Page 38 of A Flicker in Time (Mine Through Time #2)

Chapter 37

E mily sat on the bed and sifted through the documents she’d received from Harold. Only ten days of Boston left. Ten days of summer that suddenly felt a lot different. The people that had bought ice cream from the truck today—they were like her. One dropped his cone, and Emily stood there and watched.

Only watched.

She stretched her fingers again, then searched through more photos until she spotted a familiar face, judging her seriously from the grainy black-and-white paper. Looking good, Gramps. She put it away to look at the next one, in which the same face was joined by a round, freckled one, with pouty little lips and arched eyebrows that always gave a sense of surprise. Hey there, Lady. Someone must have put Sylvia on a stool for this photo since she reached all the way up to Will’s nose.

Two weeks ago, she was right there with them—living and breathing that time. They were real, and now, they felt like a pleasant dream, gradually fading from her memory as she tried to grip it. Will could still visit her, but she’d never see Sylvia, James, or any of the others again.

She stared at the spread of photos on her bed for a long time, until a knock brought her out of her reverie.

“The party’s downstairs,” Sarah whispered from the half-open door. “Come to the kitchen. But, psst—it’s a surprise!” And she tiptoed back.

Emily carefully put the photos back into the folder, stretched, and went downstairs. She paused in front of the closed kitchen door and took a deep breath.

Be happy.

She pushed the knob.

“Surprise!” A cloud of confetti fell in her face, and someone blew a party horn. When the confetti cleared, Emily took in the room. Sarah, her grandma, Aunt Nicky, Debbie, and Dad, were all gathered around the table laden with a glittery yellow tablecloth and a blue confetti cake with lit candles.

At least they stuck to a theme.

“Happy birthday, honey!” Nicky drowned her in kisses. “I know it’s too early, but don’t say it brings bad luck because I know you don’t believe that. Besides, how would we surprise you if the party was on your birthday?”

“You already gave her a clue by coming here,” Debbie pointed out.

“Anyway, go blow out the candles and wish for something!” Nicky floated back to the side of the table. The rest smiled encouragingly.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got a crazy party planned for later,” Sarah whispered as Emily passed, and gave her a sneaky thumbs-up.

Emily stopped in front of the cake, gazing upon the others. She couldn’t be angry at Nicky for dragging the whole family here and invading Aurelia’s house—especially when Sarah’s grandma looked excited, too .

All paths parted eventually. She and Will. She and Sarah. In a few years, Debbie would leave for college. Everything had an end. So she should be happy for the now and appreciate her friends and family while they were all gathered together.

She just wished …

“Now, blow the candles,” Nicky said patiently as if directing a child. “Make a wish.”

Emily smiled at the gathered guests, leaned over, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

I wish …

I wish …

Nicky screamed.

“Who the hell are you?” Dad’s voice boomed.

“Goodness!” Aurelia said.

Heart pounding, Emily opened her eyes and shot up. Her heart nearly dropped at the sight of two men suddenly appearing in the kitchen.

“Gramps?” she squeezed out. Sure, Will could visit her whenever he could—but she didn’t expect him now, and definitely not popping in here, in front of everyone.

But she’d expected his companion much, much less. She grasped the edge of the table to stabilize herself. Her eyes had to be deceiving her. “James?”

“Hey, Flicker,” the man who looked just like James replied with a smooth drawl that sounded just like James.

“H-how?”

“Emily, you know these people?” Nicky’s eyes darted around the room in panic.

“They’re my … my …” Emily blinked several times. They were still there.

“I think we missed our location slightly,” Will said.

“Emily,” Nicky ground out. “Aurelia, call the cops.”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Sarah jumped in, slipping Emily a conspiratory wink. “They’re our friends. They do magic tricks. We were mistimed.” She pointed at Will. “This is, uh …”

“Will,” Emily choked out.

“And this is …” Sarah squinted as she inspected James. “Hot cowboy?”

Emily’s cheeks grew warm.

“He’s a stripper?” Nicky screeched.

“No, no, that’s not his name!” Sarah quickly corrected.

“My name is James, madam.” He gave Nicky a devastating smile, and Emily knew. It really was him. “Pleased to meet you.”

Nicky’s eyes narrowed.

“How?” Emily directed the question at Will, lightly shaking her head.

“I conducted further research on the almonite extracted from Sylvia. Dr. Deniau and her colleague helped. We created a new serum—the kind that Ralkin had originally intended to create. It was enough for one dose. For James.”

Emily continued shaking her head.

“Father and I created a new watch, using the almonite from Sylvia’s pendant for the barrel. It functions perfectly. The serum works like a Leader travels, but extends to both sides. James can travel to any time and he’ll disappear from his current time. He can also return with no trouble. And he can stay. In any time he wants.”

James met her eyes. A deep, soft gentleness burned through her.

He stepped around the table and slowly approached her.

“What—” Nicky started, but Debbie caught her arm in a “stay quiet” gesture .

“Flicker,” James said as he came closer, “I know what you said about us …”

Emily shook her head more. Ignore it. Ignore everything I said. It doesn’t matter.

“But things are a little different now. Will tells me you have to stay here, but I—well, I—”

She’d never seen him so flustered.

“I think I might be in love with you,” he said.

Her head-shaking finally stopped. She felt dizzy, though not from that.

“Flicker?”

“Me too,” she whispered, and absolute joy filled his face.

“So I was thinking,” he added, “If you would …” He tossed a glance over his shoulder, where Will gave him a small nod. “If you would like to go on a date with me?”

“Yes.” Emily’s voice shook. “I’d like that a lot.”

And James smiled and took her face between his hands and kissed her soundly.

“Now, that is enough!” Nicky tore herself out of Debbie’s grasp. “You will explain yourself, young man!”

“Aunt, it’s fine,” Emily said as she came to her senses. Her cheeks felt like the surface of the Sun. “He’s my, uh, boyfriend.”

“I haven’t heard of any boyfriends.” Nicky wagged her finger at James. “And you’d better watch out—”

“Nicky,” Dad interrupted, but before he could say anything more, Debbie shouted, “Hey, I’ve seen you before! Now I remember!” She pointed a finger at Will.

The heads of all the others collectively swung to Will.

“He’s in the pictures from your package. ”

“You opened that?” Emily gasped. “I told you not to open it!”

“I didn’t. You left the pictures scattered all over your bed. Historical photos, too, which, firstly—did you really think I wouldn’t look—and secondly, how can he be in a photo dated in 1891, and also here?” Debbie narrowed her eyes at Will.

“What are you talking about?” Nicky asked.

Debbie huffed. “I’m saying that Emily has plenty to explain.”

“Hey!” Emily said.

Her aunt shushed her with a wave of her hand. “You know I don’t appreciate you messing with me like that.” She turned to Dad. “Benjamin, did you know of any of this nonsense? What are these kids up to?”

Dad coughed awkwardly.

“Benjamin!”

“Aunt, leave him,” Emily said. She met Dad’s gaze, while Nicky, shifting from one to the other, narrowed her eyes. “Are you two in this together? What’s going on?”

Emily stared at her dad for a long moment until, finally, he gave a nod. She returned it and grabbed James’s hand.

“Aunt, you might want to sit down,” she said. “It’s going to be a long story.”