Asher's Dilemma by Coleen Kwan

possible,” she whispered, “but I love you too.”
    He stared at her without speaking, but the sudden fire in his eyes told her all she needed to know. The enormity of what she’d just admitted engulfed her. Lowering her head, she covered her face with her hands.
    “How can this be happening? How can I be in love with both of you?”
    He moved swiftly, bending down to curve his arm around her. “Sweetling, I beg you not to distress yourself. It will all work out in the end, you’ll see.”
    “Oh, Asher…Quigley.” She rested her head on his shoulder and found ease in his strength. “I don’t see how. Even after all this business with the chronometrical machine is sorted out, what will become of you? How will you return to your correct time in history?”
    “ That will never happen.” He sounded quite convinced.
    “But how can you remain here? You would have to lead a circumscribed life, perhaps move abroad and assume another identity.” She worried her lip at the thought of him wandering the earth on his own. “I cannot allow you to shoulder such a burden alone.” She took a quick breath and declared, “I will marry you.”
    His mouth unhinged in disbelief. “But what of the present Asher? He is the man you’re meant for.”
    “I thought so too, but his behavior lately indicates otherwise.” A lump in her throat threatened to choke her. It didn’t seem possible, but she loved the present Asher too, desperately, despite the way he’d walked out of her life. Recalling how she’d caressed his bare chest just minutes ago, hunger for him swelled in her once more. She wanted both these men to be part of her life, and felt not the slightest shame in this. “Oh mercies,” she sighed. “What a conundrum this is!”
    Quigley squeezed her shoulder. “All will work out,” he repeated enigmatically.
    She ought to have been annoyed by his vague words, but oddly she was comforted. Thus far he hadn’t let her down, so perhaps it would all work out in the end. He remained crouched beside her, but as soon as the door handle rattled, he sprang away, and by the time Asher had re-entered the workshop, he was once more positioned by the workbench.
    Freshly clothed and washed, Asher glanced between the two of them, his countenance uncertain. “Shall we proceed then?” He drew two more chairs towards Minerva, arranged them into a semi-circle, then gestured towards the other man. “Quigley? Perhaps you would care to be seated?”
    “No, I prefer to remain standing.” Quigley waited until his double was seated next to Minerva. Still, he appeared to have difficulty finding the right words. He dallied with the bits and bobs on the workbench, his fingers roving restlessly over the items.
    “Well, I can’t put it off any longer,” he declared, but then proceeded to strip off his jacket and hang it on a hook. He paced the scarred floor, cracking his knuckles. “First of all, I’ll tell you how I got here.” Reaching into the pocket of his waistcoat, he fished out a small round object. “You both know what this is.” Minerva saw it was the locating compass of the stalking device which Asher had used to find her some weeks back in the Manchester slums. She listened with growing wonder as he related how the compass had led him to the chronometrical conveyance.
    “At this point I must say something which will sound incredible to you.” Pausing, he fixed them both with a hard stare. “While all this was happening, I had no inkling of who Minerva was.”
    Minerva started. “You mean you had forgotten about me?”
    “No, I hadn’t forgotten. I remembered your father, Manchester, the apprenticeship. All that had happened, except for you. You no longer existed.”
    She didn’t know what to say. Beside her, she sensed Asher shifting uneasily on his chair. “But that makes no sense.”
    “Bear with me, and it will make sense. As I said, you did not exist, Minerva, but the instant I travelled back to this point, you