Page 23 of Time for You

Vibol checked his watch. “If you go now, you might catch them.”

“Go? We’ve got an hour left on our shift.”

“I’ll cover for you. Go, Daph.”

“But—”

Vibol held up his hand, an exasperated expression on his face. “Do you, or do you not, love him?”

“I—I can’t—”

“Exactly. If you didn’t, you’d say so. So fucking go , Daphne, now, before you miss your chance.”

“What will I say? He’s leaving.”

“You’re smart, you’ll figure it out. Now go, before I stop being magnanimous and change my mind.”

Daphne hesitated, her heart suddenly pounding. “I owe you!” she called, feet starting to move before her brain made the conscious decision.

“Big time,” Vibol yelled after her.

Daphne grabbed her bike and started racing down the streets, feet pumping as hard as she could.

She wasn’t sure of the portal’s exact location—Ellie had said it wasn’t the same place as before, but she hadn’t narrowed down the location, as far as Daphne knew—so the best place to start would be back at home.

She’d just have to hope they hadn’t left yet.

Daphne abandoned her bike, unlocked, at the rack and sprinted inside, not willing to even wait for the elevator. By the time she made it to their door, she was a disheveled, sweaty mess, but it would be worth it if she could see Henry and—

Well, she wasn’t sure what she’d do or say.

She couldn’t keep him from leaving and wouldn’t want to, but it felt strange for him to leave with so much left unsaid.

She wasn’t even sure how she’d phrase it, but she knew he needed to know how she felt, as clumsy and insufficient as her words might be.

But the apartment was silent. The tears sprang into her eyes as she closed the door behind her, wondering if it was even worth texting Ellie to find out where they were. It sounded like she and Henry had been rushing, so perhaps there wasn’t any point.

A folded piece of paper lay on the table, and Daphne forced herself to pick it up.

She knew what it was before she even opened it, and part of her didn’t want to read it, because a goodbye from Henry would be too final to bear.

But Daphne hadn’t gotten this far in life by shying away from hard things, so she opened it and read through tear-blurred eyes.

Dearest Daphne,

I’m not sure if I’ll ever get the courage to give you this, but I am afraid our days together are drawing to a close, and I don’t believe I’ll ever quite work up the nerve to tell you this directly, either.

Which leaves the written word, and this has never been my forte.

For that I apologize, but leaving without telling you the truth seems far worse than exposing you to my inelegant phrasing.

First, an explanation for my reticence on the balcony that morning. Not kissing you may be one of my life’s greatest regrets, and indeed it is already the thing I wish I could change between us. But I’ve had my heart broken before, and I knew that if I kissed you, it would shatter.

When I was still at university, I fell in love with a woman far above my station, the daughter of a duke.

I know you’ll likely scoff at that, and I understand, as after living here for this time, I understand why it seems absurd.

But where I am from, it doesn’t matter how wealthy one is—if you’re not from the aristocracy, there are limits to how far you can rise.

I had naively thought my father’s wealth might be enough, but it wasn’t.

I went to offer for her hand in marriage, and her father laughed at me.

A year later she was married to someone else, and I swore I would never risk a heartbreak like that again.

That was an easy promise to keep until I met you, Miss Griffin.

I’ve never felt this way before, and I know I never will again.

More than anything, that morning on the balcony, I wanted you to ask me to stay.

I know I cannot, but I wanted it all the same, and that breaks my heart more than you’ll ever know.

You’ve wounded me so deeply, I fear I shall never recover.

I do not tell you this to hurt you, but so you know, if I am gone, that the feelings I suspect you have were returned, but that it was for fear of breaking us both that I refrained.

I also suspect you will find that unbearably patriarchal of me, and for that I do beg your forgiveness. It may not have been my decision to make for you, but my cowardice won out. Please forgive me for that, and for letting you doubt I felt the same. I love you, Daphne, and I suspect I always will.

Forever yours,

Henry MacDonald

The world spun around her. Henry loved her, and he was gone.

Forever.

It was almost impossible to comprehend, harder to get her brain around than the fact that she had gone and fallen for the asshole in the first place.

He didn’t fit into her life plan—although to be fair, time travel in general wasn’t something that would fit neatly anywhere—but now that he was gone, she knew it would be nearly impossible to recover.

Henry had kept his distance to protect them both, but it had been pointless.

She couldn’t keep her heart safe from him, and now there was nothing to do but grieve.

She looked around her and Ellie’s apartment, hoping for another trace of him, but there was nothing.

The pantry and fridge were probably stocked, since he’d recently started braving the grocery store with Brittany, but that was it.

No other sign of the man who had quite literally dropped into her life out of nowhere, only to reorient it completely.

Daphne blinked, the tears starting to track down her cheeks. The doorknob twisted and she straightened, not wanting Ellie to immediately notice her devastation.

But then the door swung open. Henry strode through the door, tossing a backpack aside and catching her face in his hands before she even quite registered this was real, and not a hallucination. “I couldn’t,” he growled, and then he kissed her.

His lips were soft, but his jaw was rough, the stubble he must not have had time to shave prickling under her fingers.

Daphne’s brain finally caught up, and she found herself kissing him back just as hard and desperately.

He smelled like the outdoors, like fresh air and grass, and she tunneled her fingers into his hair to hold him close as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I couldn’t leave,” he murmured against her lips when they broke for air. “Not without kissing you.”

Daphne sought his lips for a slower, softer kiss. “When does the portal open?” All Ellie’s text had said was that it was soon. Maybe it wasn’t open yet, and this was just a goodbye.

“It’s closed,” Ellie said smugly.

Daphne pulled away from Henry to peer over his shoulder. “What? Henry, you didn’t go?”

“I didn’t,” he confirmed, cuffing his hand around the back of her neck to kiss her again.

“But—your family.”

Something sad flickered behind his eyes. “I’ll return to them eventually.”

“Oh good, they’re finally acting on it,” Michelle said, and Daphne had to pull away again. Michelle was next to Ellie, on her tiptoes.

“Wait, so he didn’t leave?” Brittany was behind her, arms crossed, wearing an identical smug expression to Ellie’s.

“He didn’t. He’s staying until the solstice.”

“Can you guys leave?” Daphne said, the grin on her face at complete odds with her irritated tone.

“Depends. How much of a show are we going to get? And did Ellie buy popcorn?” Brittany asked.

“I bought groceries this week, and no, I did not,” Henry said, walking purposefully over to the door. “Daphne will text when we’re ready to talk to everyone.” He shooed them out and shut the door firmly.

“This is my apartment, you know,” Ellie called through the door.

“Go hang out with someone else for an hour and then come back.”

“Okay, but don’t have sex on the countertops, please. I don’t want to eat where you’ve fucked.”

“Noted. Now go away,” Daphne yelled, doing a bad job of stifling her giggles. She half expected Henry to look scandalized, but he was chuckling, too. She turned and he tugged her in for a kiss, this time with a little less urgency but no less need.

“You really stayed for me?” she asked.

Henry kept his forehead against hers and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I did,” he whispered.

“I got your letter. I’m sorry about your ex.”

Henry gave her a small, sad smile and moved back, enough to look her in the eye but still close enough to keep his hands on her waist. “I was very young. I won’t say it was for the best, but I suspect it would have been a difficult marriage if I’d gotten my way.

But it left a deep impression that was hard to shake. ”

Daphne touched his cheek, and he nuzzled her palm. “You’re going back, though?”

“Ellie said the portal is opening again in a few months. I’ll go then.”

The solstice. That was barely three months away, but it was more than she thought she’d get with him, so she would take it. “Is it ... opening after that?”

Henry’s face was etched with pain. “Not for another seven years.”

Three months, then. That was all they would have. “Thank you for staying,” she said, taking his hand. “And for what you said in your letter.”

“I felt so foolish leaving it,” he admitted, and tugged her close for a hug. She rested her temple against his cheek. “Part of me worried I’d misread you.”

“But you stayed anyway?”

She felt, rather than saw, him smile. “I judged it would be worse to miss this time with you no matter what. I’d rather have been wrong and be stuck here for a few more very awkward months than risk losing you entirely.”