John walked Abby to the front door, which although it was polite, was not very romantic since Merri was also there and didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave.

“Don’t the trellises look nice?” Merri said. John had helped install them on the sides of the porch, and the honeysuckle their neighbor Mrs. Arnold had contributed was already starting to bloom. Indeed, the porch was looking good, the perfect place to say goodbye.

“Merri, your mom will be wondering why we’re late,” Abby hinted.

“Maybe John can help us fix the computer.”

“Not this time,” he said.

Then Merri suddenly seemed to realize that it was time for her to go. “Oh, right. See you,” she said and tripped over the threshold in her haste to get inside the door.

And then finally, Abby was alone with John and it started to seem like a real date.

“Thanks, I had a good time.”

John smiled and her stomach fluttered.

“Me too, Abby.” 

She felt herself blushing and knew there was not one thing she could do but wait it out. What? Was she fifteen again? She was startled to find she couldn’t maintain eye contact with him either. But when she glanced away she saw his hands, and that was almost as nerve-wracking as looking into his blue eyes. She remembered how strong and capable his hands had been when he helped her with the trellis last week—and how gentle with Merri’s little friend Michael when the bullies teased him.

Then he leaned in closer, and his cologne, an intoxicating blend of something citrus and spicy, went right to her brain and she actually felt faint. He was going to kiss her, and she was going to faint right there on Pat and Merri’s front porch. She took a breath and closed her eyes.

Nothing.

Abby opened her eyes and saw that he was looking at his watch. And frowning. “Well,” he said, “it’s 4:00. I’ve got to go.”

“Oh. Of course.” Abby felt stupid. How could she have gotten it so wrong?

“Well, you know when you own your own business you’ve got to keep early hours.”

“Oh.”

“See you tomorrow at church?”

“Okay.”

She watched as he hurried back to his blue Mustang and continued watching as he drove away down Miles Station Road toward Brighton. She waved, but he didn’t look back.

Abby sat down on the porch step and wondered where it had started to go wrong. After a while, she took her phone out of her purse and smiled when she saw there were five missed calls from her roommate Kate. Had it been anyone else, she would have been concerned that there was some dire emergency, but since it was Kate, she knew it was just impatience to hear all the nitty-gritty details of her date.

“Okay, give,” Kate said right off.

“Hi, to you too, Kate.”

“Oh well, hi, then. You know I’m dying to know how it went, so don’t think you’re going to torture me with this.”

“It was nice. He took me to a fancy-schmancy tea room for lunch.”

“That’s so romantic.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still hungry. Merri, too. She almost asked him to pull through McDonald’s on the way home, but I wouldn’t—.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. Back up there, girlfriend. Are you telling me the chubster—I mean youngster—went with you? On your date with tall, dark, and handsome?”

“Hey, don’t call her that. Her name’s Merri.”

“Well, excuse me. You called her that. Chubster, brat, slug, couch potato.”

“Yeah…well…I shouldn’t have. She’s got issues, but she’s working through them.”

“Okay, Merri, then. I guess it wasn’t much of a date with her along. No wonder you sound all frowny.”

“I’m not frowny! Well, all right, I am now, but that’s because you’re being so annoying.”

“Tell Auntie Kate all about it. What’s wrong?”

“It’s just that I thought John had such potential. He already has ten stars, and counting. But it got all weird and he rushed off. Right when I actually thought he was going to kiss me.”

“Did you ever think it might be because Merri was there?” Kate’s laughter made her even more annoyed.

“Don’t be an idiot, Kate. Merri went in the house and there was plenty of opportunity, but he left like I had a contagious disease or something.”

“But isn’t that a nice change from the last guy who couldn’t keep his paws off you long enough to carry on a simple conversation? And maybe next time, when Merri isn’t tagging along…”

“Yes, but…well…if you must know, I think the real reason is…John thinks I’m crazy.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re the sanest person I—wait a minute. You didn’t tell him about all that time travel hocus pocus, did you? You did, didn’t you?”

“It’s not hocus pocus. I tried to tell you, we really—”

“Okay, a joke, then. But, Abby, some people just aren’t going to think it’s funny when you keep on like that.”

“Oh, never mind,” Abby sighed. “When I get the computer fixed, I’ll show you. You and John both. You are still coming down for a visit, aren’t you?”

“I will as soon as I can get untangled from some things here. I can’t wait to meet John—and the new improved Merri.”

“Good. Maybe you can help me get a read on him,” Abby said, and then muttered after she hung up, “And I’ll introduce you to Charlotte and Abraham Lincoln too.”

Unclaimed Legacy

The olden days aren’t all they’re cracked up to be . . .

“I call it time-surfing,” Abby said.

“It’s like being there,” Merri said, “except no one can see or hear us.”

“Whatever you call it,” John said, “that was crazy—beyond realistic. I mean, I was inside that guy’s head.”

Those who have read Time and Again  know that Abby Thomas is a college student on a summer service project with 11-year-old Merri. And they know that the summer is not going the way Abby had expected—but in a good way. For one thing, she meets a very nice guy named John Roberts. And for another, she discovers a strange computer program called Beautiful House that lets her fast-forward and rewind life. Not her own, of course, but those of the people who lived in Merri’s old house.

And now Beautiful House comes in handy when Abby, John, and Merri agree to help the "Old Dears" next door with their family tree.

Except Abby and John learn more about one of the ladies’ ancestors than they ever wanted to know. Convicted in 1871 of murder and arson, Reuben Buchanan is a blight on the family’s reputation. But was he really guilty? Abby and John must get inside the mind of a murderer to find out.

And while they’re rummaging around in the Old Dears’ family history, they also find Nathan Buchanan, a heroic relative connected to the Lewis and Clark Expedition—and a legacy waiting to be reclaimed.

But the most important discovery they make is that God’s promise to bless a thousand generations is true.

“In this sequel to Time and Again Deborah Heal has taken pieces of real life history and woven them [into] a fantastic story geared to keep the reader entertained and on the edge of their seat… I adored every single bit of this. It has the perfect blend of history and action-packed suspense to keep young adults glued to the pages…

I think she has mastered a home run here. This one easily rates a 5 out of 5 stars for me…and I hope it will work its way to the top of the best seller lists for young adults.”

                                                                                                                --Pirate2240 "Kat" Amazon Reviewer