“Yes, I can see that she is welcome here.”
Jeremiah could have sworn Nancy winked.
“I guess it’s time to go up and see my father,” she said, rising to her feet. “I have to be honest. I’m kind of dreading it.”
Leigh rose and crossed over to take one of Nancy’s hands.
“How can we help?”
Nancy cupped Leigh’s chin in one of her free hands.
“You already have, little girl. I’ll be fine. I just wanted to say what I was feeling. Better to speak it aloud than keep it bottled up, right?”
Will stood, as did Jeremiah.
“I’m just going to walk over to the hardware store. I’ll be back in an hour,” Will said.
“Oh! You don’t want to go up and see Harry?” Leigh asked.
“I don’t know him,” Will said. “He’s Rosanna’s grandfather, not mine. I’ll let Nancy and him get reacquainted.”
Jeremiah almost smiled at Leigh’s confused expression. It was true that Will was not biologically related to Harry. Leigh was, however. Keeping up with her relatives was going to prove a confusing chore, one that Jeremiah hoped he might help her with long into the future—if he could convince her to stay—and he had every intention of working on just that.
“Oh, that’s right,” Leigh said. “Come back for lunch!”
“I’ll be back,” he said again. He left the house, and Jeremiah turned to Nancy.
“I’ll escort you upstairs.”
“Do you want me to come with you, Nancy?” Leigh asked.
Nancy turned to her. “Yes, I do, dear, but this is something I have to do alone. He’s my father, and we have to clear the air.”
Jeremiah winced, and Nancy must have caught his expression.
“No, doctor, I’m not going to yell and scream at him. I’m not going to blame him or shame him. I’ll be kind and gentle, I promise.”
Jeremiah nodded. “Are you ready?”
She nodded, and he led her out of the room. He looked over his shoulder to see Leigh standing in the middle of the parlor, her hands tightly clasped in front of her. Her joyful expression had devolved into one of apprehension, and he gave her an encouraging nod.
Her lips curved into a smile, and she gave him a thumbs-up gesture with her right hand. Jeremiah didn’t know why, but that signal went straight to his heart, and he knew himself to be completely and utterly in love with Kaskade’s gift.
Chapter Eighteen
Four months later, Leigh escorted Jeremiah’s final patient of the day to the door. As she watched Mrs. Spiegel walk down the steps, she felt Jeremiah come up behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, and she leaned back against him and gazed at the setting sun reflecting on the lake.
“I love you,” he whispered near her ear, as he had many times over the past few months. She believed him. He showed it every day.
“I love you too,” she said, turning and wrapping her arms around his waist. As they were in the habit of doing, they buried their faces in each other’s necks, like swans curling around each other.
“Don’t forget,” she said, breathing in his scent. “Harry is coming over for dinner.”
“Is it Friday already?”
“Every week.”
“Speaking of which, happy three-month anniversary, Mrs. Cook,” he whispered. “How do you feel this evening?”
Leigh smiled and laid her head against his chest. “A little bit tired, but happy as could be on our anniversary, Dr. Cook.”
“Expectant mothers do tend to tire easily, dear. After dinner, we shall send your great-grandfather away to his new cottage, and I will rub your feet and your temples and whatever else you wish to have rubbed.”
“Yes, please,” she said. “Oh yes, please.”
“It will be my pleasure.”
“I’m pretty sure it will be my pleasure too,” she said with a giggle.
Jeremiah kissed the top of her head, and she rubbed against his chin, like a cat.
“And as if we weren’t busy enough, everyone is coming over on Sunday for dinner.”
“Please remind me which of your everyones you mean.”
“Everyone. Nancy, Rosanna, Jane, Will, Martha and Jefferson, Katherine, John, the kids and Harry.” Leigh suddenly lifted her head, bumping Jeremiah’s chin in the process.
“Oh, sorry! Hey! Do you think there’s something going on with Mrs. Jackson and my great-grandfather? I caught him in the kitchen yesterday, sipping on a cup of coffee. I didn’t even know he was here! Well, ‘caught him’ is the wrong expression, but I didn’t realize that Mrs. Jackson could blush like that, so...” She left her words trail off.
Jeremiah’s smirk matched her own. “Now that you mention it, I do think something is in the air,” he said. “Remember, she had a crush on him when she was a young girl. That type of love probably doesn’t fade.”
“My love for you is never going to fade,” Leigh said softly. She caressed his cheeks.
“Nor will mine. You are the only woman I will ever love.”
She melted against him, pressing her face against him and listening to his strong heart.
“I wish I could say those words to you, but they wouldn’t be true.” She looked up into Jeremiah’s eyes again. “But you are the last man I will ever love.”
“That is enough for me, my heart,” Jeremiah said. He bent his head and kissed her before taking her hand and leading her out the door to sit on the porch and watch the reflections of trees, shadowing mountains and the fading sun on Lake Kaskade.
In the distance, they saw Harry strolling down the road toward the house. He towed a dog he had recently found and couldn’t bear to be parted from, even to come to dinner.
“He’s filling out,” Leigh said, “putting on weight.”
“Well, as you say, you found him in Mrs. Jackson’s kitchen. She must be feeding him.”
“And the dog.”
“And the dog,” Jeremiah agreed.
Leigh shared an amused look with her husband. Every now and then, an image of a petite blonde woman popped into her head, but rather than envy Tanya, Leigh pitied her for leaving him.
She couldn’t say yet that she had loved Jeremiah longer than she’d loved Sam, but her admiration, desire and adoration of Jeremiah far exceeded anything she had felt for her husband long ago in the twenty-first century.
She sighed and squeezed Jeremiah’s hand. “When I first got here, I never imagined I’d be sitting here on a porch in front of the lake with a man I love. If anything, I thought I’d be counting the days until the next summer solstice, strategizing how I could leave.”
“I thank you every day for choosing me,” Jeremiah said. “I thank Kaskade every day for choosing you. I do not understand the phenomenon, but Kaskade knew I needed you, and here you are, my love.”
Harry could be heard whistling as he approached.
“Do you think you will ever tell him?” Jeremiah asked.
“I have no idea,” Leigh said. “I think about it sometimes, but he’s pretty confused about the cousin thing. I’d hate to make things worse and tell him that I’m his fourth great-granddaughter.”
“And a fifth great-grandchild on the way.”
Harry opened the gate at the end of the walk.
Leigh raised her hand in a wave.
“I love you, Jeremiah,” she said, turning to look up at him.
“I love you too, my heart.”
Harry climbed up the steps, and Leigh threw Jeremiah a mischievous look before rising to greet Harry with a hug.
“You know what, Harry? If I had a grandfather, I’d want him to be just like you!”
Books by Bess McBride
Time Travel Romance
The Earl Finds a Bride
(Book One of the Fairy Tales Across Time series)
The Viscount Finds Love
(Book Two of the Fairy Tales Across Time series)
The Baron Finds Happiness
(Book Three of the Fairy T
ales Across Time series)
A Ship Through Time
The Highlander’s Stronghold
(Book One of the Searching for a Highlander series)
The Highlander’s Keep
(Book Two of the Searching for a Highlander series)
The Highlander’s Home
(Book Three of the Searching for a Highlander series)
My Laird’s Castle
(Book One of the My Laird’s Castle series)
My Laird’s Love
(Book Two of the My Laird’s Castle series)
My Laird’s Heart
(Book Three of the My Laird’s Castle series)
Caving in to You
(Book One of the Love in the Old West series)
A Home in Your Heart
(Book Two of the Love in the Old West series)
Forever Beside You in Time
Moonlight Wishes in Time
(Book One of the Moonlight Wishes in Time series)
Under an English Moon
(Book Two of the Moonlight Wishes in Time series)
Following You Through Time
(Book Three of the Moonlight Wishes in Time series)
A Train Through Time
(Book One of the Train Through Time series)
Together Forever Across Time
(Book Two of the Train Through Time series)
A Smile in Time
(Book Three of the Train Through Time series)
Finding You in Time
(Book Four of the Train Through Time series)
A Fall in Time
(Book Five of the Train Through Time series)
A Summer in Time
(Book Six of the Train Through Time series)
Train Through Time Series Boxed Set
(Books 1–3)
Across the Winds of Time
A Wedding Across the Winds of Time
(Novella)
Love of My Heart
Historical Romance
Anna and the Conductor
The Earl’s Beloved Match
(Novella)
The Dishonest Duke
Short cozy mystery stories by Minnie Crockwell
Will Travel for Trouble series
Trouble at Happy Trails (Book 1)
Trouble at Sunny Lake (Book 2)
Trouble at Glacier (Book 3)
Trouble at Hungry Horse (Book 4)
Trouble at Snake and Clearwater (Book 5)
Trouble in Florence (Book 6)
Trouble in Tombstone Town (Book 7)
Trouble in Cochise Stronghold (Book 8)
Trouble in Orange Beach (Book 9)
Trouble at Pelican Penthouse (Book 10)
Trouble at Island Castle (Book 11)
Trouble at Yellowstone (Book 12)
Trouble at Devils Tower (Book 13)
Trouble in El Paso (Book 14)
Will Travel for Trouble Series (Books 1–3)
Will Travel for Trouble Series (Books 4–6)
Will Travel for Trouble Series (Books 7–9)
Will Travel for Trouble Series (Books 10-12)
About the Author
Bess McBride is the best-selling author of over twenty time travel romances as well as contemporary, historical, romantic suspense and light paranormal romances. She loves to hear from readers, and you can contact her at [email protected]. She also writes short cozy mysteries as Minnie Crockwell. You can visit her website at www.bessmcbride.com.
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