All for the Heiress (5 page)

Mellie realized with a start that if she actually followed through with the mad plan, she might end up living out her days in the eighteenth century whether she chose to stay or not. If they got there, there was no guarantee they’d be able to get back, or survive.

Could she really go through with it? Never see her parents again, never get to visit America? She thought about her part in getting Catie to return to her own time, and Shane’s subsequent heartbreak. It was almost as if she had to go, to make things right. At least, that was what she was going to keep telling herself.

***

She tossed and turned all night, finally giving up shortly before dawn and fretfully throwing on her running gear to take a mind cleansing run in the cold air.

A tall ghostly figure holding a box stepped out of the foggy path in front of her and she clamped her lips around a shriek as she realized it was only Shane making his way to the barn.

“What are you doing here so early?” she asked, pressing her hand to her chest to still her heart. “You scared me half to death.”

He nodded an apology and lifted the box to show her. “I’m still covering for Danny,” he reminded her. “But come with me into the barn for a minute, and look at everything I got at the historical camp yesterday. Ye can stash it in your room.”

The fact that he went to the camp without her was just another pin in her already deflated mood. “I thought we were going out there together,” she whined.

“Ah, Mel, I’m so sorry,” he said, stopping in his tracks. “I somehow managed to finish early yesterday and just went. I totally forgot your thing for Archie. He did ask after ye, though.”

Dear Jesus, did everyone know about her unfortunate and mostly waning crush on Archie? “It’s not that,” she said, but he snickered.

“It’s all right, I totally get it. With his searing eyes and mocha skin, ye’d have lovely babies for sure. I’d want a bit of that too, if I— ouch! Fine, I’ll shut up,” he said, rubbing his arm where she jabbed him.

She couldn’t help but admit her mood lightened a little, and she wasn’t sure if it was from letting him have it or the good-natured teasing, but when he led her into the barn and snapped on one of the overhead lights, she was smiling.

A couple of the horses curiously lifted their heads over their stall doors to greet them and Shane told them amiably they’d have to wait a few more minutes. He took the lid off the filing box and waved her over for a look.

It was crammed with things and he held each one up to show her and wait for her nod of approval. Besides two sturdy cloth bags that looked like a cross between backpacks and baby slings, there was a small hatchet, leather canteens, a battered copper cup, a few more knives with leather holders, and a good sized pile of dinged up coins. Best of all was a printed copy of an old map of the area.

“And I didna forget your wee glass bottles,” he said, pointing to two dusty brown bottles with cracked cork stoppers. “What are ye using them for?”

She shrugged, embarrassed. It seemed frivolous to add unnecessary things to their packs, which would already be laden down. “I thought to bring a bit of soap and lotion, so we aren’t all crusty and stinky when we finally see them,” she admitted.

“Good thinking,” he said. “That Oliver seems like he’d never get his hands dirty, and always smell like Paco Rabanne.”

Mellie cracked up at his dejected voice, and specific choice of cologne. He’d always been a slightly weird kid. “Yes, he did smell very nice, even after all he’d been through.”

She closed her eyes to better remember but wasn’t able to conjure anything, and in fact, when she tried to recall his face, his friendly smile morphed into Shane’s teasing grin. She snapped open her eyes to see him now scowling at her, so at least she’d been able to rile him a little. She wondered for a moment why it seemed necessary for her to goad him and struggled to get back on track.

“I got us some clothes,” she said briskly. “But I think we should bring our own, um, underwear. And shoes, too. Do you have anything that’s gold? Those wee coins probably aren’t worth much, and we’ll need something to trade if we need to buy a horse or something.”

“I have my class ring is all,” he said with a frown.

“No, don’t bring that. It’s too modern looking. I have a couple pairs of earrings and my first communion cross.” She held up her hand at his look of disbelief. “It’s just in case. We very likely won’t need them.” Snapping open the brilliant map, that showed what the land and surrounding area actually looked like in 1760, which wasn’t exact, but she was grateful they wouldn’t be going in totally blind.

Shane rubbed his arms. “I canna believe we got everything so easily. When shall we be off, then?”

She stared down at the copy paper map, imagining herself traveling those thin lines, trying to picture who might greet her at the end of the journey. Would she return? All of a sudden, she was itching to go, didn’t even want to wait for the weekend.

“Let’s try tomorrow,” she said, laughing at his gobsmacked look. “For real, Shane. Shouldn’t we? It’s like you say. Every day we wait, Catie’s one step closer to getting married. We shouldn’t wait much longer or it could involve changing history.”

He looked over at the hungry horses, who looked back at him reproachfully. “Let me get to work, then,” he said. “Are ye absolutely sure ye’re going with me?” he asked, clapping his hands on her shoulders.

She shook him off and put everything back in the box. “Better than absolutely sure,” she said.

She stood up and he placed the box in her arms, giving her a long look. Her face started to prickle under his intense contemplation.

“I dinna want ye throwing your life away, if ye’re just having a tough go of it in school right now.”

 She wrinkled her nose in irritation at his out of nowhere maturity, not in the mood for life advice, and especially not from him. Her heart raced and her mind reeled. For the first time in months she was excited about something, and she didn’t want to be shaken up with responsible thoughts. She had twenty years of doing the responsible thing under her belt and it got her nothing but disillusionment. If she thought he’d go for it, she’d drag him to the woods right this minute.

“Are you saying you don’t want me to go now?” she asked, tapping her toe and putting her chin in the air.

“No way. Ye’ll probably end up saving my life,” he said hurriedly. “Just making sure, is all.”

“Okay, then, shut up with the concern. Let me take this stuff to my room, and I’ll come back and help you. I’ll feed Tawny.”

He looked like he would refuse her offer until she brought up the pig’s name and he nodded gratefully. “And I can help ye knead bread later, or whatever ye do in the kitchen,” he said. He held out his hand, palm forward. “Team time travel,” he said gustily, and she shook her head, backing away.

“You are the biggest nerd,” she said.

“Aw, dinna leave me hanging.” He took a step closer to her.

She twisted the box onto her hip and slapped her palm against his. He captured her fingers and laced them together with his, thrusting their linked hands into the air. His green eyes fairly sparkled and she relented.

“Okay, I give up,” she laughed. “Team time travel.”

“Next time, say it like ye mean it,” he said, dropping her hand and giving her a little shove out the door.

Piper tossed her phone onto the bedside table and melted into her pile of pillows with a gusty sigh. “At last, we’ve finally settled on a bridesmaid dress. We only need Mel to pick a color.” She turned to Lachlan, who’d just entered the bedroom, and frowned to see his lack of enthusiasm. Feeling contrary, she showed him a page on her tablet that had approximately thirty different photos of bouquets. “Which one of these do you like best?” she asked in a sickly sweet voice she barely recognized.

He narrowed his eyes at her, but dutifully sat beside her on the bed and pretended to pore over the pictures. “Are ye trying to kill me?” he asked, softening his words with a kiss on her cheek.

His big warm body so close to hers helped ease some of her stress and she rested her head on his shoulder, pointing to her favorite. “I like this one, if it was our wedding,” she said. “Would you be more interested if it was ours?”

“Ye do know that ye could carry a bundle of turnips and I wouldna care in the least. That doesna mean I dinna want to marry ye.”

His grumpy tone made her laugh and she tugged the computer out of his hands, tossing it the way of the phone and wrapped her arm around him. “I wonder if Catie is going through this trauma planning a wedding of her own?”

They’d been scouring the historical documents, but so far hadn’t found anything that told who, if anyone, Catie had ended up marrying, only that things on the Ferguson farm seemed normal, so they were fairly certain they’d made it back to the proper time.

“I hope so,” he said. “Not the trauma part, but that she’s married. For Quinn’s sake, so he can stop worrying about her.”

“Pfft, as if he’d stop worrying about her just because she was married. You worry plenty and it is all literally history at this point.”

He nodded. “Family is such a burden.”

He grinned down at her to show he was kidding and she squeezed him, pressing her face into his chest. A pleasant langor spread throughout her limbs as he stroked her arm with his fingertips, and she wheedled her hand under his shirt to feel the smooth skin of his hard stomach.

“I’m happy just like this,” she said, getting closer.

He put his hand on hers to stop her roaming further up his chest. “My love,” he said seriously. “I want to marry ye more than ye can know. I think it isna as important to ye as ye are …” He frowned, clearly not wanting to offend her.

“A heathen modern person?” She giggled and turned to face him. “Should we move to separate bedrooms?”

He grimaced as she wormed her hand out of his grasp and slid it lower. “God, no, and that isna what I was going to say. I just wish ye knew how much I want to make ye mine forever, where no man could say otherwise.”

She stopped her teasing grappling and looked into his deep blue eyes, touched that he worried about such things. As if anyone else could ever turn her head. He seemed the epitome of confidence in so many things, and yet he worried someone might try to steal her away. She saw everything she needed to see in his eyes, that was why she didn’t feel such urgency to get married. She felt bad now for all the times she’d shrugged him off, more concerned with getting Evie settled. If they had to go through all the planning she was doing for this wedding, it might be another year before it happened.

She leaned in and kissed him softly. “Let’s just do it,” she said. “For us, the way you always say Sam and Evie should.”

“Ye wouldna mind?” he asked, taking her hands. “What about all the flowers and birds and bells and—”

“I would not mind at all,” she asserted.

Since she’d inherited the castle, she’d become a bit of a celebrity, due to the Cinderella aspect of a nobody American suddenly becoming a billionaire. When she’d donated half her money, more out of not wanting to deal with it than being especially philanthropic, her popularity with the press exploded for a short time. If they had a wedding on the scale of what they were planning now for Sam and Evie, the village would be overrun with reporters.

It was a pain, because she always felt like she had to put on makeup just to go to the market. And they loved Lachlan even more than her, the insanely handsome and mysterious Highlander who flatly refused to talk to any of them, and always ended up with a dark scowl in pictures.

“I want to do it soon,” she said, the idea taking hold. She squeezed his hands and moved around to straddle his legs, practically bouncing in her eagerness. A little ripple of guilt passed over her. “We can’t tell anyone though, at least for a while. I don’t want to hurt Evie’s feelings, or make her feel like her wedding is a burden. Because it’s not,” she finished hurriedly, her guilt expanding in her chest.

“Ye’re a good friend,” he said. “But I think the two of ye worry far more about each other than ye need to.”

“Maybe. Probably.” Piper shrugged. “This will be our greedy little secret, then we’ll have a public wedding in the summer, aye?”

“Aye, sounds perfect.”

He reached for the tie of her robe, but she was already twisting away to make new notes. She’d have to call the priest, and figure out a day, find an outfit … she was sure the longer she thought about it, she’d come up with more things she’d need to do.

He grinned at her, and gripped her hips. “I shall speak to the priest tomorrow and arrange everything. Ye willna have to plan a thing. All ye need to do is show up.” He pulled her closer to him, his lips grazing her jawline.

She sighed and tilted her head as he trailed kisses down her neck. “That sounds heavenly.” Having him take care of everything was an added bonus, and she got goosebumps thinking about being his wife. They multiplied as he continued moving his mouth down, and his hands pressed her against him. “Oh, that feels heavenly, too.”

“Are ye sure about this?”

“Ask me that one more time and you’ll know what pain is,” Mellie said, shrugging out of her eighteenth century hybrid backpack. She was tense enough without his granny-like nagging.