"The renovations --"

  "For us. For our children. I began them three years ago."

  "So you waited all this time for me to arrive?"

  "It would take more than going through time to forget you." He pulled her close and kissed her. She wound her arms around him, holding on tightly, knowing things could have turned out so differently.

  "No one would believe it, would they?" she asked dreamily, leaning her head back against his arm.

  "Not a soul," Pierce agreed. "I need to fill you in on the rest of our history."

  She snuggled against him. "Mrs. Cummins mentioned you have a whole pack of siblings and your father is alive. I've never heard more wonderful news." She looked up at him. "But tell me what happened when you arrived back here."

  "When we talked about this in 1894, the last I knew was my life in 2007. What I didn't know was that I was in a coma because of a car accident."

  "Oh, my God, I could have lost you. Is that why you had no memory?"

  "Possibly. When I returned here, there was no immediate memory of 1894 either. It took about a month and it all came flooding back. One night, I woke up and drove to Hawk's Den. That's when I found the journal. I'm not trying to scare you, but I became obsessed. I couldn't suddenly arrive in your life and expect everything to fall into place. Besides being too young, you weren't the person you are today."

  Isabeau frowned, trying to understand. "So when you woke in 1894, it was from a coma state in your present time?"

  "Yes, that's all I can tell you. The rest I've tried to piece together, but a lot of it is guessing."

  She looked up suddenly, struck by a crazy notion. "Could anything have changed in my family while I've been gone?" Then she shook her head. "No." She gripped his hand. "Have you met my mom? Is she okay?"

  "She's fine. Your mom drove from the airport with me."

  Excited, Isabeau hugged him. "Oh my gosh, that's wonderful. I've so missed her. Everything is complete. I have everything I love right here."She smiled at him. "Everyone I love."

  "It's only the beginning, sweetheart." He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the room. "Come and meet the family." He laughed. "Again."

  Epilogue

  Six months later

  "Isabeau? Where are you?" Pierce entered the house, expecting to see his wife and her mother, Elise, yet he saw neither.

  They had visited with Elise all week and then driven home to Hawk's Den. In the middle of the night Isabeau had a premonition that her mother was in trouble. When she couldn’t reach Elise, the feeling solidified into real fear.

  Having learned to trust his wife's intuition, Pierce booked a flight to New York. When they arrived back at Elise's home in the Catskills, Isabeau jumped out of the car before he had time to bring it to a stop.

  He parked and ran into the house after her. He found his wife standing beside the antique wooden kitchen table. She swayed slightly, a blank look on her face. Looking up at him, she held up a sheet of notepaper.

  "What is it?" Pierce asked urgently, pulling her close to his side.

  "It's my mother," she said slowly, disbelief written on her face. "She's gone."

  "Gone -- but she didn't say anything about leaving --"

  "She's gone to find my father."

  "Your father -- where?" he asked.

  "1846."

  THE END

  I hope you enjoyed Once Upon a Remembrance. Please take a moment and return to where you purchased this book and leave a review, which helps the author and other readers.

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