Indiana Belle (American Journey Book 3) (36 page)

Cameron tightened his hold on her.

"It's a fat piggy bank we can break when we go to 2017 to tie up my loose ends."

"Did I marry money, Mr. Coelho?"

Cameron kissed her cheek.

"You married someone who finally has a purpose for his nest egg."

Candice looked at him.

"Your school sounds nice. I'd like to help with it."

Cameron smiled.

"I thought you would."

The dreamers said no more for the next several blocks. They walked arm in arm, in splendid silence, until they reached the marina, stepped onto a bobbing wooden dock, and approached the sloop for the first time since loading their luggage into its hold Thursday night.

Cameron released Candice when they arrived. He waved to Captain Lawton Stiles, an Errol Flynn look-alike, as he walked down the gangway and joined the couple on the dock.

"Good morning, Captain," Cameron said. "I was afraid you had left without us."

Stiles grinned.

"I never leave without my customers."

"You're a shrewd businessman," Cameron said with a laugh. He shielded his eyes from the sun and scanned the sailboat. "Where are the others?"

"Most are inside," Stiles said. "We were just waiting for you."

Cameron looked again at the boat and saw a teenage boy wrap a rope near the bow. He knew the boy was one of ten people – four crew and six passengers – who would sail with the honeymooners for a month in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

"Then we won't keep you waiting any longer," Cameron said.

"There is no hurry, Mr. Coelho."

"In that case, I'd like to run an errand."

"Do as you wish," Stiles said.

"I won't be long," Cameron said. "Do you know where I can find a mailbox?"

Stiles pointed to a small building fifty yards away.

"There is one over there."

"Then I'll be just a minute," Cameron said. "Thank you."

The would-be educator took his wife's hand and led her away from the sloop and toward the marina office. He retrieved an envelope from his pants pocket as they approached a large metal receptacle near the office's front door.

"What's that?" Candice asked.

"It's a letter for my benefactor," Cameron said.

"What?"

Cameron chuckled.

"I'm sending Professor Bell an update. I thought it might be prudent to update him on the last four months before he releases the hounds and hauls me back to Los Angeles."

"You really should have written him earlier," Candice said.

"I know. I got distracted by an alluring woman," Cameron replied. He stopped in front of the mailbox, pulled his wife close, and gave her a tender kiss. "I won't let it happen again."

Candice laughed.

"You will if I have a say in the matter."

Cameron smiled.

"Are you ready, Mrs. Coelho?"

"Am I ready to leave?"

"Are you ready for life with me?"

"Yes," Candice said in a soft voice. "I've been ready for a long time."

"Then let's get our show on the road."

Cameron kissed his wife again and savored a special moment. Then he dropped his letter in the box, led Candice back to the boat, and began his new life. He didn't look back.

CHAPTER 65: GEOFFREY

Los Angeles, California – Friday, October 16, 1925

Ten minutes after pulling a letter from a post office box, Professor Geoffrey Bell escorted his wife into a coffee house, asked for a private table, and then followed Jeanette and the waiter to a booth in the back of the room. He asked for privacy because he did not want to be distracted or disrupted when he read a message that would surely contain the answers to many questions.

Bell waited for the server to bring coffee to the table and then retrieved the letter from his jacket pocket. He glanced at the envelope, sighed, and then looked at his spouse.

"Dare I open it?" he asked.

Jeanette smiled.

"You don't have a choice."

"I was afraid you would say that," Bell said.

"Open it, dear. It will be all right," Jeanette said. "When did he send it?"

Bell frowned.

"He mailed it two weeks ago from Key West, Florida. There is no return address."

"Key West?" Jeanette asked. She giggled. "I know how this story ends."

"We'll see."

Bell opened the envelope and pulled out a letter, a map, and articles from the
Evansville Post
. The stories reported a wedding, the arrest of several business figures, and the heroism of a once vilified janitor who had saved at least two people from a violent end.

Bell set the news articles aside and gave the letter a quick scan. He looked for stop words like "couldn't," "failed," and "tried," but he didn't see anything that caused alarm. He sipped his coffee and then read the letter completely. When he finished, he leaned back in his seat, placed the letter on the table, and gazed at his wife.

"Well?" Jeanette asked. "What did he say?"

Bell pushed the letter across the table.

"See for yourself."

The professor watched with interest as Jeanette snapped up the letter and stared at the sheets like she was reading an erotic novel. He smiled when her eyes grew wide.

"She's pregnant?" Jeanette asked.

Bell chuckled.

"It appears Mr. Coelho is quite the family man."

Jeanette looked at her husband with incredulous eyes and then resumed reading the letter. She finished a minute later and placed the sheets on the table.

"I had no idea, Geoffrey. I urged Cameron to save Candice's life and prevent a miscarriage of justice, not to rush into anything like marriage or children."

"You knew this was possible though," Bell said.

"I suppose I did," Jeanette said. She gave her mate a nervous glance. "I should have thought things through or at least consulted you. Are you upset with me?"

Bell smiled warmly.

"Of course not. You did what
I
should have done. You brought two lonely souls together and created what I'm sure will be a loving family. How could I object to that?"

Jeanette smiled.

"You surprise me. Even when I act behind your back and do something I know you won't like, you make me look like Mother Teresa."

"It's because I know you have the best of intentions," Bell said. "You did what a mother would do in this situation. You looked after your boy. You guided him and gave him a nudge when he needed it most. I admire that."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Do you think they will make it?" Jeanette asked.

"I know they will," Bell said.

"Why are you sure?"

The professor smiled.

"I'm sure because Cameron and Candice are dreamers. Dreamers overcome the odds, my dear. They make things happen. They pave the way for the possible."

Jeanette tilted her head.

"Is this my husband talking?"

Bell chuckled.

"No. It's someone else. It's a person who is going to be a little more trusting and a little less cynical in the future. It's a person I think even Mr. Coelho would like."

The professor took a breath and retrieved the letter. A moment later, he read it again.

Friday, October 2, 1925

Key West, Florida

Dear Professor Bell:

I hope this letter finds you happy and healthy. I use the word happy with caution because I suspect I have made you unhappy. I hope that is not the case. When I traveled to this time nearly seven months I ago, I did not plan to stir up trouble. I intended only to deliver on one promise and seek alternatives to another.

I managed to fulfill the first promise with relative ease. I found the cave in June, with little difficulty, and without attracting the attention of others. I have marked the site's location in the enclosed map and will soon send you some of its bounty, including hundreds of gypsum crystals, formulas, and a master key that ties them together like a bow on a present.

Fulfilling the second promise was always going to be tough. I never had any intention of letting an innocent woman die. To do so would have been to invite the kind of guilt and remorse that no man, even a strong one, could endure for long.

So I set out to change the past. I set out to save Candice Bell from a terrible fate, put her on a different path, and perhaps right a few wrongs. I planned to do these things and others and return to you with a clear conscience and an expanded mind. I planned to return to my safe, boring, predictable life in 2017 and resume where I had left off. I did not plan to fall in love.

Candice and I married on July 18, 1925, before a hundred witnesses, including a supportive family, grateful friends, and a custodian who found redemption and justice on the same day. We did so because we decided that life together was better than life apart and that our love for each other far exceeded our significant differences.

We intend to remain in 1925. We want to build a house, run a school, and raise corn and kids on a farm that will always remain in your family. Our first child, in fact, is due in March.

I did not decide to stay without reservation. Like you and most twenty-first-century residents, I like the trappings of the digital age. I will miss fast boats, fast cars, modern medicine, and timesaving gadgets, but I won't miss them enough to give up what I expect to gain in return.

I am sure many would consider me misguided or mad. Perhaps you do as well. I don't know. I know only that I am comfortable with my decision. I am comfortable with my choice because I have seen the future – the distant future, in fact – and decided I prefer the past.

There is a beauty in this simpler, unrushed era that most in your time – my time – will never see. It is found in family conversations, the blush of first love, a newsboy's persistence, and the smile of a woman who would rather be a mother than an editor. It is something I rarely saw growing up and something I don't want to give up now.

That is not to say I won't ever return to 2017. Candice and I plan to visit you at the earliest opportunity to update you on our progress, tell you about Prudence and Ted, and relieve you of any burdens imposed by authorities inquiring about my absence.

I look forward to seeing you and Mrs. Bell again, offering my thanks, and telling you what a difference you have made in one man's life. Until then, take care.

Cameron

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

If there is one thing I have learned in four years, it's that publishing a novel is not a solitary venture. Most authors require the assistance of others to produce their best work, and I am no exception. I am deeply indebted to several people who offered their time, talents, and insights.

They include Cheryl Heldt, Cathy Hundley, Esther Johnson, and Christine Stinson, who read the early drafts; Morgan Coyner, Mary Heldt, David Quast, and Becky Skelton, who read the later drafts; and Jon Johnson, Leslie Teske Mills, and Diana Zimmerman, who provided expertise on a variety of subjects.

I am also grateful to editor Aaron Yost, illustrator Laura Wright LaRoche, and those who provided research assistance and guidance. Among the most helpful were staff members from the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library (Indiana), Library of Congress, and Rogers Free Library (Bristol, Rhode Island).

While writing this novel, I consulted several books. They include
The 1920s
by Richard Tames,
The American Century
by Harold Evans,
The American Heritage History of the 20's & 30's
,
Death Rides the Sky: The Story of the 1925 Tri-State Tornado
by Angela Mason, and
The Tri-State Tornado: The Story of America's Greatest Tornado Disaster
by Peter Felknor.

I also learned much about the Roaring Twenties by reading the
Adair County News
(Kentucky),
Evansville Courier
(Indiana),
Herald of Gospel Liberty
,
Huntington Herald
(Indiana),
Indiana Magazine of History
, and
Indianapolis News
. I encourage readers to consult these and other resources when seeking information about a truly remarkable era.