Time Travel With a Rude English Boy from the Nineteenth Century.

DACRE’S POV

The garden was vast. It was filled with flowers of every sort, every bulb a brilliant burst of color in the rich sunlight. I sat down on a bench and tried to sort out my thoughts.

Were Payton’s daft parents right? Was I infatuated with the American girl? I quickly supplied a mental pro and con list.

Pros: She was strong and unique. She had a great sense of humor and this determination to accomplish anything at all. She loved money just as I did, and resorted to crafty schemes just to attain it. She kept me on my toes. And her looks… Her vibrantly golden hair, exotic tanned skin, dexterous and intelligent slim hands, and those pristine cerulean eyes. Her eyes were not afraid to meet mine, and I had this hunch that they saw right through me.

Cons: she was foreign. She was from the future. She could easily maul me in a fight. She was stubborn, and infuriating, cheeky, and cunning. She had one dimple that dented her right cheek, only one. It was unsymmetrical. She was independent, intelligent and oh, God who am I kidding? The woman has me tied around her finger! Payton’s mother was right, she had snatched my heart when I wasn’t looking! ME, the best pickpocket in London, hell, even in England! I was pining for her, like a string attached to my heart was tugging me along, urging me to find her. I gripped the bench to keep from pursuing to find her. I was in love with Payton, the bizarre, amazing and violent girl from the future.

But when? When could I possibly have fallen for her? Was it when I kissed her to swipe the blackmail from the future she had against us? Or when she rendered that drunken man unconscious? Or had I fallen for her just along the way? I suppose it didn’t matter now. What did matter was that I had a chance and blew it. She trusted me when I kissed her, and I violated that trust when I stole her future device. The contraption felt heavy in my trouser pocket.

I buried my face in one hand and plucked a white carnation with the other. Twirling the flower between my fingers, I wallowed in the grief that accompanied my actions.

I had unknowingly permitted Payton to slip through my fingers.

What a fool I was.

PAYTON’S POV

“You mean to say…” I frowned, doing the math in my head. “The Duke is my uncle? And who is Phoebe? Oh, Hell I’m so confused.”

My dad smiled and squeezed my mother’s hand. “Phoebe is your cousin, dear. Phoebe Azalea Hatch.”

“Azalea… Azalea is my cousin?” I asked incredulously. “I didn’t know!” I sunk further into the chair, rubbing my temples. No matter how much I massaged my forehead, it didn’t seem to be stopping the horrendous headache that was looming over me.

My mother sighed wistfully and announced to my father, “It’s time to tell her the truth, dear. She needs to know why she’s here.”

“Huh?” I asked dubiously.

My mother looked at me and held out her hand. I grabbed it and gave it an encouraging squeeze, prompting her to tell me what was on her mind. “I’m dying, poppet. I’ve been dying for a very long time and I don’t have long to live. My brother, the Duke— your uncle, he set up this meeting so that I could meet my little girl before I expired. As it turns out, my little girl is already all grown up.”

“Mother, you can’t!” I exclaimed, gripping her hand tighter. “I just met you! What are you sick with, leukemia, cancer? There are treatments in the future, we can go right now! I have the time machine right here…” I released her hand and fumbled in my skirt pockets for the golden pocket watch.

“Payton,” my mother interjected. “It’s not a known disease, there is no cure! Please, don’t worry at my expense. All I ever wanted was to meet my beaming baby girl.”

My dad appeared miserable. Years of responsibility pressed his shoulders into an exhausted slouch. “It’s entirely fault,” he announced. “I was the one that made your mother ill.”

My mother reprimanded him with a stern look. “It’s no one’s fault,” she scolded. “You can’t blame yourself for what is already done. Payton, I love you more than the moon and the stars. I wanted to tell you that myself before I left.”

I slumped back into the seat behind me, suddenly exhausted.

“Payton, dear,” my mother said, worry clearly embedded in her crystalline voice, “Are you quite all right?”

I looked at her concerned features and smiled a very tired smile. “It’s a lot to take in,” I admitted sheepishly. “I went from having no family to having an entire family in two days.”

My father’s face dropped as he said quietly, “We were always here, Payton.”

“Yes,” I sighed, “but you weren’t always when. I spent many years on my own. I sort of adapted to the circumstances.”

My father’s eyebrows pulled downward as he considered my words. “I suppose I underestimated the time lapse. When you go parading through time, years seem like minutes and years seem like hours. I’m so sorry, Payton, it seems as though I’ve robbed almost twenty years from you.”

The devastated look on my father’s face made my heart twinge with guilt. “Dad, you didn’t rob me of any years. While you were away I did great things. I got my black belt, gained independency, got a dog, and found that I loved making art. I guess the absence of you gave me the opportunity to find me.”

The realization dawned on me like the sunrise dawned across the horizon. “And I went on a great adventure looking for you. I made really great friends along the way. I met my long-lost family, and Lionel, who is such a sweetheart. He’s so polite and well-mannered, and one hell of an inventor. And Dacre…”

I trailed off when my heart gave this little squeeze in my chest. I continued in a quiet voice, “Dacre was an ass, but he was the closest friend of all. He may be a little unorthodox, but his heart is in the right place and he saved me a few times back there. I miss him.”

My mother squealed and clapped her hands together. My dad was smiling, a proud twinkle in his eye. “Payton, don’t you see?” my mother squeaked giddily. “You’re head-over-heels in love!”

I swear, I think my cheeks invented a new shade of red. I flushed and interjected, “Oh, I really don’t think Dacre thinks that way about me.”

“Of course he does!” my father boomed joviously. “The boy is completely infatuated with you!”

I shook my head stubbornly. “Not me. I’m not… I could never be…”

“Insecurities,” my mother informed me, “can be the death of you. Reach for the moon, Payton. If you miss, you’ll land among the stars. Your father invented the first time machine, your mother is the daughter of the Duke and you are the first child that was conceived in a ripple of time. Haven’t you noticed yet that the impossible is exactly what our family is capable of?”

I beamed at her. She was right! My family was utterly capable of things that technically should not be! I traveled back in time, met people who should already be long-dead and attended a true ball! I can certainly handle the likes of a handsome pickpocket!

“Payton, your mother and I already lived our lives. We traveled the centuries, saw incredible sights, and did incredible things. It’s your turn now. Give them hell.”

Hearing these words from my father brought tears to my eyes. “Oh, get over here!” I cried, pulling them both into a fierce group hug. I pecked my father’s stubbly cheek and planted a kiss on my mother’s forehead. I ran for the door and paused at the doorway. Whirling around to face them with tears in my eyes, I exclaimed, “I’ll never forget you! I’m so proud to be your daughter, and I’ll tell everyone I come across about the tale of the time-traveling lovers. I’ll make sure you are remembered!”

My mother was crying and smiling, and my father said graciously, “Thank you, Payton. You are certainly a girl worth waiting for.”

I nodded, too emotional to speak without my voice cracking. With one last salute, I scurried down the hallway and out of the house. There was one last thing I needed to take care of.