He was as upset as she was, only handling it much better. Still, she had to admit, as ashamed as she was by her shrinking violet behavior, she was glad to settle in against his chest.
In the playroom, he set her back on her feet and the boys rushed her, nearly knocking her over. She let them dance around her like eager pups, their grubby hands and loud voices a balm to her soul. Ashford shooed away the servant who’d been given the unenviable position to watch over them while Farrah was away.
“Let your mother breathe, lads,” Ashford called over their din.
Nathan peeled his skinny arms from around her neck but she grabbed him back, squeezing him until he squeaked.
“Are you enjoying yourselves?” she asked, hoping her voice didn’t sound strained.
“Yes!” they chorused. “We don’t ever want to go back to London.”
“Never go back to London?” She looked to Ashford, who gazed fondly at his sons. “Did you hear that, Da? These scoundrels never want to go back home.”
Red creeped up Ashford’s neck and he tugged at his collar. “Ah, well. About that,” he said as the boys went back to their game. “We still need to talk about that.”
Chapter 13
“What happened? Wh-what happened?”
Ariana was a stammering mess, repeating the same thing over and over as she stared at the glass and cement monstrosity that should have been her home. Dexter couldn’t speak, afraid he’d degrade into terrified babbling as well. What had happened? He’d left Belmary House the night before with Ariana in tow and now his place of employment was a posh shopping mall. He saw it with his own eyes but couldn’t seem to make his brain believe it. Was he out of a job?
He choked out a laugh at that odd, selfish thought and it instantly died in his throat. Where was Tilly? And the boys? And Ashford? What had become of them? He found he was gripping the steering wheel and peeled his fingers off one by one. He reached over and put his hand on Ariana’s arm. Her hysterical questions stopped as if he’d pressed a mute button. She took a deep breath and held it until he shook her arm.
“Ariana, take a breath.”
She sucked in a ragged gasp and turned to face him “Where’s my mum and dad and brothers? Did everything change?”
The last question hit him like a blow from a sledge hammer straight to his chest. Did everything change? Everything? If he no longer worked at Belmary House, that meant Emma didn’t either. Did she know who he was?
Certainly. She must. He tried to calm himself and concentrate on Ariana’s fears. He was a father— a step-father but wasn’t that the same? And he was going to be a father soon enough. He had to stop thinking about himself and concentrate on the devastated teenager next to him, fearful she’d lost everything.
“Are you sure you’re in the right place?” she asked for the tenth time. Instead of nodding or snapping an affirmative, he pointed to the far end of the parking lot.
“Look. That’s the old wall that used to surround your fruit orchard, isn’t it? They must have saved it for some reason.” It looked like the same upscale neighborhood was on the other side of the wall. That hadn’t changed, at least.
“But what happened? What happened to the house?”
“I don’t know.” He started to get out of the car but was suddenly afraid. Maybe if they went home they could start again and everything would right itself by the time they returned.
“Will Emma know?” She sounded small and far away. He prayed she wasn’t going into shock. Was he going into shock?
The sledgehammer hit him again. He took a deep, slow breath to ease the pain in his chest. Would Emma know him? He reminded himself that of course she would. They’d been through a lot together. This change couldn’t have erased their time together thirteen years ago when she’d been transported back to his time.
Except that it could have. It all depended on the house. The house was why she’d gone back in the first place. What if she didn’t remember him, because she’d never met him. What about the child they were having? Was the unborn baby gone as well? Never existed except in his mind. Memories that were no longer real because they’d never existed.
He shoved his way out of the car and stumbled a few feet away, trying to catch his breath. Ariana couldn’t get out her side so she scrambled over the seat and caught him by the arm before he crashed face first onto the ground.
“Emma,” he gasped. She had to know him. Their life couldn’t have been ripped from him. He almost recoiled from Ariana. This was all her doing.
“Let’s find her,” she said. “She may know what happened, but if she doesn’t, she’ll be as confused as we are.”
He was surprised by her sudden composure and realized she must be worried enough about him to put aside her own fears, which meant he must be acting quite alarming. He pulled himself together, as much as he could, and straightened up.
“She’ll be getting off at the bus stop at the corner,” he said, pointing toward the old wall. “No, she wanted to make sure Dahlia got to school, so she’ll have gone with her.” He smiled wryly. Dahlia would have hated that. Emma would have gotten off at that stop with their wayward daughter and watched her walk into the school building. Then she would have come to work as usual. “The Underground is closer from that direction. This way, it’s about a block away. If it’s still there.”
“Will no one look at me oddly in this attire?” She held up the sides of her skirts.
He opened his mouth to say people from the museum often dressed up in period clothing and walked around the area, trying
