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

by Katherine Lowry Logan

  Olivia looped arms with Kenzie. “Let’s get off this corner and warm up. Shall we go?”

  David extended his hand to Daniel again. “It was good to see ye. If ye can make it back for a visit while we’re still here, I’d like to talk to ye about a job.”

  “For me or ye?” Daniel asked.

  Before David could answer, Kenzie kissed Daniel’s cheek. “It was good to see you. I’m sorry you’re leaving. Hurry back, if you can.”

  Daniel glanced at Olivia. She saw something unreadable in his eyes, and she was struck by how beautiful they were, lined with dark, thick lashes. But it was the depth and warmth of them that pulled her in, and she would have willingly stayed there.

  “Thank you for helping Amber. I hope we’ll see you again,” Olivia said.

  Kenzie tugged on her arm. “Shall we go?”

  “About the job…” Beneath the brim of Daniel’s hat his apprehension was clearly visible.

  “Come back and we’ll talk,” David said.

  Kenzie and Olivia walked away, arm in arm. “I quit counting the lies we told him.” She gave Kenzie a sour face. “Lies seem normal, and I’m becoming numb to the truth. Is that how it is with the brooches?”

  “You have to stay as close to the truth as possible, or sidestep, or dance around without committing. Inevitably you’ll get caught and you won’t remember which lie you told and you’ll end up telling a different story,” Kenzie said.

  “I hate lying.”

  “We all do, sweetie. But sometimes we have to lie to protect the brooches or—”

  “Don’t say it,” Olivia answered swiftly, almost sharply.

  “What?” Kenzie asked.

  “Sometimes we have to lie to protect those we love. I’ve heard too much of that.” Olivia swallowed an ache rising in her throat. “I’m glad Daniel’s leaving. I’d hate to keep lying to him.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to give Connor a break now that you’ve experienced our conundrum?”

  Olivia had boxed herself into a corner. Connor had lied to her just as she had lied to Daniel. If Amber had gone home and was safely in the future, Olivia would have told him Amber caught the train to Chicago and wasn’t coming back. There was no way she could tell him the truth. He simply wouldn’t understand.

  The irony wasn’t lost on her.

  36

  1878 Denver, Colorado—Amber

  The trip to Morrison was entirely too short. Amber and Rick disembarked, walked across the street to the hardware and lumber store for supplies, talked to the owner of the livery about renting horses, then caught the next train back to Denver.

  She didn’t gripe, argue, or mention her chest pain. If she was going to return the next day, she had to have his cooperation. Not that she couldn’t do it all by herself, because she could—any other time. Today, though, her feet felt as though a trainer had affixed twenty-pound weights to the bottoms of her boots.

  Stressing over her health was as worrisome as the sickness. Why did she have to get sick now? You’d think suffering through a series of sore throats would be enough. Maybe she had walking pneumonia. She wasn’t sure what the symptoms were, but it sounded like a legitimate possibility. The cure, she figured, was rest and staying hydrated. But wasn’t there a cough and fever involved? Where was Google when you really needed a search engine?

  Now, as they rode in a carriage back to Alec’s house, she hated to admit, even to herself, that she was afraid to be alone. If she had another attack and no one was there to help her…

  “I’ll escort you inside, then I’m taking off for a couple of hours.”

  Rick’s statement intruded on her angst. “Where are you going?”

  “I thought you knew.”

  “Oh, her. I forgot. How long will it…take you?”

  He laughed. “I’m not going to see a woman. Although I’m flattered by the note of jealousy I detect in your voice.”

  She backhanded his arm. “You do not.”

  He laughed again. “Alec arranged a meeting with Chief Ouray, the tribal leader of the Utes. I’ve read he’s a skilled negotiator and fluent in Ute, English, and Spanish. For me, meeting him is like you meeting Dr. Marsh or Dr. Cope.”

  “What I know of him is limited to my high school history class, which was years ago. If you meet him, you can’t tell him about the White River Utes rampage and what happens to the Utes in Colorado,” she said.

  “Why not? Aren’t you trying to change what happened in the gorge?”

  “I’m just trying to save the railroad a few dollars. Interjecting yourself in the history of Native Americans is different. The timber, mining, and cattle interests in Denver tried for years to remove the Utes from the state. What if you stop the massacre at the White River Agency and something worse happens to them?”

  “Worse? Right now, they have almost the entire western third of Colorado. What could be worse than losing all that, plus getting kicked out of the state?”

  She pressed her palm against her pounding forehead, wondering how she was going to survive this trip. “What are we doing here?”

  “I know why I’m here. I came to rescue you. But if it’s any consolation, all time travelers have had this problem.”

  “My head is spinning. Is there something you’re going to do with the information?”

  “Write a blog post,” he said, matter-of-factly.

  “You have a blog?” Her surprise changed quickly to delight. “I can’t wait to read it.” She waited for the blush to creep up his neck, the way it did when she teased him about something, but he surprised her.

  His eyes turned dark, and he was deadly serious when he said, “Don’t you dare tell a soul. I don’t use my real name.”

  “You have a nom de plume? What name are you using?” She just looked at him, one eyebrow slightly raised. She didn’t think he would answer, but that didn’t stop her from asking.

  “I’m not telling you. There are already three writers in the clan and the competition among them is fierce. I do this for a hobby, not to make money, and I don’t want to be part of their race to make the best-seller list.”

  “You have to write a book to make the list.”

  When he didn’t respond, she gazed at him with her mouth falling open, and her heart swelling with excitement for him. “You’ve written a book?”

  “Nobody knows, and if it gets out, you’ll be the only one on the list of possible leakers. I’ll get even—I swear.”

  “That’s so awesome. At least tell me what it’s about.”

  His voice held a sharp edge when he said, “A Western, and that’s all I’m saying.”

  “That’s it? We’re not going to talk about your writing career?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about.” His voice was deadpan, neutral. And, that meant, she would get nothing else from him.

  After a few moments, as if they hadn’t been talking about anything else, he asked, “Would you like to go out to dinner tonight? I’ve heard there are a couple of fine restaurants in the city. Or we could take in a show.”

  “Thanks for the invitation, but I’ll stay in. I want to spend time with Noah and write a to-do list for tomorrow. We’re still going back, right?” For Amber, this adventure held echoes of the childhood euphoria she’d had when finding her first fossils around Hughes Cabin. She couldn’t wait to get her hands in the dirt and talk to other rock hounds. If it would make her feel better tomorrow, she’d even agree to drink whatever elixir the local quack had in mind to give her.

  Rick scratched his beard-stubbled chin. “You know… You surprised me out there today. You always surprise me, but today you really did.”

  “Oh, yeah? How so?”

  “I thought you’d complain. You didn’t. I thought you’d demand we rent horses and go for a ride. You didn’t. I thought you’d want to see more, do more, and bug the crap out of me, but you didn’t. I’m not used to being so wrong. You were a real trooper. I’m looking forward to going back tomorrow.”


  She pinned him with a look. “Why?”

  He shrugged, obviously not wanting to make a big deal of his confession. “I enjoyed listening to you talk to the clerk at the hardware store about the variegated clays and shales and beds of shaley sandstone weathering brown…”

  She laughed. “How could you possibly remember that?”

  He cupped the sides of his head. “I have phonographic ears.”

  She laughed again, touching his arm affectionately this time instead of smacking it, which she did often. “There’s no such thing. And if I surprised you, you surprised me. Any man who would hang out while I hunted dinosaur bones is extraordinary.” She winked. “I might have to reconsider a friends-with-benefits relationship with you.”

  He pulled her in for a breath-stealing side hug. “Just say the word, sweetheart.”

  The hug squeezed her chest and made her cough. “You’re killing me, O’Grady.” She scooted over before he hugged her again.

  The carriage wheels rattled down the dirt road and came to a stop in front of Alec’s residence. Smoke spiraled from the chimneys in the four corners of the mansion, and the early afternoon sun was slanting toward the parlor’s large mullioned windows. The bare branches of the Rocky Mountain maples planted in the front yard pointed toward the sky, as if the arms of the leafless trees were raised in surrender.

  The driver jumped down and opened the door. Rick preceded her out of the carriage, carrying a brown bag with the tools she’d purchased. He slung the sack, the tools clinking together, over his shoulder. “Come, my dear.” He lifted her, setting her feet firmly on the ground. “You can’t weigh a hundred pounds even in all those clothes.”

  “Thank goodness I do, or I’d blow away in the wind gusts that move in through the plains.” She smiled and slid her hand around his proffered arm. The uneven mud and gravel created a hazard for a woman in a long skirt, or lead-weighted feet.

  They passed through the gate and strolled up the walk to the porch. As they neared the front door, it flew open and Olivia barreled out, squealing, “Amber!”

  Shocked, Amber fell back against Rick’s chest, and he held her shoulders to keep her upright. “Oh my God. What are you doing here?”

  Olivia grabbed her, and they locked in a tight embrace, giggling and crying as if they’d been separated for months instead of a week—and a century and a half—but no one was counting years.

  “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  Their arms were all but padlocked around each other’s waist. Nothing could separate them now. “I came with Kenzie and David and Connor. We were worried about you.”

  Olivia looked up at Rick. “Hi. I’m Olivia, and you look exactly like Connor.”

  He kissed her cheek. “And you look exactly like Amber.”

  They walked through the doorway, laughing. Amber tugged off her gloves, removed her hat, and handed both to the butler. “Where are Mr. and Mrs. McBain?”

  “They’re in the parlor, Miss Kelly.”

  “And Noah? Is he here?”

  “He’s with his grandfather downtown.”

  Olivia took Amber’s hand and led her into the parlor where Kenzie and David sat on the sofa, their heads together in hushed conversation.

  “I can’t believe you came back,” Amber said.

  Kenzie climbed to her feet and hugged her. “It seems like months ago that we left you in Leadville.”

  “In some ways it feels like it.”

  Rick hugged a man standing near the window who could easily be his twin. “Hey, bro. Good to see ya. This is a surprise.”

  Amber extended her hand. “You must be Connor!”

  He gave her hand a teasing swat. “Put that away and give me a hug. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you.” Connor’s chest was broader than Rick’s, but other than that, their hugs were identical. The same pull-you-in-and-squeeze-you-tight. The real kind of hug that gathers you in for seconds and thirds.

  Amber coughed from having her lungs squashed flat. She looked around the group to see who she was missing. “David! I forgot to hug you.”

  “Kenzie always gets top billing. I’m just an afterthought.” He kissed Amber’s cheeks before hugging her but didn’t try to squeeze the life out of her like the O’Grady men.

  Amber took a seat in a rosewood framed, button-tufted parlor chair next to a matching sofa. “How’d you find us? Did you go by the Hugheses?”

  David and Kenzie returned to the sofa, and Olivia took the other parlor chair while Rick lounged comfortably on the arm of Amber’s chair. Millie ran into the room and pounced on Amber’s lap. Her hands entwined with Rick’s as they rubbed the cat’s belly, which got raised eyebrows from David and Connor.

  “Looks like ye have a friend,” David said.

  “She’s taken to us, hasn’t she, Rick?”

  “Yeah, but she likes me better.”

  “I don’t know about that. She slept with me, not you.”

  “Amber,” Olivia said. “We don’t care about the cat. We want to know about you. How are you feeling? Don’t you think you need to go home and see a doctor?”

  “Other than a little tired, I’m fine. So, did you go by the Hugheses or not?”

  “We didn’t have to. As soon as we arrived…” Olivia paused and looked around the room and said in a low voice, “We got separated in the…” She made circle motions with her hand. “Connor found me right away, and then we ran into Daniel Grant at the Wells Fargo office.”

  Amber wasn’t surprised, she was bowled over. And not just because Olivia had already met Daniel, but because he was still in town. “How on earth did you know who he was?”

  Olivia laughed. “David had a picture, but I’d seen Daniel before.”

  Amber leaned in her sister’s direction and whispered, “In a flash, you mean?”

  “It’s okay. I told them about the sightings.”

  “What sightings?” Rick asked.

  “Olivia sees people.”

  “Dead people? Like in the movie The Sixth Sense?” He narrowed his eyes, and his gaze swept over Olivia like a mental frisking.

  “No, Olivia sees living people.” Amber turned her attention to her sister. “When did you see him?”

  “I don’t know. Probably around the time you asked me to find a building for your kitchen and retail store.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Tell you what? That I saw a man coming out of the building? Anyway, I wouldn’t have known the significance without seeing David’s picture of him.”

  “Did he recognize you?”

  “He recognized Connor and called him Rick. Then he glanced at me and the color drained from his face. Bless his heart. He looked like he could use a stiff drink. He probably hit the closest saloon after we left him,” Olivia said. “Nice guy, though. Gorgeous eyes.”

  “I felt sorry for him,” Connor said. “Then when Kenzie and David showed up, he regained his equilibrium and seemed fine after that.”

  “So he told you about the change in plans.”

  “Yes, and why he wanted you here—even though I’m not sure I believed him,” Kenzie said. “I think he just wanted to know where you were.”

  Millie bumped Amber’s hand to keep stroking her. “Where is Daniel now?” Amber asked as she obeyed the cat.

  “He was going to the train, but I believe he’ll come back.”

  “I’m not so sure.” Amber glanced behind her. Although she didn’t see any of the staff or hear the clack of their shoes on the hardwood floors, she had a prickly sensation—a pins and needles sort of feeling—on the back of her neck, like the warnings she’d get in the mountains when the weather threatened to turn bad or a wild animal crept too close.

  She glanced up at Rick. “Would you mind closing the doors? Somebody might overhear.”

  He stepped across the oriental rug, closed the matching pair of doors with stained-glass inserts and identical window above the transom, and returned to his perch on the arm of Amber’
s chair. The cat meowed, and he picked her up off Amber’s lap and cradled her in the crook of his arm.

  “Daniel caught me in a couple of lies last night.”

  “Just one,” Rick said. “And he suspects there are more. He’s suspicious, probably of all of us, but he doesn’t seem to trust Amber.”

  “Well, thanks,” she said.

  Millie jumped down and scratched at the door to be let out. Rick opened one side to find Mrs. Murphy standing there eavesdropping.

  She recovered quickly, and using the end of her apron, wiped smudges from the woodwork. “Would you like refreshments?”

  “Whisky, hot tea for the ladies, and cake, if you have any.” Rick waited until she stepped away before he closed the door again. “I’d watch what you say around here. The walls have ears.”

  “Finish your story about Daniel,” Kenzie said. “What’d he do when he caught you lying?”

  “He stormed out, left early this morning. I’ll be surprised if I see him again.”

  “Get ready then, because I have a feeling he’ll be back tonight. Alec is having a dinner party and invited the Rio Grande board members and their attorney, Adam Hughes,” Kenzie said.

  “Isn’t that exciting?” Olivia said. “I can’t wait to meet Adam.”

  “You can’t tell him who you are, but you can ask about his house,” Kenzie said.

  “I know. I’ll have to lie to him, too.” Olivia and Connor briefly exchanged glances before she looked away and directed a question to Amber. “So how was Morrison? Was it everything you thought it would be?”

  “A clerk at the hardware store told me Arthur Lakes is still on the hogback but intends to leave shortly to spend a few months with Dr. Marsh at Yale. I hope I can track him down tomorrow.”

  “Dr. Lakes? That’s awesome.” Olivia raised her hand to give Amber a high-five and they slapped palms. “I know you’re excited to meet one of your heroes.”

  Brisk footsteps sounded outside the door, along with the creak of a cart’s wheels. Before Mrs. Murphy could knock, Rick opened the door. “I’ll take that. Thank you.” He pushed the cart into the room and closed the door again. “Who wants a drink?”