The Amber Brooch: Time Travel Romance (The Celtic Brooch Book 8)

by Katherine Lowry Logan

  Amber laughed. “My knees are bothering me, so you might get your wish.”

  “Then why stay? Come home with us.”

  “Becaaaause….” Amber said, stretching out the word while leaning forward. “It’s an amazing opportunity.”

  It was Kenzie’s turn to laugh. “Okay, I get it. No more pressure from me.”

  “Good. Let’s talk about something else. Tell me about the moment you knew you were in love with David.”

  Kenzie had to backtrack to catch up with Amber’s new direction. She settled more comfortably in her wobbly chair. “Probably when I heard him play the sax at Bletchley. I told a fan the other night that the sound he creates with that instrument is like sex on the airwaves. Man, he turns me on when he plays.” Kenzie did a little shoulder shimmy. “He turns me on with just a look, too, but we can’t always drop and roll.”

  Amber’s cheeks turned red. “Your room is right above mine. The rhythmic squeak-thump kept me awake for the last five nights.”

  Kenzie patted her face. “I’m blushing.”

  “Because you were caught, or because you’re remembering?”

  “Remembering,” Kenzie said.

  Amber set down her coffee cup, overly careful, and put her hand to her throat, pursing her breaths.

  “You okay?” Kenzie asked.

  “This altitude is killing me. It will be better in Denver. I’m okay now.” Amber waved her hand. “Back to squeaky springs.” She lifted her eyebrows. “I was almost driven to find someone to share mine.”

  “Anyone in particular?”

  “Daniel has starred in a few of my fantasies.”

  Kenzie buttered a biscuit and took a bite watching Amber’s pursed lip breathing closely. Her shortness of breath was more acute today, which could be a result of a longer performance last night followed by a late dinner with lots of Champagne. Kenzie had struggled the first couple of days walking the Leadville hills, but her heart and lungs had finally acclimated, and the higher altitude no longer bothered her. For some reason, Amber continued to struggle. Maybe it wasn’t the altitude at all, but a medical condition that needed attention.

  “I was tempted to go knock on his door and have casual sex with him.”

  The words casual sex interrupted Kenzie’s musing about Amber’s health. “What did you say? You’re going to have casual sex with Daniel?”

  Amber laughed. “I was checking to see if you were listening. Your mind was a million miles away.”

  “Sorry. I’m concerned about your breathing.”

  “Don’t be. As soon as I drop down a few thousand feet, I’ll be much better. And in answer to your question, no. I would never have casual sex with Daniel. You don’t mess with a man like him unless you want a forever kind of guy.”

  “I can see that, so what about Rick? He’s hot.”

  “That sums him up. But there are a few other descriptions that vie for consideration, like sexy, awesome sense of humor, talented. He’d make a horrible boyfriend. He’s not interested in settling down, but he’s a wonderful friend.”

  “Is he a friend-with-benefits kind of friend?” Kenzie asked.

  “Benefits but no housekey.” Amber laughed. “I think it’s a perfect arrangement, but my sister Olivia is the complete opposite. When she jumps, she jumps with both feet. She had a bad break-up about eight months ago. The guy turned out to be a real jerk. He lied to her and broke her heart.”

  “What’d he lie about?”

  “He was married. He’d been separated for months but ended up going back to his wife. Olivia can handle almost anything, but she has zero tolerance for liars. Now she’s overly cautious.”

  “What has she said about Connor?”

  “I think she’s got it bad for him. I told her if she didn’t make a move on him, or let him know she’s interested, he’ll walk away. But she’s reluctant to get involved with someone, especially a guy who lives in another state. Now that I know Rick, when we get back, we can put some joint pressure on them.”

  “Distance isn’t a problem for anyone working at MacKlenna Corporation. The company’s jets are always available. Connor’s a good guy. He’s grounded and ready to settle down. Maybe it’ll work out between them.”

  Amber held up her coffee cup, signaling the waiter for a refill. “Speaking of Rick, was he wounded during his deployment? I noticed the scars on his left side.”

  “I don’t feel comfortable discussing his medical history. You’ll have to ask him, but if you want a tidbit, David said some bureaucratic ineptitude is holding up his Medal of Honor. That should tell you everything you need to know about his character.”

  Amber pushed her cup toward the edge of the table for the waiter’s convenience. Once filled, she scooted it back. “Medal of Honor? That’s impressive. Do you know what happened?”

  “He was protecting a fellow Marine from an enemy hand grenade. He was lucky. It was like what happened to Trey, but Rick’s body armor absorbed most of the blast. He walked away.”

  They hit the pause button on their conversation while they finished eating, listening to the chatter and cutlery clanging against china dishes. After a few minutes, Kenzie said, “I’ve got a secret I’m dying to share, but you have to promise not to say anything.”

  “A secret?” Amber’s fork hovered at chin level, eyes bright. “I love secrets.” She put down the fork and made a cross over her heart. “Spill it.”

  Kenzie took a drink of coffee first. “After I was wounded, I was in the hospital for a long time, and I got a blood clot. Everything is fine now, but I can’t take birth control pills. We tried condoms for a while and ended up with twins. My contraception of choice now is an IUD.”

  “I’ve never used one of those. Do they work okay?”

  “Yes, unless the damn thing falls out.” Kenzie paused and let a long silence ensue, waiting for Amber to jump to the right conclusion.

  Amber pointed at her. “Yours fell out? You’re kidding.” She slapped her mouth. “Uh-oh.”

  Kenzie put her finger to her lips. “Don’t say anything.”

  “Is this a bad time of the month?”

  “For me, yes. For McBain, no. He wants his own rugby team. I can’t tell him yet. He’ll drive me nuts until I take a pregnancy test.”

  Amber clapped. “I’m so happy for—” Then she stopped and looked closer at Kenzie. “You’re not happy.”

  “I didn’t want any more children. Once you meet the twins, you’ll understand why, but it’ll make David so happy. His mother is with us full time now. She’s wonderful, and the kids adore her.”

  “I can’t wait to meet them. Robbie and Henry, right? And your daughter is Laurie Wallis.” Amber grabbed Kenzie’s arm, shaking it. “This is so exciting. I was with you when it happened. Well…not with you, exactly, but in Leadville with you. And after making me suffer through five nights of listening to you and David and those squeaky springs, it’s right that you told me first.”

  Kenzie set her fork on the plate, tines down, and pushed it away. “I’m sorry we kept you awake.”

  “Don’t be. It’ll make this adventure more fun to tell.” Amber finished off her eggs and buttered her last biscuit. “You said you knew you were in love with David when you heard him play. Did you guys hit the sheets while you were in the past? If you did, it’s a wonder you got out of bed long enough to go home.”

  “We came close, but it wasn’t until we were back in the present. We stayed in a beautiful boutique hotel in Bayeux.”

  “It wasn’t the Villa Lara, was it?”

  Kenzie nodded. “Have you been there?”

  “My parents took us to Normandy when we were in high school. We met Trey and all his crew there, too. It was an amazing trip. Olivia and I went back after Trey died. It seemed like a place to connect with him, and we stayed at the Villa Lara.”

  Kenzie checked the time on her watch pin. “Oh gosh. Look at the time. We better go.” She left coins on the table to cover the tab and bundled up again.r />
  “Was everything smooth sailing between you two once you returned?” Amber asked, buttoning her coat. “Or did you have to adapt to being back in the future?”

  Kenzie held the door and once outside braced herself against the mild gust that wrapped her skirts around her legs. “It was good until I discovered all the lies and how much he had invaded my privacy. But by then, I was hopelessly in love and forgave him, but not right away.”

  “Why’d he lie to you?”

  “That’s a long story, but we all learned a lesson. That’s why we told you immediately who we were. David didn’t tell me, and because he didn’t, I almost got killed—twice.”

  “Ouch,” Amber said. “I guess after three kids he’s more than made up for it. Did he know you before? Is that why he went back to rescue you?”

  “We’d never met, but he knew my half-brother. When I went missing, he asked David to find me.”

  “So your paths would have crossed at some point even if you hadn’t time traveled.”

  That was a slippery slope question that Kenzie wasn’t prepared to answer truthfully. “Elliott’s tentacles spread around the globe. If my brother Jim hadn’t mentioned me, Elliott would have figured it out, and David and I would have met eventually.”

  “Small world.”

  “Yep, it sure is.”

  Amber looped her arm around Kenzie’s elbow and directed her across the street. “While I’m thinking about it, will you take my guitar home with you? I won’t need it again, and I’d hate for anything to happen to it.”

  “I’ll take care of it. Just leave it in your room and I’ll get it.”

  “Thanks. Now do you have any advice you’d like to pass along before we temporarily part company? I generally take well-intended advice, so sock it to me.”

  Kenzie took a deep breath of mountain air, so cold it chilled her lungs. “Stay warm, don’t get sick, and take care of those pesky joints. That’s my first piece of advice or clump of advice. Second, don’t lead Daniel on. If you get involved with him, be sure it’s for the right reasons.”

  “Don’t worry,” Amber said. “Daniel’s only interest in me is figuring out who I am. He hasn’t said so, but I bet he’s looked at all the sheriff’s wanted posters for my picture, and he’s probably sent telegrams to all Pinkerton offices with my description.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it unless you have an outlaw in your family tree.”

  “None that I know of.”

  “Then forget it, and don’t act suspicious.”

  “If I did get involved with him, it would be dumber than dumb. What would I do with a nineteenth-century boyfriend? Talk about a long-distance relationship. I have no intention of spending the rest of my life without hot showers and twenty-first century medicine, although I never go to the doctor. But still…”

  “Then don’t have sex with him. It’ll mess up your mind.” As they turned the corner toward Mrs. Garland’s white-painted boardinghouse bristling with architectural bric-a-brac, Kenzie said, “I have a third piece of advice, too. Noah is attaching himself to you. When you return to the future, it will break his heart. Whatever you do, don’t over promise.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem since I’m leaving, and I doubt I’ll ever see him again. But that’s good advice. If he asks when I’ll be back, I’ll have to tell him I won’t be returning to Leadville.”

  Kenzie pushed open the wrought-iron gate leading to the front porch of the boardinghouse. “Bless Mrs. Garland’s heart. She’ll have to deal with the heartache.”

  The door flew open and Noah bounded out carrying a suitcase. “Pa said I could go, too. He’s already sent a telegram to my grandpa in Denver that I’m accepting his invitation to visit.”

  Amber whispered, “What’s your advice now?”

  Kenzie groaned. “To quote a friend who often speaks in baseball metaphors. ‘Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.’”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Appeal to the heavens for rain to save you from having to face…whatever.”

  “In that case, I better start collecting animals two by two.”

  Kenzie burst out laughing. “Just so long as they aren’t Stegosauruses.”

  23

  1878 Leadville, Colorado—David

  David stepped out of the Spotswood and McClelland Stage Line Passenger and Express Company office on Harrison Avenue, pocketing the tickets he’d purchased for the stagecoach to Denver. The sun had slipped away, and dark clouds blanketed the peaks. The muted gray reminded him of Scotland. And that thought led him to consider Daniel and a future role in the clan for him.

  After spending time with the Pinkerton agent, David had become rather fond of him. It was hard not to. He was sincere, honorable, intelligent, and a staunch Robert Burns fan. As for Daniel’s suspicion of Amber, David was confident he had put that to rest after multiple conversations with him about Kenzie and Amber, their similarities and oddities. The ball was now in Amber’s proverbial court to settle any remaining concerns.

  Daniel had offered to make transportation arrangements, but David had declined the offer, and instead gone to the stage office and reserved all nine seats on the stagecoach to Denver. Kenzie had teased him about playing matchmaker. That was the brooch’s job, not his. He was only a facilitator. If Rick rode atop with the driver, Amber and Daniel would have more than nineteen hours alone on a private stagecoach. The plan might have dissolved when Noah announced he was going, too. How that would play out on the long ride was anyone’s guess.

  Amber was a loving and nurturing woman and Noah appeared enamored with her. The lad, though, stood a chance of being deeply hurt if the brooch didn’t bring Amber and Daniel together.

  But that was way beyond David’s sphere of control.

  He stood next to the stage office door and searched the lot for his bride. A swirl of newsboys banged out of the saloon next door. They drew his attention as they ran toward him, chanting, “The Herald! Get your newspapers from us.”

  “Latest news from around Colorado.” Another newsie thrust a paper under the eagle-like nose of a bespectacled man deep in conversation with one of the drivers. Dust from the stagecoach was still on the driver’s coat sleeves.

  David bought two papers, tipped both boys a penny, and carried his newspapers across the muddy yard, spotted with frosty grass. The smell of newly hewn lumber, used in the construction of an addition to the stage office, tickled his nose, and he sneezed. The lumber smell mixed with the odor of mud and manure churned up in the dust.

  A line of coaches was parked in the yard, rutted by hooves and wheels, but only one was hitched and ready to depart. Spotting Kenzie and Amber sitting on a bench in a passenger-designated area, he made his way toward them. Amber’s narrow hat, decorated with feather plumes, blocked Kenzie’s face, but the rise and fall of her shoulders told him she was crying. Her pain caused his heart to drop a few beats. He could be shot without wincing, but when his bride hurt, her pain cut him into irregular-shaped pieces.

  The two women had bonded instantly over their shared interest: the law and their love for Trey, and Kenzie had been unusually relaxed. As he reflected on their talks and intimate encounters, he had to admit their time in Leadville had been some of the happiest days of their marriage. For that reason alone, he wasn’t ready to leave. He had to be honest with himself, though. Kenzie’s state of mind was in large part due to her friendship with Amber. With her new friend gone, Kenzie’s stress would rise to the top again, and she’d be in a hurry to return home to the wee ones, to work demands, to Elliott’s beck-and-call privileges.

  He laughed out loud. God, he loved her. The scent of her was on his skin, in his mind, lodged deeply in his heart.

  The women had pulled apart by the time he reached them, tears straggling down their faces. “Sorry I wasn’t at the boardinghouse to escort ye. Did ye have any trouble?”

  “No,” Kenzie said with a slight wobble in her voice, as she wiped her face. “Daniel arranged f
or a hack to bring us here. Did you get the tickets?”

  He handed them to Amber. “Ye have the entire coach.”

  “That’s excessive, isn’t it?” she asked.

  “Mayhap, but for me, it’s a safety issue. Having the entire coach will give ye room to stretch out and sleep. Plus, ye won’t have sick people coughing and spreading germs. Regardless of what ye say, I don’t believe ye’re feeling yer best.”

  “I’m blaming it all on the brooch. I’ve grown up in this altitude. It shouldn’t bother me, but it does. Thank you for being so thoughtful.”

  David folded the newspapers and slipped them into his pocket. “Where’s Noah?”

  Kenzie pointed toward the stagecoach. “He’s already claimed his seat.”

  “And Ripley’s seat, too,” Amber added.

  David shook his head. “I’m surprised Daniel allowed the dog to come along.”

  “He doesn’t know about Ripley. She followed us here. As soon as Noah saw her, he opened the door and Ripley jumped in, mud and all,” Kenzie said. “If you hadn’t bought all the seats, there wouldn’t have been extra room.”

  “Are ye blaming the additional passengers on me, lass?”

  Kenzie laughed. “I’m not, but Daniel might.”

  “Mrs. Garland told me Daniel still feels guilty over his wife’s death and being with his father-in-law exacerbates those feelings. That’s why he’s avoided going back to Denver,” Amber said.

  Kenzie’s expression telegraphed her thoughts and David knew what was coming. “That’s not fair to Noah to be cut off from his mother’s family. Daniel needs to man up.”

  “I think he—” Amber began.

  “Don’t go anywhere,” David said. The women were traipsing down a Daniel-bashing-trail and he wasn’t going to participate. He maneuvered past them and navigated a path through the rutted yard to inspect the coach and the matched dapple-gray six-horse team.

  The horses’ joints showed no sign of heat, swelling, or pain in the lower legs. His limited soundness check showed no abnormalities or cause for concern. The leather harnesses were cleaned and oiled and the brass fittings were polished. The eight-ply leather belts that insulated the coach from the constant pounding of the wheels over makeshift roads were tight without signs of deterioration. The front brakes were oiled, the wheels solidly constructed, the hubs well-greased, and the whip was as pliable as a snake in the sun.