“You’ll get back to them.” She buried her own yearnings. Love, no matter how suddenly it came or how deep it reached, was selfless. “Think of the story you’ll have to tell.”

“If I remember.”

“But you couldn’t forget.” The possibility struck her painfully. She couldn’t bear it if he forgot her, if even her memory no longer existed. “I’ll write it down for you.”

He shook off his black mood and turned to her. “I’d appreciate that. Will you let me go back with you?”

She felt a flutter of hope. “Go back?”

“To the cabin, I’ve done about all I can for now. I can start the repairs on the ship tomorrow. I was hoping you’d let me stay until it’s all ready.”

“Of course.” It was foolish, and selfish, to hope that he would stay any longer than necessary. She put on a bright smile as they started from the room. “I have dozens of questions to ask you. I don’t even know where to begin.”

Still, she asked him nothing on the drive back. He seemed distracted, moody, and her own mind was crowded with impressions and contradictions. It would be best, she decided, if they pretended a kind of normality for a few hours. Then, with a thud, inspiration hit.

“How would you like to have lunch in town?”

“What?”

“Try to stay tuned, Hornblower. Would you like to drive into town? You haven’t seen anything but this little slice. If I suddenly found myself back in, say, the 1700s, I’d want to explore a little, watch people. It only takes a couple of hours. What do you say?”

The moodiness left his eyes, and he smiled. “Can I drive?”

“Not on your life.” She laughed and tossed her hair back. “We’ll stop back at the cabin for my purse.”

It took more than thirty minutes to get to the highway through a narrow pass where the Land Rover had powered its way through the mud. When they reached the highway Cal saw the vehicles that had fascinated him on television. They rumbled noisily along. He shook his head as Libby jockeyed aggressively for position.

“I could teach you to fly a jet buggy in an hour.”

The wind felt wonderful on her face. They had today, and perhaps a day or two more. She wasn’t going to lose a moment of it.

“Is that a compliment?”

“Yeah. You’re still using what—gasoline?”

“That’s right.”

“Amazing.”

“Being smug and superior suits you—especially since you didn’t even know how to turn my car on.”

“I’d’ve figured it out.” He reached out to touch the flying strands of her hair. “If I were home I’d fly you to Paris for lunch. Have you ever been there?”