Edge Of Time

Eight

Eight

Marissa was in trouble. Deep trouble. And she would swear she hadn't gone looking for it. Wending her way through the cobbled streets of Charleston—to a destination that she was not entirely sure she would manage to reach—she contemplated the predicament, nay the mess that was her life. Nay? Heavens! Now I'm even thinking in old-fashioned speech! She was Marissa McClafferty born July 8, 1985, currently residing in Charleston, 1863—in the midst of the Confederate South—with a war on.

Even now it sounded impossible.

And, as was so wont to happen, life was crashing in on her from all sides and she had absolutely no idea what to do about it. Her futuristic knowledge of the inevitable death and destruction, and one could not forget heartache, be damned. She yearned with every other Charlestonian for a copy of Harper's Weekly and news of this terrible war. Her knowledge of medical advances yet to come was far more torturous than it was helpful, and every time she watched a soldier at the hospital die a slow, miserable death, said knowledge rattled taunting and useless in her mind.

And then there was Craig Langston, the real source of her trouble. She hadn't meant to get involved with him, she hadn't pursued him, and yet it had happened. She was thoroughly entangled with him. He came to call on her at Carolyn's house, walked her home from work almost every day, and in this time, a man as prominent as Craig Langston didn't publicly "court" a woman he wasn't actively interested in... Marissa gulped... marrying.

The lump that seemed to form in her throat whenever Craig popped into her head returned. When she saw him today, it would be to say goodbye forever, which quite simply sucked because she loved him. She loved him with every fiber of her being and when she thought of leaving him there was no gaping hole in her heart, just complete emptiness, as if no beating heart lived in her at all. But it didn't matter that she loved him because it could never be. It could never work. To be with him, she could never really be honest, and no relationship could survive if it was based on lies and half-truths. She didn't belong here and she was going home. Period.

Stopping in front of the impressive Charleston townhouse, Marissa drew a deep breath and willed the frantic beating of her heart to slow. This had to be done before the affair went any further. However much it hurt to walk away and spend her life without him she knew what it was to be left in the lurch. She would not lead him on any more than she already had.

Steeling her will against the tempting desire to take the coward's way out and simply hide from him until a route to the future was found, Marissa climbed the stone steps and lifted the heavy knocker.

The door opened and she jumped.

Craig stood just inside the doorway dressed in casual attire, charming her with his ever irresistible grin.

"Marissa!" He propped a muscular arm on the door frame and looked straight into her eyes, pleasure brimming over. Her heart stumbled, maybe even stopped for a beat or two. She opened her mouth but found no words forthcoming.