Reassuringly, he took my hands and kissed them.
“I don’t think there is anything you could tell me that would do that.”
Pulling one of my hands from his grip, I pointed to my portrait behind him.
“I want ye to look at that painting, Malcolm.”
He turned and stared at my likeness for a long moment before speaking.
“Wow. I knew you were a McMillan, but you’re a McMillan by marriage, correct? How could a McMillan ancestor resemble you so much?”
“’Tis not an ancestor. The woman in that painting is me.”
Malcolm’s brows pulled together in confusion, and his mouth opened and closed several times without a word.
Just as he started to speak, his phone rang.
Instinctively, I knew the call was not good news.
Chapter 21
McMillan Castle – December of 1651
Three Days Later
* * *
I didn’t cry upon returning home to my own century. It wasn’t as if Malcolm had broken my heart or disbelieved my story. In truth, I’d not given him the chance to do either of those things. Malcolm’s phone call from his daughter had made the absurdity of my dream for us clear.
The lives of his daughter and granddaughter were in America. Even if he loved me—which I knew he did—he would no sooner ask them to uproot their lives than I would ask my family to uproot theirs. Even if I told him about the magic, it would bring our worlds no closer together.
“Your skin looks better, but other than that, you look worse than I’ve ever seen you. It’s been three days, Kenna. I know that you and I aren’t very close, but you have to tell someone what happened while you were away. I’m nosy enough to hound you about it even though I can see you’re hurting, so it might as well be me. Now spill.”
It didn’t surprise me in the least that Adelle would enter my room without knocking. She wouldn’t leave me alone until I told her something. I would tell her only what was absolutely true. Not a word more.
“I fell in love. As foolish as it sounds, I fell in love with a great man in a matter of only a few days, but it couldna ever work. I’ll not upend his world by telling him the where and how I live when our love is doomed from the start. He’s gone. Back to America with his granddaughter, which is exactly where he should be. I’ll not speak of this again. ’Tis too painful and I’ll not be sad at Christmas for ’twould only spoil the season for everyone else. Please leave me, Adelle, and doona ask me anything else.”
She must’ve recognized just how much my heart was aching, for in a move quite out of character for her, she turned and left me without another word.
I did cry then. It was well into the night before I fell asleep, my pillow soaked with tears.
* * *
Chicago
* * *
Malcolm was angry—angrier than he’d ever been. It made no sense. None of it. Just minutes after telling him that she wanted him more than anything she’d wanted in her life, Kenna ended things with a coldness that nearly knocked him over.
All he’d done was announce that he and Rosie would have to fly back to America before Christmas. It had been Madeline on the phone with the news he’d hoped wouldn’t come, but expected anyway. She’d decided not to come to Edinburgh for Christmas, after all. Despite the fact that his daughter had insisted that he and Rosie stay to enjoy Christmas in Scotland, he knew in that instant what they must do. For his daughter to believe it was acceptable for her to choose not to spend Christmas with Rosie, well, that was a line he simply wouldn’t allow her to cross. His daughter needed a reality check. If that meant he would have to cut their trip short to give it to her, he would gladly do so.
He never expected such an announcement to incite such a shocking reaction from Kenna. She had children—children she loved more than life itself. He’d been so certain she would understand.
Instead, even as he tried to explain to her, to tell her that while he must go back to Chicago now, he would come back to Edinburgh for the new year so they could work things out and decide best how to make their relationship work, she’d had none of it. She ended things quickly, bidding him farewell as if he were little more than a stranger.
He still couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that it was truly over. What had happened to change her mind? And what had she been about to tell him? Her nonsense about the portrait was still a mystery. It was almost as perplexing as what she’d said to him about Edinburgh Castle on the night of the whisky tasting.
There’d been so much anticipation, so much excitement, and then in seconds, it was all gone. His heart hurt in a way he didn’t know was possible.
“Dad?” His daughter’s voice stirred him from his thoughts as she spoke to him from the chair next to his in the living room of their home. “Where are you? It’s definitely not here.”
He answered her unthinkingly. “You of all people have no right to speak to me of being away.”
His daughter jerked back as if he’d slapped her. “What is that supposed to mean?
While Malcolm regretted the abrupt nature of his words, such a conversation with his daughter was long overdue. While it was always best to speak when not angry, he doubted he would feel a sense of calm ever again. And what he needed to say to Madeline was too important. If she didn’t wake up from her selfishness soon, her relationship with Rosie would be irreparable.
“Madeline, you know exactly what I mean. I know that losing Tim was difficult for you and I have tried to give you the space you needed to grieve, but this has gone far beyond that. You’re punishing your daughter for something that isn’t her fault—you’re avoiding her because she looks like him. She sees you pulling away. And as much as it breaks her heart to do so, she’s pulling away from you, too. She knows that she must in order to protect herself.”
Madeline’s face was red and angry and tears pooled in her eyes as she answered him, her voice shaky.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not punishing her. It’s just…it’s too hard, Dad.”
His own voice rose with his anger.
“Tough. Life’s hard. If you think you’re the only one that has ever gone through something, then you need to pull your head out of your ass. You lost your mother when you were Rosie’s age. What would it have done to you if I’d treated you the way you treat Rosie? You’d think you’d see that. It’s exactly the same thing. You look just like your mother. It was hard for me, too, but I wasn’t as selfish. I’m not sure I’ve ever known anyone as selfish as you, and I won’t put up with it anymore.”
“Put up with it?”
Madeline was screaming at him now, and Malcolm knew Rosie would hear them. Maybe that was okay. He wanted his granddaughter to know that he was willing to fight for her.
“Yes, Madeline. I won’t put up with it.”
“Put up with it?” His daughter repeated herself, the octave of her voice high and filled with venom. She was shaking all over. “This is my house, Dad. Did I ask you to move in here? No, I did not. You did it after Tim died because you insisted that I needed you. Perhaps for a time, you were right, but I don’t need you anymore. Pack your things and get out. You are no longer welcome in my home.”
For the second time in the span of a week, Malcolm’s world collapsed.
Chapter 22
Christmas Day
* * *
A knock on his hotel room door woke him just past nine in the morning, Christmas Day. He hoped to spend the day sleeping. Perhaps then, he would pass the holiday without reflecting on the fact that it was his first Christmas spent alone.
Losing Kenna was difficult enough, but being away from his granddaughter on her favorite day of the year was unbearable.
“Room service. I’ve got your breakfast here.”
The voice was strange, oddly high for anyone old enough to be working in a hotel.
Flipping the lamp on next to the bed, he called out in answer. “I didn’t order any room se
rvice. You must have the wrong room.”
There was a slight pause, and then, “It…It’s free on Christmas Day.”
Hope coursed through Malcolm’s body. It almost sounded like Rosie, but of course, that couldn’t be so.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Oh, come on, Pops. You’re really making it hard for me to surprise you. I’ve been up since five waiting to come and get you, but Mom made me wait until the sun was up.”
Tears filled Malcolm’s eyes as he stood from the bed, threw on his sweats and a shirt and ran to the door to pull his granddaughter into a hug.
“What are you doing here?”
She squirmed until he released her.
“I already told you, Pops. Mom and I have a big surprise for you. She’s in the car downstairs. You gotta hurry.”
Reaching for his coat, he left his other belongings in the room. Everything that he needed was right in front of him.
* * *
Inside Madeline and Rosie’s home—he was no longer sure he could call it his own—Malcolm walked into a living room filled with wrapping paper. Open packages lay sprawled out all over the floor. Only one unwrapped present remained under the tree.
“What can the surprise be? You two already did the fun part without me.”
“Oh, no we didn’t. This wasn’t nearly as exciting as your present. Mom just let me open these so I would stop bugging her about going to get you so early.”
He didn’t think he’d ever seen Rosie so excited about anything.
“Ah. Well, I can’t imagine what it could be. Do you want me to sit?”
“You better, Pops. Otherwise, I think you might fall over.”
Madeline walked up behind him and wrapped one arm around his waist, pulling him into a hug.
“Rosie, you’re going to give it away if you’re not careful. Why don’t you grab it and bring it over here?”
As Rosie walked to the tree, Madeline turned to look up at him. “I’m so sorry. You were right about everything. That’s the only reason I got so mad. I knew you were right even as I was screaming at you. I just couldn’t stand what I’d done. I love you, Dad. ”
“Oh, Madeline.” He kissed the top of her head as if she were a small child. To him, she always would be. “I love you more than you will ever know. I’m sorry for how harsh I was. I should’ve gone about it another way.”
“No, Dad. I don’t think I would’ve been able to really hear it if you had. It was the first time in my life I think I saw you really, truly angry, and I believe it may have saved my life. It woke me from a fog I was in for far too long.”
Rosie was back by their side, pulling at his arm to try to get him to the couch. “Come on, come on. You gotta open it now.”
As soon as he sat down, Rosie placed the package in his lap. He carefully began to unwrap the paper. Rosie was bouncing up and down in her seat as he opened the box. As he looked down at the contents, all he could feel was confusion.
Packing tape, labels, and a business card for a Chicago realtor lay inside.
“Is this a polite way of telling me that you’ve found me a house of my own?”
Rosie leaned across him to shoot her mother a disapproving look.
“I told Mom that it wasn’t nice to trick you that way. Lift that stuff up, there’s something else underneath.”
At the bottom of the box were two envelopes.
“Open the one on the left first, Dad.”
Following his daughter’s directive, he picked up the envelope on the left and carefully broke its seal. Pulling its contents free, he unfolded the papers, and read aloud, “Dear Mr. Kilmer, I would like to inform you that I am resigning my position at Mercy General Hospital effective January 7th.”
He stopped and looked over at his daughter in bewilderment.
“Madeline, is this real or another part of the joke?”
Rosie answered. “It’s real, Pops. I went with her when she delivered it. Now, open the other one. It’s the best one.”
His curiosity caused him to be less careful with the opening of the second letter. Turning the contents over so they would spill onto his lap, he stared at the tickets as he struggled to comprehend what all of this could mean.
“It’s three one-way tickets to Scotland, Pops!”
“I see that, Rosie. You were right. I’m glad you told me to sit down. Now will the two of you please tell me what’s going on before I lose my mind?”
Rosie pointed at her mother. “Take it away, Mom. This part’s all you.”
Twisting, Malcolm directed all of his attention to Madeline, his confusion giving way to curiosity and a glimmer of hope that frightened him more than he wished to admit.
“Come on, Madeline. What is this?”
“I didn’t sleep for the first twenty-four hours after you left. I want you to know that I’ve thought through all of this. It isn’t some knee-jerk decision. Rosie and I have discussed this extensively and she is one hundred percent on board.”
“I sure am!”
Malcolm turned to wink at Rosie before waving his hand toward Madeline so she would continue.
“Chicago has too many memories—too much pain—for all of us. We all need a fresh start. All of our family is in Scotland now anyway. It’s the only place that makes sense for us to move to. Plus, I need a slower pace of life, and the job that I’ve been offered sounds like just the thing that will give me that.”
Malcolm could scarcely believe how quickly his worst nightmare was turning into his greatest joy.
“You already have a job?”
“Yes. As you know, Emilia’s mother is the director of a home health agency that oversees a large portion of Scotland. They have need of a new nurse on the Isle of Skye, and she’s offered me the job. Grandma Nel has agreed to let us all live with her in Edinburgh until Rosie and I can find the perfect place.”
“Just you and Rosie?”
“Yes, Dad, just me and Rosie. Skye isn’t that close to Edinburgh, but it’s not all that far from McMillan Castle. Rosie told me about Kenna. That’s where you need to be. It’s time that I learn to stand on my own two feet. You’ll still be able to see us all the time.”
Sadness filled him at the mention of Kenna’s name.
“Kenna doesn’t want me. She made that very clear.”
Rosie rose from the couch and moved to stand in front of him, blocking the space between him and Madeline.
“Don’t be stupid, Pops. Of course she wants you. She just got scared is all. You gave up on that way too easy.”
Madeline’s head appeared beside Rosie’s as she leaned over to speak to him.
“I don’t know this Kenna, but I bet Rosie is right, so here’s the plan, Dad. We will enjoy Christmas Day here together. I have a breakfast casserole and some coffee cake in the oven now. Then, you’ll start packing, because your flight leaves tomorrow. Rosie and I will meet you over there after the New Year. Go and get her, Dad. It’s way past time for you to be happy again.”
Chapter 23
McMillan Castle – 1651
* * *
Christmas Day was over, but the celebrations at McMillan Castle would last until after New Year’s Day. With Morna and Jerry visiting us in the seventeenth century, it had taken no convincing to get all of our distant family and friends from all over Scotland to join us at the castle. The Conalls—those who had remained at their home when Bri and Adelle came—made the trip over, and all of those at Cagair Castle made the journey, as well. McMillan Castle was bursting at the seams with guests, but not one person complained. We were all thrilled to spend the holidays with those we loved most in the world.
The one downside to the large number of guests, however, was that it was nearly impossible to find a single blessed moment for one’s self. I was a woman who required solitude more than just about anything. It was why my early morning hours were so precious. Even those were no longer possible—guests were staying in the room in which I always lit my morning fires.
I’d looked forward to the quiet all day, but rather than finding my room empty, I stepped inside to see what could only possibly be a ghost or a delusion.
Malcolm, dressed in clothing not suited to this time, stood a few arm lengths away.
“Wha…How?”
I stuttered as he faced me.
“Morna led me to your room. Kenna, this has been one of the longest days of my life. My head aches, and it isn’t just from the time travel. Please get over here and kiss me so I will know I wasn’t a fool to come all this way for you.”
I nearly fell over from the shock of seeing him here. Even as I crossed the short distance between us and allowed him to take me in his arms, I couldn’t make sense of it. I allowed the kiss to go on until he pulled away.
“Is this why you panicked, Kenna? You didn’t want to tell me about all of this?”
I answered with my arms still wrapped around him and my face pressed against his chest. I didn’t want to be away from him ever again.
“I did want to tell ye. I tried to the day ye left. ’Tis only that when yer daughter called, I knew if I told ye, ’twould be the most selfish thing I could ever do. I couldna bring myself to do it. Yer family is in America, Malcolm, and I wouldna ever ask ye to leave them. And no matter how much I love ye, ye must know that I canna ever leave my family, either. ’Tis more than just distance that separates us—time does as well.”
Morna’s Magic & Mistletoe - A Novella: Book 8.5 of Morna’s Legacy Series Page 10
