Page 105 of Twin Flames
George raised his hand to knock on Cara’s front door. Suddenly he regretted his decision and let his hand fall to his side. He turned and hurried out of the driveway, hoping she hadn’t spotted him.
A big drawback of instantaneous time travel was that there were no empty pockets of time to plan what to do or say upon arrival at one’s destination. He had been in Seville in 1840, and then in the blink of an eye, here he was, almost two centuries later, outside Cara’s cottage. He wished for the luxury of a long drive or flight to mull things over.
What if she thought him quite mad? He was worried if he said the wrong thing he would spook her like last time. They barely knew each other in this life.
Coming straight here to discuss their five-hundred-year love affair had seemed like the most brilliant idea, until now—until he arrived. George paced up and down the lane that ran around the back of the cottage. Before they lost their other life, they had walked here together, hand in hand, many times. The crisp evening air hit his face and began to soothe his agitated senses. He walked up and down for twenty minutes, uncertain what to do next.
Cara heard a knock at the door. She wasn’t expecting anyone. She moved her bedroom curtain to peek outside, but there was no car in the driveway beside hers.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she bounced down the stairs to open the front door. Her mood had elevated since Kate’s message. Life was beautiful again.
‘George! What are you doing here? I mean, how did you find me?’
His tall frame towered over the low Tudor doorway; his presence was intoxicating. He was the last person she had expected to see tonight. Appearing suddenly like this was what the old George used to do.
‘You didn’t return my calls, so I decided that turning up might be the best way to get your attention.’ He pushed his dark floppy hair out of his eyes and an appealing smile lit up his face.
‘I was going to call you,’ said Cara, grateful she had showered and dressed.
She looked at him, barely able to believe he was here. He was irresistible when he turned on the charm. It wasn’t a fair game. ‘Come in,’ she said and stood aside to usher him into the hallway.
‘I know this place,’ he said. ‘I’ve been here before, haven’t I?’
‘Yes. Yes, you have. Many times.’ She nodded. There was no point pretending otherwise.
‘How do you know?’ Cara asked.
‘I’ve been talking to our friend Edward.’
‘Ah. Well, in that case, you arriving like this makes perfect sense. Do you remember us spending time here together or did he tell you about it? You’ve been here a lot over the past year or so.’
‘Since my talk with Edward, it’s beginning to come back to me. It’s unbelievable—a bit like watching a movie trailer; I only see snippets. I remember this cottage. And I’ve even started to remember things about Tudorville. I don’t understand how I didn’t know any of that before.’
‘It’s quite a thing to get your head around, that’s for sure,’ she said. ‘It’s the same for me and Eddie.’
‘Eddie?’
‘Yes, Eddie Makepeace. In this timeline, he’s a professor in quantum physics at the Royal Holloway University. That’s whereI met him. I wouldn’t understand much about time travel if it weren’t for him. Not that I understand all that much even now.’
‘He is the link between us, isn’t he? I knew it the minute he appeared in Victoriana. But I didn’t think you knew anything about it,’ said George.
‘I’ve known since that day we met at the bookshop. That’s when it all started for me.’ Cara smiled. She could sense that beneath his bravado, he was nervous. ‘Our meeting unlocked my ability to time travel. Although I wasn’t aware of being in Victoriana until Eddie showed up the other day.’
George reached for her hand. ‘Come here,’ he said. ‘It’s so good to be able to talk about everything with you like this. I’ve been going crazy trying to figure it all out alone.’
She moved slowly into his arms, her eyes dewy as their lips brushed.
‘I thought you were married to Kate,’ she said, in a whisper.
‘I know. I mean, I had no idea. I couldn’t understand why you fled from the hotel, but then Edward, I mean Eddie, told me. I hear you called me an arse.’
‘Yes, well, you can be a terrible arse. I’ve lost track of how many times.’
‘That’s not entirely fair,’ he said, laughing. ‘I didn’t marry my sister. You simply misunderstood.’
‘That’s true,’ she said. ‘Kate left me a message earlier. It was only then it made sense. I had begun to reconcile myself to never seeing you again.’
‘Thank goodness Kate called.’
