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

Austin and JC found when they were teenagers. Austin showed it to me, and when I described it to David and told him we found Erik’s footprints going in and coming out, he said he wanted to do a cave survey.”

“Can’t he just fly back to Lexington to do that?”

“He could and probably will, but he wants to see how it looked in 1885.”

“If they show up with us, everyone will know we went off without them,” Meredith said. “And they’ll be furious.”

Ensley almost huffed at Meredith. Instead, she said, “Really? You think? Just like Elliott pissed everyone off for taking JC home?”

“That was different,” Meredith snapped.

Ensley was gobsmacked but refrained from smacking her forehead by holding her hands together prayerfully. “Was it, now?”

“I hear the sarcasm in your voice.”

“Good. Because I intended it to be there.”

“What’s up with ye two?” David asked. “If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn JL was in here bickering with Meredith.”

Kenzie swished up to David in all her silk and petticoats. “Not JL. Just her future daughter-in-law.”

“Whoa, Austin and I have barely shared a kiss, and you’re marrying us off. Stop it! Now I see why the family drove him away. Please don’t put pressure on him like that.”

“We’ll back off, Ensley,” Kenzie said. “You’re just the new kid on the block.”

“Well, the initiation period is over. This will be my third trip back in time, so I’m no longer a newbie.”

“You’re right. So, let’s go. Are you ready, Meredith?” Ensley asked.

Meredith made no effort to move, just sitting there staring at JC, ignoring the question.

Ensley took Meredith’s hand. “You have to go back and get things settled with Elliott. The two of you can’t debate what to do next while he’s freaking out. That won’t be good for anybody.”

“Ensley’s right, Meredith,” David said. “Ye can’t put it off. There’s too much at stake.”

“I’m not sure I agree with you,” Meredith said.

“I don’t give a shit if ye do or not. Ye don’t have a choice, and ye don’t want me to throw ye over my shoulder.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Ensley tugged Meredith out of the chair. “I have a feeling he would, and while it would be a funny story to tell, it’s undignified. So cut it out, and let’s go.”

Meredith’s eyes flicked at Ensley, and for a moment, Ensley was afraid she’d pushed too far, but damn it, the woman needed to get her shit together. Being a wimp wasn’t doing JC any good. The time had come for Meredith to man up—well, woman up—and straighten things out with Elliott.

“If I hadn’t heard the video, I never would have believed James Cullen was violent. He looks so peaceful.”

Ensley tugged a little bit harder to get Meredith moving. “And he’ll look just as peaceful when we return.”

Charlotte came out of her exam room again. “I’m going to do an updated test on his telomeres and compare the results with his previous report. It might give us some indication of how long he was in the past. I also want to do some blood tests to be sure he’s well enough to go to the monastery.”

“Do you think something’s wrong with him?” Meredith asked.

“I have no reason to believe he’s sick, but I want to be sure. In any case, he’s been severely traumatized,” Charlotte said, “and it might be a rough trip up the mountain.”

“May is the end of the spring travel season,” Meredith said. “Maybe it won’t be so crowded. As soon as we get back, we should notify the flight crew. They’ll need to file a flight plan for Paro International Airport.”

“Jack’s favorite hotel is the Zhiwa Ling Hotel, and you’ll need horses for the trek up the mountain,” Charlotte said. “Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan is so much easier to reach than the monastery in Tibet. I’m glad JC prefers that one.”

“We’ll figure it all out when we come back.” Meredith glanced at JC again. “I can’t get over how peaceful he looks.”

“And he’ll be at peace again one day.” Ensley gave the diamond brooch to David. “You can do the honors.”

Ensley, Meredith, Kenzie, and David gathered around the two trunks full of equipment. “See ye soon, Charlotte.”

“Don’t come back without my husband.”

David opened the brooch and recited the chant while Ensley’s mind teemed with images of Austin riding his warhorse, dunking the pillow, kissing her…

And then they all disappeared in the fog.

62

MacKlenna Farm, KY (1885)—Meredith

When the fog lifted, Meredith was back in her room at MacKlenna Farm and very much alone, which was as much an emotional state as a physical one. She glanced out the window and was relieved to see David and Kenzie talking to Sean.

That makes three of us.

If Ensley was with Austin, then they all arrived safely. Meredith opened the door to see Ensley at the bottom of the staircase with Austin.

Good. Everyone’s here.

She didn’t know how long it would take David and Kenzie to survey the cave, but she figured she had a few hours to straighten things out with Elliott. They couldn’t return home without reaching an agreement about James Cullen’s immediate future. And that agreement might lead to their reconciliation.

They couldn’t continue to live like this. It wasn’t healthy, it forced the family to take sides, and that realignment could tear the family apart, which would be a disaster for all of them.

As for Meredith, she was starting with a handicap. James Cullen’s near-death experience set off every one of her death and dying triggers. And God knew she had a dozen of them. The fact that she could function right now was nothing short of a miracle. Unless she and Elliott could be calm and rational, they’d never move beyond the current impasse.

She emerged from her room to trek down the hallway, but there was no rush to get there. So she limped along emotionally, visualizing their conversation. But when she got there with her heart in her throat, his door stood open, and the room was