Chapter 1

I came back in time and made sure I was late, stalling on getting that marriage license with Ellery Carroll.

In my old life, when he found out I was pregnant, he took off with Mandy West for twenty years.

When I was at death's door, he showed up again.

Staring at Mandy's faded photo, he muttered, "If I'd held off just a little on marrying you, maybe things would've ended different."

*****

When it hit me I'd time-traveled, Ellery was leaning against the apartment's front door, waiting to head to the courthouse with me.

I fed him a quick lie—said I had to drop something off for a coworker—and told him to go wait at the marriage office.

Once he was gone, I ditched town and hiked up the mountain.

I sank into Muriel Pena's creaky rocking chair, staring out at the rolling clouds, the sun warming my skin.

Muriel handed me a steaming roasted sweet potato, her eyes narrowing. "Hold up, ain't you supposed to be getting hitched to that engineer guy today? What're you doing way up here?"

I bit into the sweet potato, the heat spreading through me, and grinned. "Muriel, I had one hell of a nightmare. Woke up all shook up."

She gave my arm a pat. "Dreams don't mean nothing, hon. What counts is the life you're living. You and Ellery are gonna have it good—plenty of bright days ahead. What's a bad dream gonna do to that?"

I froze for a beat, then flashed a smile. "You're right, Muriel. I'll head out in a bit."

Marry Ellery? Not a chance in hell this time around.

In my old life, we'd just stepped out of the courthouse, marriage license fresh in hand, when Ellery bumped right into a girl.

Her name was Mandy, from the village we were working in.

On the ride back, Ellery didn't say a word.

I figured he was just being a proper husband, keeping other women at arm's length.

But when I was dying, I got the real story.

That little run-in? It was love at first sight for him and Mandy.

He wasn't being proper—he was kicking himself for tying the knot with me too soon.

After that day, Ellery turned cold as ice.

He'd sit there, staring off toward the village, lost in his own head.

I asked what was eating him, but he brushed me off.

I kept asking, but work was a grind, and I eventually let it go, thinking he'd come around when he was ready.

When the village job ended, we got split up, sent to different projects.

We had to live apart.

I thought it was just a short-term thing.

But every job after that? We were always miles apart.

I brought it up once, and Ellery just shrugged. "Gotta do what the boss says."

Then one day, while I was in the city for a work report, I overheard some coworkers.

Turned out, after that first split, every single reassignment was Ellery's doing—he'd been begging to be sent away.

We had a screaming match over it.

After, he held me, said he was sorry, but never told me why.

By morning, he was gone.

I figured our marriage was toast.

Then, out of nowhere, I found out I was pregnant.

When Ellery heard, he did a complete 180. No more cold shoulder.

He started looking after me—real sweet, but clumsy.

He'd try cooking me dinner, burn half of it, stick his ear to my belly to hear the baby "blowing bubbles," take me for walks every night.

Then, one day, he just vanished.

I asked everyone, searched high and low.

Nobody knew where he'd gone. Nobody could even say if he was alive.

So I did it all solo—doctor visits, giving birth, dragging the kid to the hospital, raising him, burying both our parents.

I was sure he was dead.