Somewhere on Mackinac

Unbelievable. He hadn’t wanted me to go on this trip last year when we were a couple, and he was still trying to spoil it.

I clicked the controls on the steering wheel to lower the volume. His agitated voice was a stark contrast to the calm, peaceful, rural landscape of Michigan. It was a perfect fall day and ideal for driving the Mackinaw Trail, also known by its far less sexy name of US 131. Until the phone call, I’d been cruising along and enjoying the farmland, mostly bare trees, and lack of traffic.

Five hours north of Chicago and everything was perfect—at least until Drake had called and interrupted my music shuffle of love songs. I should’ve sent the call to voice mail.

“Why do you care?” I forced myself to be calm since I wasn’t interested in playing the game where he expected everyone to match his level of distress. It was one of the reasons I’d broken it off with him. His ongoing need for drama wore me out. I was still connected to him because of business ties, though. Drake’s firm and mine shared several clients and often made referrals to each other.

“Sometimes I don’t understand you,” he said, exasperated.

That wasn’t an answer. He used one of his go-to phrases for getting people to feel bad about their choices.

“The feeling’s mutual,” I muttered, not caring if he heard.

“When will you be back?”

“Tuesday, maybe Wednesday.”

Silence.

“The Cooper dinner is Monday night.”

“Yeah, and Alberto has that covered.”

“Our firms bought the table together. We can’t have an empty chair. And you’re one of the partners.”

“Alberto has someone for my chair too.” Annoyance crept into my voice. “This trip has been on my calendar since right after you bailed on it last year.”

“I’ll come up with an excuse.” He sounded even more annoyed. In a weird way, he seemed to enjoy being upset.

“That’s not your place. Alberto will speak for me and the firm.”

“There’s no way we can tell people you’ve gone off to an island to celebrate some sappy movie.” He ignored what I said.

“Tell them whatever you want.” My thumb played over the disconnect button. I needed to get back to enjoying the drive and my playlist. “I gotta go.”

“Jord—”

I hung up.

I’d heard about the Somewhere in Time weekend at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island three years ago. It was mentioned in the extras on the collector’s edition DVD. It sounded incredible—staying at the Grand where the movie had been filmed, tours of the locations, panels with some of the stars and filmmakers, a gala costume ball, horse-and-buggy rides, and more. It was the perfect opportunity to geek out on one of my favorite films.

The Grand Hotel looked like a gorgeous place to spend a few days. To add to the charm, it was on an island in the middle of the Michigan straits. You could only get to Mackinac by ferry or small plane. No cars were allowed, despite what the movie showed, and the setting was idyllic. To this day, the island looked like something out of the past.

I was staying past the film festivities for the Grand’s end-of-season closing ceremony. I’d read about the ceremony and decided it’d be cool to be part of that too.

I’d fallen hard for the 1980 film when I’d seen it in ‘96. I’d been home sick from school and channel surfing when I’d come across it. Christopher Reeve was a major crush for me, and he’d drawn me into the movie. I’d loved him in the first two Superman movies. Deathtrap was incredible and where my crush had formed.

Somewhere in Time had seemed kinda hokey at first—the idea of time traveling with your mind seemed silly. But the sheer romance of going back to find your true love had swept me away. By the end of the movie, I’d been sobbing because he’d died of a broken heart.

I’d liked the film the first time I’d watched it, but it was the second viewing that had started my obsession. At the start of the film, Elise walked up to Richard in present day 1980, said “Come back to me,” and left him a pocket watch. He had no clue about her because he hadn’t time traveled yet. It was one of the most powerful things I’d seen in a movie. For her, Richard’s love lasted forever.

It was hard to explain to people why I like this movie. Even more difficult was discussing the plot with anyone who hadn’t seen it. People can have a hard time with time travel and romance together. It worked for this movie, though.

After Richard got the watch, he was haunted by the woman who gave it to him. Eventually, he discovered she was an actress from 1912. As he learned more, he was possessed to get to her. Reading about a theoretical way to travel back in time using the power of the mind and hypnosis was the answer.

I’ve been a romantic ever since that movie, and those stories became my go-to for movies or books. Somewhere in Time spoke to me about finding your one true love and how that was timeless. I wanted to feel all the emotions that flooded me when I watched the movie—the hope as Richard met Elise the first time, the spark they shared dancing, their growing attraction, and immense happiness with each other. I didn’t want the crushing heartbreak they had, but it showed me how intense their bond was. That was the heart of the story.

Even at sixteen, I knew I wanted a love like that. I’d had four serious boyfriends since then, and none of them had been that love. I’d met Drake at a reception for a mutual business contact. It seemed we’d had a lot in common, and the first five or six months were great. There was lots of romance and wooing on both sides. I was happy.

But after that, it felt more like we were settling into a business partnership than a romance. I worked at fixing our relationship as much as I could, but sometimes the status quo won out. Over time, it became clear that Drake was interested in getting ahead and appearances more than anything else. While I was usually willing to go along with what he wanted to do to help keep the peace, he was less amenable.

I shook my head vigorously. Fixating on where Drake and I went wrong wasn’t going to accomplish anything. I was on my way to a fabulous weekend, which I hoped would help me rekindle my desire for romance. Drake and I broke up after weeks of fighting, and since then, I’d been skittish about starting anything. I didn’t expect to find love this weekend, but I hoped it would at least get me ready to start dating again.

In some ways, the movie is so simple, if you look past the time travel. Two people drawn together for reasons they don’t even understand. They pushed back against those keeping them apart and formed a bond for all time. I wanted that when I was sixteen. Now that I was closer to forty, I wanted it even more—the romance, a soul mate, maybe a family.

I clicked the voice dial on the wheel.

“Call Alberto.”

“Calling Alberto Belasco,” the voice responded.

“Please tell me you’re not still in the city,” Alberto said, in lieu of a greeting.

“Nope. Left early this morning.”

“Excellent.”

Alberto was my best friend and business partner. We’d met while we were in business school, working on our MBAs. A group project bonded us, and while we’d worked separately for a few years after graduation, we’d finally formed our own business-consulting firm four years ago. Belasco & Monroe had a good reputation, and we had a waiting list of clients who wanted to work with us.

“So what brings this call on your vacation?”

“Drake was being a dick, and I wanted to vent before I finished the drive.”

I spelled out the conversation I’d had just minutes before.

“You know I’ve got the Cooper dinner covered, right?”

“I have complete faith. You know how he gets caught up on things that don’t matter.”

“I think he sees it as a chance to maybe woo you back. You guys met at a business gig after all.”

“Really? He’s been seeing other guys. Why would he be trying to get me back after six months?”

“Having seen the seating chart for our table, I know he’s not bringing anyone. Despite your troubles, I’d say he’s fixated.”

“Oh, good.” Sarcasm spilled out as I rolled my eyes.

“Let it go, man. You’re on vacation. It’s gonna be great, and when you get back, you’ll be relaxed and ready to get out there again.”

“Hopefully it’ll be that easy.”

Alberto gave a “huh-uh” with some attitude that made me smile.

“Listen, would you mind if I turned the phone off when I get to the island? I can’t have it out during events since the organizers are trying to keep an authentic feeling to the weekend and neither 1980 nor 1912 had iPhones. Plus, I don’t want to leave myself open for other annoying phone calls.”

“Not at all,” Alberto said. “I can’t imagine I’ll need to track you down over the next few days. If I do, I can go old-school, call the hotel, and leave you a very quaint message.”

We laughed. Alberto’s sense of humor was one of the reasons he was such a great friend and business partner. Few things stressed him out.

“Thanks,” I said.

“But, if you decide to time travel, let me know so I don’t wonder where you are next week.”

“Deal. You’ll be the first to know.”

“And I’ll remind you not to travel with any rogue pennies.”

“I would hope so.”

His laughter put me in exactly the mindset I needed—carefree.

“Okay,” he said. “I’m hanging up, and you’re turning the phone off.”

“Later, man.”

I disconnected the call and was happy to put aside that aspect of the modern world.