31

HOPE

OCTOBER 11, 1692

NEW YORK

A rooster crowed somewhere in the fort. It woke me up, but I didn't want to get out of bed. Not now—maybe not at all today.

Isaac lay behind me, warm and strong, his arms around me. I had slept deeper and longer than ever before, my dreams sweet for the first time since losing 1912.

He must have felt me stirring, because he pulled me closer, nuzzling his face into my neck. A shiver of pleasure ran up my spine, and I let out a happy sigh.

"Do you think Grace would notice if we stayed here all day?" he asked.

I smiled. "I believe she would."

He groaned. "How many hours until 'tis acceptable for us to go back to bed?"

I laughed and rolled over to face my husband. "Thankfully, the days are growing shorter, so a few seconds earlier than yesterday."

He joined in my laughter but eventually let me go to get dressed. The smell of frying bacon and something sweet wafted up the ladder, telling me that Grace had been awake for a while. She would never come looking for me, but the longer I stayed upstairs, the more my cheeks would color when I finally made an appearance.

"Take your time," I told Isaac as I started down the ladder.

Grace was busy at the hearth, turning the bacon on the griddle. There was a lightness in her step as she moved from the hearth to the cupboard to take out the plates.

But it was the smile on her face that stopped me in my tracks.

All thoughts of being embarrassed faded as I stared at my sister. She was happy, glowing, vibrant. Grace had returned to me.

When she finally saw me standing there, her smile grew even more brilliant. "I woke up in 1912!"

"What?" I frowned, stunned. "What do you mean?"

She set the plates on the table and rushed across the room to me. She took my hands in hers. "I was unconscious from the aeroplane crash—I wasn't dead. Because my body couldn't wake up there, my conscious mind stayed here. Until yesterday. Mama explained that my brain had swollen but had finally returned to normal, which allowed me to wake up."

"You didn't die?" I couldn't believe it.

"Luc was there when I woke up." Tears sparkled in her eyes, but they didn't spill over her cheeks. She was too happy. "He asked me to marry him, Hope."

My legs felt weak, and I took my hand out of hers to grab the back of a nearby chair. Though I knew she was unhappy, I had thought she would be here with me forever.

Her smile slipped and was replaced by concern. "Do you not think I should marry him?"

My heart broke as I faced the truth. I couldn't fathom life without Grace. Yet how could I ask her to give up the man she loved? Especially when I had such happiness with Isaac. I could make her choose me—but I didn't want to force her. God had given us the gift of choice, and it wasn't my job to withhold it from my sister.

I mustered a smile, though my heart wept. "You must stay with him."

Sorrow was written all over her face. "I'm so sorry, Hope."

"No." I shook my head, though tears ran down my cheeks. I tried to remember every line and detail of her beautiful face. The shade of her eyes, the sound of her voice, the cadence of her words. "Don't be sorry." I wiped my cheek, impatient with my tears. "You belong with Luc, just as I belong with Isaac. God gave us the past eight days to realize what we both truly want and need. This is good." I said it even though I didn't believe it—not yet.

She pulled me into her arms, hugging me tight.

We held each other for a long time. Emotions and memories flooded my mind and heart as I thought about all we had lived through. I had never imagined a day when Grace might not be by my side—yet I was facing a lifetime without her.

"I will miss you with every breath I take," she whispered. "I love you more than life itself."

I clung to her, tears burning my eyes. "And I will miss you." It was all I could manage to say, though there was so much more. Even if I had forever with my sister, I could never say all I wanted or needed to say.

I couldn't wrap my mind around losing her—never seeing her again and not knowing how her life would turn out. Yet I trusted that God would be with Grace, just as He was with me, and that one day we would see each other again. The hope of that reunion kept my heart beating.

When Isaac finally came downstairs, our tears were shed, and we pulled apart. He looked between us, confusion on his brow.

"Grace woke up in 1912 last night while we slept," I explained as I wiped the last remnants of my tears with my apron. "She wasn't dead—just unconscious."

He still looked confused, so I wrapped my arm around his. "Grace is going to stay in 1912, Isaac. Tomorrow will be her last day here. She'll go to sleep before midnight on our birthday and will not wake up here ever again."

His gaze sliced to hers. "You're leaving us?"

She nodded, a sad smile on her face. "Luc has asked me to marry him, and I've said yes. I'll be there to help Mama and Daddy as they age and make sure the orphanage continues."

Isaac seemed almost as shaken as me. He opened his arms, and Grace went into his embrace.

I stepped back, watching my husband hug my sister, and more tears streamed down my cheeks. Isaac had been the most important man in our life here—and would continue to be so for me. Grace had spent years loving him, and she would miss him dearly. He would miss her, too, and we would grieve together.

But I was not jealous of their love. I was thankful they cared so deeply for each other.

"I'm sorry you will start your married life in mourning," Grace said as she pulled out of his embrace. "I never imagined this would happen."

"Don't worry about us." Isaac reached for my hand. "I will love and cherish Hope just as you have always done."

Grace's beautiful face was still glowing as she wiped her tears. "That is the only consolation I take in leaving you. The only one." She took a deep breath and then smiled at both of us. "Enough tears. We only have two days left together, and I don't want to spend them crying. We have a wedding and a birthday to celebrate."

I used my free hand to capture hers, nodding in agreement. "And an engagement."

She smiled at me—as only Grace could—and a lifetime of words seemed to pass between us. Those we had said and those we longed to say. Our relationship had not been perfect, but I had no regrets. I loved Grace completely, and she would always be a part of me.

We would make the most of our time together—and once she was gone, I would make the most of my life with Isaac. Time was a gift—one of the greatest we would ever be given—and I wouldn't take it for granted.

And one day, if we had children, they would learn all about Grace.