A Highlander Christmas Page 3

  “How’s that?” she asked, still managing to undo the next button.

  “You’ve been acting far too much like me lately.”

  Grace went perfectly still. Oh God, he was right! She’d turned into a warrior, only instead of wielding a sword, her weapon was deceit.

  She headed for the door. “I’m going to go tell Luke everything.”

  “Oh, no you’re not,” he said, sweeping her up in his arms with a laugh and striding to their bed. “If ye confess to Pascal, then I’ll be forced to go get Camry, and I agree it would turn out badly for all of us.”

  He opened his arms and dropped her on their bed, then quickly settled on top of her. “I’m not upset ye guilted Pascal into going after Camry, only that I hadn’t thought of it myself.” He started undoing the buttons on her blouse. “But then, I didn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle, did I? So when were ye going to tell me your little satellite is scattered over half of Springy Mountain? I would have found it for ye, Grace.”

  “I know you would have, and I love you for that. But Podly really isn’t mine anymore, Grey. It’s Camry’s future. And I need for her to want to go find it herself.”

  “And is the secret to ion propulsion sitting under three feet of snow right now?”

  “Yes.”

  He stopped undressing her. “Ye solved the puzzle? Then we have to go get it!”

  He started to get up, but Grace pulled him back. “No, we don’t. Podly’s been holding the secret for twenty years; I think it can wait another couple of weeks.”

  “Twenty years! Ye solved the problem twenty years ago, and you’ve been letting it orbit the Earth all this time? Grace, that’s been your life’s work!”

  “Don’t get so excited,” she soothed, cupping his cheeks and setting her thumbs over his lips. “I didn’t find the answer, Camry did—when she was twelve.”

  He tried to sit up, but she held him over her. “One day when Camry was twelve, she was down in the lab with me, working on a project for her school science fair. But then she started looking over my shoulder and asking me one question after another about what I was doing. And when I told her the particular problem I was having, she merely pointed at the screen and asked why I simply didn’t transpose two seemingly disconnected integers in the equation I was working on.”

  She gently patted his cheeks when he frowned, and gave a soft laugh. “Don’t ask me to explain it right now, or we’ll still be in this bed come spring. Anyway, it might have been a question from an unschooled child, but it was pure genius. I reversed the numbers, which forced me to change several more, and within an hour I knew I could make ion propulsion work.”

  “And why didn’t ye shout it to the world?”

  “Because unlocking the code actually created a whole new set of problems. I couldn’t really claim I had mastered ion propulsion, because I hadn’t figured out how to actually control it.” She sighed. “Ions can be used for more than just propulsion, Grey; they can also be used as a weapon. I wasn’t ready to go there, because I wasn’t sure the world was ready to go there.”

  “And now?” he asked. “If Camry and Pascal find Podly like ye hope, and they discover the secret, is the world ready now?”

  “Don’t you think I’ve been asking myself that question all this time?”

  He reared up slightly. “So that’s what you’ve been doing for the last twenty years, when ye locked yourself in your lab? Instead of trying to figure out how to make ion propulsion viable, you’ve been working on how you can keep it from being used as a weapon?” He frowned again. “Have ye succeeded?”

  “Almost. But I’m sure that if Camry, Luke, and I put our heads together, we can hand the world a propulsion system that can be used for space travel.” She cupped his cheeks again. “And if some other scientist takes our work and turns it into a weapon . . . well, I’ve finally made peace with the fact that all I can control is my contribution to mankind, which will be a more efficient propulsion system.”

  “And if Pascal doesn’t feel the same way?”

  “Then he will have to live with his decision, as every scientist must.” She smiled. “But sometimes we simply have to trust the magic, don’t we, when it starts messing with us? If you look at all the coincidences that brought Luke to our door, you have to realize there’s no such thing as a coincidence.”

  Grey groaned, laying his forehead on her. “If you’re trying to tell me that Winter or Matt had anything to do with any of this, I swear I’ll—”

  Grace placed her finger over his mouth. “Not them,” she said with a laugh. “I believe it’s someone even more magical.”

  “Who?”

  “On the winter solstice, when my house is overflowing with all my children and grandchildren, then I will tell you who I think it is. Make love to me, husband. Take me traveling beyond the stars under your power.”

  Chapter Three

  At about the same time a half-frozen Lucian Pascal Renoir was walking across the drawbridge of Gù Brath, Camry MacKeage was being dragged toward the beach of Go Back Cove by three massive dogs and one clueless dachshund that thought it was God’s gift to the world. As soon as she saw that the beach was completely deserted—which wasn’t surprising, considering it was only a few degrees above freezing—Camry unsnapped all four leashes and released her charges.

  “Go on!” she shouted, racing after them with a laugh. “Run until you drop so we can get home and take a nap. I have to tend bar tonight!”

  She ran along behind them for maybe a mile, until a stitch in her side forced her to stop. It was as she was bent over with her hands on her knees, watching her panting breath condense in the cold air, that she heard what sounded like someone sobbing.

  Camry straightened and looked around but saw only the dogs racing back toward her, their having discovered she was no longer following. She headed toward the dead grass and dormant rugosa rose bushes separating the beach from the old county road, her ear chocked in the direction the sound was coming from. She suddenly stopped at the sight of a girl, huddled shivering inside a totally inadequate jacket, her face buried in her knees.

  “Hey, there,” Cam said, slowly approaching.

  The girl snapped her head up, her crystal blue eyes huge with surprise.

  Cam stopped several yards away when the girl frantically looked around, as if searching for an escape route. “Hey, it’s okay,” she said gently, shoving her hands in her pockets. She shrugged, smiling at the girl. “I’m sorry if I startled you. I thought the beach was deserted.”

  The three large dogs descended on Camry, kicking up sand as they screeched to a halt and started wrestling with one another at her feet. The dachshund, its tongue whipping its cheek as it panted to catch up, suddenly changed direction.

  “Tigger!” Camry cried just as the dachshund launched itself at the girl.

  The previously sobbing young woman caught the small dog with a gasp, then gave a strangled giggle when Tigger started washing her face.

  The three other dogs, suddenly realizing there was a new toy on their beach, took off. Camry lunged after them, but was able to grab only one by the collar. The other two plowed into the girl, sending her onto her back and forcing her to cover her face to protect herself from their slobbering tongues.

  “Max! Ruffles! Get off her!” Cam shouted, her lone captive dragging her to the girl’s rescue. She finally had to let go of the whining German shepherd in order to deal with the black Lab and golden retriever. She pushed the two larger dogs off the girl and scooped Tigger up in her arms, then had to use her knee to shove away the shepherd, who was determined to get in a few slobbers of its own.

  Desperate to save the girl from getting licked to death, Camry set Tigger down, grabbed the hysterically giggling young woman, and hauled her to her feet. “Jeesh, I’m sorry,” she said, trying to push away the excited dogs. “They won’t hurt you, I promise.”

  The girl instantly sobered and blinked at her.

  “They’re really just
four-legged cupcakes,” Cam said, grabbing Max’s collar when the Lab knocked the girl back a step. Cam shoved the dog away, then picked up a short piece of driftwood. “Fetch!” she shouted, flinging it toward the beach.

  The three large dogs immediately shot after it, but Tigger sat down and started whining, staring up at the girl. The young woman picked up the dachshund and hugged it to her chest.

  “I’m Camry. And that bundle of ecstasy you’re holding is Tigger.”

  The girl said nothing, merely rubbed her cheek against Tigger’s fur.

  “Do you live around here?” Cam asked, scanning the road behind the low dunes for signs of a car—although she wasn’t even sure the girl was old enough to drive.

  “No,” the girl whispered, her beautiful blue eyes wary.

  “Do you have a name?”

  “Fiona.”

  Cam didn’t even try to hide her surprise. “Really? Fiona?” She smiled broadly. “I have a five-and-a-half-month-old niece named Fiona. Um . . . Fiona what?”

  The girl didn’t answer, but merely rubbed her cheek over Tigger’s fur again.

  Cam sighed. Judging by the condition of her clothes, and the fact that she was reluctant to give her full name, Camry figured the girl was a runaway. Another contributing factor was that Fiona looked as if she hadn’t seen a bar of soap or hot water for a week, or a decent meal in days. She was pale and shivering, and looked so vulnerable, Cam just wanted to pull her into her arms and hug her senseless.

  “If you don’t live around here, then you must just be passing through. Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

  “I was told there’s a shelter down in Portland.”

  Camry fought to keep her horror from showing. Surely the girl wasn’t hitchhiking! “Portland’s thirty miles from here. I tell you what,” she said, backing onto the beach. “I live close by, and have a spare bed at my place. And I have this really huge fireplace we could build a roaring fire in, and a hot-water supply that will let you take an hour-long shower if you want.” She canted her head with a lopsided grin. “And it just so happens I was planning to drive into Portland tomorrow, so I could give you a ride.”

  That is, assuming she couldn’t talk her into going home instead.

  When she saw that Fiona was following—albeit hesitantly—Cam turned and slowly started walking up the beach toward her house. “I have to go to work tonight,” she continued conversationally, “but the pub where I tend bar has some of the best food this side of Portland.” She smiled over at Fiona, who had fallen into step beside her, still hugging Tigger tightly, apparently enjoying the warmth.

  But then Fiona suddenly ran inland, and Cam’s heart sank at the sight of the girl bolting, until she realized she was taking off with Tigger!

  “Hey, my dog!” she shouted, giving chase.

  Fiona just as suddenly stopped in the grass and set Tigger down, reached behind a bush, and straightened with a large backpack in her hand.

  Cam sighed in relief. “Oh, good,” she said, starting down the beach again as if nothing had happened. “I also have a washer and dryer, if you need to do laundry.”

  “What will your husband say about your letting me stay the night?” Fiona asked, rushing to catch up, the pack slung over her shoulders and Tigger back in her arms.

  “I don’t have a husband.”

  “Oh. You’re divorced, then?”

  Camry gave her a sidelong glance. “No. I’ve never been married.”

  Fiona stopped to blink at her. “How old are you?”

  Camry blinked back. “Almost thirty-two. Why?”

  “And you’ve never been married?”

  She started walking again. “Last I knew, it wasn’t a crime to be thirty-two and single. How about you? You married?”

  “I’m only sixteen!”

  Cam smiled. “I don’t believe it’s a crime to be single at sixteen, either. So Fiona, what’s so exciting about staying in a shelter in Portland?”

  The girl didn’t answer for several heartbeats, then quietly said, “It’s got to be better than living at home.”

  “I see. Pretty bad, is it?”

  “My father is impossible. It seems as if every time I turn around, he’s lecturing me about something.”

  Cam snorted. “Tell me about it. What is it between fathers and daughters, anyway? It’s like the minute we’re born, a man’s lecturing gene kicks into high gear.”

  Fiona stopped again. “Your father lectured you, too?”

  “Are you kidding? He’s still lecturing me.”

  “At thirty-two?” She hugged Tigger closer. “Sometimes my dad treats me like I don’t have the sense to come in out of the rain. He doesn’t like most of my friends, especially the boys, and he doesn’t like how I dress.”

  Camry grabbed the stick from the shepherd’s mouth and threw it down the beach, sending the three dogs scurrying after it. She started walking again. “Oh, yeah? Just wait until you’re two years out of college and still unmarried. Then the lectures change from warnings that ‘all men are wolves,’ to ‘how come you can’t find a man?’ And by the time you’re thirty, they change again to ‘ye can’t give me grandchildren if ye don’t find yourself a husband,’ ” she said, mimicking her father’s highland brogue.

  Fiona giggled at the stern expression Camry gave along with the accent and covered her mouth with her hand. “Are you serious?” she asked, her big blue eyes widening. “The lectures are never going to stop?”

  “Nope. And you know why?”

  “Why?”

  “Because we daughters scare the hell out of our daddies. They love us to death, and worry about us so much, that they can’t stand our not having a husband to take care of us.”

  “We scare our fathers?” Fiona snorted. “I don’t think anything scares my dad.”

  Camry saw the girl hug Tigger on a shiver, and started walking again. “You scare him, because he loves you. That’s my house, right there,” she said, pointing to the small cottage sitting on the bluff.

  “Wow, you live right on the beach. Are you rich?”

  Camry laughed. “Not exactly. I’m just renting. How about you? Are you rich?”

  Fiona snorted. “Money isn’t everything, you know.”

  “But it sure helps buy designer jeans, expensive backpacks, and fancy watches, doesn’t it?” she said, nodding at the watch on the girl’s wrist.

  “I can’t help it if my parents are rich,” Fiona said defensively.

  “No, just like you can’t help that they’re probably so worried right now, they’ve got every law enforcement official in the state looking for you. How long have you been on the run, Fiona?”

  “Not long enough,” she snapped, spinning around and heading for the house.

  Cam gave a sharp whistle and the three dogs bounded up to her. “Come on, let’s get the sand off you before your loving masters come pick you up,” she told them, running to catch up with Fiona. “Hey, I wouldn’t be a responsible adult if I didn’t at least try to point out that your family is worried sick about you.”

  “They probably don’t even realize I’m missing.”

  “Trust me, any father who loves you enough to lecture you definitely knows when you’re not sleeping in your bed. I swear I couldn’t sneak out of our house after dark without running into my father at the end of the driveway.” She opened the door and motioned for Fiona to precede her onto the enclosed porch. “Don’t let the dogs in the house. I have to wipe the sand off them first. Just set Tigger down and go warm up. I’ll be right along.”

  “I’ll help.”

  Camry handed her an old towel. “Okay. The Lab’s name is Max, the golden is Ruffles, and the shepherd is Suki. I’ve got to get them spit-shined before their parents pick them up in an hour.”

  “They’re not yours?”

  “Good Lord, no. What would I want with this pack of overgrown babies? I just dog-sit them while their owners work to keep them in kibble. You know, sort of like a doggie day care.”
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  “That’s it? That’s what you do for a living?”

  “It pays the bills. And I also bartend at a pub Friday and Saturday nights.”

  Fiona gaped at her.

  “What?”

  “But you said you’re almost thirty-two. How come you don’t have a real career?”

  “You mean like Suzy Homemaker or president of the United States? Or maybe a rocket scientist or something?”

  The young woman flushed to the roots of her dirty-blond hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you had to be something as brilliant as a rocket scientist. It’s just that . . . well, you seem so smart and everything.” She motioned toward the dogs. “I mean, is this all you’re going to do for the rest of your life, babysit other people’s dogs and serve drinks on weekends?”

  Camry grabbed Max and started brushing the sand off his legs. “Rocket science isn’t all you think it’s cracked up to be,” she muttered. “You going to stand out here shivering all afternoon, or help me clean up these mutts?”

  Camry spent the next two days trying to persuade Fiona to call her parents, all the while making sure she didn’t sound like a parent for fear the girl would take off on her own again. But all her efforts got her was a roommate who suddenly didn’t seem in any hurry to leave.

  She’d been stunned speechless the first night, when Fiona had emerged from the shower wearing the clothes she’d lent her. The girl was breathtakingly beautiful; her wavy, waist-length hair was actually strawberry blonde, her complexion was flawless, and in clothes that fit her far better than they did Cam, her figure would have made a dead man sit up and take notice.

  Hell, if she was Fiona’s daddy, she wouldn’t waste her time lecturing the girl, she’d lock her in her room until she was thirty!

  She’d had second thoughts about taking Fiona to the Go Back Grill that first night, but since she had only three eggs and some outdated mayonnaise in the fridge, Cam had been forced to take her to work. So she’d sat the girl at the end of the bar to keep an eye on her, then stuffed her full of greasy, fattening food.