Ella grabbed Leah’s arm. “Anytime, Leah. I mean it. Call me.”

The knowing look in Ella’s eyes made Leah feel even worse somehow. She agreed anyway.

“I will.” Leah pulled free and walked away. She hoped she was fast enough to keep Ella from seeing the stupid tears that flowed down her cheeks.

Two

The bronze bell strung over the door of Ramsey’s Antiques had long ago lost its clapper, but it still managed to clang violently whenever Leah pushed through the door. Pawpaw said that it never sang that loud for anyone but his granddaughter.

“Pawpaw?” Leah dropped her French hood atop the glass counter at the front of the store. Scanning the empty sales floor, she drew in a deep breath, tasting the familiar scent of ancient leather, dust, and pipe tobacco. “You around?”

His voice sounded far away. “In the back, Leelee. What are you doing here so soon? I thought you were at the Faire today.”

Leah rounded the corner and collapsed on the stool behind the counter. The hoops of her farthingale flopped upward, nearly whacking her in the face. With a frustrated groan, she stood and smacked them down again. “I was. I ran into Kevin, so I left after the coronation.”

“Kevin?” Her grandfather pushed through the swinging door to the stockroom and set an antique vase beside the register. “What in the hell was he doing at the Renaissance festival? I thought he hated ’em.”

“He does.” Leah leaned on the counter, cupping her chin in her hands. “He came to see me.”

Pawpaw’s already lined face wrinkled further with temper. He crossed his arms over his barrel-like chest, his nostrils flaring. “What did he want with you?”

“To ask me to be Teresa’s bridesmaid.” Her stupid eyes were watering again. She sniffed and trained her gaze at the silver spoons nestled inside the glass case below her elbows. “This is complete and utter crap. I wasn’t good enough for him to love, but I’m good enough to be her stupid bridesmaid?” She dashed the tears away. “Sorry, I don’t mean to dump my problems on you.”

“Leelee.” Her grandfather pulled her upright. “Look at me, girl. Come on.” He wiped the tears from her cheeks with his callused thumbs, demanding her attention with eyes that were so blue it was eerie—the same eyes that Leah saw in the mirror every day, only his were crowned by wiry salt-and-pepper brows instead of neatly groomed blond ones. Her grandfather, the gold standard for men everywhere. She just wished she could find someone as honorable and protective as he was. “That boy wasn’t ever good enough for you.”

Leah barked a bitter laugh as she averted her gaze. “Apparently he was too good for me. I’m not Washington caliber.”

“I’m not talking about money and power and all that hooey. Leelee, you were a bright child, and you’ve grown into an even brighter woman. It’s going to take a fine man to be able to make you happy. And Kevin wasn’t it. Don’t shed another tear over that good-for-nothin’.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, chasing some of the chill from her heart.

She smiled shakily, drawing in a deep, cleansing breath. “Thank you, Pawpaw.”

He folded her into his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder, just as she had a thousand times before. He smelled sweet, of his favorite pipe tobacco and aftershave. His broad hands were warm on her upper back, and she sighed against his familiar faded plaid shirt. Pawpaw was right. He’d always been right.

“Promise me somethin’.”

She looked up at him.

He continued with a half smile, “Promise me you’ll find somebody you can count on. A man who knows what it means to work for a living. A man who won’t let you run over him but will listen to every word you say.”

“I’ve got a grandfather like that,” Leah said with a laugh. “There can’t be another man like you.”

He smiled, but his voice was serious. “Leelee, listen to me. A good, strong, honest man. You find him, and you marry him. I want to know you’ve got somebody to come home to, so when I’m dead and gone, I know you’ll be taken care of.”

She pulled free of his arms and shook her head vehemently. “Why would you say that? You’re healthy as a horse.”

He shook his head. “I’m not guaranteed tomorrow, and I want to know you won’t be alone.”

“I can take care of myself, you know.” She tried to focus on the insinuation of her helplessness instead of the dead and gone statement. She refused to even consider a world without Pawpaw. And besides, she was an independent woman. While a romance would be wonderful, she didn’t need it to survive.

“I’m not talking about money or protection or anything like that, and you know it, girl.” He stared her down. “I mean a partner like I had with your grandma, someone to share life’s burdens with. You haven’t had it easy, and with Jamie gettin’ married, you’ll be more alone than is good for you.”

Leah stared at the carpet. She couldn’t look Pawpaw in the face. While the rest of the world saw the laughing, adventurous woman she’d chosen to be, she knew that he saw the lonely child she’d been when he and her grandmother had taken her in. He knew her too well. How could any man hope to do a better job of taking care of her than the man who’d raised her when her own mother hadn’t cared enough to do the job herself?

Her grandfather sighed. “If you’re going to stay around here this afternoon, you’d better change outta that getup. I could use some of your help staging the new silver I just bought. You’ve always been better at that than me.”

He patted her on the back and nodded toward the office at the back of the store.

“Yes, sir.” She caught the hood that he tossed at her and made her way through the back room. Maybe an afternoon of manual labor would keep the ugly memories of Kevin and her worries about the future at bay. Her throat tightened at the thought of Pawpaw’s words. Why would he be so worried about her getting married? What had he meant, dead and gone?

It took most of the afternoon before she could breathe normally again.

* * *

Leah stoically stared at Jamie’s TV, determined to ignore the pitiful whining of one claiming-to-be-starved greyhound. He’d had a bowl and a half of food only an hour ago, the rotten liar. He pawed at the foot she’d propped on the coffee table, his high-pitched cries fighting with the TV for her attention.

She’d volunteered to house and dog sit for the happy honeymooners, but Baron seemed determined to pester her to death. Instead of teaching a week at summer theatre camp, she was moping around Jamie’s house with a pile of movies, a boatload of snack food, and a greyhound that refused to get full.

“You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are what they were last April, please tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged.” Mr. Darcy’s eyes melted Leah from the TV screen, that beautiful deep voice rumbling through her bruised heart. “But one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.”

Leah mouthed the reply with Elizabeth Bennet. “I am ashamed to remember what I said then. My feelings are so different. In fact, they are quite the opposite.”

Baron whined again and pawed at Leah’s hand, shaking the tortilla chip free. He snatched up the forbidden snack and trotted happily to his bed beside a large mirrored bureau. Crumpling the chip bag closed, Leah tossed it on the side table atop her MacBook and lost herself in her favorite movie for a few more minutes.

She sniffed and wiped away her tears at the sight of Mr. Darcy kissing his new bride as they rode away in the carriage. Why wasn’t life really like that? Modern guys—well, the ones she’d dated anyway—wouldn’t know chivalry if it bit them on the ass.

The power button clicked beneath her finger and the TV went silent. Baron yawned and stretched, then trotted toward the kitchen, leaving Leah alone with nothing but her contemplation and half a bag of chips. A warm tugging began in her chest, a feeling she couldn’t place at all. She glanced over at the bureau.

Jamie had traveled through that mirror. It was some kind of time portal, Leah knew. It stood silently—tall, gleaming, with an almost otherworldly allure. Her Converses hit the floor with a soft thump, and before she knew what was happening, she stepped toward the antique bureau.

The mirror’s gilt edge gleamed at her, beckoning her onward. She couldn’t keep herself from reaching toward the glass, and she couldn’t stop her fingers from dipping into the mirror as if it were the cool waters of a pond.

Her mouth fell open in wonder. She pushed farther, relishing the tingling feeling that ran through her fingers and palm. This was insane. She should be scared. Lord knew what time period this mirror might dump her in. She should be screaming for help. But she wasn’t, and she didn’t. She smiled and pushed her arm through up to the elbow.

Excitement thrummed through her. Jamie had met her true love—an earl!—after a trip through the mirror. Leah bit her lip as the pulling grew stronger. Her shoulder was nearly through now.

A soft whine interrupted her, and reality cracked her on the skull. What the hell was she doing?

“Oh shit,” Leah said, yanking backward. “Baron, wait! I can’t…I’m stuck, I’m—”

Something pushed her from the other side of the glass, and Leah popped free. She staggered backward, landing on the couch with a thump.

“Oh good heavens, Baron, do get out of the way, or I shall tread on you.”

Leah bolted upright with a screech. Scrambling over the edge of the couch, she darted for the baseball bat she knew Jamie kept in the coat closet. Her heart thumped wildly as she brandished the Louisville Slugger at the intruder.