Come Down In Time (A Time Travel Romance) by Jennifer Ransom

“I
missed you last night.”
    “ I’m better than okay,” she
said, kissing him. “I feel great.”
    “ Can I come over tonight after
work?” he asked.
    “ Definitely,” she said. “I
want to see you.”
    Nate came over around seven that
night. Jamie had started cooking as soon as she got home from the
clinic. She roasted Cornish game hens in pepper and lemon juice and
made rice and steamed asparagus. They sat on the back porch after
supper. It was dark by then and Jamie lit a lantern on the table
between the wicker chairs.
    “ Do you get headaches often?”
Nate asked her as they sat there in the still night.
    “ No, I don’t,” she said. “I
don’t know what happened yesterday. It was unusual.”
    “ Just checking,” Nate said.
    “ Nothing to worry about,” she
said.
    A few minutes later, they went
inside. “Do you want me to stay?” Nate asked, uncertainly.
    “ Of course!” Jamie said. “Why
wouldn’t I want you to stay?” Nate had always stayed at her
house, or her at his. They had never asked each other about it. It
was just the way it was. No question about it.
    They got into bed and Jamie
turned out the bedside lamp. They came close to each other and
kissed. Jamie wanted Nate. She wanted to have a life and a future. As
they made love that night, Nate told her he loved her. She was going
to tell him, had planned to tell him she loved him, but he said it
first. “I love you, too,” she said.
    The next morning, when they woke
up, Nate said, “Jamie, I think I want to marry you.”
    “ Really?” she said. “Are
you sure?”
    “ I think I’m sure,” he
said.
    “ Well, so far you’ve said you think you want to marry me and you think you’re sure.
That doesn’t sound a hundred percent to me.”
    Nate got out of bed and put his
jeans on. He laughed then. “Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess I’m
getting carried away and trying to control it or something. Let me
rephrase. I want to marry you. I’m a hundred percent sure.”
    Jamie had never wanted to marry
anyone but Tommy. But now her life had changed. She had found someone
else, and she didn’t want to be without Nate. She couldn’t be
with Tommy. But she could be with Nate.
    “ Then I want to marry you,
too,” she said.
    “ If you’re serious, then
you’re gonna make me the happiest man on earth right now,” Nate
said. He pulled his shirt over his head. “Are you serious?”
    “ I’m serious,” she said
laughing.
    “ Then I’m gonna get you a
ring!” he said.
    “ Okay,” she said. Nate leaned
down to Jamie, who still lay in the bed naked. He kissed her.
    “ I’m off to the clinic,” he
said. “See you there.”
    After Nate left her house, Jamie
stayed in the bed for a few minutes, thinking. She had finally found
someone else, someone who could measure up to Tommy. It had been a
long time since she had felt love from a man and loved him back.
Surely Tommy would want her to find happiness. Surely he would.

Chapter
Six

    Jamie didn’t dream about Tommy
anymore. She didn’t want to dream about Tommy. She didn’t want to
feel those feelings for him anymore. What good would it do? Tommy was
dead. He had been dead for a dozen years.
    The next weekend, Nate came over
to Jamie’s house and they barbecued chicken on the grill. It was
May and the weather had warmed considerably. She and Nate drank wine
before supper, during supper, and after supper. Jamie was definitely
feeling the effects of the wine.
    While she and Nate were sitting
on the couch listening to his Beatles collection she had bought him
for Christmas, Nate pulled a box out of his jacket. It was wrapped in
beautiful silver paper. He handed it to Jamie.
    She tore the paper off and opened
the jewelry box. Inside was a sapphire ring.
    “ I got this ring in North
Carolina from the Cherokees. I wanted it to be special.”
    Nate took the blue ring from the
box and held Jamie’s left hand.
    “ If you still want to marry me,
I want to put this ring on your