"I'm thinking the operators of that mirror know when I'm home and connect us at that time. I was gone buying those mirrors and worked to get them up. Then, I had to check my garden. Perhaps, that's why my day is different than yours. They connect us when we are near the mirror." Frank told her.

Abby's face lit with wonder. "I bet you're right. It makes sense. If that's true, it improves our connection. Use the box to send me a message. I'll check it each morning, and you can tell me to have the mirror connect us. I bet those notes also give us a better idea as to what we did."

"We'll read them together, but not right now. "Did you like the small mirror I bought for you?"

"Yes, it is so pretty. Thank you. Are these the only mirrors you put up?" she asked pointing towards the hall. "I bet if you thought of using the small ones for outdoors, you hung others."

"You're right. I put one in the barn. I bought one framed in metal. It has a wire to hang it. Yesterday, I added nails to the posts around the garden so I can move it around and put it up at night in the barn. Because of deer eating my vegetables, I fenced it. If the mirrors work outside, you and I can keep the connection when I need to work."

Frank changed the subject. "Since you read that first letter, you know what I said about the roaring twenties. I want to know a little about my future—which I suppose could be our future if you actually come here to be my wife." He grinned when she laughed. "Do you know what happens in my time over the next ten years?"

"Yes and we'll discuss it, but I need to visit the toilet, get dressed, and make some tea. Since the mirrors keep us connected, please be a gentleman and don't watch."

"It shouldn't matter that I see you on a toilet."

She sighed. There was no way she could prevent him from doing what he wanted to do unless she threw a towel over the mirror.

Abby angled the mirror when she entered the bathroom so it didn't look at the toilet. She was also careful to use her long robe to hide what she did. The entire idea of him having the ability to watch made her nervous.

"I see what you did. The mirror is showing the window instead of my stove to heat the water. Which makes me curious about that, but did you know that the sound of tinkling travels really well with these mirrors?" Frank asked with laughter.

"This kind of intimacy is something I've never shared with a man before, so behave."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll have a turn where you get to listen. Tonight, you can watch me bathe, or I'll move that mirror. Your choice."

She ignored him. There were times she'd like to shove him. "Frank, do you have any spare money that you could invest for the future?" she asked while she flushed the toilet.

"I heard that," he said laughing. "Why do you want to know? Do you want me to put you in my will?"

There was no doubt there was laughter in his voice. "I'm not an investment." She sighed, and approached the medicine cabinet, and closed the door. She instantly saw him sitting on the bed looking at the mirror.

"I thought you might like to see something modern. I've seen your toilet paper at the museum. This is ours today." She held the roll up close to the mirror for him to see and unrolled a few squares. "Can you see the way it's perforated to tear it off?" She tore a square off for him to see how easy it was. "That's because it's very soft." She put her face to the mirror and demonstrated it by rubbing it gently against her cheek. "It's soft and sometimes used to blow your nose."

"Just a minute." He stepped over by his toilet, picked up a small box, and brought it to the mirror. "It's folded and I don't recommend using it to blow your nose or rub on your face even though it says it's splinter-free. That's what hankies are for. If you come to my time, I'll see that you have some. Perhaps rags would work best between your legs. This can make you sore."

She laughed at his determination to get a rise out of her. "You won't be teasing me when I come, and you're stuck with me."

"I'm not teasing now. But show me something else." She showed him the liquid soap that she pumped from a plastic bottle into her hand. However, he was more interested in how it pumped and what she called plastic.

When she quit because of it taking so long, she headed for the kitchen to make a cup of tea. He sat down to his cold eggs.

"You aren't going to eat those, are you?"

"This isn't the first time I've eaten cold food. I've eaten eggs in the rain while in the army. He finished them and took the plate to the sink. He adjusted the mirror on the shelf so he would see her and then washed his dishes."What does my future look like?" he asked again.

"What do you want to know? I use notes to keep track of historical events for my books if you want me to be precise. Finish the dishes and join me at the table. I'll explain how I think I had a part in making you and your family rich. You'll need to take notes."

"What do you mean, made my family rich? How'd you do that?" He finished the last dish and left it on a dishtowel to air dry.

"Matt asked me if I played the stock market. I don't, but at the time, I had no idea I'd be talking to you. Now, I know I could give dates to what the stock market did from the early 1920s to the early 1960s. If a person like you did that knowing what would happen, you would get incredibly rich."

He ran his hand over his head. It made him uncomfortable. "That's sort of why they made laws about insider trading. It makes it unfair. It's dishonest. Maybe I did that before, against my better judgment. I don't think I want to know."

"Okay. I understand. I guess I didn't consider it unethical. We'll talk about historical events instead."

Frank opened a drawer in the kitchen cabinet and pulled out a pencil and his journal. "I began keeping a record of things when I came home and bought this place. The country went through a deflation for the last couple of years. But recently the economy began looking better." He took a seat at the table and watched her in the mirror across from the windows. She prepared her tea and came back to the table. "Aren't ya gonna eat anything?"

"I'm not a breakfast person." Abby set her teacup in front of the chair next to where he would be sitting. He watched her in the big mirror over the table. After she sat, she picked up her computer case from the floor and set it on the table. She unzipped the case and pulled out her computer.

He stood to get a better look in the mirror. "What's that?" He watched her attach a black wire to it and reached the other end towards the wall, which he couldn't see because it was on the same wall as the mirror.

"I can't see what you're doing."

"Darlin', I'm plugging it into an outlet."

"Oh, yeah, I've seen those before. They haven't brought electricity out this far yet. I guess, in your time, it's everywhere. What's that thing you opened with a bitten apple on it?"

"My laptop computer. It's a glorified typewriter that is connected to a wireless router that connects me to the internet. I know that makes no sense to you, but I can't explain modern-day technology. It's one of a dozen electronics invented in the last century. This is where I keep my work. Hold on while I boot up."

"Boot up?" he asked with a laugh. "That's what we say when we ask someone to help us climb onto something."

"Maybe that's where the term came from. Here we go, put your small mirror towards it so you can see it."

He stood up, and got it off the shelf and then turned it at an angle to see the machine and her hand. Though he couldn't see anything. "Abby, this isn't showing me anything."

She turned it away from him to double-check the screen, and it was fine. "What did it look like?"

"Dark smoke."

"Perhaps, showing you technology from the future isn't something allowable. I can see why that could change the future." Abby turned the computer away from the mirror. "I'll read what I have while you take notes. This research is from 1920 to 1935," she explained. "I sure hope telling you this doesn't create problems later on."

By using her notes, she talked about the highlights of those years, how the economy began changing, and then how the economy was hurt. She watched her phrasing as not to be too informative. Instead of telling him of men jumping out windows, she merely said it was horrible. He asked her questions but didn't interrupt her very often. When she came to the topic of buying and selling stocks, she skipped it. Instead, she looked up new inventions in his near future.

He really enjyed what he heard.

"We can return to this later, but I want to get dressed."

He grinned wickedly. "Oh, go ahead. I'll stay in here."

She looked at the mirrors. "Are you thinking you'll have that panoramic view while you watch me? Sometimes, you are such a guy." She closed the lid of her computer and rose from the table. I won't bother to ask you not to watch. I'll take my clothes to the bathroom and change."

"Spoilsport."

Part of getting acquainted is fun. For these two living a century apart, it's also sharing the differences. She's learned his desire to be honest. He's learned she listens. Together, they work to learn how this is all happening. Their difference may be vast with technology, but he has an analytical mind and he's adding things together.

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