Chapter 2

I just stared at him, my mind reeling.

This couldn't be happening.

"Jake," I managed, my voice barely a whisper. "It's... complicated."

"Complicated? What happened? One minute I was climbing the old oak in the park, trying to get that stupid kite, and the next... everything went black, and I woke up here."

He ran a hand through his hair, looking completely lost.

"How long was I out? And why do you look... like that?"

He didn't mean it cruelly, just honestly.

I was in my early thirties, worn down by years of a dying marriage. He was eighteen, on the cusp of everything.

"It's been a long time, Jake," I said, trying to find the words. "Fifteen years."

His jaw dropped. "Fifteen... years? You' re kidding me, right? This is some kind of prank."

He looked around again, frantic now. "Where' s my stuff? My Discman? My backpack?"

He spotted my smartphone on the small dresser.

He picked it up, turning it over in his hands. "What is this thing?"

"It's a phone," I said.

"No way. Phones aren't flat."

I had to explain. The time jump. The future. His future. Our future.

But how could I tell him?

How could I tell this passionate, fiercely loyal boy what he, what we, had become?

He was suddenly thrilled, a wide grin spreading across his face, the one that used to make my heart flip.

"Fifteen years! So, we made it, huh? Are we married? Do we have kids? Did I finally get that vintage Mustang?"

His questions came in a rush, full of an innocent excitement that tore at me.

I couldn't break his heart. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

I had to protect him, and maybe a part of myself too.

"Jake," I said softly, "my life now... it doesn't include you."

I twisted the wedding ring on my finger, the one current Jake had given me.

His face fell. The light in his eyes dimmed.

"What? But... we were going to be together forever. You said so."

He looked bewildered, hurt, like a kicked puppy.

"I... I married someone else," I lied, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "For love. For security."

It was a half-truth, twisted to shield him.

He stared at the ring on my finger, then back at my face.

The hurt was still there, but something else too, a flicker of that old determination.

"Oh," he said quietly. "Well, if you' re happy, Sarah... that' s all that matters."

His selflessness, even now, was a punch to the gut.

We spent the next hour trying to make sense of it. How did he get here? How could we send him back?

He kept coming back to the old oak tree in the town park.

"I was climbing it," he repeated. "Then everything just... shifted."

My phone buzzed. Alex, my divorce lawyer.

I answered, trying to keep my voice steady. "Hi, Alex. Any news?"

Young Jake watched me, his brow furrowed.

"Okay, thanks. I'll talk to you soon." I hung up.

"Divorce lawyer?" Young Jake asked, his voice sharp with suspicion. "I thought you said you were happily married."

My lie was already unraveling.