Her own eyes widened. This was the last thing she’d expected from Judy. “If you’re right, how do you explain the fortune we recovered? If I prevented the murders, your ancestor—”
“I have no idea, but what you told us about your sisters makes it clear that our understanding of how time works is—”
“Malleable?” Meredith’s mind spun as she remembered the stories her older sister had told her about time. “Fluid?”
“I was thinking incomprehensible.” Judy flashed her a pointed look. “Perhaps you weren’t meant to go back until certain events had already occurred. Or, you prevent a lot of murders, and my great-great-grandfather died of a heart attack before telling Prudence he’d buried a fortune. He might’ve feared the bank would be robbed one day with or without the gang of three’s presence. It’s not like those kinds of crimes weren’t common back then. He would’ve thought about such things.” Judy threw up her hands. “I don’t know.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t make sense, because—”
“I know it doesn’t make sense, but you’re planning to go back.” Judy arched a brow.
“Aren’t you?”
“I’m considering the matter.” Meredith shared what had transpired earlier that day and the conversations she’d had with her sisters. Talking about her sisters brought back something else Regan had told her.
“A Tuatha dé Danann prince told Regan nothing that occurs upon one thread is ever removed from the tapestry of time and space. When a new thread is created—as in going back and changing what occurred—we humans only forget what transpired on the other strand.”
“Well, there you go.” Judy strode to one of the dressers, opened a drawer and lifted out a zippered cosmetic bag that made a clinking noise in her hand. “John and I discussed this, and we want you to have a portion of the treasure. We never would’ve known it existed without your help.”
“I can’t accept—”
“Yes you can, and you will. We figured you’d try to save all these ghosts from those murderous thieves, and you can’t travel back to the nineteenth century without the means to support yourself.” She dropped the bag beside Meredith. “We owe you much more than this. Knowing my great-great-grandfather is finally at peace and reunited with Prudence is priceless.”
“What about your family?” Meredith lifted the pouch and found it far heavier than she imagined it would be. “Have you spoken to a lawyer yet?”
“We have. She said with the provenance we can provide, including a record of the original claim deed—which we happen to have—Frederick’s initials carved over the burial spot, and Oliver’s video, she doesn’t foresee any difficulties in establishing right of ownership.” Judy grinned. “As far as the lawyer and our family are concerned, what is presently in the box is exactly the amount we found. Nobody needs to know about your portion.”
“I don’t know what to say. Everything seems to be pointing me in the same direction,” she grumbled under her breath.
“You’re meant to do this, Meredith.”
Nodding absently, she rose from the bed. “Thank you for the money. I’m certain being well funded will help. I need to go find Daniel.”
“John and I are thrilled to be a part of this.”
Another pang of anxiety-tinged anticipation hit her. “Let’s just hope everything goes without a glitch.” Like that ever happened when you were a MacCarthy.
8
Daniel waited in the middle of what used to be Main Street, his attention fixed upon the cabin where Meredith resided. He should’ve made plans to meet with her before she left for Missoula. Instead, here he stood, as still as … well, hell … as still as death—hoping she’d come outside. At least he’d managed to refrain from haunting to gain her attention.
Heaving a ghostly sigh, he pondered the recent changes in his non-life. He’d been acutely aware of Meredith’s absence all day. Without her, his world had gone dull and flat. He’d made a game of going over the details of every encounter they’d had since the day she’d arrived. Doing so had helped some, and different attributes leaped out at him with each memory.
Like how her eyes were sometimes more blue than gray, depending on what she wore. And when the sun touched her hair just so, he’d noticed copper strands mixed in with the honey-gold. Then there were her ears. Meredith had the prettiest ears he’d ever beheld, and a woman’s ears had never really been all that interesting to him. He found everything about her enticing.
Finally, the cabin door opened, and she walked out onto the front porch. If he were corporeal, the resulting slam of relief and joy would’ve knocked him on his arse. Daniel made himself visible and drifted closer. When she looked at him, her eyes shone with … he didn’t know what, but he liked what he saw. “Meredith.”
“Daniel.” One corner of her mouth quirked up.
“I must apologize for once again leaving you so abruptly the other morning.” If he wore a hat, he’d have it in hand. “After so long without any interaction with the living, and with nothing to think about but the endless sameness of every day, I find I’m often overcome by—”
“There’s no need to apologize. I understand.” Meredith left the porch and joined him. “I have a lot to tell you, and we have decisions to make.”
He couldn’t tell from her expression whether the news was good or bad. “Shall we walk, or would you prefer to find somewhere private to sit?”
“How far away is your mining claim?”
“It’s a half hour’s brisk hike from Garrettsville. Mostly uphill.”
Meredith seemed to mull that over for a few seconds. “Do any ghosts haunt the old schoolhouse after hours?”
“After hours?” His directed a questioning look her way.
“You know, after the park closes for business. I didn’t sense any spirits there the few times I’ve visited.”
“Ghosts don’t pay any attention to business hours, days of the week, or calendars in general. Why would we?” he said, flashing her a wry look. “As for the school, none congregate there that I’m aware of.”
“Great. I’ll be right back.”
She hurried up the stairs and disappeared into the cabin, reappearing almost as quickly, jingling a ring of keys in the air. “Let’s go.”
He wished he could offer her his arm as they walked. Since he couldn’t, he focused on her warmth, and reveled in the soft glow of her aura. “Meredith, do all ghosts see the auras of the living?”
“That was random.” She laughed. “I take it you do?”
“Aye, and yours is beautiful. You wear an overall halo of rainbow colors where most people give off one, maybe two shades. I suspect the color and intensity depend upon mood or energy level. After you helped Frederick depart, you lit up the entire interior of Keoghan’s Saloon.”
Her eyes widened. “I’ve never asked a ghost whether or not they can see colors much less auras. I’d assumed everything appeared to you in shadowy grays and sepia browns.”
“Grays and browns?” Daniel frowned.
“To tell the truth, I don’t understand how you see at all, much less in color.” She sent him a sheepish look.
“I’ve wondered about that myself. How do we think, speak, and see at all when we’ve no physicality, no nervous system or brain?” He cast her a sideways glance. “It’s a mystery, to be sure. I suspect once we’re dead, we see and speak through our souls and not with our eyes or mouths at all.”
“I like that explanation.” She smiled. “I don’t know why I assumed your perceptions were devoid of color. Maybe it’s because most phantoms appear to ghost whisperers as shadowy forms of gray or sepia, and some are only orbs of light. If all ghosts see what you see, I wonder if that might be why they’re attracted to individuals who have the ability to communicate with them. Perhaps all ghost whisperers have multi-colored auras, and that acts as a beacon to ghosts.”
“Could be. Would you like me to ask the linger of Garretsville ghosts if they too see auras?”
She
chuckled. “Not really. It’s enough that I know you do.” Meredith slid a hand into the front pocket of her dungarees and stopped walking. “Here we are,” she said, pulling out the keys. She sorted through them until she found the one she wanted and unlocked the padlock latching the front door.
Daniel followed her inside and looked around. An aisle divided two sets of student desks, all facing a slate chalkboard, and a teacher’s desk made of pine stood off to one side. Like everything in Garrettsville, the building appeared aged and weathered. The interior walls had been whitewashed though, and a newer pot-bellied stove made to look old took up one corner.
Meredith strode across the room and sat atop the teacher’s desk. She patted the space beside her. Obligingly, he settled himself beside her. “Tell me the news, lassie.”
“Boann can’t get involved, or she’ll be banished from the earthly realm for good. She has her human family to think about, and they take precedence.”
He nodded gravely as all his dreams burst like soap bubbles hitting a stone wall. It took several seconds before he could respond. “It’s sorry I am to hear such news, but I cannot say I’m surprised.”
Meredith ran her palms up and down her denim-clad thighs. Even as upset as he was, the slide of her hands over her legs mesmerized him. She kept talking, but her words couldn’t compete with the erotic images his mind conjured, giving him a phantom cock stand.
“Daniel, did you hear a single word I just said?”
He shook his head, his gaze still glued to her shapely thighs, and his mind still imagining them bare and opened for him … only for him.
“Hey, I know you’re disappointed about Boann, but like I said, Alpin is willing to help.”
Her words finally penetrated his ghostly haze of remembered lust. “What?” He frowned. “Who’s Alpin, and how can he or she help?” His question elicited an eye-roll and a comment about ghosts and attention deficit disorders. He deemed it best not to respond.
“I’m sure I’ve mentioned Alpin to you before. He’s Fionn MacCumhail’s cousin. Unlike Fionn, Alpin is one hundred percent Tuatha dé Danann. He’s the real deal.”
“I don’t recall hearing his name, but go on.”
Meredith explained what this Alpin fellow had offered to do for them and the risks involved. His dreams resurrected, and the possibility of a future with Meredith once again beckoned on the not so distant horizon.
“It doesn’t seem as if the risks are as dangerous as they are inconvenient. Aye? If you arrive a week too late, you can use the other gem to return to this time. If that were to happen, would Alpin be amenable to offering us another chance do you think?”
“I couldn’t say, and I’m not sure the inconvenience would be as simple as arriving a week too late. He also said I might not land where I intend to be.” She shrugged. “What if I end up in Belgium or the Antarctic?”
“Then you’d still have the second diamond for your return. If your intent or familiarity have anything to do with arriving where and when you wish to be, then all will be well. Perhaps we should discuss this with Alpin a bit more before making a decision, aye?”
“We will need to talk to him, but I’ve already decided. John and Judy gave me money from Frederick’s treasure, and I’ve done some online shopping and ordered appropriate clothing for the time period.” She lifted her chin, and the warmth she always radiated rose a few degrees.
“Daniel, I’m willing to take the risk. Even if it’s only for a handful of days, I’d really like to meet you while you’re alive.” Her words came out a little strained as if fraught with feeling. “I need to do this. I don’t understand why, but deep in my bones I know I’m meant to help you.”
His mind churned with questions he dared not voice aloud. Did she harbor feelings for him as he did for her? Was it possible her pulse quickened at the sight of him? Could it be she thought about him constantly the way he thought about her?
What if, when they did meet in the past, none of these feelings proved real? What if they did prove real, and she left him anyway? He couldn’t decide which would be worse. For several emotion-laden moments, he lost the ability to form words, and he wished like hell he could draw her into his arms and hold her close.
“Say something,” she whispered.
“I long to know you in life as well.” Their eyes met and held, and within the gray-blue depths of hers, he searched for answers to his unasked questions. If he’d needed to breathe, he would’ve been out of luck, because everything within him stilled. Even time seemed to stop.
She was the first to look away, and the two of them continued to sit in silence for another few moments. Perhaps she, like he, needed to contemplate what had just passed between them. To him, it felt as if they’d entered into an agreement, a declaration of serious intentions toward one another. Wishful thinking, boyo, and that is all.
“It’s settled then. I’ll call my sister, and she’ll get word to Alpin.” Meredith rose from the desk. “I have an idea about how to prove to you that I’ve come from the future to save your life.”
“Have you now?” He smiled to himself. How fortunate he’d been to have met this intrepid, beautiful, clever woman. “Tell me then, lassie.”
“A person’s handwriting is as unique as their fingerprints. True?”
“True.”
Meredith pointed at him. “If you write the letter describing how we know each other and why I’ve come to you, then—”
“Grand idea.” He grunted. “What a shame it is that I’m unable to hold a pencil or a fountain pen.”
“You could if I allowed you to possess my body to do so.”
“At every turn I am stunned by your generosity.” He’d been dead for so very long, and all that time he’d also been without hope. All that he’d suffered caught up with him in that moment, and his eyes prickled with the memory of tears—only this time they were tears of relief. “I’ve never done such a thing.” He frowned and shook his head. “I’m not certain I even know how.”
“Neither have I, but we’ll figure it out together, Daniel.” She beamed at him, and her aura pulsed brighter. “I’ll find the right kind of stationary and a fountain pen. We can do this. I know we can.”
With Meredith by his side, he believed he could accomplish anything he set his mind to. “Meredith, how shall I repay you for your beneficence? Any wealth I own in gold or silver hardly seems adequate.” Her eyes once again shone with that feminine mysterious something as she regarded him, but then she blinked and averted her gaze.
“If this turns out the way we hope, you can repay me by living your life to the fullest. Be the good man that I know you to be and love those in your circle fiercely. I want you to be happy, Daniel. If you’re happy, that is reward enough.”
“That is what I want for you as well, Meredith MacCarthy.” And should I be so fortunate, I’ll love you with every breath and with every beat of my heart for the rest of that full life.
He must be in a dream. How could he feel this strongly about a woman he’d met so recently? More than likely his feelings were due to decades of aimless emptiness. Still, it could also be that fate had brought them together, and this was not a dream but reality. After all, look at the way her sisters had met their loves.
“Well, I have plans to make, sisters to call, and more online shopping to do,” Meredith said. “We’ll talk again tomorrow.”
“When and where?” Daniel wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
“At dusk in the saloon?”
“Grand. I’ll see you then.” And he’d count the minutes until they were together again.
The ranger had set her two packages on the floor before heading off to do his rounds in Garretsville. Meredith thanked him, then waited until he’d left the park before moving her deliveries to the kitchen table. She headed for the utensil drawer for a knife to cut open the boxes, or at least the larger box holding her clothing. The other held a calligraphy starter kit, complete with several plastic vials of
ink, three fountain pens, and an instruction book. That package also held twenty sheets of antique-looking vellum in a goldish tone.
“What’ve you got there, Meredith?” Oliver asked as he descended the stairs from the loft.
“I bought a few mid-nineteenth century outfits,” she said. “I thought it would be fun to dress the part when I lead tours and work in the giftshop.”
“Cool!” He said, joining her as she returned to the table. “Maybe we should all dress appropriately for the era.”
“That would be fun,” she said. “I’ll text you the website where I got mine, and you can take a look. We can have things delivered to the ranger station in care of Jake. He says volunteers do that all the time.”
“Good, good. I’m off tomorrow. I’ll check it out.”
“Lucky you to have two days off in a row.” The park was closed today, which was Monday, and she had plans to meet Daniel at the saloon in thirty minutes. He wanted to be with her to talk to Alpin when he called at their appointed time. She figured Alpin must have the ability to see and commune with ghosts since it was Tuatha dé Danann DNA that enabled her to do so. If not, she’d be the go-between.
Meredith opened the box and pulled out the first plastic-wrapped item of clothing. When she removed the blouse from the bag, she was a little disappointed. The quality of workmanship didn’t match the pictures on the website. The blouse was cheaply made. “Oh well. This will have to do.”
“It’s not bad,” Oliver remarked.
“No, but it’s not as well made as something from the mid-nineteenth century.” She continued to unpack the rest of her things. The Edwardian suit was made of a thinner fabric than it should’ve been, but the ensemble seemed to be of slightly better quality, and she loved the color and style. The lace-up ankle boots were the best thing in the box. She’d wear them in any century.
What did the quality matter when she’d only be using these things for a week tops? A sudden wave of sadness stole over her, and she blinked against the sting at the back of her eyes. How easily she forgot. Daniel would only be a part of her life for a short time, and that reality hit her like a punch to the gut.
Summoned in Time: A magical, ghostly, time travel romance... (The MacCarthy Sisters Book 3) Page 10
