Page 32 of Borrowed Time

Okay, he had a point there. “True,” I allowed. “But scientists don’t know anything about witches or the powers they wield, and we all work really hard to keep it that way. So for them,it’s all theory and nothing more. It could be that my going back to 1926 and staying there wouldn’t change anything, since that’s how it was always meant to be. Or it could be that my continued presence in the past would end up having a ripple effect that could change everything. We just can’t know…and that’s the hard part.”

“But if I go into the future…” he prompted, and I could only give a helpless lift of my shoulders.

“Again, it’s hard to say. It could be that it wouldn’t change much…or it could be that you were our currentprima’sgreat-grandfather, and without you staying there and getting married and having children, Angela would never have been born. That would be catastrophic, because without her, the Wilcox curse would never be broken.”

Seth’s jaw had set during that speech. “I can’t imagine myself marrying anyone else,” he said firmly, and I couldn’t help blinking.

No, it wasn’t anything close to a proposal…but he’d just made it crystal clear where his thoughts lay on that subject.

And even though I’d told myself over and over again how I couldn’t let things get that serious, I knew deep down I didn’t want to be with anyone except him.

Wherever and whenever we ended up.

“Maybe that’s far-fetched,” I said. “I know that Angela’s father Andre was descended from Edmund’s line on the Wilcox side of the family, but — ”

“Wait a minute,” Seth cut in. “You’re saying that yourprimais a Wilcox?”

“On her father’s side,” I replied. “On the McAllister side, she’s Ruby McAllister’s great-niece.”

Seth’s expression turned to one of utter relief. “Well, if she’s Ruby’s descendant, then she can’t be directly connected to me. Ruby is my cousin Ralph and Louise’s first child, and she wouldbe way too young for me to ever marry. For Goddess’ sake, she’s just been born!”

Right. I’d almost forgotten about that. It did seem to take care of my worry that Seth could have any direct connection to Angela McAllister.

There had to be a distant one, though, just because his family was the one that owned the store, and Angela’s aunt Rachel was the one who now ran it.

Most likely, Rachel was a descendant of Charles and Abigail, although I had to admit I had a hard time visualizing that pale, sickly girl having any children of her own.

And if Seth had vanished without a trace, the store would have gone to Charles’s son…if he ended up having one, of course.

Not for the first time, I thought how trying to wrap my brain around all the ramifications of time travel only made my head hurt.

“All right, so maybe that isn’t a factor,” I said. “And really, this is all just conjecture anyway. Jeremiah Wilcox might be an extremely powerful warlock, but I have no idea whether those powers will be enough to get my own talent whipped into shape.”

For a second or two, Seth didn’t respond. I could tell he was thinking over everything we’d both just said, trying to decide which outcome would be the best for everyone involved.

“I suppose we’ll see in a few days,” he replied, his expression almost too determinedly cheerful. “For now, though, let’s go for a walk in the park.”

9

WILCOX WOMEN

“Oh, she was a lovely girl,”Mrs. Marshall said as she poured tea for Seth and Devynn. “Such a tragedy to have her disappear like that!”

“Do you really think something awful happened?” Devynn asked, putting on a surprisingly convincing expression of horror.

At once, Mrs. Marshall set down her rose-painted teapot so she could pat her guest on the hand. “No one knows for sure,” she said, her tone now ominous. “But your sister was a very dedicated teacher. I can’t imagine that she’d just run off with a stranger the way everyone in town was talking about it.”

“Really?” Seth put in. “Because the other people we’ve spoken with seem convinced she had some sort of a relationship with Mr. Rowe.”

Mrs. Marshall’s lips pursed. She was a sturdy woman in her late forties, with a few strands of gray beginning to show in her mid-brown hair. Seth knew she was a widow with two children because Devynn had helpfully provided that information on their walk over here, but so far, he’d seen no evidence of the boys. Possibly, they were off playing at a friend’s house.

And Mrs. Marshall had seemed glad to see him and Devynn, obviously relieved that some family members had come in search of the missing woman. She’d invited them into her parlor for tea, and of course they’d accepted. It was a cozy space, not nearly as fussy as Mrs. Wilson’s sitting room with its myriad figurines and vases and all sorts of other clutter. In fact, the only ornament on the wide oak mantel above the fireplace was a gilt-framed portrait of a stern-looking man that Seth guessed was the late Mr. Marshall.

“Well, people enjoy their gossip,” she remarked as she lifted her teacup to her lips. “But I like to think that I spent more time around your sister than almost anyone else, and I certainly saw no evidence that she had two thoughts to spare for Mr. Rowe. I think it’s a coincidence and nothing more that the two of them disappeared at the same time.”

A heck of a coincidence,Seth thought, but he didn’t say the words aloud.

“What do you think happened to Mr. Rowe?” Devynn asked.

---