Out of Closet (B&T time-travel romance), Ch. 2

Chapter 2: Love and loss…but is it really? (Elizabeth found love and Tina lost her treasure, but things are not what they seem)

Place: Orange County, CA

Year: 1885

(Previously) Elizabeth was brought back to reality by the sound of chimes outside of her window. She stretched her long and slender limbs, but decided against the idea of getting out of the bed so early. She still had a splitting headache from the horrible events of last night and she wanted to sleep it off.

Her thoughts drifted away again to the previous and unusually rainy month of August, when Elizabeth experienced the most intense heartbreak she could imagine.

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Elizabeth had just turned 25 last December, and ultimately she was admired by everyone around her. Young men wanted to court her; young girls wanted to be her best friends and even the most envious and bitter old spinsters were the first to admit that Elizabeth Porter was the most beautiful and rich girl in the whole Orange County.

And what was there not to admire? Flawless olive skin, slender but strong body built from regular horseback riding or running; luxuriant and thick pile of dark hair with occasional rebellious locks that were just begging to be tucked behind her ears.

Elizabeth wasn’t bothered by the admiration or the envy. Truth to be told, she was a private person, living in her own world, a world of art and music. And the most intriguing was the fact that she was completely unaware of her beauty, or the impact it had on her numerous admirers.

But that was true only until a month ago, when her mother hired one of her protégés, a young and talented Eric Fischer, to be Elizabeth’s next art teacher.

For the first time in her entire adult life Elizabeth understood the phrase ‘matters of heart’. She fell utterly and completely in love. Eric was everything that Elizabeth thought she wanted in her future husband. Wits, looks, manners, talent, and the love for art that Elizabeth herself wanted to share with someone special.

Eric was also such a gentleman, polite and attentive. He was always encouraging Elizabeth to follow her heart and not her head when painting, advice that she wanted to follow in life, too. During their painting lessons, both of them would steal glances at each other and each time Eric would kiss Elizabeth’s hand, he would hold it just a second or two longer, lightly stroking her slender fingers. Any deliberate or even innocent touch of his hand would send shivers across Elizabeth’s skin.