“Is Rosie.”
Silence fell, thick and electric.
Olivia gasped, her free hand flying to her mouth.
Roman’s eyes darkened, his breath leaving him in an exhale.
And me?
I sat there, my smile lingering like a fox that had just revealed its grandest trick.
“That’s not possible!” Olivia’s voice trembled with disbelief. “I found her by a stream near a broken carriage. The occupants… I assumed they were her parents. They were dead.”
I let out a breath, then tapped my chest. “And who do you think left her there?”
Silence thickened the space between us.
I leaned forward. “I came across that wagon first. The couple inside—already gone. It was the perfect setup.”
I tilted slightly, watching as realization dawned in Olivia’s eyes. “Rosie is brilliant. She loves intrigue; she loves games. So, I told her, ‘Two young women are traveling this way. They will take care of you and bring you back to me. But you must never tell them that you know me. This is a game, a secret between us.”
Olivia pressed a hand to her mouth.
“I raised her as my own for five years.” My voice softened, the edges of my words carrying something almost reverent. “I taught her everything. I was the only one there to care for her, to keep her safe.”
A breath hitched in my throat, but I pushed forward. “I held her when she cried. I soothed her nightmares and calmed her when she screamed in the middle of the night. I taught her how to walk and how to talk. I fed her and clothed her. I must have lost countless hours of sleep tending to her, but I never minded. Not once.”
I exhaled, staring past them, lost in memory. “And then the plague came.”
A shadow flickered over my face. “I couldn’t risk her life. I wouldn’t. So, we traveled—jumped through time until we reached the 1800s. I swore to protect her, no matter what.”
I shook my head, my voice quieter now. “But no matter how far I ran, the past followed. I still bore the guilt of her parents’ deaths. Of your deaths.”
I lifted my gaze, locking eyes with Olivia.
“But Rosie… she was a gift. Through caring for her, I learned what love truly is. What sacrifice means.”
For a long moment, neither Olivia nor Roman spoke.
Olivia’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Nor do I,” Roman murmured.
I let out a breath and turned toward the window.
A blush of pale-apricot and pink peeked over the horizon, bleeding into the sky like the promise of a new beginning.
“When Rosie and I arrived in the 1800s, I found you.”
I exhaled, my chest tightening at the memory. “You were all together, sitting around a campfire.”
I closed my eyes briefly, feeling the ache of that moment all over again. “I knew you both the instant I laid eyes on you. And I nearly wept with joy.”
My fingers curled into fists at my sides. “It was a second chance. A gift from fate, an opportunity to make amends.”
I clasped my hands against my thighs. “So, I did what I had always done. I watched over you. I protected you. It came naturally—I had done it before, and it filled the emptiness inside me to do it again.”
Something unreadable crossed Olivia’s face. Roman sat still, his expression carved from stone.
