Chapter One
Alyssa finished her last massage for the day, and escorted Mrs. Chadwick—one of her favorite clients—to the door. “I’ll see you next week!” she called as Mrs. Chadwick headed to her car.
Then Alyssa walked into her empty house and thought about the long weekend ahead. When she’d be alone. Again. Since her friend Holli had gone back in time over a year before, she’d been alone. Staring at the walls.
She pulled the scrunchie out of her hair, and let her dark tresses fall around her shoulders. She only kept it up for work because it got in the way. She’d always preferred to have her hair down. Her mother had once called her a hoyden for going on long walks and keeping her hair in her face.
Alyssa couldn’t imagine a life without long walks into the local parks and even out of town, so she could work through anything troubling her. She thought for a moment about taking one of her walks, but she realized she’d just be using it to keep from making an important decision, and that wouldn’t work at all.
She still went to Book Club, and there were still a few other members who hadn’t traveled back in time. It sounded downright crazy, and she knew it. Going back in time. But she had the opportunity to do it as well.
Alyssa had never been good at making friends, and she clung to the ones who mattered most—Heather and Holli. But they were both gone now, back in medieval Scotland with their true loves, living together and laughing together. And all Alyssa had was her empty house to remember them by.
She’d had a dress made up, so she could go back as well. There were tiny pockets sewn all through the dress for her to put things like penicillin and ibuprofen in. But she hadn’t gotten up the courage to make the jump yet. Four different times she’dput on the dress for book club, all her pockets full of things that would be of a great help to her when she went back in time. And every time she’d returned home, emptied her pockets, and continued in her day-to-day routine.
She put her face in her hands and took a deep breath. There was no reason to stay where she was. New York in 2022 wasn’t anything to write home about. At least they were upstate, where there weren’t as many people packed everywhere, but without her friends, she still felt as if she was totally alone.
The next morning was book club again, and though she really wanted to go dressed in her Scottish dress and follow her friends, she also knew she’d chicken out again. She sat for a moment thinking about it all and then picked up her phone and tapped the button beside Dr. Lachele’s picture in all her purple-haired glory.
“This is Dr. Lachele,” the cheery voice on the other end of the call said.
“Dr. Lachele, this is Alyssa. I keep going dressed to book club so I can go back to my soul mate and my friends, but I never have the courage to just do it. Would you come now so I can do it before I lose my courage again?”
Dr. Lachele laughed softly. “I’m on my way, snickerdoodle!”
“Can you come to my house?”
“Just text me the address, and I’ll be there!”
“Thank you.”
“Anything for you, snookums.” Dr. Lachele was always calling people by things that were not their names, but it didn’t seem to bother most people.
Alyssa hurried to her bedroom and got dressed in the Scottish dress that she and Holli had made together before her friend had disappeared into the past. She put on her shoes, which were covered by the dress, and thought about how shewanted to word her wish. She wanted to be precise because there was a lot she was wishing for.
She hurried in Holli’s old office, where she’d written her books, and sat at her desk, reaching for a notepad and pen Holli always had at her side.
I wish…
What? Why couldn’t she write it out? She was sure she’d gotten the wish perfect when she was upstairs, and she just had to write it.
I wish to travel to my friends and my soul mate.
No, that wouldn’t work.
I wish to travel back in time to medieval Scotland to find my soul mate and be with my friends.
She read it over three times before nodding. Perfect.
Alyssa walked into the kitchen and grabbed some snacks she knew her friends would be happy to have. A bag of Dove chocolates, a bag of Cheetos, and a bag of potato chips. She knew the others had taken similar things back and she’d heard nothing negative.
She had filled her pockets with phones. Each one had games and books downloaded on it. And she took three solar chargers. She had no idea if her friends’ phones still worked or not. No reason for any of them to go without books.
When she heard the doorbell, she rushed into the foyer of the home she’d grown up in, and opened the door to Dr. Lachele, whose hair seemed to be glinting. Alyssa looked once more before opening the door wide. “Thanks for making a house call. I can’t seem to do this at the library where everyone else does.”
“It’s no problem. Every time I see you, I feel bad because I can see on your face how very alone you’ve been without your friends.” Lachele looked sad. “Come here and give me a boobie bump.”
Alyssa didn’t have to be told twice. She was a hugger, and she thought the world of Dr. Lachele. “I miss them so much!”
