“Hell, we wanted to spend those nights together,” Lou said with a deep laugh. “Oh, you mean you’re sorry he’s dead. So am I, love. More than I can say. But he lived a good, full life and he went very fast, so you can’t ask for much more. I miss him every day. But Jake looks after me, and I’m old enough to know you can’t live forever.”
“Jake?”
“He’s Jack’s nephew. We brought him up. Never could have children of our own for some reason, so we’d pick up any loose strays we could find. You have about twenty-seven cousins. I may have lost count.”
“Including Jake?” She felt like Alice after she’d gone through the looking glass, lost in a crazed world where dead women walked and nothing made sense.
“Well, not by blood, of course. That was my past, and there’s no way to change the past You can only change the future.”
“That’s what my mother said.”
“Where is she, by the way? I haven’t seen her since Jake dropped me off here this morning. I was looking forward to meeting Alex.”
“She sent him away.”
“Silly fool,” Lou said with asperity. “I thought she was smarter than that. He’s a good man. She shouldn’t let him get away a second time. Ridley and Elda were too much for Mary to fight back when you were born. They’d already lost me, and they thought if they convinced Mary to get rid of Alex she would remarry befitting an Abbott. They were wrong, of course. She never stopped loving him.”
“She’s gone after him.”
“Well, thank goodness,” Lou said tartly. “Now we just have to figure out how to drum some sense into you. I was sure by the time I showed up here you’d have dumped your fiancé and fallen for Jake. He was my final wedding present for you.”
“Fallen for Jake? You mean this has all been some crazy matchmaking scheme? I can’t stand the man—he drives me crazy. What makes you think I could ever fall in love with someone like him?”
Lou’s smile was full of ancient wisdom. “Instinct A gypsy in Bulgaria. A shaman in Zaire. A wise woman in Thailand. They all said you two were made for each other.”
“New-age crap.”
“Old-age crap, my dear. Wisdom from an age far greater than yours. So you’re going to tell me you don’t care about Jake?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“And you usually spend the night before your wedding having sex with people, you don’t care about?”
“Did he tell you that?”
“He didn’t have to. I could tell by that dazed look in his eyes, by the love bite on his throat and by the tone of his voice when he said your name. He’s been a son to me, and I know him better than he knows himself. He’s in love with you, like nothing he’s ever felt before. And it looks like you’ve decided to break his heart.”
“He left me!”
“Pooh! Men leave all the time. If they love you they come back. Do you mean to tell me you threw away love because you’re a coward?” Lou rose to her full height looking very stern. “Haven’t you learned anything from the last few days?”
“You know what happened?” Susan gasped.
Lou’s ancient gorgeous face creased in a smile. “You had a dream, Susan. A strange, wonderful dream. And you had it for a reason. Don’t ignore the lessons it taught you.”
The grandfather clock struck six, a somber tolling, and for a moment Susan was back in the old house, listening to the clock chime her life away. She looked across at the elegant old woman. “Where is he?”
“You know where he is. The ship has a different name, but the berth is the same. You can find him if you hurry.”
“I can’t?—”
“Of course you can. All you have to do is want to.”
“My mother took my car. And I need to change my dress?—”
“No time, my dear. I brought your cousin’s car—you have just about enough time to jump in and drive into Manhattan before the ship leaves. It still has a manual transmission, but I’m sure you can handle it.”
“What cousin?” she demanded, confused.
