Without a word, Leah lifted the butter churn and stepped into the backyard, giving Grace and me a little more privacy.
“I didn’t tell you because it didn’t matter,” she said. “Susannah suggested I coax Isaac with physical attention, something I would never do.” She flipped her pancakes and then returned her focus to me. “What will we do about her cousins?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t plan to get married, but things have changed.” I nibbled my bottom lip, emotions rising to the surface. “Now that we’re not returning to 1912 ...” I let the sentence dangle. She knew what I meant. We needed to consider all our options.
Grace turned back to her pancakes, focusing on them for a few seconds before she said, “What if I don’t want to stay in 1692?”
I stared at her back, uncertain I had heard her correctly. Panic hit my heart as I put my hand on her shoulder. “What?”
She turned, her eyes heavy with uncertainty as she whispered, “What if I don’t want to stay in 1692?”
“How could you even suggest such a thing?” I shook my head, incredulous. “We go together. Always.”
Tears rimmed her eyes, and she blinked to clear them. “Thiswasn’t the plan, Hope.” There was something in her voice I had never heard before. Desperation, resentment, anger? “We weren’t going to stay here. I have work in 1912—work I love. And there’s Mama and Daddy and ...” It was her turn to let her sentence dangle.
“And what?”
“And—everything.” Her voice rose with passion. “I didn’t choose to fly that aeroplane. I told you it was dangerous. Why must I suffer because of your foolishness?”
I pulled back, feeling like she had just slapped me. “I didn’t die on purpose.”
“But you knew the risks. Now I must throw my entire life away because of it?”
“You mean because of me.” I was hurt—deeply. “Are you saying that your life in 1912 is more important than me?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She pushed past me and paced across the kitchen, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m so confused—about everything. I wish you had never learned to fly.”
“I’m confused, too.” We stared at each other for a moment, and then I said, “Would you truly choose everything else over me?”
She studied me for a long time. “I have always bent to your will because it has been the easiest way to please you. But I’m not sure I can do it this time.”
My breath caught. “How could you be so selfish?”
Grace’s mouth parted as she stared at me. Tears filled her eyes before she pressed her lips together and left the kitchen, going up the back stairs.
I had hurt her. Grace was one of the least selfish people I knew—yet my heart was breaking. We were a pair.
Would she really leave me here alone?
I finished serving breakfast, and still Grace did not return to the kitchen. I watched the stairs throughout the meal, my heart stopping each time I heard a creak—but she did not appear.
Whenever I entered the dining room, Susannah leveled her glare at me. I wasn’t sure if it was meant to intimidate me, manipulate me, or just communicate her displeasure.
Her cousins tried to draw me into conversation, but my mind and heart were with Grace. They teased me about being such a pretty spinster, which did nothing to ease the tension, and the more I ignored them, the more I noticed Father and Susannah keeping their eyes on me.
When the breakfast dishes were cleared, I went into the kitchen to clean them, but Father entered.
“Why were you and Grace arguing?” he asked.
“You heard us?” My pulse ticked up a notch. What had he heard?
“I heard your voices raised.” He frowned. “’Tis a poor way to make a good impression on Susannah’s cousins. No one wants a quarrelsome wife.”
Susannah entered the kitchen, a scowl on her face. “I do not think she wants to marry,” she said to my father. “She wants to live on your charity for the rest of her life.”
“Charity?” I asked, astounded. “I work hard for what I have, little that it may be. A small, cold room that I must share with my sister. Leftover food, after the customers have eaten, and a few simple dresses and underclothes. If I worked for my living, I could at least be my own master.” Anger boiled within me, and tears gathered in my eyes, making me angrier still. It was all too much. “I hate this place, yet I am stuck here forever. Once, I had dreams of doing so much more. But now?” The tears spilled over, and I despised them. “I am a prisoner in time, and there is nothing I can do to leave.”
Father and Susannah stared at me, their anger melting into bewilderment.
