The Sunstone Brooch : Time Travel Romance Katherine Logan (no david read aloud TXT) 📖

You can’t tell me to take care of my father and ignore her request to sit with her son. It’s not fair.”

Elliott looked at James Cullen’s lifeless body. “I don’t give a flying fuck what’s fair. Those assholes didn’t think about what was fair when they tortured and tried to kill him. And as for Meredith, she was hoist with her own petard.”

“She what?”

Elliott ate the last bite of biscuit, then bit into a chicken leg. The tasty, juicy meat exploded in his mouth. “It means to be caught in a trap of yer own making.”

“I know what it means.” She flipped open the book on the table. “What are you reading, Shakespeare? Must be Hamlet.” She closed the book and tapped her fingers on top of it. “Look, Elliott. If I had been around during that first Hogmanay when you scared Meredith off, I would have told you to go after her, and that’s my advice now. You can’t blame her for what happened to James Cullen. That’s just as illogical as blaming her for the death of your horse.”

He put the chicken bone down and pushed back from the table. “It’s time for ye to leave.” He stepped over to the door and opened it. “Thank ye for the food.”

Kit snatched up her hat and stomped toward him. “You’re making a mistake, and don’t come crying to me when Meredith won’t take you back.”

“Ye don’t have to worry about that.”

“What? That you’ll come crying to me, or that Meredith won’t want you back?”

“Goodbye, Kit.”

“Not going to answer? Suit yourself. But if you continue to be such an ass, you’ll lose even me.”

As soon as Kit strode out, he slammed the door and bolted it. His vision blurred. If there was ever a time he needed Meredith, it was now. But she betrayed him. And he couldn’t get past his anger. He watched through the shutter slats as Kit mounted her horse and rode off.

“Dad. What are you doing here?”

Elliott jerked around to find James Cullen sitting up in bed. The red cloak had dropped to his waist. The glistening skin on his arms and chest was void of hair, and other than sweat beading on him, there wasn’t a scratch or bruise, not even on his face.

It was a miracle. Tears streaked down Elliott’s cheeks, and he crossed himself. “Do ye know where ye are?”

James Cullen glanced around the cabin. “I’ve never been here before. Where are we?”

“In a cabin on MacKlenna Farm. It’s 1885.”

“Oh, right. I left Ensley with Teddy Roosevelt and came here to rob Uncle Braham’s casket of a few gold bars.” Then James Cullen’s face drained of color, and he started shaking so hard the bed rocked.

Elliott had to get James Cullen home ASAP. Charlotte could sedate him or something until he could get his son to the monks.

“We need to go home.” He walked toward the bed, but the closer he got, the more agitated James Cullen became. “I’m not going to hurt ye, son.”

James Cullen snarled like a rabid dog. “Stay away from me!” He held his hands out as he scooted backward and pulled the cloak up to his chin. “Don’t come any closer.”

“I have to. We must hold on to each other to go through the vortex.”

“Don’t. Touch. Me.”

Elliott paused. Maybe he couldn’t do this alone after all. But he had run everybody off, and now he was stuck. He had no one to help him restrain James Cullen. Elliott sat in the chair next to the bed and maintained his distance.

“It’s time to go home, or do ye want to stay here?”

“In 1885? No.”

“Then let me take ye home.”

“As long as you don’t touch me.”

Treat him like a skittish colt and take advantage of the first opportunity.

Elliott fumbled with the diamond brooch in his pocket and finally popped it open. All he had to do was recite the chant he knew by heart, and they’d be off. “I won’t, lad, but can ye hold on to me? We have to stay connected.”

“I can’t leave without Ensley.”

“Travis, Remy, and Austin are with her now.”

“How do you know?”

“I sent them a telegram, and Tavis sent one in return.”

“So you have two recovery teams here?”

“Aye. One here and one in North Dakota.”

James Cullen glanced around the cabin. “Did Mom come with you?”

“Aye, but it was my turn to sit with ye. Kit just left. She brought a food basket. Are ye hungry?”

“No. I must have had a big dinner. I’m not hungry at all. We can wait until Mom comes back.”

“She might not be here until tomorrow. Tavis is bringing Ensley here because Kit and Cullen aren’t ready to return. Mom can come with them.”

James Cullen closed his eyes and relaxed a bit. The cloak dropped to his waist again, giving Elliott an even better look at his son’s skin. It was as smooth as a baby’s butt. Not a blemish of any kind. But what struck Elliott the most was the development of James Cullen’s body. He looked like Captain America in the Avengers movies the grandkids watched all the time.

His chest was broader, fuller, more three-dimensional, and his neck and arm muscles bulged. He looked strong enough to pick Elliott up with one hand, lift him over his head, and toss him out the door.

“I can’t think about it right now,” James Cullen said. “You decide.”

“Then we should leave now. I’ll write a note, so yer mom will know we’ve returned home.”

“Which brooch does Tavis have?”

“Since Austin was going, they took the amethyst.”

“I’m surprised Austin agreed to go on an adventure.”

“He didn’t have a choice. Thanks to Pops. But I’ll tell ye about it later.”

Maybe Elliott could get James Cullen home and on his way to the mountains before the rest of the group arrived. That would save him from having another battle with Meredith.

“I don’t know, Dad. Mom will be pissed if we go off without her.”

“Well, here’s the deal, son. Ye don’t have any clothes, and I can’t