbed Kenna’s hand. She had to make the girl understand the danger of what they were about to do ... if she actually decided to go through with it.
“I know you’re serious.” Kenna’s smile quivered a bit as she winked a sparkling green eye. “I’m smiling ’cause I just won the bet with the twins. They didn’t think I could convince you to do it. And judging by the look in your eye, you have finally decided to give the past a try. Now let’s head home and get you and Granny packed.”
CHAPTER4
“What are you going to do about clothes?” Lilia edged around the table in front of the couch and dumped another huge armload of assorted clothing into the recliner. Kismet dove into the pile, nosing and burrowing until the only thing visible was the tip of her softly flipping tail. Lilia plucked a shirt from the pile and held it up to her chest. A black paw darted out from under a towel, swatting at the shifting clothes. “If you’re not taking all of these, can I have this one?”
“Tamhas will see to it that Trulie and I have proper attire for the era. Of course, we might take a few of our more favorite things to ... uhm ... help get us started.” Granny pawed through the pile of clothing, plucked out a hooded sweatshirt and slipped it on. “Nice and toasty.” She made a sound that greatly resembled Kismet’s purring as she hugged it around her and rubbed a hand up and down one sleeve. “And we’ll also store some items in our cache. You girls don’t need all of our things. Some things must be set aside forjust in case.You know that.” Granny patted a folded pile of towels as she nodded at Trulie. “If you ever have to pass through this time again, just remember to get up to the north side of the bluff and you’ll find the sealed cache in the cave just above the pond.” Granny wagged a finger at each of the girls. “Always remember, you never ever leave a wrinkle in time without stashing away necessities in case you have to return. Your survival could depend on it.”
Nodding at her small pile of clothing on the couch, Trulie snapped her fingers at Lilia. “No. You can’t have any of my clothes. I am coming back—remember?” She extricated a couple of matching socks, balled them together and tossed them next to the pile of already folded clothes sitting on the table. She had heard the rat-hole-your-necessities lecture every time they had visited a different century. She could recite it in her sleep. Time to get Granny off that tirade before she got wound up. “Who exactly is Tamhas?” Tamhas was a name she hadn’t heard before. In Granny’s excitement over their trip preparations, she had apparently let down her guard and allowed the name to slip.
Granny hummed under her breath as she fished a worn T-shirt out of the load and held it up for inspection. “I always loved this shirt, but I fear it’s seen better days. I guess I’ll go ahead and part with it, as much as I hate to leave it behind.”
“Granny—”
“And be certain to take some of those thick socks you love so much, Trulie. You’ll not be able to find those supersoft fuzzy socks in the Highlands of 1247.” Granny pulled a pair of fluffy, hot-pink socks from the back of the pile and tossed them over to Trulie.
“Granny!”
Granny straightened from the pile of clothes and faced Trulie. Her brow puckered into a rare expression of impatient annoyance. “What?”
“Stop ignoring me and answer the question. Who is Tamhas?” Trulie stepped around the table and positioned herself between Granny and the clean clothes. No more babbling about laundry. It was time Granny fessed up about Tamhas.
The lines around Granny’s pursed lips twitched and she quickly looked away. That confirmed it. Tamhas must be someone important, because Granny was never the first to break eye contact when it came to a stare down.
“Wow.” Kenna nudged into Trulie with another load of clothes. “Reckon Tamhas is Granny’s boyfriend?”
“He must be,” Trulie said, happy to join the teasing. “That explains the voices I’ve been hearing over by the hearth after everyone’s gone to bed. Have you been carrying on a long-distance love affair through the fire portal, Granny? Is Tamhas the real reason you want to go back to the past?”
“I have heard enough.” Granny snapped her fingers within an inch of Trulie’s nose, then yanked the sweatshirt off over her head, balled it up, and threw it on the couch. “I didn’t raise any of you to treat me with such disrespect.” Head tipped to a haughty angle, Granny marched to the bar of cabinets separating the kitchen from the living area and perched on one of the stools. With a sharp flip of one hand, she nodded at the disorder filling the room. “I advise you all to get busy. I will not have us jumping the web before we’ve properly set everything in order and I know all is ready.”
The elder lifted her chin a notch higher and motioned toward a rolltop desk in the corner. “Kenna, you’ll find the papers granting you guardianship and power of attorney in the lockbox in the bottom drawer. If anyone gives you any trouble over their legitimacy, one quick shout through the fire portal will bring Trulie and I home before the coals even cool.”
Trulie shared a meaningful look with her sisters, added a pair of folded jeans to the pile, and stepped over a softly snoring Karma as she headed toward the kitchen. Grabbing the teakettle off the back of the stove, she went to the sink and filled the pot. “You know we mean no disrespect, Granny.” She settled the kettle on the stove and lit the burner. Leaning against the counter beside the old woman, Trulie gently nudged her. “Now who is Tamhas? Spill it. You know we only want you happy.”
