Hours had passed, and Abby finally finished typing her resume. And of course, Michael's trash can was filled with crumpled rejects. But she was proud of herself for eventually beating the manual typewriter monster.
She pulled the resume out of the typewriter and placed it on the desk.
She walked out of Michael's bedroom and headed down the hallway.
She heard Martha in the kitchen, so she headed in there.
Abby saw working on a pot roast in a pan.
Martha turned and saw Abby in the doorway.
"Would you like some help? I'm not much of cook, but I would like to earn my stay here," Abby said.
"Sure my dear," Martha replied and motioned for Abby to come over to her.
Abby walked into the kitchen.
Martha looked at Abby's dress. "Oh, you better change into something else, I would hate for you to get your dress dirty."
Abby nodded, then headed out of the kitchen.
A little while later, Abby returned to the kitchen in her 2010 blue jeans, sandals, and a light blue blouse.
Martha glanced down at her sandals. "You do have some fancy sandals. I like them."
"Thanks, now how can I help?" Abby watched while Martha finished chopping up some onions.
Martha looked over her counter. "Why don't you cut up those carrots into thin round pieces," she replied.
Abby noticed the carrots on the counter next to a knife. "I can handle that," she said then headed over to the counter.
While Abby grabbed the knife and started cutting up a carrot, Martha looked at her with a smile. "Reminds me of when Jennifer was a young girl and would help me with cooking."
Abby looked at Martha and another strange déjà-vu feeling about cutting carrots. "I really hope I'm not a bother staying here," she told Martha.
"Oh, no bother my dear. If you need a place to stay a little longer until you get established in the town, I would actually love to have a woman around the house. After all, Michael will be moving in with Jennifer next week," Martha said then her eyes started to well up to a little. "These onions always get to me," she told Abby, but in reality, she was already missing not having Michael around the house. He was still her little baby as far as she was concerned.
Abby smiled while she returned to chopping those carrots and was looking forward to spending a few days here. After all, she planned on heading back to 2010 by Saturday night after she saved Jennifer's life. But she still did not have a plan on how she would do that yet.
Hours had passed, and the sun started to head to the horizon in the west.
Michael parked his car in the driveway and got out. He glanced at Jennifer's house and noticed her Corvair was not in her carport. He knew she must have worked a little late today.
He headed off to the front door.
Michael entered the living room and closed the front door behind him.
Her heard some chatter and laughter from the kitchen and knew Abby, and his mom hit it off.
He walked through the living room and headed into the kitchen.
Martha saw Michael while he walked to the doorway.
"Dinner smells great," he said while he watched Abby finish with the salad in a large bowl.
"Abby's a jewel. Just like Jennifer," Martha told Michael.
"I'm home," Harry Osborne said from the living room then the front door was heard closing.
"That's my dad," Michael told Abby.
Harry Osborne, late fifties with salt and pepper hair with more salt than pepper, entered the kitchen in his work clothes and gray metal lunch box. He looked exhausted.
Harry stopped near the doorway the second he saw the back of Abby at the counter placing tongs into the salad bowl. "We have a guest."
Abby turned around and looked over at Harry.
"Abby, that's my dad, Harry. Dad, meet Abby, she just arrived in Barbourville Sunday night for a new start in life."
Harry walked closer to get a better look at Abby. His mouth opened a little in awe. "For a minute, I thought..."
"I know. You thought she was Jennifer. So did I," Martha said, interrupting him.
"Strange," Harry said while he placed his lunch box on the counter.
"I'd shake your hand, dear, but they're dirty from the plant," Harry told Abby.
"Dad inspects the Corvairs while they move down the assembly line," Michael told Abby.
Abby smiled at Harry. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Osborne."
"Aw, call me Harry. I'm not old enough to be called mister," he said with a chuckle.
"That's debatable," said Martha jokingly while he opened up a cupboard and removed four white plates. She placed them on the counter.
Harry playfully stuck out the tip of his tongue at Martha.
"Put that tongue back in your mouth, and go get washed up for supper, Harry," Martha said while she walked over to the oven.
"Yes dear," Harry replied, then walked up to Martha and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Harry walked out of the kitchen and headed down the hallway.
"And you professor," Martha said while she glanced over at Michael then opened the oven door.
Abby grabbed four plates off the counter and walked them to the dining room while Martha removed the pot roast from the oven.
Michael walked out of the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes had passed, and Abby, Martha, Michael, and Harry sat down for a nice pot-roast dinner at the dining room table.
They talked and asked Abby about her life down in Florida. She had to be careful answering to avoid suspicions, but she made it believable she was from 1961.
Abby helped Martha clear away the dishes from the dining room table.
Abby dried the dishes while Martha washed the dirty dishes by hand in the sink with yellow rubber gloves.
Harry entered the kitchen and walked over to the refrigerator. He opened it up, looked inside, then closed it. "I need to get some beers out of the garage."
Abby's eyes widen with a little fear. She placed her dried plate back in the cupboard. "I'll get it for you."
"No. I can do that."
"No, let me since you've been so kind, as to give me a place to sleep and meals to stay for a few days," she said then rushed to the sliding glass door beating Harry.
"She sure does want to help out," Harry said while he stepped out of her way.
Abby opened the sliding glass door to the left of the counter. She did not notice the small key hanging on a hook on a wooden plaque.
Martha, Michael, and Harry watched while Abby stepped outside and closed the door behind her.
"I still have this eerie feeling I've known her all my life," Martha said while she looked at the sliding glass door.
Harry glanced over at Martha then back at the sliding glass door. "I know what you mean. And she sure has some fancy sandals."
"She fell in the street Sunday night in the pouring rain and hit her head. Michael took her to the hospital," Martha said then returned to washing a dirty plate.
"That's my boy," Harry said, looking proud of Michael.
Harry's eyes widened when he remembered something. He rushed over to the sliding glass door. He grabbed the small key off that wooden plague.
He opened the sliding glass door and stepped outside.
Michael went after Harry.
Outside at the garage, Abby pulled on the handle of the left garage door. It would not open, and she remembered it was locked Sunday night.
"You'll need the key," Harry' voice called out from behind her.
Abby turned around in a bit of a panic and saw Harry walking up to her.
Harry took the key and unlocked the padlock. He swung the left door open.
"I thought I'd help out also," Michael said from behind Michael.
Abby saw Michael walking up to her. She turned back around and saw Harry enter the garage. She rushed after him in a panic and wondered what would happen next after they saw the time machine in the middle of their garage.
Once he stepped inside the garage, Harry flicked on the lights.
Abby's face cringed and closed her eyes in anticipation of Harry's reaction.
"What is this?" Harry said from inside.
Abby wondered what would be her response but remembered she told Michael she arrived in town on the bus. She stepped inside the garage to face the music with Michael, who looked curious.
Once they got in the garage, Abby's eyes widen, and her eyebrows rose in a little shock when she saw that the time machine was gone. She did a double-take, and it was still gone. How am I going to go home? She said in her mind while she stared at the bare spot in the middle of the garage. Then she remembered the part of the instructions where she told the machine to come back on Saturday night. She forgot about the five-minute timer where it went back to 2010. She'll just have to find an excuse to slip into the garage that night to return home.
Harry pointed down at a puddle of dried vomit by his two cases of Budweiser beer to the right of the door. "Some critter must have gotten into the garage," he said while he scrapped a little of the vomit with the toe of his right work boot.
Michael glanced down at the other end of the garage and saw the window above the workbench was opened. "That critter must have climbed through that opened window," he said and pointed at the workbench.
Harry looked at the opened window. "I must have left it opened when I worked in here Sunday afternoon," he said.
Abby saw the opened window she left opened after arriving from the future. She opted to keep her mouth shut and let them believe that's what happened.
Michael walked down and closed and locked the window.
He headed back to the other end of the garage.
Harry reached down and picked up a six-pack of beer. "Got what I need," Harry said.
Abby looked back at the bare spot in the middle of the garage then stepped outside, looking worried.
Michael walked out after Abby.
Harry flicked off the garage light then went outside.
Michael and Abby walked away from the garage while Harry closed and locked the garage door.
"Listen, I thought I could take you to Montgomery Wards so you can buy a new dress for your interview tomorrow. I mean I can imagine you didn't bring a lot of clothes with you up here."
Harry walked away from the garage with his six-pack in hand.
"You don't have to do that," Abby said while she glanced at the garage over her shoulder.
"It's no bother. Besides, I was thinking of bringing Jennifer along. She wants to meet you. She's the love of my life, and we're getting married this Saturday," he replied with a smile, he could not wait to make Jennifer his wife.
"I'm happy for you, and I would love to meet her."
But Abby looked a little sad while she saw Michael's smile.
While Michael and Abby walked to the sliding glass door, they did not see Jennifer, who curiously peeked out one of her bedroom room curtains.
"Let me call Jennifer to tell her we'll go in fifteen minutes," he said while he opened the sliding glass door.
Abby stepped into the kitchen. Harry stepped into the kitchen after her, then Michael stepped inside and slid the glass door closed.