His brown eyes were serious as he regarded me. “Am I?”
It was hard to know when to take him seriously and when to assume he was teasing.
We chatted about filming as we drove down Olympic Boulevard, through Beverly Hills, and continued toward the ocean. I didn’t let on that Mama and Papa were having financial trouble—at least, more than before. I was still mulling over how or if I could help them. Going to the goldfields and placing a substantial amount of gold in a safety-deposit box was probably a foolish idea, but I couldn’t sit back and do nothing. If I could help my parents from both paths at the same time, why wouldn’t I at least try?
A large billboard on Olympic Boulevard made me sit up straight, my mouth slipping open. “Spencer!”
“What?” He looked all around to see what had made me react with shock.
“Look.” I pointed to the billboard.
He chuckled. “What? I’ve seen you on a billboard before. Why are you so surprised to see me on one?”
“But—the movie they’re advertising.”
“Gold Rush!I know it’s a little old, but what about it?”
“I thought you weren’t inGold Rush!”
He gave me a funny look. “I was nominated for a best actor award for it. Are you feeling okay?”
I shook my head, confused and uncertain. “I’m suddenly not feeling well,” I admitted. “What was the movie about?”
“I thought you said you saw it.”
“I forgot.”
He frowned, but said, “It’s about a man named Cole Goodman who comes to California in ’49. He’s disillusioned by the debauchery in San Francisco, and gives into it for a while, but then he falls in love with a woman who encourages him to look for his treasure in the dream he’s had since he was a kid. After she dies unexpectedly in her sleep, he realizes life is too short, and he heads off to Sacramento and writes his book. It was a bestseller back East and is considered one of the finest books about the California Gold Rush to this day.”
“What was her name? The woman he loved?”
“Bess Kendal.”
“Was she married?”
Spencer studied me for a minute, but said, “Yeah, before she went to San Francisco. It was a bad marriage, and it didn’t end well. The wisdom she had to share with Cole was from her own experiences.”
I was almost afraid to ask. “What about the man she lived with?”
Spencer frowned. “She didn’t live with anyone. She started a hotel and restaurant with her son. It was quite the success story.That also inspired Cole. Say, what’s this all about, Ally? You’re worrying me.”
I wasn’t sure what to tell him. Had Cole really listened to me and left Jim behind to write his book? It was the only explanation. I’d somehow changed history back in a way, though not knowingly. But that didn’t mean I would forfeit 1849—at least, I hoped I wouldn’t. I’d only given Cole advice.
“I can’t really explain it,” I told Spencer. “I’ve just been interested in San Francisco history for a long time, and I was curious.”
“I remember that big book you borrowed from the library a few weeks ago.”
I nodded, still trying to recover from my shock.
“Goodman wrote ten books in total,” Spencer said. “The other nine were books of fiction set in the Wild West. I read them all when I was preparing to play him. He was a talented writer.” He smiled. “One of the heroines inWest Over the Rockieswas named Ally.” He squinted for a second. “Ally Adams, I think.”
Cole had named a character after me?
“What was it about?”
“A typical wagon train story about a young couple who left their life in the East behind to start over in Oregon. Ally was widowed on the way, and she had a baby to care for, so she married the wagon train master for protection.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t his best book, but it was entertaining.”
I was silent for a long time as I thought about Cole Goodman and how one conversation could have possibly impacted a great deal of history. I was happy he’d done something with his life but afraid I wouldn’t wake up in 1849 in the morning. I had to keep reminding myself I hadn’t knowingly changed anything.
