It wasn’t possible, yet the way he watched me now, as if he could see deep inside my soul, made my stomach turn with butterflies and my cheeks fill with heat.
“Have I made you nervous?” he asked as he lowered his soup spoon into his bowl, still watching, evaluating.
I put on a practiced smile, one I’d mastered on the campaign trail with my father to hide my true feelings. “I am quite relaxed.”
“You are lying.” He smiled and took a sip of his soup before dipping the spoon back into his bowl. “But it doesn’t matter. I shall discover your secrets either way.”
“And I shall discover yours.”
“What makes you think I have secrets?”
“Everyone has secrets, Mr. Cooper.”
He nodded and lifted his goblet in a mock salute. “Then we shall see who uncovers the other’s secrets first. May the best man—or woman—win.”
I lifted my own goblet and nodded, feeling a surge of excitement and energy.
This would be fun, though it could also be very dangerous.
2
APRIL 18, 1941
WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
I should have been focused on packing as I stood in my cozy bedroom in Williamsburg in 1941. But memories of being in the White House the night before, with the charming Mr. Cooper at my side, distracted me. I couldn’t stop smiling or thinking over our conversation. We’d bantered all evening, yet it was silly to be so preoccupied with a gentleman I had just met when I knew so little about him—especially because I never let men distract me.
“Maggie?” Mama bustled into my room with a handful of my undergarments, freshly pressed, and interrupted my woolgathering. She didn’t usually look frazzled, but today was unique. “Have you seen Anna’s black heels? I can’t find them anywhere. She’ll need them if you can get her out dancing.”
I retrieved my sister’s shoes from my closet. “I borrowed them from her months ago.”
Mama took the shoes and sighed. “I wish she would show some excitement about going to Washington. You’ve both worked so hard for this. I’ve practically packed her entire bag. All she’s managed to do is pack Richard’s picture.”
Straightening my shoulders, I offered Mama a confident smile. “This move will be good for her. I’ll make sure of it.”
At forty-six, Libby Hollingsworth, my time-crossing mama, was just as beautiful as she’d been when I was a child. She wore a pretty green skirt with a green-and-black-checkered jacket, which complemented her green eyes. I had inherited her dark brown curls and the sunburst birthmark over my heart that marked me as a time-crosser, but everything else I inherited from my father, Henry. From him, I’d received the time-crossing birthmark at the base of my skull, which was hidden underneath my hair, and his brilliant blue eyes. One of my features that neither possessed were the deep dimples in my cheeks, which were identical to my 2001 mother’s dimples.
Mama paused as she scanned my room, her gaze landing on me. “What?” she asked, a gentle smile easing the stress that had been her constant companion these past few days as she’d helped Anna and me prepare to work at the Naval Medical Center in Washington, DC. We were both nurses, recently graduated and ready to start our new jobs.
Tears stung the backs of my eyes, though I tried to smile. “I’m going to miss you.”
Without hesitation, she wrapped me in a tight hug. “I’m going to miss you too,” she whispered.
This was not the first time I’d left home, though this time I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see her again, since my twenty-first birthday was in less than nine months. If I didn’t choose 1941, my physical body would die in this path, and my loved ones would be left to grieve.
I tightened my hold, unable to accept such a fate. I did not want to lose my marked mother or father.
“You’ve been away before,” she reassured me as she pulled back and wiped my tears with a handkerchief that had been in her hand all day for that very purpose.
“But this time—” I paused and pressed my lips together.
She nodded, understanding better than anyone. “No matter what happens, Maggie, God will guide you, just as He guided your father and me. From the day you were born and we saw both your marks, we knew you were in His hands and your future was laid out for you. I trust Him fully, and you should too.”
I wished I shared her assurance. She believed God had a perfect plan for me, but He had not yet revealed it, and I was afraid He wouldn’t. I loved each of my lives equally. What would I do if I came to January 1 and still had no idea what He wanted me to choose?
“What if this is good-bye forever?” I asked.
She tucked one of my curls behind my ear, trying to control her emotions. “None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. I pray that you choose 1941 with all of my heart. But if you don’t, I know that wherever you go, you will love us for the rest of your life. And we will love you.”
