I braced my elbows on the table, put my head in my hands, and rubbed my temples. How was I going to explain that I couldn’t speak? I sighed. This is what I’d been avoiding.
“You can’t skip her engagement party. Can’t duck her forever. She’s your sister. Tell her the laryngitis story, make it stress-related. She’ll buy that.”
I sat up straight to answer.
“I haven’t seen her in two years. Not since the funeral. I’ve gotten good at avoiding. In my timeline, she doesn’t know I can’t speak.”
“Not two years for her. She probably thinks ten days is too long. Don’t you have dinner there on Sunday nights?”
I didn’t know how he knew that, but I nodded.“That was before Eric.”
“Since the accident, you mean?”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to explain.
He picked up my phone and put it in my hand. He wouldn’t let me off the hook.
“Almost five years. Eric didn’t like when I went for Sunday dinner.”
“So, you didn’t go? That’s stupid. What about after? How could your family let you get away with disappearing?” He spun his fork on the table.
I shrugged. They hadn’t tried very hard to keep me in their lives.“I was difficult, and they were busy.”Meghan and Andrew had been occupied with her difficult pregnancy, then with my nephew. I’d fallen through the cracks in their busy lives.
“What about your friends? Didn’t they realize you couldn’t talk? What did they say?”
I almost laughed. What friends?“My closest friend was long distance. Nobody else realized, or maybe they didn’t care.”
“That’s just not right.” He started eating his enchilada. “I don’t believe nobody cared.”
“I think you cared. You baited me, trying to make me talk. Said outrageous things.”
“Sounds like me.”
“Why do you believe me? I just told you I’ve time traveled.”He hadn’t reacted beyond the initial outburst of laughter.
“We all have secrets. If you’re good, one of these days, I’ll tell you one of mine.”
He grinned and his dimples reappeared. My heart lurched. When he turned the charm on me, I wasn’t immune. The problem was that he knew he was drop-dead gorgeous and besides, I was dating his brother.
The hardest part of the evening wasn’t telling Christopher or explaining my wish, but forgetting the seriousness of the mission. I couldn’t afford to forget. Helping Brandon was a matter of his life or death. I had the sense that Christopher almost believed my story and was on board. He might need a day or two to think.
Gusts of wind blew my fair hair into my face as we strolled back to the museum after dinner.
“You parked underground?”
“I walked. I didn’t feel like driving.”In an effort not to think of the accident, I clamped down on my thoughts.
“You aren’t walking home. It’s too far.”
I shrugged, irritated at his high-handed attitude, not appreciating being told what to do after my relationship with Eric.“I’m used to it.”
“C’mon. It’s no big deal. It’s on my way home. I’ll drop you off.”
Trying to decide what to do, I looked up. A homeless couple huddled next to the building in tattered sleeping bags. Catching my eye, the man smiled and rattled a container in my direction. I dumped my coin purse into my hand, and then into his tin. The change plunked into the empty can.
“Thanks, Miss.” His smile revealed a missing front tooth.
“You know you want a ride,” Christopher said, diverting my attention back to him.
