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Chapter 8

  • Emma stood at the door, second, third and fourth guessing herself. Did she want to go out there in the dark and see if he was there again? She’d looked through every window and there hadn’t been any sign of him in the half hour since the sun went down. Going out there to find no one would mean her mind wasn’t as sound as she hoped it was. Then again if she went out there and found the man that could possibly be some sort of ghost, was that something she wanted to know really existed? On the third hand, yes she had three right now for this situation, if she stayed inside she would never know and that was something she knew would always nag away at her.
  • Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped outside. Scanning the deck quickly she realized there were no flowers or evidence of anyone having been out here. So far, all was normal including her state of mind. Clasping the hot cup of tea in both hands, she moved slowly off the deck in the direction of the dock.
  • The night was silent, barely a breeze or the ruffle of leaves. The quietness was nice, peaceful but then again this whole place seemed to have a bubble of serenity over it. She was sure in the summer with the hot weather and lake things were a little livelier and maybe next year she’d come and check it out. For now though the silence was just what she needed.
  • Her shoes on the dock made the only sound she could hear as she moved down near the end and stood there. Did she stand here and wait a while to see if she had really been hallucinating that last few times? Before she could decide she heard the unmistakable sound of wet soggy shoes on the boards behind her. Bracing herself, she turned around slowly to see that same man walking towards her with his hands tucked in his pockets.
  • He motioned towards her cup. “Straight tea tonight?”
  • Emma felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. “Uh, yeah I think I’m over the wine guzzling spree.”
  • That brought a smile to his handsome face. “Might be a good thing.”
  • She looked down to see the water pooling around his feet. His pants were wet too almost to his knees.
  • Clearing his throat, he brought her attention back to his face. “Don’t ask.”
  • To steady her nerves, she took a small sip of the tea and swallowed it slowly before speaking again. “I’m a little fuzzy on the details of last night, so please don’t take offence if I ask to go over it tonight as well.”
  • “That’s understandable and not a problem.” He shook one foot for a few seconds. “Do you mind if we sit on the deck? I’m a little cold—which is actually fantastic to feel when I think about it.”
  • “I wasn’t making you up was I?”
  • He chuckled. “No. I am very much here and with any luck we can figure out how to keep me that way.” Turning he started to head off the dock.
  • “I don’t understand.”
  • Snorting he looked over his shoulder to find her following. “That makes two of us, Lady. Only diff is I’ve been in the dark for thirty-eight years and you’ve only just joined me in the last few days.”
  • ~
  • Holding up her hand, Emma looked over at the man sitting across from her. The thick sweater didn’t seem to stop the cool breeze that had started, but cold or not she wasn’t about to let this conversation stop for anything. “Okay. Just give me a second here to re-cap, because I’m still struggling with some of this.”
  • “I did warn you this was something out of The Twilight Zone.”
  • She smiled at him, he had a sense of humor but she supposed he needed to for survival all these years. “And I believe you on that score.” She tried to ignore the shiver.
  • “Emma?” He motioned to the door. “We could probably go inside if you’re cold. At least I hope I can go inside without anything happening.”
  • “Really? You don’t know if you can?” She groaned. “Of course you don’t.” Standing up she moved over to the door. “Let’s try then because my teeth are about to start chattering.” A week ago she never would have opened the door an invited a stranger inside. Then again a week ago she didn’t know that things like this could really happen.
  • Going inside she held the door open. She found herself holding her breath as he stood on the outside of the doorway and looked inside. If she was feeling anxious for him, she couldn’t imagine what he was feeling.
  • Moving one foot inside the door, he held the frame almost like he was afraid to go any further. “Feeling a little freaked here,” he mumbled apologetically.
  • “If I were you, I’d do it all at once and get it over with.”
  • His pale eyes brushed over her face. “Really?”
  • She nodded and opened the door further.
  • “Here goes.” In one motion he hopped through the door and landed with a wet thud on the inside. Steadying himself, he looked at her and grinned. “I’m still here.”
  • Nodding, she closed the door and then turned to see him still standing in the exact spot he’d jumped to. “I’m dripping on the carpet.”
  • Looking down, she smirked at his faded red shoes. That was something you didn’t see grown men wearing, at least not the men she knew. “You really are from 1973 aren’t you?”
  • “What gave me away?” He held out his arms.
  • Emma stood back and studied him in the light. His sandy blonde hair hung to his shoulders and was feathered into many layers. It was outdated, but it still looked good on him. He had on a fringed brown vest with a faded blue t-shirt underneath, again not something she’d ever seen on an adult before—or child as far as that went. His pants were a combination of skinny jeans down to the knees but flare bottoms to his feet and they were a pale brown that oddly enough went with the vest. The red canvas running shoes just completed the outfit in a way that today, only a color-blind person would do. She smiled at him. “I might have some track pants that you could put on, rather than stay in the wet clothes.” You would have thought she’d just offered him a designer label when his eyes filled with excitement.
  • “Sweetie, you could let me wear one of your dresses and I’d be a thrilled boy right now.” He motioned to his outfit. “I’ve been wearing this since that fateful day.”
  • “Oh. Yeah, I’d be excited about baggy cotton too.” She moved past him quickly to go find the pants.