Helen Douglas: Chasing Stars

‘But I think I’d like to go back to Earth.’

His eyes close and my fears are realised. ‘I do love it here,’ I say, trying to reassure him. ‘It’s just, you know, what if one of us got sick?’

His eyes flick back open and he smiles. ‘I was terrified you were going to want to stay here. I love a good metaphor as much as the next guy, but the thought of the two of us alone, like Adam and Eve in paradise for ever . . .’

‘It would be pretty intense,’ I say, relief flooding through me.

‘And it would leave our children in a sticky situation, genetically speaking.’

‘Our children?’ I say, raising my eyebrows.

He smirks. ‘How else would we pass the time? There’s no com-screen in paradise.’

To my amazement, I’m not blushing. ‘So it’s Earth,’ I say. ‘I know a little farmhouse by the sea.’

‘I’d like that. I never did get to finish decorating that place. And I know a loose floorboard with a whole wad of cash hidden underneath it.’

‘So the question is, when. In the past? Or in the future?’

‘You decide. Either choice is fine with me. But whatever we choose, we stick with it. I’m done jumping back and forth through time. Like I said, it messes with your head.’

I stand up and stretch. It’s such a big decision. And yet – and yet, no one knows what might lie ahead of them. I thrust my hands into my pockets and one of them bumps against something small and warm. And then I know exactly how I’m going to decide. I take out the lucky penny I found just before leaving 2012 and turn it between my fingers. ‘Heads is the future. Tails is the past,’ I say.

Ryan stands up next to me. ‘Are you serious?’

‘This seems as good a way as any to decide.’

He takes a deep breath and nods. ‘Let’s do it.’

He’s still holding my gaze, still waiting to see where fortune will take us, as I flip the copper coin into the air and leave our destiny to chance.