She scratched the whiskers on his jaw.
“Want me to shave, huh?”
She said no with a small shake of her head. “I like the rugged look. The longer hair and stubble are so . . . un-Elliott-like.” Something about the way she said it, the way she was looking at him with those alluring baby-blues, made his heart pound with a thunderous knock against his ribs.
“I haven’t been so meticulous lately.”
“You’ve had a lot going on with your leg and the farm.”
His mouth went dry. He sipped from the same water container. Since he’d capped the whiskey bottle almost four weeks earlier, he drank more coffee, more water, and had to pee all the time.
“Everything changed after you left. When you didn’t give me a chance to make things right, my priorities shifted. I had to get my health back. We might not find out who killed the horses, but the farm will survive. Whether I’m CEO or not doesn’t really matter. Lou was right. This place isn’t mine. I don’t owe it any more than I’ve already given it.”
“Are you going to quit?”
“Not yet. Got to get through this mess first. Get on solid footing again.” His throat became painfully tight. He’d never acknowledged this, even to himself.
“And do what? Go back to Scotland?”
His neck pulsed, singularly describing his old fear in relation to a new one. “I won’t be separated from my child. I couldn’t live like that.”
Her weary gaze connected with his. “Something might happen to the baby. My body—”
He kissed her, cutting out whatever she was going to say. The effects of the tender touch of their mouths tingled on his lips. “This will work. Let’s take it one day at a time.” He spread his hand against her chest. The thumb touched one nipple, the pinkie the other. Goosebumps popped out from her neck down. He grabbed a fleece throw blanket and wrapped it around her. “I won’t leave you. You won’t go through this alone. All I ask is that you listen to the doctors, trust that I’ll help you, and believe we can conquer this disease.”
Her mouth quivered. “Just don’t pressure me until after the sixteenth.”
“I said I’d give you that time, and I will.” He’d use those days to have conversations with doctors all around the world. When she was ready to act, he’d have appointments scheduled at the best breast cancer centers, along with cutting edge doctors on stand-by ready to treat her.
“Would you feel pressured if I asked you to take off the rest of your clothes?”
Her smile had lost the sparkle he’d seen so many times in Edinburgh, but she laughed softly. Her beautiful, expressive eyes were still awash in tears. “I didn’t plan . . .”
He lifted her chin with his index finger. “What?”
“I didn’t come here to make love with you. Actually, that was the furthest thing from my mind, but I can’t think of anything I want more.”
Whatever he expected to hear, it wasn’t that, but with those words, he became lost in the softness of her body, the scent of her hair, and the silky feel of her skin next to his. They fumbled with their clothes, tossing them here and there. Finally, he had her naked beside him. Although deep in his heart he had held out hope that this would happen, the logical part of his brain had said, “No way.” He put his hands to her cheeks, eased her head forward for the kiss he planned to give her, but he froze, and the throb of his pulse beat against his temples. “You have specks of gold in your eyes.”
She kissed his nose, his cheeks, his chin. “It’s a family trait. You usually don’t see them in blue eyes.”
He brushed his lips across the smooth white skin beneath her jaw. “Only seen them in green.”
“I bet the baby will have your chocolate eyes,” she said.
“Hope not. Yours should be passed on.” He lifted her and positioned her right where he wanted her. The muscles in his arms and shoulders coiled and bunched as he held her above him. Then, slowly, like a cat stretching in the sun, she eased down on him until he was buried inside her. He was home, and there was no other place he’d rather be.
Chapter Sixty-Four
En Route to Lexington Airport – February 1
THE OVERCAST MORNING spilled its gloom into the backseat of Elliott’s Mercedes. He was heartsick that Meredith wanted to go home after only one night at the farm, but he wasn’t going to encourage her to stay. He’d rather walk barefoot through the barn than put pressure on her. Their relationship, although back on course, chugged dangerously along a track still under construction.
Thinking back over the last twelve hours, he had to smile despite the gloom. They had made love, then slept curled tightly in each other’s arms. Meredith had gotten up twice during the night, sick to her stomach, but she hadn’t complained. Now, as he sat there with his fingers interlaced with her warm hand, his heart beat widely with admiration for her true grit. How that would play out over the next few months, he didn’t know, but he set his hopes high above the rainbow because that’s where dreams come true. Call him a hopeless romantic, but he knew he loved her, and he intended to spend many, many years with her in his arms.
“If I can get away this weekend, I’ll be in Napa late Friday night,” he said.
“Let’s play it by ear. It might be easier for me to travel. I know you don’t want to leave the farm right now.”
He squeezed her hand. “You’re sick. I don’t want you suffering from jet-lag, too.”
She let out a little hiss of exasperation. “I’m pregnant. Not an invalid. I should be able to come down at least for Saturday night. Don’t tell Gregory I said this, but my life has been so much easier since I gave up trying to do both of our jobs. He’s got everything under control. The only things I have left to do for the party is go to my last dress fitting.”
“Then stay for a few days.”
“The launch isn’t the only project going on at the winery. In a few months, we’ll unveil the nation’s largest rooftop solar cogeneration system. It’s just one of our sustainable energy initiatives.”
“A green company.”
“Very green.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “I’m proud of you.”
She gave him a sparkling smile that told him she not only felt better physically but emotionally, too. “You can be proud of me for something else I did.”
“Really? What?”
“I didn’t make a to-do list when I woke up.”
“Jesus.” Elliott glanced out the window searching the sky that sunlight struggled to penetrate. “Yep. I think the world might come to an end today.”
She laughed. “Oh, stop it. It’s not that big a deal.”
He gave her nape a squeeze with one hand before pulling her close. Her warm breath blew soft caresses over his face. His tongue slid inside her mouth, giving and tasting. “I can’t wait five days. I’ll fly up Wednesday.”
She nibbled at the corner of his lips. “Sure you can.”
“Easier for you. Your projects aren’t stalled like mine,” he said.
She kissed his chin, his neck. “What’s the board of directors saying?”
“Not much, but they’re anxious. We’ve got to have a break in the case, or they’ll have my neck in a noose.” He slipped his hand beneath her sweater and started to cup her breasts. He stopped. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to touch her; he did. But he thought he needed to downplay their importance to him. He ran his fingers up and down her spine slowly, teasing and tickling. She wiggled. He lifted her chin, and his lips found hers. Hunger exploded when his tongue slipped into her mouth.
A moan slipped past her lips, a husky sound of her need. “What about the shareholders?”
He flicked his tongue over hers. “They’re busting my balls.”
She grasped his shoulders and held on tight. “That sounds painful.”
“It’s manageable.” He stroked the inside of her mouth, savoring the lush interior. Maybe he wouldn’t let her leave after all.
“I have somethi
ng else I need to tell you before I go,” she said.
He kissed her neck, smelling her three-butter lotion. “I want you for lunch and dinner.”
“Stop a minute. I need to tell you this. I want everything out on the table.”
He nibbled on her ear. “The table’s rather crowded. Can’t it wait?”
She pulled away. “I want to be completely transparent.”
He did a quick gut check. No racing heart. No heated anger. Somewhat amazed, he gazed at her with a slow arch of his brow. “If I’d heard those words yesterday, my stress would have gone from zero to a hundred in a snap. So tell me.”
“You probably don’t want to hear this.”
He entwined his fingers in her hair and tugged her back toward him. “No drama. Just spit it out.”
She licked her bottom lip. “When I was here before, I saw a ghost.”
Surprisingly, he laughed. Not even a ghost sighting could upset him right now. “You, too, huh?”
She gave him a pouty look, extending her lower lip. “I’m serious,” she said. “I saw him twice.”
Elliott was about to suck her lower lip into his mouth when David knocked on the window. He pointed toward the runway. “Plane’s landing.”
Elliott gave him the okay signal and turned his attention back to Meredith’s lip. “A ghost is only a trick of the light. The human brain is hard-wired to see faces. We see them in clouds, too. Ghosts don’t exist.”
“It wasn’t a trick of the light, and he didn’t look like Casper with only a face either.”
“Which one did you see? The old sea captain or the dark-haired, handsome dude?”
“The dark-haired dude.”
He studied her pensive expression. Obviously, she didn’t doubt what her eyes told her. “Sometimes you can see the ghost, and sometimes you can’t? I wonder why that is?”
“You’re making fun of me.”
He wasn’t, but he was teasing her and thoroughly enjoying it. He didn’t care about the damn ghost. If she thought she saw one, so be it. As far as he knew, the black-haired dude had never hurt anyone. Elliott wasn’t sure he could say the same about the sea captain and the cutlass he carried strapped to his hip.
“You saw a ghost. I believe you. Next time you see him, have a nice chat and tell him I said hello.”
She put her hand on her hips. “You don’t believe me, but I know what I saw. I even looked through Kit’s sketch pads. We saw the same ghost. I’d love to talk to her about her sightings because . . . because,” Meredith took a deep breath. “The dark-haired dude is my great-great-great-great-grandfather, Cullen Montgomery. He’s a few years older in the picture I have at home, but it’s definitely the same person. What I want to know is, why is he here?”
The smile didn’t just slip off Elliott’s face. It slid off faster than snow down a slope during an avalanche. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because you made such a big deal about not believing in the see-through people.”
Elliott shook his head like a dog. “It’s impossible. You’re mistaken.”
A flicker of disappointment appeared in her eyes. “You’re closed-minded when it comes to ghost sightings. I accept that, so I won’t include you in my research. But what I need to know from you is if there are any MacKlenna Farm journals from the nineteenth century that might mention a connection between the MacKlennas and Montgomerys.”
“There’s Old Thomas’s daily journal in the office and some old journals up on a shelf in the library. I’ll ask Mrs. Collins to get the cleaning staff to dust them off.”
“Are they as dusty as your wine cellar?”
“Nothing’s that dusty.”
She kissed him. “Thank you. It’s important to me.”
The Montgomery Winery jet taxied toward the MacKlenna hangar. “Your ride’s here. Are you sure you won’t change your mind and stay a few more days?”
Meredith skewed him with a look that told him not to press.
The door to the cabin opened, and the Montgomery Winery flight attendant stood in the doorway.
“I’ve got to go,” Meredith said. “I’ll call you later.”
He pulled her into his arms for one last kiss. Their open mouths fused hungrily. The tip of his tongue dueled with hers. Neither of them played gently. “Hurry back, my wee sweetheart.”
“Late Friday.”
“Come sooner if you can.” He teased her ear with his teeth, blowing warm breath on her cheek.
“Keep this up, and I’ll come right now,” she said.
“Don’t let me stop you.”
She straightened and patted her chest, trying to catch her breath. “Whew. You sure can get me going.” She reached for the door handle. “If you see any see-through people this week, tell the dark-haired dude we’ve got a date Friday night.”
“They don’t show up when I’m around.”
She leaned over and kissed him. “Maybe they’ll make an exception.”
If Cullen Montgomery showed up and explained himself, that would either solve Elliott’s problem or cause a bigger one.
She reached into her computer bag and withdrew a thick folder. “I wasn’t sure whether I would give these to you or not. But it makes sense for you to have them.”
“What’s in the file?”
“My medical records, films, reports, doctors’ names and contact information. I signed release forms so you can talk to them if you have questions. But don’t forget our deal. Two weeks.”
Elliott took the folder. “I won’t forget.”
He watched her hustle up the stairs to the cabin door. She turned and waved. He waved back, but she couldn’t see him through the tinted glass.
In less than twenty-four hours, his life had flip-flopped. He still had to find a solution to the farm’s situation, but it would no longer consume him. Researching the latest breast cancer treatment protocols would become his twenty-four seven job. If he had to resign as CEO, he was prepared to submit his resignation.
The only woman he had ever loved was back in his life, and he would fight for her and his unborn child.
Chapter Sixty-Five
MacKlenna Mansion – February 1
DAVID STOOD AT the wet bar in Elliott’s office at the farm, quietly tapping his fingers on the counter. The Keurig brewing system spat out an eight-ounce cup of the medium roast. “You want sugar or cream?”
“You know I drink it black.”
“Yer old habits are dying so fast I didn’t know if that one had, too.”
“Ha, ha,” Elliott said.
David set a cup of the brew on the desk with a napkin and a Spaldings donut. “You going to tell me what happened before Meredith left or not?”
Elliott stared out the window overlooking the paddock. The brown grass and gloomy day fit perfectly with his mood. “What makes you think something happened?”
“For starters, yer staring out the window at nothing.”
Elliott turned the wheelchair away from the window and wheeled himself to the desk where he picked up his coffee. “It’s complicated.”
“Sounds like crap to me. Now a horse killer,” David gestured with his hand, “that’s complicated. Sleeping with a beautiful woman, that’s black and white.”
“You got that ass backwards. Women are always more complicated.”
“If that’s the case, drink up fast. Coffee helps ye’ find yer way through the cobwebs.” David returned to the coffee maker to fix another cup.
“A man named Cullen Montgomery is the ghost of MacKlenna Farm.”
David turned toward him. His face held little expression. “He has a name now?”
Elliott drank a few sips, waiting for clarity that didn’t come. “Meredith said the ghost is her ancestor, her great-great,” he counted on his fingers, “great-great-grandfather.”
David’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“She saw him. The ghost of MacKlenna Farm. Kit’s ghost. Meredith identified him as her ancestor, Culle
n Montgomery.”
David carried his cup across the room and sat in one of the leather chairs positioned in front of the desk. “There must be a connection between the MacKlennas and the Montgomerys. Why else would the ghost haunt MacKlenna Farm?” He propped one booted foot on his opposite knee and crossed his arms over his barrel chest.
Elliott picked up a framed picture of Kit from the desk, an old picture, but one that came with a dozen memories. He could still hear the excitement in her voice after winning her first dressage show.
“If there’s a connection, Meredith is determined to find it.” Elliott ate his donut and thought about his goddaughter and Meredith. They would have loved each other.
David wiped crumbs off the desk, tossed them into the trash can, then walked over to the coffee pot. “Want another cup?”
“No,” Elliott said. “Bottled water.”
David made another cup for himself and snatched a bottle of water from the built-in refrigerator. “What could be keeping the ghost here? Maybe he knew Meredith would show up one day.”
“Then we owe it to her to see that her ancestor gets settled in the afterlife.”
David barked out a laugh. “Do you want to have a séance?”
Elliott shrugged. “If it would tell us why he’s still here, yes.”
David bent over laughing until tears came into his eyes. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his face. Then he started laughing again.
“I’m glad you’re having a good laugh at my expense.”
“If someone had told me that you’d stop drinking and start believing in ghosts, I’d have asked what they were smoking.” He held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t get me wrong, I think the change is long overdue, but it’s a wee bit of a shocker.”
It was a shocker to Elliott, too. He still missed the whiskey, but he missed Meredith more. His outburst on New Year’s was alcohol related. If he had to quit permanently to ensure that never happened again, he would. For her, he’d do anything.
The Last MacKlenna Page 36
