A Highlander Christmas

by Janet Chapman

  But she was probably on the phone to her daughter right now, telling Camry about his unexpected and decidedly unceremonious arrival. And Camry was probably telling her mother to kick him out on his frozen ass.

  How had his altruistic endeavor turned into such a fiasco?

  All he’d been trying to do was unlock the secret to ion propulsion, but he’d ended up destroying the final piece of the puzzle instead. Did Grace even know her forty-year-long experiment was scattered over several square miles of densely forested mountain terrain?

  She had to. The entire civilized world knew something had crashed in these mountains; he just didn’t know if Grace was aware it was her beloved Podly.

  Finally able to feel his toes again, Luke shut off the water and dried off. He wrapped the towel around his waist, padded into the large, tastefully decorated bedroom he’d been given, and stopped dead in his tracks.

  While he’d been in the shower, someone had set clean clothes on the bed, started a roaring fire in the hearth, and placed a tray of food on a table in front of it.

  Oh, yeah. He definitely was going to hell.

  Chapter Two

  “I really don’t care what Jack found out about Lucian Pascal Renoir,” Grace said, dropping her robe and stepping into the shower. She popped her head out to glare at Grey in the bathroom mirror. “I’m more concerned where Camry is.”

  “How in hell can ye have lived with me for thirty-five years and not learned some sense of security?” Grey said, his razor stopped halfway to his face. “Ye welcomed a complete stranger into our home, and even showed him your lab today.”

  Grace closed the shower curtain, lathered her sponge with lilac soap, and stepped under the spray. “I don’t need a sense of security—I have you.” She smiled when she heard him snort. “And if you could have seen Luke when I took him down to my lab this morning, you’d understand why I don’t need to know everything about him,” she continued. “The man actually kept his hands in his pockets, as if he were afraid to touch anything, and spoke in reverent whispers. It took me nearly an hour to persuade him that he could spend the afternoon down there by himself, and even catch up on his e-mail if he wanted.”

  The shower curtain suddenly opened, and her husband’s face—half covered with shaving cream—popped into view. “Ye left a rival scientist in your lab all by himself all afternoon?” He sighed heavily. “That’s what I mean, Grace. You’re too damn trusting for your own good sometimes.”

  She pushed him out and slid the curtain shut. “You’re letting in a draft. And Luke’s not a rival scientist because I am not competing with anyone. We are all working toward the same goal of seeing mankind travel to other planets.”

  The shower curtain opened again and Grey stepped in, stole the sponge from her, and started lathering his broad chest. “The man has been all but stalking our little girl for a year, and ye gave him complete access to her work right along with yours.”

  Grace didn’t have the heart to point out that he was going to smell like lilacs all day tomorrow. “And as soon as you and Jack figure out where Camry is,” she said, “I intend to send Luke after her.”

  Grey dropped the sponge in surprise. “You will not! Ye may have talked me into not calling her yesterday and demanding she tell us where she is, but when we do find her, I’ll be going to get her, not Pascal. I don’t trust the bastard. He’s been lying to us since he got here. He didn’t even tell us his real name.”

  Grace wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him. “He told us most of his name,” she whispered, running a finger over his clenched jaw. “And he wasn’t lying about Camry getting fired. I called her former boss this morning, and he told me he had been forced to let Camry go because she was so harried and unfocused, she was disrupting everyone else’s work. I know you think you should be the one to go get her,” she said in a rush, placing her finger over his lips when he tried to speak. “But think about it, Grey. If you drag Camry back to Gù Brath before she’s ready to come home on her own, it will alienate her even more.”

  “Then what makes ye think Pascal can accomplish what I can’t? Camry got so angry at the man that she stopped e-mailing him.”

  Grace bent down and picked up the sponge, turned her husband around, and started washing his back. “Exactly. Luke must have hit a powerfully raw nerve for her to walk away from the rousing argument they were having. Don’t you remember what Camry was like last winter, Grey? She was so excited about her work and so angry at Luke, she could have flown to the moon under her own power. But then everything suddenly stopped last summer.”

  “Because Pascal said he was coming to America.”

  “Exactly. Coming face-to-face with someone she was that passionately involved with obviously scared the hell out of her.”

  He turned around to glare at her. “Camry fears nothing.”

  “No? Then why has she been lying to us for over a year? And why hasn’t she been home since the summer solstice? Why won’t she meet Luke in person? And why is she hiding from us, and from him, and from the work she loves?”

  Grey leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “I don’t know. I thought there wasn’t any problem our daughters couldn’t come to us with.”

  Grace wrapped her arms around his waist. “This isn’t something you can fix, Grey. Camry has to fix herself.” She smiled up at him. “And I honestly believe that Lucian Pascal Renoir is just the catalyst to get her roaring back into life again.”

  “Ye believe sending one liar after another will get us our little girl back?”

  “No, I believe that two people, each of whom appears to be in desperate need of a miracle, can get themselves back. And I also believe that the next time we see our ‘little girl,’ she’ll be a fully realized, self-empowered woman, and Luke Pascal will have that same dazed look on his face that all you men get when you suddenly realize you’ve met your match.”

  “And Camry is Pascal’s match?”

  “Aye, MacKeage,” Grace said, mimicking his burr as she slid her hands up over his ribs. “I think those two lying young fools absolutely deserve each other. I need you tonight, husband,” she whispered.

  His arms around her tightened, and Grace felt the evidence of his own need pushing into her belly. He suddenly reached behind her and shut off the water, swept her up in his strong arms, and carried her into the bedroom.

  “Do ye honestly believe that in all our years together, I haven’t known what you’re up to when you get all soft and pliable in my arms during one of our little discussions?” he asked, setting her down on the bed, then quickly covering her damp body with his.

  She trailed a finger over his smile. “I prefer to believe that I merely point out a reasonable course of action and, being the wise man that you are, you simply see things my way.”

  “And you’ve taught this trick to our daughters?”

  “All seven of them,” she said with a delighted laugh.

  “May God have mercy on your soul, woman,” he muttered, covering her mouth with his.

  Grace looked up from the beautiful Christmas card she was holding and smiled at Grey sitting across the breakfast table. “You can tell Jack to stop searching for Camry,” she said, pushing an envelope toward him. “Because we just found her.”

  Grey picked up the envelope, saw there wasn’t a return address, and frowned.

  “Read the postmark,” she instructed.

  “Go Back Cove, Maine?” He held out his hand to her. “Camry sent us a Christmas card?”

  Grace handed him the card, which had an enchanting angel on the front, floating in a small forest clearing surrounded by fir trees dusted with snow. “Before you read the inside, take a moment to study the picture,” she told him. “Besides the angel, what do you see?”

  “I see a crow hiding in the trees,” he said, his frown deepening.

  Grace arched a brow. “Do we know any crows?”

  His frown turned to an outright scowl, and he flipped open the
card. “Your unborn greatgrandson did not send us a Christmas card. See,” he said, tapping the bottom of the card, “it’s not signed Tom, it’s signed only with an F.”

  His frown returned. “What does this F person mean by thanking us for raising such a wonderful daughter?” He turned the card to see if there was anything written on the back, just as Grace had done earlier. Finding nothing, he reread the short note. “That’s it? Just ‘thank ye for raising such a wonderful daughter’? He or she doesn’t even say which daughter.” He tossed the card on the table between them. “It could be any one of our wonderful girls.”

  “F is referring to Camry,” Grace insisted, picking up the card and smiling at the beautiful angel. She stood up and walked to the map of Maine hanging beside the back door over the row of coat pegs. “I’ve never heard of Go Back Cove, have you?”

  Grey came over and also studied the map. “No. But cove implies water, so it must be on the coast.”

  “Or on any one of Maine’s six thousand lakes and ponds.” She went over to the computer on the counter next to the fridge, opened Google Earth, and typed in “Go Back Cove, Maine.” “You’re right, it is on the coast,” she said, pointing at the map on the screen. “It’s about thirty miles north of Portland.”

  Luke Pascal walked into the kitchen but stopped in the doorway when Grey turned and frowned at him. “Luke,” Grace said, going over and holding out the card. “We found Camry. She’s living in Go Back Cove, Maine.” As soon as he took the card, she led him over to the computer. “It’s a small town on the coast, north of Portland.”

  Luke moved his gaze from the computer screen to the open card in his hand, then turned it to see if there was anything written on the back. “Who is F?” he asked.

  Grace waved his question away, rushing to the table to get the envelope. “We don’t know, other than that it’s obviously someone who knows Camry.”

  “But he or she doesn’t even mention her by name,” Luke said, taking the envelope and reading the postmark. He glanced uncertainly at Grey, then at Grace. “So how do you know it’s Camry this F person is talking about?”

  “Of course it is. All of our daughters are wonderful, but Camry’s the only one who’s missing right now.”

  “This handwriting looks feminine,” he said, closing the card to study the angel on the front. He turned sympathetic eyes on Grace. “I realize it’s distressing not knowing where Camry is, Dr. Sutt—I mean Grace,” he quickly corrected, darting a frantic look at Grey.

  Grace had finally had to explain to Luke that her husband preferred MacKeage to Sutter, before the younger scientist had finally started calling her by her first name.

  “But what I don’t understand,” he continued, “is how you can conclude that a half-signed Christmas card, that doesn’t even mention her name, tells you Camry is living in Go Back Cove.”

  “Do you believe in magic, Luke?” she asked, ignoring her husband’s not-so-subtle growl.

  “Magic?” Luke repeated with a frown.

  “How about serendipitous coincidence, then?”

  “Excuse me?”

  Grace sighed and took the card and envelope from him. “Okay then, let’s just call it mother’s intuition, shall we?” She waved the card between Luke and Grey. “You will both simply have to trust me when I say that Camry is living in Go Back Cove.” She looked at her watch, then at Luke. “It’s only nine. If you leave right after lunch, you should be there in plenty of time to settle into your hotel.”

  “Excuse me?” he repeated, looking even more confused.

  Grey sighed, only much more heavily than Grace had. “You’re going to Go Back Cove, Pascal, to talk our daughter into coming home.”

  Luke’s eyes widened and he took a step back. “I am?”

  “But you only have two weeks to make it happen,” Grace interjected. “We want her home by the winter solstice.”

  Luke took another step back, his alarm evident. “Considering Camry’s last e-mail to me, I am probably the last person she wants to see. And this really is a family matter, don’t you think? Shouldn’t the two of you go after her?”

  “We can’t,” Grace told him.

  “But why?” he asked, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt.

  “Because she can’t know that we know she was fired from NASA, much less that we know she’s been lying to us,” Grace explained. “She has to want to come home, and she needs to tell us in person what she’s been doing for the last year.”

  “Then how am I supposed to persuade her to come home if I can’t reveal how worried you are about her?”

  “That should be easy for you, Renoir,” Grey said. “Ye just elaborate on the lies you’ve been telling us.”

  Luke dropped his gaze to Grace’s feet, but then he suddenly stiffened, as if fighting some urge, and looked at Grey. “My full name is Lucian Pascal Renoir, but I go by Luke Pascal . . . sometimes.” He tugged on his sleeve again, as if the borrowed shirt irritated him. “And because Camry knew me as Lucian Renoir from my e-mails, and I thought she might be here when Jack Stone found me, I told him my name was Pascal so I wouldn’t get thrown back out in the snow on my as—on my ear.”

  “Then when you arrive in Go Back Cove,” Grace said, pulling out a chair at the table and urging him to sit down, “I suggest you continue using ‘Luke Pascal.’ ”

  “But . . .”

  She patted his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Luke,” she assured him, going to the oven and getting the plate of eggs and toast she’d kept warming for him. “As soon as you’re done with breakfast, you can sort through your belongings and give me what clothes need to be washed. Then we’ll get on the Internet and find you a hotel in Go Back Cove. It’s a small town, so it shouldn’t take you too long to find Camry.”

  “My car was recovered?”

  Grace set the plate down in front of him. “Jack and his deputy brought it back just this morning.

  It’s parked in the upper driveway behind the kitchen.”

  “Really, Dr. Sutter, I don’t think I’m the one to go after your daughter.”

  “Of course you are, Luke. Because if I know Camry, the moment you work up the nerve to tell her that Podly is scattered over half of Springy Mountain, she’ll drag you back here so fast your head will be spinning.”

  Luke snapped his navy blue eyes to hers, his face draining of color. “Y-you know about Podly?” he whispered, glancing at Grey before looking back at her. “You know it was your satellite that crashed here last summer?”

  Grace went to the fridge to get him some juice, giving her equally stunned husband a smug smile as she walked by. “Do you honestly believe I wouldn’t know someone was eavesdropping on Podly’s transmissions?” she asked, bringing the juice back to Luke. “All the time you and Camry were burning up the Internet with your e-mails, I was watching you watching Podly.”

  “Did Camry know?” he asked, absently taking the juice she handed him.

  “I never told her. But if she’d bothered to check, she’s certainly smart enough to have found out. But then, I doubt she would have been looking for an eavesdropper.”

  “But you were?”

  Grace shrugged. “An old habit from my days working for StarShip Spaceline.”

  He looked down at his plate. “Then you also know that I caused the satellite to malfunction.” He looked up at her, his eyes filled with sincere remorse. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know what I did to make it crash. I spent three months going over the data in my own lab, and the last two months scouring the mountain, hoping I could find enough salvageable parts to figure out what went wrong.” He turned in his seat to face her fully and took her hand in both of his. “You have my word, Dr. Sutter, I was going to bring whatever I found directly to you. I-I’m sorry,” he repeated.

  Grace patted his shoulder. “I believe you, Luke.” She nudged him around to his plate of rapidly cooling food. “Now eat, so we can get you packed up and headed to Go Back Cove. The sooner you find Camry, the sooner you
can talk her into helping you find our satellite. Podly had heat shields in case something like this happened, so there’s a good chance the data bank survived reentry. Camry knows these mountains quite well, and between your trajectory data and her love of a good challenge, I’m sure you’ll both be locked in my lab with Podly by the winter solstice. Eat,” she repeated, pointing at his food when he tried to say something else.

  He snapped his mouth shut with a frown and picked up his fork.

  Grace took hold of her also frowning husband and led him up the back stairway.

  “That’s it?” Grey asked as soon as they reached the upstairs hall. “The man destroys your life’s work, and ye not only hand it over to him, you practically hand him our daughter as well?”

  “Luke didn’t destroy anything,” she said, pulling him into their bedroom and closing the door.

  “He just told ye he crashed Podly.”

  “No, he told me he thinks he caused Podly to crash.” She stepped into his arms and started toying with one of the buttons on his shirt. “And I merely let him believe that he did,” she said softly.

  Grey’s hands went to her shoulders. “Did you crash the satellite?”

  “I was rather busy right about then, Grey. If you remember correctly, our baby girl was giving birth to our granddaughter at that precise moment.”

  “Then if you didn’t make it crash, and Pascal didn’t, who did?”

  “I have no idea.” She started toying with his buttons again, undoing the top one. “Maybe the same person who sent us that Christmas card? Because what are the chances that my satellite would crash so close to my home?” She looked up. “The odds of that happening are astronomical, Grey. It has to be the magic.”

  He reached up and stilled her hand just as she undid the next button. “I find myself growing worried about ye, wife.”