Rendezvous With Yesterday (The Gifted Ones #2)(69)

“What is it?”

“My wallet.” She unfolded it into a rectangle. “My birth date is on my driver’s license. So is the expiration date. See?” She withdrew a small, shiny piece of what appeared to be thick parchment from the wallet. Glancing at it, she started to lean forward and hand it to him. Her face fell. “Damn. It only gives the last two numbers, not the whole year. And I bet my credit card does the same thing.”

As she started to tuck it away again, he caught a glimpse of the front of it. “Wait.”

Pausing, she looked up. “What?”

He motioned to it. “Is that a portrait, Beth? A miniature, mayhap?”

She considered the card. “In a manner of speaking. It’s a picture ID. See?”

Robert took the card she offered him and stared at it with amazement. Beth’s fair face smiled up at him beside a collection of numbers and words. “’Tis you! And ‘tis so clear!”



She shrugged. “As far as driver’s license pictures go, I guess it’s a pretty good one. My last one was horrible. My eyes were half-closed and my mouth was open because I was answering a question the DMV lady asked just before she snapped the picture. I looked like a zombie.”

Robert knew not what a zombie was, but could not imagine Beth looking less appealing than she did in the miniature he held. “’Tis beautiful. The artist captured you perfectly. Though he added a bit of color to your eyes and lips.”

Beth laughed. “Actually, that was me. It’s makeup. A little eye liner, a little shadow, and some lipstick. After that last picture, I was trying to look my best.”

Robert frowned. “You stained your lips and eyes?”

“Aye.”

“Why?”

“I told you. I was trying to look my best, enhance what nature gave me, work with what I got, however you want to put it. That’s what women do in my time.”

He let his disapproval show. “You have no need of enhancement. Your beauty transcends such senseless artifice.”

Beth seemed taken aback.

Did she think he insulted her?

Leaning forward onto her hands and knees, she touched her lips to his. Once. Twice. Almost making him forget where they were and what they discussed.

“What was that for?” he asked hoarsely when she leaned back an inch or two.

She smiled. “For being you.” A third kiss followed, heating his blood and robbing him of rational thought. Just as he decided to drop the portrait and drag her up against him, she broke away and sat back on her heels.

Robert’s heart pounded as he watched her retrieve her wallet once more.

“There must be something with a date on it in here,” she muttered.

Only half-listening, Robert returned his attention to the miniature in his rough hands. He rubbed his thumb across the cold, smooth surface, trying to suppress thoughts of lunging across the pile in front of him and stripping Beth of the robe that now gaped in marvelous places. “What manner of portrait is this? I can feel neither the texture of the canvas nor the paint. And it shines like glass.”

“It isn’t a portrait. It’s a photograph.” She spelled the word for him. “Look. Here’s my dental appointment reminder card. It has the full date written on it.” She handed him a small piece of thick parchment. “Photos are more common than paintings in my time because they’re pretty much instant. You point your camera or phone or tablet, press the button, and the image is recorded. Then you just hook your device up to a printer, pop in some photo quality paper, and voila, instant picture.”

The card in Robert’s hand boasted an unfamiliar coat of arms, along with printed and scrawled words he could not understand. “What language is this?”

“English.”

“It cannot be. I cannot read it.”

“I know. English has changed quite a bit since the thirteenth century. If my mom hadn’t been a literature professor, she wouldn’t have made me learn Middle English and I wouldn’t have been able to understand a word you said.” She wrinkled her nose. “Actually I still have trouble on occasion.”

“I thought you understood me well.”

“Then I must fake it better than I thought. Anyway, the words on that card aren’t that important. It just lists my doctor’s address, email address, phone number and fax number and gives the date. Can you read those numbers there?”

“Aye.”



“Well that’s the year.”

Robert stared at the four digit number.

“See. Twenty-first century.” Suddenly, her eyes widened. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this! Coins!” She flipped her wallet over.

His head snapped up. “Coins?”

“Yes! Coins. Each one has the year it was minted imprinted on it.” She unzipped a small pocket and dumped a number of very small coins into her palm. Some were copper colored. Some were a dull silver. Some had smooth edges, some slightly rough. “Look, here’s a quarter from 2006.” She pressed it into his palm.

With a face on one side and a mountain range on the other, it resembled no coin Robert had ever seen and was indeed stamped with the date 2006.

“There are two dates on this. 2006 and 1876.”

“Oh. 1876 must’ve been the year Colorado achieved statehood. Look. Here’s a penny from 2014. And a nickel from 1993. Another nickel from 2001. A quarter from 1998. A penny from 2001. 1994. 1976. 2004. 1990. Ooh, here’s an old one. A dime from 1953.”