Mom didn’t return home from the gym until nearly eleven, which while surprising, actually worked out for the best. It allowed me to form a plan and actually slip away for a bit myself to take care of a few of the many loose ends that would have to be tied up within the next few weeks.

After Morna left and I finished getting ready for the day, I decided to take care of the most obvious piece of business first. I went to my downtown office for the first time since the fire and began to disassemble the pieces of my life in Boston as quickly as I could. Otherwise, I knew I would collapse in a giant puddle of tears.

While many of my clients had moved on to other interior designers after my accident, there were a handful of gracious souls who’d insisted that I hold on to their deposits, take all the time I needed to heal, and then resume work on their projects when I was ready. The first thing I did upon walking into my office was call them, back out of the jobs, and place all of their deposits back in the mail to them.

Once that was done, I moved through the rest of my list as quickly as possible:

1. Cancel the lease on my office and see if I could get my deposit back. (Since I was pulling out four months early, they said no to the deposit.)

2. Research the cost of flights to Edinburgh and figure out a way to come up with the money. (Holy-freaking-crap! Flights are expensive. Maxed out credit cards would be my only option.)

3. Call Sue and tell her to cancel the order for the prosthetic. (She was immensely disappointed. She’d spent the last six weeks convincing me to begin working with one, but when I explained to her that it was because I was going to Scotland to visit Laurel, she seemed to perk up. While it was regrettable that she was under the impression that I’d be returning to Boston in a few weeks, I could see no other alternative than to mislead her.)

4. Figure out a story that would get both Mom and David to agree to a trip to Scotland. (This one took me much longer to figure out, and I wouldn’t know until later that evening if my story was believable or not.)

5. Pack up my office and hire a couple of movers to help me move out. (I would have to call movers to help me pack boxes, as well. I spent the better part of two hours and ended up crying in frustration. There were many things—such as putting together boxes with only one arm—that I’d yet to master.)

After knocking off most of my list in just a few hours, I made it back to Laurel’s apartment a half hour before Mom did. By the time she did arrive, I was slightly concerned.

“Did you just get back from the gym?”

She paused in the doorway and hesitated a little too long. “Uh, yes. I was just enjoying myself so much that I guess I lost track of time.”

I stared at her as she turned her back to me to lock the door. There were no females in our family that enjoyed exercise enough to get “carried away” with it. There was no way in hell she’d been at the gym this whole time, but I saw no reason to pry. She was grown, and so was I. We could both have our secrets.

“Hm. Okay, hey, I have something I wanted to ask you. Do you have plans tonight?”

She took a moment to hang her keys on one of the hooks by the front door then walked over to the couch and sat down next to me.

“Not at all. Are you wanting to get out of the house?”

I knew the question was really more of a suggestion. She and Laurel both believed that since the fire I’d isolated myself way too much, which was ridiculous coming from either one of them. They were world-class hermits.

“I was wondering if you could meet me for dinner at that really great Italian place close to my office? I’m going to ask David to come, too. I need to speak with both of you.”

She made a startled, jerky motion with her head as if something I’d said frightened her. “David, as in Marcus’ dad? Why does he need to come? Is everything okay? Are Laurel and Marcus in trouble?”

I should’ve known that her mind would immediately jump to some sort of tragedy.

“No, no, don’t worry. Everything is totally fine. Laurel called while you were out. She wants me to surprise the two of you with something.”

She still looked skeptical. “And this is a good something?”

I nodded. “Yes. I think you will think this is a very good something.”

“Okay, then.” She smiled, and I found that I was able to relax just a little bit although getting her to go and eat wasn’t even close to being the most difficult part. If she was skeptical about me wanting to eat with her, she would be an impossibly hard sell on the concept of time travel.

I took a breath as I reminded myself that I just needed to take everything one step at a time.

“Perfect.”

My phone buzzed on the coffee table, and I glanced down to see Dillon’s name and photo pop up on the screen.

“Damnit.” I cursed under my breath as I picked up the phone. I’d forgotten all about our date for tonight.

Mom stood, sensing that I needed privacy, and began to move away from the couch.

“You go ahead and answer that. I’ll go in Laurel’s room and call David to see if he can meet us tonight.”

I’d almost answered until I heard what Mom meant to do.

“You’ll call David? Do you even know David?”

She cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms in annoyance. “Of course I know David. It’s no trouble for me to call him.”

“Okay, well, thanks then.”

I waited until she was inside Laurel’s room before answering the phone. Dillon sounded so excited, and it made me feel wretched all over.

“Hey, babe. Just checking in to make sure everything is still set for tonight. I can’t wait to see you. I have one tooth extraction and three fillings before I get to go home for the weekend. Is seven good for a pick-up time?”

I took a deep breath and tried to muster up some phlegm at the back of my throat. “Oh, Dillon,” I coughed for effect. “I should’ve called you this morning. I’m sick. Really sick.” I paused for more coughing. “I have to cancel.”

“That sucks, Kate. I’m sorry. I…I would offer to come over, but I can’t really afford to get sick right now.”

I frowned, surprised that his reaction upset me. I wasn’t even really sick, but if I had been, I’d have wished for more sympathy.

“Oh, of course not. We can’t have that. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

He sighed. “Okay, babe. Get some rest. I love you.”

“I love you too.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t enough either.