Edge of Time (Langston Brothers Series) (20 page)

A ghost? Something, some bit of half-recognized knowledge hovered just on the periphery of Marissa’s mind, but in its exhausted haze her brain couldn’t quite wrap around the idea. A ghost. The haunted woods. Time travel. People disappearing every twenty years...

“What is this about a man digging in your woods?” Craig’s deep voice successfully scattered the swirl of thoughts from her sleep deprived brain and sent her heart to tripping. “This isn’t about Paul Christenson following Marissa again is it?”

“Dr. Langston.” Sheriff Hudson extended a hand and Craig took it. “No, Mr. Christenson seems to have been leaving this young lady alone, but a while back Mrs. Harris and her niece saw a man digging in the woods beyond their barn. We haven’t been able to find much, but I think it best they remain in town for the time being.”

Turning his smoldering gaze to Marissa, Craig crossed burly arms over his chest. “That is why you’ve been staying with Carolyn? Why didn’t you tell me?” His tone was accusing.

“There was nothing to tell, Craig.”

“You don’t think Paul could be the one in the woods?”

Marissa
only half-listened
as Craig discussed the situation
with the sheriff. She continued
grappling with the thought foremost in her mind. A ghost? Disappearances every twenty years… She must appear to those on the other side of the portal as a mysterious disappearance, and
—

Marissa’s eyes snapped open.
The Epiphany hit with monumental force. A ghost? Marissa thought of the wraithlike silhouettes she’d seen before being sucked into 1863. Could the man digging in the woods really be a window to the future? Could the entire legend about a murderer in the woods really be more about a wormhole through time? The wormhole back to
her
time?

Slipping past Craig, who was deep in conversation with the sheriff, she hoped to escape without his immediately following, but she should have known better. He was hot on her heels in less than two heartbeats.

“Marissa, stop,” he commanded. “
I demand to know what is going on
.”

Damn it! Marissa swore to herself, she’d taken a wrong turn in her haste to escape and inadvertently backed herself into a corner. Whirling, she sought to get past him again. “Craig, I don’t have time for this. I have to go.
Now
!” She shoved against his chest.
Dear God,
she thought, momentarily dumbstruck as her palms struck the rock hardness of him
. How can any man be so damned solid?

Shaking her head, she squeezed past him, but Craig would have none of it. Seizing her about the waist he pressed close, backing her up until she
hit the wall, forcing her
to look into his eyes.

His breath was hot on her face as he whispered, “Where are you going, Marissa?”

“None of your business.” She was trapped between the solid wall of brick at her back and the solid wall of flesh at her front.

“None of my business? You agreed to be my wife which makes wherever you’re running off to very much my business.”

“
Your wife?
” She sputtered in disbelief.
“
I realize the words yes and sex sort of rhyme, but where I come from they do not mean the same thing. I never said I’d marry you!”

“Well, where I come from yes and sex
do
mean the same thing when immediately preceded by a marriage proposal.” The hurt in his eyes wrung her heart until she was certain blood no longer flowed through it. “You said you loved me, Marissa.”

“I said I think… I…”
Craig shifted even closer, pressing the length of his hard frame provocatively
against
her, effectively scattering
the remnants
of her argument to the wind
. H
is eyes burned into her
with
an intensity that bordered fire and once again she sensed his fire seeping into her. Paralyzed
she could
nothing but
allow her lids to flutter closed and accept the gentle caress he bestowed upon her lips.

All too soon a voice pierced the intimate shroud enveloping the pair
, finally dragging them apart
.
“Dr. Langston!
You are needed
in the operating room
.”

“This isn’t over,” Craig growled huskily
,
pulling her roughly against him. B
efore she could mount any sort of protest
he
took her lips in another hot kiss.

Abruptly breaking off the exchange Craig strode without a backward glance
out of the secluded hall, leaving her completely alone.

H
er heart shattered. If
her theory proved true, this
was the last time she’d ever see him.

Edge of Time
230

Nine

Craig rushed with determination along the busy streets of Charleston. Of all the days to be unable to escape that infernal hospital it had to be today! Marissa had left in a variable huff near an hour ago and after their
rather bizarre conversation
he was near desperate to speak with her,
and discover what the hell was going on.

He should have realized something was
amiss
after they’d made love, but he’d been too lost in his own bliss, too ecstatic to have won her, to recog
nize that even as she gave
herself to him she was pulling away. Until now he’d never entertained the thought of not being with her. And now he couldn’t stand it.

After reaching Carolyn Reed’s house he took the stairs two at a time. “Is Marissa home?” he demanded before Carolyn managed to open the door more than a few inches.

Startled Carolyn shook her head. “No, I’m afraid she went out for a ride some
time ago. But you’re more than welcome to wait for her.”

In total frustration he raked a hand through his hair. “No, I’ll try back later. Thanks anyway.” Turning on a heel he strode away deep in thought. So she’d gone for a ride? She should know better than to go off alone! Ridiculous as the accusations were she was a suspected Yankee spy, for Christ sake!

It took another fifteen minutes to retrieve his buckskin gelding, Jeb, and his outlook on the future grew bleaker by the second. Being with Marissa was better than anything he could have imagined, and to think of life without her… That life quite simply was not worth living.

He loved her.

He loved the way she stubbed her toe ten times a day, and the way her face flushed red when she swore about it. He loved the way she compulsively cleaned and organized and then reorganized everything. And he loved the fact he knew her well enough to recognize that most of her reorganization efforts happened when she was upset.

Turning up the dusty drive of the Harris farm Craig didn’t immediately see Marissa. Carolyn’s ancient bay
grazed
beneath a tree, that damned rooster was staring him down
—
really someone should just shoot the miserable creature and drop it in a stewpot
—
but the one he sought was nowhere to be seen. A rapid search of the house revealed no sign she’d been inside, and a quick surveillance of the grounds lent no clue
as
to her whereabouts. Grace and Fredrick must
already be gone for the day
as not even the older couple seemed to be around. Where could she be?
Sweeping
the gray cap of his head he raked a thoughtful hand through his hair, turning
a slow circle about the front yard.
The only place he hadn’t searched was… the woods.

Would she really have ventured into those woods alone? Anxiously he glanced upward, nearly dark. The mysterious dig
ger could be out there even now.

*     *     *

The woods were dark, forbidding, with an aura that screamed
haunted.
Mist curled around the trees and the air was so unnaturally still that Marissa jumped like a scared rabbit when a squirrel leapt from one branch to another. This was probably the stupidest thing she’d ever done, but it could be
her one chance to get back home.
The road back to television, a hot shower, and away from Craig…

A strong fist gripped her arm in a steely vise.

Sheer panic coursed through her and she jerked violently to escape her wo
uld be captor,
cut
ting loose
a bloodcurdling scream, though she knew there wasn’t another soul around.
What was I thinking to come out here alone? Getting back to the future is not worth being murdered!

Whirling, she beat ferociously at the man
,
attempting to hit, bite, claw, kick or whatever other measures would secure her freedom. It wasn’t until she caught a glimpse of intense blue eyes that she stopped fighting.

“Jesus Christ, Marissa!” Craig
stumbled back a step, holding a
hand over his left eye where she’d st
ruck him.

“Craig.” Her eyes widened in alarm as she clasped her hands to her face. “Oh my God.” She
stepped
forward. “I am so sorry. I didn’t realize it was you!”

Swiftly he yanked his head away from her probing hands.

“Come on let me look at it.
”
S
he stood on tip toe to get a better look, but Craig stubbornly refused to move his hand. “Oh, I swear, doctors are the biggest babies!” She threw up her hands in a show of defeat. “It’s your own fault, you know. If you hadn’t snuck up on me th
is never would have happened.”

Craig turned
a dubious one-eyed look to her.
“Is that so?” Finally daring to move his hand he tentatively opened the injured eye. “Damn it, what were you doing out here in the first place?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing,” she repeated turning away from him. “Besides it’s none of your business!”

“Marissa, there is someone, a madman for all we know, out here digging in the woods for reasons I’m sure o
nly the devil knows.
I therefore
believe
it is very much my business if you decide to come traipsing about the woods unaccompanied. Good God, you could have been killed!”

“Oh, please.” Marissa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “You’re being melodramatic
. I made short work of you.”

“Touché.” He bowed in mock salute. “
I never imagined such fury could erupt f
rom a woman so
small.”

“That I can take care of myself is beside the point
because it’s still none of your business what I do with my time!”

Striding forward he shot back.
“You are impossible! You know that?”

“Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment,” she retorted, giving him a show of her back again.

“Well it wasn’t intended as one.” The tense muscle in his jaw bulged. “You still haven’t answered my question as to
why
you cam
e out here in the first place.”

She spun back around, mouth op
e
n. “I—”

He
raised a
silencing
finger. “And do not say that it’s none of my business.”

Raising her c
hin in a haughty gesture she shrugged.
“I was curious.”
Curious?
The excuse sounded ridiculous even to her so she covered with another spurt of anger. “Oh why do you care anyway?”

“Rahhh!” Craig roared
,
taking a step back to glare at her. “How can you even ask that? I asked you to be my wife, goddamn it.” He clasped a hand over his chest for emphasis. “I love you! I don’t see any reason why there should be confusion as to why I care when you decide to go strolling through a madman’s backyard.
Curious
? God, Marissa!”

Sh
e
startled at the force of his words. He was
shouting.
He’d
never
shouted at her before. More than that… his anger bordered on rage and
she
stood squarely at the center of his wrath. His hands clenched into meaty fists
. A
bruptly he pivoted, driving
one into
a nearby tree. A shower of bark rained down on the forest floor.

Marissa jumped. “Craig, no! You’ll break your hand.”

He whirled back on her, eyes flashing. He advanced on her, both hands swinging easily at his sides. He didn’t appear to be injured.
“What have I done to deserve this treatment, Marissa? What? I’m
tired
of this continual push and pull game you play with me.” Craig
s
to
pped a few feet from her and a bit of the fierceness in his stance sobered. He spread his arms as though asking the universe along with her a question. “
What do you want? Or more importantly, why don’t you want me?”

She hesitated, unsure what to say, fighting the tears battling to run free.
“It’s not you, Craig.” Her throat con
stricted, choking off the words.
“There are things... things you don’t know about me.”

“Do you love me or not?”

Marissa bit her lip,
desperate
t
o maintain
s
ilence.

More of the anger dissolved from his handsome features, replaced by the compassionate guise of the man she knew so well. Her insides trembled, threatening
veto her
resolve. Craig
moved in then, stopping not half a foot from her, tiling her chin with gentle fingers
. “
You are a puzzle,” he murmured.
“I look into your eyes and see so much conflict. Share it with me, Marissa
. Let me take it from
you
.” H
e
took
her face between his rough palms and press
ed
his forehead to hers.

She crumbled.

The warmth of his hands, the pain of rejection she’d seen in his eyes
—
pain she knew all too well
—
pain she’d inflicted on him
—
and the thrill of his touch combined until the barrier of hurt, betrayal and confusion crumbled away, letting rays of sunshine and clarity into her dreary world. “Craig, I...” she flicked her eyes away from the intensi
ty of his gaze and stopped cold.
“What is that?”

Several yards away the eerie shrouding of mist parted revealing a piece of steel gray fabric that perfectly match
ed
Craig’s Confederate uniform.

“What?”

She stepped around him, taking a tentative step toward the fabric, drawing closer, a sickening of dread sett
l
ing in the pit of her stomach.