The Topaz Brooch

by Katherine Lowry Logan

  Penny felt light-headed, and she swayed. Rick held her shoulders. “Are you going to faint?”

  She closed her eyes, licking her lips. “No, I just feel free, unencumbered, like I was a hot air balloon, someone just cut the tie-downs.” She took a deep breath while tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “Erik, you asked me earlier who I am. I have always known, but I had to accept it, I guess. I am all those people—warrior, bride, mother-to-be, donor, friend…and”—she took another deep breath—“daughter. And I don’t have to be just one. I can be all of them at different times.”

  To Bjørn, she said, “The colonel’s death, although the violence was excessive, did give me satisfaction. I needed to do something about him, and while I don’t condone what you did, with Rick’s love, I can move on from what he did to me.”

  To Forde, she said, “I was strong enough to save myself at Barataria, and although I hated Jean Lafitte at first, I’ll always love him as a dear friend and can smile when I think of him.”

  To Birger, she said, “I don’t want to continue my business. If Rick can find something for me to do at the winery, that would be great. I want to have the flexibility to go on our kids’ field trips, bake cupcakes, and plan fundraisers. I don’t need a business to feel complete. I can visit with my senior citizen clients and go to lunch with them, but I don’t need that business to satisfy my hunger for love, affection, and purpose.”

  And to Arne, she said, “I’ll always miss my mom, but in her honor, I’ll restore the relationship with my father and try to be cordial to my stepmother.”

  Erik smiled for the first time. “You are a bonny lass.” He raised her hand and kissed her palm. “On the other side, you will know all things.”

  Penny’s brain spun, and unfettered excitement kicked through her chest. “Have you been to the other side?” she asked.

  “We have, but we cannot tell you anything more.” Erik clasped Penny’s hand and placed it in Rick’s, enclosing both in his big, warrior hands. “Your union is blessed. And now we must leave you.”

  “One last thing,” Bjørn said. “You are the Keeper, Dr. Fraser. And as long as you are alive, you shall have that position. There can only be one at a time. So even if the Illuminati have twelve brooches, they cannot designate someone to be the Keeper.”

  This was her last chance to ask a question. “You said there are twenty-five brooches. Does that include the orange one you’re wearing?”

  Erik touched his brooch. “Yes, this one was made first. Whoever opens the door will receive it.”

  Finally, there was nothing else brewing in Penny’s mind. She squeezed Rick’s hand, smiling up at him.

  Erik’s shoulders locked into a broad line as he stepped back to join the others, and they linked arms. “You know more than you think you do,” Erik said. “Love is not limited by time or space, but by the capacity of your souls. Love one another.”

  The warriors chanted the phrase that would take them home, and they disappeared into the fog.

  Tavis led the way out of the ruins and found his guards standing at attention.

  “Aren’t you going in?” one of the bodyguards asked.

  “We did,” Tavis said.

  “How long were we gone?” David asked.

  “Maybe fifteen seconds,” the bodyguard said.

  Penny checked her watch. Yep. He was right. Time had stopped in that chamber. How’d that happen? Maybe Tavis could explain it later.

  Elliott looked back toward the chamber they had just left, sighing. “Let’s go home.”

  The other bodyguards walked ahead, then David, followed by Penny and Rick, with Elliott and Tavis picking up the rear.

  “What are yer plans?” Elliott asked Tavis.

  “I need to return to Washington and wrap up a few things. Where will you be?”

  “In Richmond for another week at least,” Elliott said. “And then we’ll return to Lexington.”

  “I’ll drive down one day before you leave,” Tavis said. “I want to meet the others and figure out where I’m going to live.”

  Rick cuffed Tavis on the shoulder. “Elliott had a house built for the O’Grady brothers on the farm, but now there’s only one of us still single, Shane, and he lives in Australia. Remy lives there now, so if you can put up with the Cajun, it’s a nice place to live, except in the spring. Allergies are terrible, so plan to travel from March to June.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks,” Tavis said.

  Penny tugged on Rick’s arm, and he turned around. “What’s up, babe?”

  “I need a kiss, and I’m not talking about a peck on my cheek or the top of my head. I mean a real one.”

  His mouth came down on hers, and his lips were warm, firm, and teasing. “Like this?” he asked.

  “Exactly,” she said, sliding into the kiss as heat ran through her. It was the same delicious, thrilling desire she felt every time she kissed him, and she wanted it to go on forever—to breathe in when he breathed out, to explore his mouth and run her hands down his body as she’d done earlier that morning.

  “Wilhelmina, it’s time to go,” Elliott said.

  She waved at Elliott. Her brain was telling her to end this before they embarrassed themselves further, but her body wasn’t listening to her mind. Her senses tingled, and one kiss turned into two, then three.

  “Wilhelmina.”

  Rick broke off the kiss. “We’ll meet you on the plane. Penny and I are going to walk.”

  Tavis laughed. “I doubt it’ll cool you off, Irish.”

  “We’ll walk with them,” one of the bodyguards said.

  “We’d better go,” Rick said. “We can finish this later.”

  Penny laughed. “Am I going to get initiated into the Mile High Club?”

  “Not this trip, babe. I want it to be memorable, and with five other adults and three kids on the flight, lavatory sex is out of the question. We’ll have the jet to ourselves on the trip home.”

  They held hands and walked back to the plane, and Penny couldn’t remember ever feeling so free, so happy. It had been a long time coming.

  “Hey, Rick—”

  “Yeah, babe?”

  “Did I ever thank you for coming after me?”

  His mouth twisted into a grin. “I think you might have mentioned it once. Why?”

  “Because if you hadn’t, I never would have found any peace in my life.”

  “But you have it now.”

  “Hell, yeah.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Come on, soldier. Let’s go home.”

  79

  Mallory Plantation (Christmas Eve)—Elliott

  Penny was the most beautiful bride Elliott had ever seen, and that included Meredith—but he would never fess up to that.

  Her wedding gown was a long-sleeved lace and ivory satin creation designed by Sarah Burton with a long, full skirt, and although he didn’t know how much it cost, he assumed it was in the high five-figure range. Meredith tried to explain all the bustle and padding and train stuff but, thanks to information overload, it went in one ear and zipped right out the other. He was a veterinarian, for God’s sake, not a dress designer.

  The evening was planned down to the last second, and all participants had to play their part on time, or everything would come to a screeching halt. Penny had sold her business to her friend Morgan, and Morgan was directing the wedding with a clipboard in one hand and a stopwatch in the other—stern as her Marine husband, who was off somewhere enjoying the whisky.

  For the past hour, Morgan had been giving Elliott fifteen-minute countdowns to showtime, but thanks to her insistence that he and Meredith go through a complete dress rehearsal twice, they had their parts perfected.

  Morgan’s workers had removed the chairs used during the ceremony while everyone dined on the other side of the house, and now the band that had replaced the string quartet was banging out tunes. Rhona, a decorator, and the decorator’s staff had turned the entire Fontenot mansion in
to a seasonal wonderland with greenery, ribbons, bows, garlands, four Christmas trees, and dozens of poinsettias.

  Elliott checked the time. It was 9:20 on Christmas Eve, and he and Meredith had ten minutes before they needed to leave.

  “It was a beautiful wedding, Elliott,” Tavis said. “I especially like all the kilts. I feel right at home, plus it adds of touch of nostalgia.”

  “Nostalgia for what?” Elliott asked.

  “I tripped back to Scotland for an extended visit before the Jacobite rising of 1745, and it wasn’t an easy life. Maybe nostalgia’s the wrong word. How about tradition?”

  “That’s a better choice.” Elliott glanced down to his and Tavis’s kilt hose, flashes, and ghillie brogues. “The red and green Stuart tartan fits right in with the Christmas decorations. Maybe we should hang ye on the wall.”

  “Ha, ha,” Tavis said. “I could hang up there with Penny’s red shoes. They look festive with her gown, don’t ya think?”

  “No, I don’t think. But they didn’t ask my opinion.”

  “It’s so… I don’t know… Perfect for tonight.”

  “Well, maybe.” Wilhelmina couldn’t move without showing a flash of red. “Ye know, Meredith fell in love with me because I was dressed like this on Christmas Eve almost three decades ago. I think she still does.”

  Tavis cocked an eyebrow, grinning. “Does what? Likes you wearing a kilt or still loves you?”

  Elliott shrugged. “Ye’ll have to ask her.” Although he already knew the answer. They made a point of reconfirming their love the last thing every night and the first thing every morning with a one-minute hug and an I-love-ye. Of course, most of those turned out to take much longer than one minute. And damn, just thinking about his naked wife snuggled in his arms still gave him a hard-on.

  “The kilt’s a good look for you,” Tavis continued. “You should wear it more often.” He glanced around the room. “Have you seen Emily? We have about forty minutes before our assignment.”

  “She took one of the wee lassies to the kitchen to clean up a disaster.”

  “Oh, okay. I don’t want to lose track of her, which might be easy to do here. I’m going to the bar. Can I get you anything?”

  Elliott held up his tumbler. “Ye can refresh my drink.”

  Tavis took the almost-empty glass and headed toward the alcohol.

  Meredith came up behind Elliott. “There’s been a change in the schedule. Penny wants to dance with you now instead of later. She said you’re too”—Meredith cleared her throat—“‘fucking hot’ in your kilt.”

  Elliott grinned. “What the lass thinks is important, but what ye think is more so.”

  Meredith kissed his cheek. “I think you got me in your bed within twenty-four hours of seeing you dressed like this, and I daresay you still have your swagger.”

  “Are ye saying I’ll get lucky tonight?”

  “Have I ever failed you?”

  He tilted his head and returned her kiss. “Never.”

  Tavis returned with Elliott’s drink. “Can I get you anything, ma’am?”

  Meredith’s eyes widened. “Ma’am? Come on, Tavis. We spent a month together in the Highlands researching the family, crawling around in parish basements searching for old records, and in the belly of the archives. Besides, we kicked back more shots than I can count. After all that, please don’t call me ma’am.”

  “My nanna would have my ass if I didn’t show you proper respect.”

  Elliott looked down his nose at the lad. “Tavis, ye best quit now before ye dig an even bigger hole.”

  Tavis laughed. “Yes, sir. Well, I’m going out on the porch to smoke one of Braham’s cigars with the guys.”

  “Who’s out there?”

  “They come and go, but right now, David, Pete, Braham, Philippe, and Jack, I think. If Emily’s looking for me, I’ll be on the porch.”

  Laurie Wallis, Alicyn Lyle, Rebecca, Heather, Amelia Rose, and Margaret Ann raced into the room. “Let’s hide behind Grandpa,” Laurie Wallis said. “The boys won’t find us there.” They ducked behind Elliott and tugged on the bottom of his kilt.

  “Grandpa, save us!” Alicyn Lyle said, giggling.

  “There they are!” Henry called to a group of boys. “Come on. Let’s get ’em.”

  Henry, Robbie, and Churchill, with Blane, Lukas, and Lance trying to catch up, all thundered toward Elliott, sounding like Thoroughbreds racing toward the finish line.

  The girls giggled louder. “Come on. Let’s hide upstairs.” They tore out of the room, and the boys chased after them.

  “Stop it right now!” Kenzie yelled. “If you guys don’t settle down, Santa won’t come to see you tonight.”

  “Okay, Kenz,” Robbie and Henry yelled as they all bounded up the stairs to the second floor.

  Elliott straightened his kilt. “I hope they don’t break anything.”

  “Rhona’s so happy, I don’t think she’ll care,” Meredith said, to the sound of thudding feet and giggles. “Morgan has four workers dedicated to childcare. There are groups of kids in every room, but it looks like two groups escaped.”

  Elliott blew out a breath. When the kids all ganged together, they were as terrifying as five Viking warriors. He shivered and returned his attention to Tavis, watching him weave his way across the dance floor, kilt swaying, stopping to spin Elizabeth and Charlotte along the way.

  “He’s a good fit,” Elliott said.

  “With the family or with Emily?” Meredith asked.

  “With the family. Emily has her residency to finish, and then her fellowship, and Tavis will be traveling a lot. It’s not a good time for them to start a romance.”

  “You can’t control that, Elliott. So don’t try.”

  Elliott snapped off a sprig of mistletoe from the swag trimming the fireplace and held it over his head. “How about if I try this? Will it work?” She kissed him on the mouth, and he tasted champagne on her lips. God, I love this woman. “If I need to intervene, I’ll send the lad to Australia for a year.”

  Meredith straightened the handkerchief in his pocket, then patted his chest. “You sent Pete there. How’d that work out?”

  Elliott grumbled and sipped his drink. “It kept him single while he waited for Sophia.”

  “But no one thought Sophia was coming back.”

  “Oh, ye of little faith.”

  Penny strolled toward him, her arm extended. “Dance with me, Boss. They’re playing our song.”

  “Lass, I could deny ye nothing tonight.” He took her hand and escorted her toward the dance floor. “I hope they play something age-appropriate.”

  Penny wound the loop on the bottom of her train around her wrist as they waited for the next song. “I’m sure Rick will sing something special.”

  Elliott noticed her palm. “The scar has almost disappeared.”

  “It served its purpose. With all that’s happening in my life, I don’t need a reminder of the past.”

  He squeezed her hand. “No, ye don’t.”

  Rick took to the stage. “This song is for my bride.” The band, with Remy on drums, began playing the intro to “Misty.” Then Rick started singing…

  “Look at me / I’m as helpless as a kitten up a tree / And I feel like I’m clingin’ to a cloud / I can’t understand / I get misty, just holding your hand…”

  Elliott laughed as he twirled Penny around the dance floor, his hand on her thickening waist. There would be another O’Grady in five months. And the parents-to-be couldn’t be happier.

  She looked up at him, smiling. “How’d I get so lucky, Boss?”

  “The lad’s the lucky one, Wilhelmina. I couldn’t have picked a better match for either one of ye. Ye’re perfectly suited.” He led her skillfully around the room, enjoying the swish of the silk gown around his legs. After another sweeping turn, he added, “I’m proud of ye for asking yer father to walk ye down the aisle. I know it took ye awhile to get there, but it was the right thing to do. I’ve never seen such a
proud father. There was even a tear in his eye when he stood aside at the altar.”

  “I’m happy it worked out, and my stepmother has been on her best behavior this week. I think it’s because she wants a return invitation.”

  “I doubt she’ll get one, but we’ll see,” Elliott said, adding a cocky grin for punctuation. “Are ye enjoying yer job as VP of Hospitality and Events at the winery?”

  “Yes, but I don’t need to be a VP.”

  “Ye deserve the title, and ye’ll do a marvelous job.”

  “I better. I’ve got a slave driver for a boss.”

  “I’m sure ye’ll find a way around his demanding personality.”

  Elliott twirled her on the dance floor to the sound of Rick’s vocals as he finished “Misty” and started singing another song.

  “Now I’ve had the time of my life / No, I never felt like this before / Yes I swear it’s the truth / And I owe it all to you / ’Cause I’ve had the time of my life…”

  Rick handed the microphone to Connor, who picked up the song, singing…

  “I’ve been waiting for so long / Now I’ve found someone to stand by me / We saw the writing on the wall / And we felt this magical fantasy…

  Rick did an impersonation of Patrick Swayze’s phenomenal leap off the stage in Dirty Dancing. It was like watching Baryshnikov crossed with James Dean. Then he did a triple tour, a kick-kick-slide-ball-change, pelvic thrust, and a couple of knee spins, followed by more pelvic thrusts and a few finger snaps on his way across the floor to claim his bride, accompanied by a gaggle of boys and girls pretending to be his background dancers.

  Elliott chuckled. “His mother would be proud of those moves.”

  “Yeah, she would,” Penny said, swinging her dress side to side. “Did you know he was going to do that?”

  “I was here for the rehearsal and got a play-by-play description of what he was doing.”

  “Well, I hope he doesn’t expect me to jump into his arms so he can hoist me above his head.”

  “Come on, babe,” Rick said as he sidled up next to her.