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

Austin opened the front and rear doors simultaneously to let Ensley and Meredith climb in, then lifted the tailgate and dropped the bags in the back before climbing in next to Ensley.

“Ye got enough room back there?” Elliott asked.

“I never have enough room in a car, but I’m okay for now. But I want to claim one of the single seats, so I’ll have plenty of space to stretch out on the plane. And Ensley will want one of the foldout sofas. She’ll sleep through most of the flight.”

“That sounds wonderful, but will we have time to go inside the airport to get something to eat before we board?”

Meredith turned around in her seat. “On long-haul flights, we always have Michelin star dining. I’m sure you’ll find something you like on the menu.”

Ensley always knew JC was wealthy, but a private jet with exceptional cuisine was more in line with billionaires than millionaires. She might not sleep through the entire flight after all. And then she remembered JC and had that I-feel-guilty flutter in her belly. This trip wasn’t about her creature comforts but JC’s mental health.

“I’m sure I will,” Ensley said. “But a hot dog is fine with me.”

Austin took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Hot dogs work for me, too, but there’s always salmon, and it’s outstanding.”

“I’ll give it a try.” But as she envisioned climbing aboard a private jet, she realized she had a problem. “Wait a minute! I can’t go. I don’t have my passport.”

“David took care of it,” Elliott said. “He has a counterfeit operation in the cleanroom. He made ye a new one.”

“Isn’t that like…illegal?”

“Ye’ll learn, lass, that sometimes we wander into the gray zone to do what we do. Ye needed a passport, so he made ye one with yer name, address, birthday. He didn’t create a new identity for ye. He just made a duplicate.”

She decided not to point out that making a forgery wasn’t just stepping into the gray zone. It was committing a felony. At least she thought so, but in the past few days, she’d discovered she was the daughter of a twelfth-century Viking and that he had left behind what could be a billion-dollar treasure.

She leaned back in the exquisite leather seat and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, Austin was carrying her onboard. “Sleep as long as you want.” He kissed her on the lips and covered her with a blanket.

And as she fell into a deep sleep, the plane was wheels-up and on its way to Bhutan.

67

MacCorp Jet—Elliott

James Cullen slept in the MacCorp jet’s VIP bedroom with ensuite bathroom located in the aft section of the aircraft while Elliott, Meredith, and Paul took shifts to sit at his bedside. Charlotte wanted one, but Elliott wouldn’t let her sit up with her patient, insisting that she rest as much as possible. If there was an emergency, she needed to be at the top of her game.

James Cullen woke during the refueling stop in London Luton Airport and scooted back till he was in a sitting position, asking in a groggy voice, “Why are we on the plane, Dad? Why am I in your bed? Why are you sleeping over there?”

Elliott didn’t know how James Cullen would react to the plan, but he couldn’t keep it from him. “Yer mom and I thought ye’d like to spend a few weeks at Tiger’s Nest. We’re about a third of the way to Bhutan now.”

Uncertainty flickered in James Cullen’s eyes. “Why’d you think that?”

Telling James Cullen that Erik suggested he go there might set him off, so Elliott dodged the question. “It means a lot to ye to be there, and ye haven’t visited in a while.”

James Cullen gave him a scared, wounded look, and Elliott worried that his son was about to give voice to his terrors and frighten the flight crew. If he lost control again, Charlotte would give him another injection. At least that was the plan. Or Elliott would give it to him. God knows he’d given himself plenty of them in the past.

“You’re right. It’s been a while.” James Cullen straightened the red cloak that had tangled around him while he slept. “I don’t remember when I was there last. Everything’s a blur.”

“What do ye remember?” As soon as Elliott asked the question, he cringed, knowing he’d made a mistake.

James Cullen’s expression didn’t change. “The last thing I remember was leaving Ensley with Roosevelt and taking the train to Kentucky.” He stopped and looked around the room. “I think I saw her…earlier, I mean. But I don’t remember where.”

“She was in the cleanroom with ye. She’s also on the plane with us.”

“She is?” He seemed genuinely happy about that. “I went shopping for her in Chicago. Maybe she’s wearing something I purchased for her.”

James Cullen had the past and present confused, so Elliott had to tread carefully.

“She said the clothes are beautiful. Ye can ask her about them later. But yer mother is taking credit for yer good taste.”

A sheepish, almost childlike grin split James Cullen’s face. “She took credit for my taste in decorating my bedroom. She might as well take credit for my good taste in women’s clothing.” Then his expression changed to one of surprise. “Ensley’s shirt and jeans are too dirty. They’ll never get clean again. I hope she threw them away.”

When James Cullen’s eyes glazed over, Elliott reached out and touched his son’s leg to anchor him in the present. “I’m glad ye bought her new clothes, lad, and I assure ye, she’s not wearing dirty clothes right now.”

Elliott hoped his tone calmed James Cullen’s frantic, chaotic mind. It didn’t do much to help Elliott’s anxieties or the stress on his body. Right now, he couldn’t hurt more if he’d been in a major car wreck. Trainer Ted would kick his ass the next time Elliott made it to the training room—which he planned to put off as long as