Voyage in Time: The Titanic (Out of Time #9) (18 page)

It was incredibly disappointing. Their one lead went up in a puff of smoke. Anyone on the ship could have been smoking them. They were no closer to finding out who their new mystery man was than before.

Suddenly, Simon turned around and called after the salesman. “When did you put these out?”

“This morning.”

“Did you give any out before that?”

“No, but—”

“You said these are French,” Simon said, impatiently.
 

“Yes. They’re new. Only available there right now. I’m hoping to bring them—”

“Yes, to America.”
 

Elizabeth understood now. “So these can only be purchased in France?”

He nodded, confused. “For now, but you can try them for free here.”

Simon studied one of the cigarettes. “Thank you.”

The man nodded, still confused, but eventually wandered away again.

“Maybe we are not as lost as we think,” Niels said.

“I don’t understand,” Edmund said.

Simon held up the cigarette. “If these weren’t widely available yesterday when you saw our man, he brought them himself. Which means—”

“He was in France.”

“Or
from
France,” Elizabeth said, nodding toward a couple sitting in a pair of chairs in the corner of the room—George and Henrietta Rivet.
 

The four of them stood staring for a moment before Simon turned away. “We look like a bloody chorus line. Let’s break up and see what we can learn. The Rivets are certainly worth looking into.”

“I think Colonel Gracie said he’d been to France on this trip,” Edmund said. “But he’s such a nice—”

Simon held up a finger. “Elizabeth’s right. Everyone is a suspect.”

Niels looked around the nearly empty lounge. “Edmund and I will see what we can learn and you and your wife do the same.”

She could see Simon hesitate to let Niels out of their sight and so, apparently, did Edmund. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”

“You see, I am in good hands.”
 

Edmund smiled.

“Be subtle,” Simon said, “the last thing we need is to draw attention to the fact that we might be onto them.”

“Subtle, right,” Edmund said, then cracked his knuckles.

Simon looked at Niels briefly. “You’ll explain the concept to him?”

Niels laughed. “We will be fine.”

“All right. But we reconvene for lunch in …” He checked his watch. “Two hours. And be careful.”

Elizabeth and Simon watched the others wander off. “Where should we start?”
 

“Anywhere but in here.” The smoky air was starting to make her sick and what made her sick … Her hand went unconsciously to her stomach.

“Agreed.”

They left the smoking lounge and went out on deck. The fresh sea air was exactly what the doctor ordered. She took a deep cleansing breath as they walked down the promenade.

“The First Class lounge is right here,” Simon said. “As good a place as any to start. Although, I wonder if we’re just chasing our tails.”

Elizabeth looked up at him and he shrugged. “France is just across the Channel from England. Dozens of the First Class passengers have likely been there recently. I’m not sure we’ve really narrowed the field at all.”

She took hold of his arm. “From a few thousand to a few dozen sounds like an improvement to me.”

He smiled down fondly at her and pulled her closer.
 

He reached to open the door to go back inside just as Robert Sheridan and Louise Sheridan were coming out.

“Hello,” Elizabeth said. Next to her, she could almost hear Simon grinding his teeth.

“Isn’t it awful?” Louise said without preamble.

Elizabeth’s heart skipped a beat. “What is?”

“Another break-in. The countess this time.”

Elizabeth was relieved it wasn’t something worse, but she had a strange feeling. “Was anyone hurt?”
 

“No, thank God. But they took all of her jewels and Mr. Carrillo’s watch and cufflinks.”

“I hope they find the bastard,” Sheridan said. “You’d think on a ship like this they’d have a better sort of people.”

“Yes,” Simon said tightly.

“We’re going for refreshments,” Louise said. “Would you like to join us?”

“Maybe later,” Elizabeth said quickly. “Thank you, though.”

Elizabeth waited until they were gone and then looked up at Simon. “I am actually hungry.”

He chuckled. “Shocking.”

“I didn’t have any breakfast,” she said. “But I don’t want the Sheridans to see us eating right after we turned them down.”

“We can have something sent to our room, I suppose. Danish or—”

She smiled. “You had me at danish.”

He laughed again and they went to their suite. Elizabeth polished off two danishes and half a cruller.
 

“I’m stuffed.”

Simon took a sip of his tea. “I can’t imagine why.”

She smiled cheerfully at him, winning her a small chuckle in return. She pushed her chair away from the table, planning on going into the bedroom to reapply her lip rouge when a wave of dizziness overtook her. She tottered in place and grabbed onto the edge of the table to steady herself. Simon was up on his feet and at her side instantly.

“Elizabeth?”

She shook her head slightly and waited for the vertigo to pass. Thankfully, it quickly began to, but she still felt a little woozy and let Simon ease her back into her chair.

“What’s wrong?”

She started to tell him she was fine when he beat her to the punch.

“Don’t say nothing,” he said. “Are you ill?”

He put a hand to her forehead. She shook her head again.

His forehead creased with worry as he knelt down in front of her.
 

“I’m not sick,” she said.

He wasn’t appeased and she knew he wouldn’t be. Not now that she’d nearly passed out in front of him. She’d wanted to keep her secret to protect him from worry and it was having the exact opposite effect.

His hand rested on her knee and she took hold of it. He looked at her with such concern, she had to smile.
 

“I’m—” she hesitated. A strange nervousness overtook her, as if maybe saying it out loud would make it all a dream. But it wasn’t a dream. It was real. After months of trying, it had finally happened. “I’m pregnant.”

His eyes narrowed as if that would help him process the words. “You’re what?”

“I’m pregnant.”

He blinked at her, frozen in place. Then shook his head slightly, then tilted his head to to the side, trying to process.
 

His voice was rough and yet soft and tender. “You’re pregnant?”

She managed a wobbly smile.

He knelt there for a moment, mouth agape, probably trying to restart his heart. He blinked a few more times and then stood up so suddenly he nearly knocked the table over. “You—you’re sure?”

She nodded. “I think so. They don’t have any EPTs around here, but …” She nodded again.

A short small laugh escaped from somewhere deep inside him and he smiled in a way she’d never forget—a look of pure and absolute joy.
 

“You’re pregnant.”

He looked down at her belly and then back up into her eyes. She felt tears coming on but nodded.
 

He pulled her up to him and cupped her cheek. Then he pulled her into a deep kiss. He laughed again when it was over and pressed his forehead against hers.
 

“Surprise,” she said.

He laughed and hugged her again.

“At least we know she has a flare for the dramatic,” Elizabeth said.

He laughed. “Like her mother.”

The power of that moment, when they spoke of her not in the future tense, not in the abstract, but here and now as a person nearly among them, stunned her. She was real. Their daughter was real.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “Do you need to sit down?”

She shook her head but sat down anyway. Simon knelt in front of her.

“I just realized she’s a real person.” Seeing that he didn’t understand what she meant, she continued, “Part of me thought she was just a dream, you know?”

He nodded.
 

She put her hand over her stomach and laughed in wonder. “But she’s real.”

Simon’s expression changed then. He looked off into the distance. “Yes.”

“And now we’ve all just got to find a way to survive the sinking of the
Titanic
,” Elizabeth said with another laugh.

Simon didn’t join her. He stood. “Yes.”

“Simon.” She reached out for his hand and he turned around. The gears were turning inside his head—playing out scenarios and finding the answer to each, preparing.

He managed a smile. “You will be all right.”

“We,” she corrected.

He nodded. “We.”
 

But she wasn’t sure he was including himself in that. She tugged on his hand and he knelt down on one knee in front of her and kissed her hand.

“We’re in this together, right?” she said.

He nodded, but she saw the reservation in his eyes.

“We’re a
family
now.”

Everything from this moment on would be different. Every choice, every action weighed in a new way. Every word was an emotional powder keg in a way it had never been before.
 

“I love you so very much,” he said and then a smile came to his eyes. “Both of you.”

“And we love you. I’m speaking for two,” she added with a grin.

He nodded then leaned down and whispered, “Welcome to the family, Charlotte.”

S
IMON
COULD
BARELY
BELIEVE
his luck. Here he was kneeling before the woman he loved more than life itself knowing she was carrying the child he’d so desperately wanted.

“If you’re waiting for an answer,” Elizabeth said. “It might be awhile. Seven or eight months.”

He grinned sheepishly. How long he’d been silently staring at her belly, he had no idea. He stood. She held out her hand and he helped her up and took her into his arms.
 

She pulled his head down for a kiss and then trailed kisses along his jaw.

Her sudden shift to seductress caught him off guard, but he quickly forgot his surprise and pulled her more tightly against him.

“We should go back up on deck,” he said, half-heartedly.

“Not yet,” she said, her breath warm against his skin.

Suddenly, he pulled away and frowned. “Did you have soft cheese yesterday?”

“What?”

His frown deepened. “I can’t remember if you had cheese or not. There was some as an appetizer, I think.”

She was thoroughly confused. “Maybe
you
should stay here and rest.”

He shook his head and then smiled. “No, you didn’t. You had parmesan with your meal, but you’ll have to watch for that.”

“Cheese?”

He nodded. “Unpasteurized. Brie, Camembert, blue. They can be contaminated with Listeria. Very bad for you and the baby.”

She was still clearly confused by the sudden shift in conversation.

“There’s a whole host of things you’ll have to avoid,” he continued. “Didn’t you read any of those books I gave you?”

When they’d been trying to conceive, Simon had done what he did best—research. He’d read every book on pregnancy and childbirth he could find from Dr. Spock to Dr. Seuss.
 

“A few,” she said, sheepishly.

“Well, I read them all. Twice. You’re going to have to be careful what you eat and drink.”

“No booze.”

“Or coffee.”

She winced.

“And we’ll have to make sure you have enough calcium. Helps ward off high blood pressure and preeclampsia.”

She started to look worried. “Maybe I
should
just stay in the stateroom.”

“If only you would,” he said.
 

She put her arms around his waist again. “If only.”

“Your hormones are in overdrive.”

She nodded.

He was tempted. He was always tempted with Elizabeth. But the dangers of coffee and liquor paled in comparison to what she faced while she was still on this ship.
 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He pulled back and wiped the tear from her cheek. “Whatever for?”

“Because we’re here.” She looked around the room. “If I’d known before …”

The weight of it, the truth of their circumstance, pushed down on him. His pregnant wife was on the
Titanic
.
 

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. How this miracle had come didn’t matter to him, but making sure his wife and child were safe did. “You are the only thing that matters. You and our child.”

His eyes grew moist as he said it, the wonder of it eclipsing everything else for one blissful moment. The only thing he wanted to do was to hold her and never let her go. How cruelly ironic that it should be the same moment he would send her away.

“Do you remember the promise you made me before we came on board?” he asked.

She frowned in thought.
 

“That you would listen to me,” he continued. “When I said it was time to go—”

She shook her head. “I’m not leaving.”

“A promise is a promise, Elizabeth.”

He touched her cheek, then walked into the bedroom. She followed him in as he went to her jewelry box.
 

“I can’t leave you,” she said.

“You can and you will.” He opened the lid of the box. It was empty. A sickening feeling took hold in the pit of his stomach. “Where is it?”

“What do you mean?” She came to his side and looked into the box. “It was here. It was—Everything’s gone.”

All of her jewelry was missing, but only one piece mattered—the key. Without it, Elizabeth was trapped on board. Elizabeth and his child.

He picked up the box again as if his will could make reality change, but it was still empty. He tossed it aside and rummaged through the few things on top of the dresser. Nothing.
 

“No.” He refused to accept it.

He looked behind the dresser, beneath it, all around it, anywhere it was even remotely possible for a key to have to fall. With every passing second, with empty space, the truth became painfully clear.