Trapped In Time: Love's Secrets

Chapter Twenty

“So we survived our first lovers quarrel” Remus was already up and dressed leaning over Shannon who was still half asleep. He grinned when she shoved him away and pulled a pillow over her head. “You’re going to miss breakfast love; we’re all waiting on you.”

“Bed is good” she moaned from under the pillow. She had never been a morning person and that was never going to change. So of course she ended up with a man who apparently woke with the crack of dawn.

“Bed can indeed be good, but we have a busy day so up up!” He pulled the covers back causing her to fold in on herself moaning and groaning and muttering threats. “My my, if I had known you were this hard to get up, I would have started sooner. However do you get up for breakfast while at school?” He laughed and pulled the pillow off her head. Her face was still a little puffy from the night before; her eyes red and bloodshot and her long hair tangled around her head. “Good morning sunshine” he smiled fondly and then walked away with the pillow so she couldn’t try to put it back.

Shannon growled fiercely and then rolled out of bed, landing gracefully on her feet and ignoring Remus who joked from the washroom “it’s alive!” She rifled through her drawers and didn’t have to spend much time choosing an outfit since they were all basically the same. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a soft lavender sweater then lay back down until the bathroom was free. When she finished brushing her teeth, washing her face and putting her hair up in a ponytail, Remus took her hand and led her up the stairs to the big bright kitchen.

Sandy and her partner David were at the table sipping tea and something familiar tickled in the back of Shannon’s mind. David said good morning and finished his tea then opened the door where a regal looking smooth coated Border Collie was waiting. He excused himself saying he had to be off to do morning chores and closed the door. Sandy was up right away asking them to please have a seat and check the morning menu so she could get a start on their breakfast.

As they ate their eggs and Remus dug into his sausages, Sandy and Shannon talked about Border Collies. Their history and intelligence, their shared belief that they should only ever be bred as working dogs and not ruined in the show ring and Shannon’s dogs at home and experience with herding. It was the moment that she mentioned her oldest dog Maddie that she choked on a forkful of scrambled eggs. Remus slapped her back as she coughed and cleared her airway. Sandy was the name of Maddie’s breeder; Maddie had come from a farm in Scotland. That same Sandy married David fifteen years from now.

When she recovered enough to speak, Shannon started asking questions about Sandy’s dogs. Her current girl was Jazz the smooth coated dog who had been waiting at the door and who happened to be the mother of two sisters Slip and Jess who would produce Maddie’s parents. Amazement rushed through her and she could not believe she was going to meet her dog’s ancestors but with frustration she realized she couldn’t tell anyone about this. Another letter to Alissa, she thought and wished she could be there with her. Alissa would have loved this place too, maybe one day Shannon would tell Sirius to bring her here for vacation. In fact, if she came here twelve years from now, she could play with Shannon’s future puppy!

Sandy continued on, bringing up their plans for the day which she somehow knew before Shannon did. She described the walk to the stable and how if they chose to take the longer ride, they would come to the beach where Castle Stalker sat out on a rock surrounded by water. It was quite a popular spot for tourists and the ride was quite lovely.

The sky was clear and bright by the time Remus and Shannon were walking down the muddy drive. The sun shining down on the crisp snow made everything blindingly bright and warm and when they reached the stable about half an hour later, they were both glad they had chosen to leave their cloaks behind.