The Sapphire Brooch Katherine Logan (best beach reads TXT) 📖

to help him, she needed her mental faculties to be operating at their highest level.

After a quick bath, she dressed in one of the day gowns still hanging in the armoire, and then she ventured down the stairs. Cullen’s whistling drew her to the study.

“I recognize the tune,” she said. “‘Take Me Home, Country Roads.’”

He got to his feet, smiling. “One of Kit’s favorites. She likes country music. I think if anything could pull her back to yer time, it would be the music.”

Charlotte poured a cup of coffee from the sterling service tea set on the sideboard and sipped the strong, hot brew. “I’d love to meet her. I’ve seen pictures of her. She’s a beautiful and gutsy woman. You were lucky to have found her.”

“We didn’t have any choice in the matter.”

“Oh, why? Because you couldn’t fight the stone’s magic?”

With a faint look of uneasiness, he nodded. “Once ye get caught in the stone’s fog, ye’re in for the duration.”

“It’s different with Braham and me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Cullen said, returning his attention to the stack of papers in front of him. “But we can talk later. Right now, we have a lot of work to do.”

Her lips were trembling ever so slightly and she hoped Cullen hadn’t noticed. She set her cup down on the side of the desk where she had arranged a workspace. “Is there food in the dining room? I’m starving.”

“There was earlier, but I don’t know if it’s still there. Ask Edward. He’ll see a meal is prepared for ye.”

She escaped to the dining room, where she found eggs and bacon warming in a chafing dish, plus bread and butter, and fruit. She fixed a plate and returned to the office, now more composed. “Where are David and Braham?”

Cullen continued writing without glancing up. “David went to spy on Henly, and Braham’s nosing around the War Department.”

“They must have found him last night. Good. Did either of them say what happened?”

The sleeves of Cullen’s shirt were rolled to his elbows, revealing ropy, veined forearms with a dusting of fine black hair. He pushed the sleeves up higher to keep the fabric from dragging across the paper and smearing the ink. “They played cards.”

“I bet David lost.”

Cullen glanced up, drawing his brows together in thought. “Why do ye think that?”

“It’s usually what happens. The bad guy thinks he’s playing an easy mark, so he bets heavily. The good guy loses, and later sets up another game to ‘win his money back.’”

Cullen set his pen aside, laced his fingers, and put his joined hands behind his head, chuckling. “Ye’re right. It’s exactly what happened. Makes me wonder which one of ye is the writer in the family.”

Charlotte jabbed the eggs with her fork. “I dabble. Jack reads what I write, laughs, and then very sweetly tells me to go back to the operating room. I don’t have much of an imagination.”

“Ye’re a critical thinker with a creative mind. Even without a legal background, ye’ve grasped complicated issues, and ye’re able to ask intelligent questions. Braham told me once I’d never met a woman who challenged me intellectually until I met Kit. I believe he’s found the same thing in ye.”

“The majority of our conversations have revolved around his injuries. In the last few months, he’s been shot, knifed, whipped, beaten up, and almost burned alive. As for the rest of our interactions, well”—she blushed—“we haven’t done much talking.”

Cullen dropped his hands, coughing discreetly.

Quickly changing the subject, she asked, “How much did they lose last night”

“A thousand dollars.”

She choked on her coffee. “Ker-ching. My bill keeps going up. I’m paying all expenses, and unless David wins the money back, his gambling losses go on my bill, too.”

One corner of Cullen’s mouth lifted in a confident smile. “Braham staked him. From what I heard, Henly’s reckless, and with David’s skill at cards, he’ll easily win back what he lost.”

She picked up the coffeepot and offered to fill Cullen’s cup before refilling hers. “You and Braham have been friends for a long time.”

“Since we were lads. The war’s changed him. Hardened him. When he gets back to California and puts the war behind him, the old Braham will reemerge.”

“You hope,” she said.

Cullen’s concern was belied by a glimmer in his eyes, and a wry smile teased the corner of his lips. “Kit will kick Braham back into shape in no time.”

“If anyone can, she can, but tell me this…” Charlotte picked at the last of the food on her plate, wondering if she wanted an answer to the question she was poised to ask. “What advice, if any, did Braham give you when you discovered Kit was from the future?”

“Marry her, and if I didn’t, he would. He didn’t know they were first cousins at the time, though.”

She asked without thinking, “Was he in love with her?” And then regretted the question. If he was in love with Kit, Charlotte didn’t want to know it.

“No, he was needling me. And it worked.”

The front door opened, and Cullen and Charlotte quieted. Their hands hovered above the documents, ready to quickly snatch them up and hide them in the safe. Seconds dragged by, and perspiration broke out on her forehead. Then Braham’s resonant, full-throated laugh echoed in the hall. Her skin pulsed with heat and waves of soothing warmth flowed over her. She glanced at Cullen and found him observing her, a smile softening his face.

Braham entered the room grinning. When he saw Charlotte, he bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips.

“Have you had a productive morning?” she asked.

He untied his cravat and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt. “I met with Stanton and told him I intended to represent Jack. He told me it would ruin my career. I almost slugged him.”

Only then did Charlotte realize he was putting his reputation on the line for Jack.

Braham poured a cup of coffee and pulled a chair up to the desk, squeezing Charlotte’s knee. She placed her