Love Just In Time

Chesapeake City, MD, the present. After discovering her husband in bed with a dear friend, Clary drives away during an ice storm. At the top of a very high bridge she skids and crashes into the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

She regains consciousness in Bohemia Village, the old name for Chesapeake City, on a hot July day in 1829. Utterly confused, she thinks she has wandered into a historical park. But the men around her are working on the canal, which is nearing completion. The leader, Jack Martin, declares she will need proper clothes and takes her to a near-by house managed by Madame Rose. One look at the “girls” lounging in the parlor tells Clary what kind of place it is. Madam Rose provides a hot bath, clean, remarkably demure clothing, and advice about men. Clary realizes she really is in the past.

Jack takes Clary to his farm. Sarah, the housekeeper and cook, her husband, Moses, and their teen-aged son, Luke, are all former slaves who work for Jack.

Clary settles into farm life, helping Sarah with the cooking and working in the fields, as they all do. The quiet surroundings and steady routine soon soothe her angry spirit as she falls into love with Jack

Of course there are snakes in this Eden. Jack is hiding dark secrets, including who he really is as well as the identity of the woman in Wilmington, DE, whom he visits frequently. A religious fanatic in Bohemia Village repeatedly attacks Madame Rose, eventually burning down her house. Then there is Sam Mackenzie, a Scottish engineer who works on the canal and has a serious interest in Madame Rose.

Most important to Clary, can she stay in the past and make a life with her love, or must she return to her original time?