Somewhere in Time

It's been one whole year since I released my first book forever today and what a year it's been for me. I continue to be overwhelmed with the support I've received from family, friends, and even strangers. I wanted to share something special for the one year anniversary but this will only be something for people who have read my second book, Snowfall, as well. 
My third book, somewhere in time, has been the most challenging to write for some reason. I've been writing it for almost a year now without an end in sight. with our current situation, I might be able to finish it within the month though. This book, like the other two, has a lot of my heart in it and I can't wait to share it with all of you. Charlotte started off book one, Wyatt started off book two, it was only fitting that I let Rose start off book 3. here is the very first small chapter of somewhere in time. 

I.
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by, 
And that has made all the difference.”
-Robert Frost
 
Rose sat with her back leaned against the wooden pew looking up at the ceiling of the San Xavier Mission. It had been years since she’d been there, and years since she’d sat in that place where she’d come so often when she lived in Arizona. It had always been her refuge and the place she’d come to when she needed the most help. Somehow, she felt more at home there than she did anywhere else. 
        The saguaro bones on the ceiling stretched to the walls around her, splintering but still holding steady after all of this time. There was something comforting about the place remaining so unchanged. Rose knew that no matter the amount of time that passed, the mission would be the same. The building would be firmly rooted to the Arizona earth, the hallways would be swept, and the trees trimmed, but that place itself, its pure white-light energy, would not change. Nova, too, sat like a fixture, looking up at Rose when she walked toward her like no time had passed between them. Her hair was grayer and her eyes even wiser than the last time Rose had seen her. She lifted her arms to Rose, pulling her tightly against her.
“Sister,” she cooed in her ear as Rose cried on her shoulder. She pulled Rose’s tear streaked face out in front of her, smiling with her eyes as she looked her over. “This where you belong,” she said succinctly, before embracing her again.
And she was right, Rose knew. She knew it the second she came back there. A week ago she’d driven into Patagonia and stopped the car just on the outskirts of town. With tears in her eyes she kicked off her shoes and walked way out into the desert, oblivious to anything that could harm her. She knew her body could find the way as she moved her toes around, feeling the Arizona dirt beneath her feet. The grit and the dryness like a salve to a wound, she couldn’t stop feeling it. She’d laughed, throwing her head back on her shoulders and holding her arms out to the wind, cackling with tears streaking down the side of her face. She felt it then, that tie she had to that place. She belonged there more than anywhere else in the world and she knew. She knew she couldn’t go back to Savannah. Not now. No matter what happened, she couldn’t bring herself to be somewhere she didn’t belong. Not anymore. She just had no idea how she would tell Charlotte.
            A slight winter breeze blew outside but there was silence in the chapel. It was still early, just after daybreak, but Rose knew that soon the tourists would come in and ruin the tranquility. Cameras slung around their necks, they’d point out details of that place to their spouses, shaking their heads at the many colors of the stained glass window, marveling at the strange Spanish and Native cultures splashed over every surface of the mission. But for now, it was quiet. The place was hers the way it always had been. 
            Rose took a deep breath, the air shaking its way into her lungs on the way in. She’d have to tell Charlotte that day. Rose was, at that very moment, supposed to be back in Savannah working in the beautiful shop they’d created together. Well,  that Charlotte had mostly created. Charlotte was so proud, so successful, so confident, that sometimes Rose couldn’t believe she was the same little girl who had shown up on her doorstep all of those years ago. Rose smiled to think of her niece. Her spirit baby. She knew the girl was special, not of this world, more powerful than she could ever come to understand. Which was why, Rose reminded herself, she would be ok. No matter what happened, she would be ok.
Rose looked around the chapel to the statue of St. Francis in the corner, candles reflecting off of the wall behind it. She sighed heavily and looked up to the cross in front of her.
“Well?” she said to the inside of the empty chapel. “I could use some help.”
            Her voice echoed slightly off of the old plastered walls and she couldn’t help but giggle back. This, she knew, was something she would have to do herself. Not even her spirit guides had to tell her that.
“Alright, then,” she sighed, closing her eyes.
            Rose put her face in her hands, covering her eyes with her petite hands. She thought of Charlotte and all the girl had been through. She thought of everything she knew was to come and she held Charlotte there in her mind and heart, praying hard for her like she’d done all of those times before.
            With her Arizona desert outside the door to the chapel, Rose sat there trying hard to find the words. When the prayer came to her, she whispered it out loud, willing it to be heard. Again.
Please, God, let me help her. Please, God, allow her to thrive. Please, God, keep her safe. Please, God, make her strong.