“She never meant to hurt you. Not once.” The kitten was soft, and she nuzzled up next to my chest, purring as I pet her.
“But she did hurt me. More than anyone else.” He turned back to me. “Why would this time be any different?”
“I’m not sure what else to do. I don’t know how to stop this, and even if I tried, I might lose this path, too.” I joined him near the window and took his hand in mine. “Sometimes, all we can do is take a step of faith, Sam. Even if things don’t look promising, I trust that God has a purpose for everything we go through. We’ve done all we can think of to stop this, but we can’t manipulate it anymore. I will fight with everything inside of me to withstand whatever we might face, and I will pray that God protects us.” I stepped closer. “But, if He chooses not to, then I have to believe He has a greater plan than mine.”
He touched my cheek. “That sounds like the theme of my life.”
“It’s the theme of all our lives. We do what we can with the understanding we have, and then we choose to trust God with the rest. It’s not always easy, or without pain and suffering, but He has been faithful and will continue to be so.”
“If all the hardships I endured brought me to you”—he lifted my hand to his heart—“then how can I not trust God with the rest? What greater things does He have in store for us?”
I smiled as tears filled my eyes. If Father’s school hadn’t failed in Concord, I would have never come to California. And if Papa’s studio wasn’t failing in Hollywood, I would have never asked Sam to take me to the Yuba River, where I fell in love with him. I couldn’t deny that God had brought beauty from ashes.
“But that doesn’t mean I’ll ignore the threat,” Sam said, running his finger over the kitten’s back. “I’ll be on guard tomorrow, both day and night. I won’t lie down and allow history to unfold without fighting it.”
“I won’t either.” I laid my cheek against his chest as his arm came around me. “I’m worried about tomorrow, but all I can really think about right now is tonight.”
A slow smile tilted his lips as longing filled his eyes.
“I need to stay awake past midnight to ensure I don’t go back to 1929.”
“Are you asking me to help you stay awake, Mrs. Kendal?”
I nodded as warmth filled my cheeks.
His thumb caressed my arm, sending gooseflesh over my body. “I like that idea,” he said.
“I thought you might.”
I loved planning a future with Sam, even if I wasn’t certain how long that future would last.
“For now,” I said, “I think we’d better introduce this kitten to her new owner. Where did you find it?”
“A ship came into the bay yesterday, and I heard there was a litter of kittens.” He shrugged it off as if it was no concern, but I knew what it would mean to Hazel.
We left Portsmouth Square and returned to Sydney Town just as the door to Bess’s Place was opened by Paddy for business. Instead of going in the front, we went around the back to the kitchen.
I offered the kitten to Sam, since it was his gift to Hazel, but he shook his head. “You give it to her.”
“No.” I laid the kitten in his hands. “You are the one who made her dreams come true.” I smiled. “You seem to be in the habit of doing that, Mr. Kendal.”
He kissed my cheek. “I think it’s the other way around, Mrs. Kendal.”
I opened the back door and found Hazel and Johnnie sitting at the table, eating their breakfast. They both looked up at me withsmiles, but when Sam walked in behind me, Hazel’s smile fell, and her eyes grew wide.
“My kitty!” she cheered as she jumped up from the table. “You found her!”
She didn’t wait and took the kitten from Sam’s hands and brought it up to her cheek, grinning and exclaiming over the small animal as if it was a long-lost pet that had finally come home.
“Thank you, Sam,” Hazel said, giving him a hug. “Thank you, thank you.”
I caught Father’s eye as he stood at the stove.
He just chuckled and went back to flipping his flapjacks.
November 3, 1849
San Francisco, California
