Christmas with the Cookes

by Kit Morgan

  Shona looked at the confused faces around them. “Let’s discuss that later.” She poked her husband in the bicep. “Looks like we have a change of plans.”

  “Do we?”

  Shona stared at him. Dallan’s eyes widened, then narrowed. Shona nodded firmly.

  Do you hear that? Lorelei asked Jeff.

  That buzzing sound? It’s like some bees snuck in …

  It’s them. They’re talking. Like we do! We can’t understand what they’re saying, but they’re doing it. It’s like they’re … No, the only analogy she could think of was radio wavelengths.

  Well, how do you like that?

  Dallan’s eyes narrowed to slits. He walked over to the stairs, sat and put his head in his hands. “I hate changes of plans,” he groaned.

  Jeff put Lorelei behind him again. “I don’t care what you hate. You’ll take her over my dead body.”

  Dallan waved him off and looked at his wife. She smiled and shrugged. He shook his head. Lorelei and Jeff heard the buzzing again, like static. Finally, Dallan spoke. “Jefferson Cooke, d’ye love this woman?”

  “Of course I do! What do you think this is all about?”

  “He has you there,” Shona commented dryly.

  Dallan ignored her. “Ye love her enough to promise to take care of her for all her days? Protect and provide for her?” He looked Jefferson up and down. “Ye’re a wee bit young …”

  “I’m eighteen, and yes, I plan to do those things! And you’re not going to stop me.”

  Dallan stood up again and rubbed his chin. “Lorelei Carson, d’ye love this scraggly bairn?”

  She stepped out from behind Jeff. “With all my heart.”

  “And ye’re willing to stay in this place?” He waved at their surroundings. “Willing to leave all that ye know behind to be with him?”

  “Yes, I am.” She sighed. “It wasn’t that great there.”

  Dallan trapped her with an intense stare. “Ye willingly give yerself to this man, then?”

  Her eyes misted with tears. “Yes. I … I do.”

  Colin stepped forward. “Are you sure, Lorelei? You’ll be giving up all those fancy machines …”

  “And gaining a family, a community,” she finished. “That’s worth losing Netflix and smartphones.” She paused, then added. “Don’t worry about what those are. Doesn’t matter.”

  “Right.” Colin nodded. “Well, I know Jefferson is sure – I thought he might go to pieces on the fence line just from being away from you.”

  “Father!”

  “You know it’s true – and it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Colin turned to Dallan. “So what will it … what are you doing?!”

  Dallan held up the pistol he’d just cocked. “I’m not one to leave loose ends.”

  “Good heavens, man!” Colin took a cautious step forward. “There’s no need for that!”

  “Dallan, I think it’s pretty clear they’re going to marry. You don’t need to ensure they do with a shot gun-wedding,” Shona warned. Then she squinted at him. Bzzzz.

  He squinted back. Bzzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzz.

  Bzzz bz bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzz.

  I wish they’d just talk out loud, Jeff groused.

  As long as he’s not shooting, I can live with this.

  At last Dallan lowered the gun. “So how many of ye know where the lass is from?” he asked grudgingly.

  “Everyone in this room,” Grandma replied. “And Doc Drake. Not sure about Elsie.”

  “And Adele,” Lorelei added.

  “You told Adele?” Belle blurted.

  “She’s kept the secret,” Lorelei pointed out.

  Belle thought about it and nodded. “All right. Awful risk, though – she’s such a chatterbox.”

  “We thought she was going to be chaperoning us for tea, but then Father asked Grandma,” Jeff clarified. “We told her, so we’d be able to talk freely.”

  Colin crossed his arms. “You really have become a wise young man.”

  “You did a good job with him, sir,” Lorelei replied, and Colin beamed.

  “They’ve all kept it to themselves,” Shona told Dallan. “We both knew they were going to figure it out sooner or later. It was bound to happen.”

  “Aye, but if word gets out …”

  “… Nobody will believe us,” Lorelei finished for him. “They’ll just think those folks in Clear Creek are plumb loco, telling tall tales about their healing-hands doctor and their blind hotel manager who can still see and more gourmet cooks than San Francisco and their multicolored attack rooster and the African couple who appears and disappears out of nowhere. With all that, what’s a time traveler or two?”

  Five seconds of silence. Then Dallan and Shona burst out laughing, and soon everyone was howling at the absurdity of it all. It was a couple of minutes before they calmed down enough that Shona could say, “All right … but let’s not tell anyone else, okay. Just to be on the safe side.”

  “We promise,” four people said at once, starting the laughter all over again.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, Lorelei and Jeff were walking through town toward the church. “I was so angry,” she said.

  “I still can’t believe you slapped him.” Jefferson squeezed her hand. “I wish I’d been there to see it.”

  “I wish I hadn’t – it was like hitting a brick wall.” She sighed and leaned toward him. “Coming here changed my life.”

  He looked at her and smiled. “Mine too.” He glanced over his shoulder. His parents, the Wallers and the MacDonalds walked about ten yards behind them. “We still don’t know why they brought you here.”

  She glanced at them and back. “No, we don’t. But I suspect.”

  He almost tripped over his own feet. “You really think …?”

  “Got any better ideas? I sure didn’t belong anywhere in my time. Or with anyone there. But I belong here, with you.”

  Jeff grinned like the Cheshire cat. “I could kiss you right now.”

  “Not with all those watching eyes behind us. But soon we can. And more – oops, shouldn’t have said that.” She laughed, and he joined her.

  “I want to hear all about your time,” he said after a long silence.

  She looked at him. “Really?”

  “Really. What it’s like. The things you can do. Everything.”

  She nodded. “I wish you could see it, even for a day or two. I told you I live over Dunnigan’s.”

  “That’s right. That’s … what’s your word? Awesome. Does it look the same?”

  “Almost. It’s in what we call Old Town.” She squeezed his hand. “Most of the buildings from now are still standing, very well preserved. And as I mentioned, the Cookes are the richest family in the county, and the Turners aren’t far behind.”

  “I’d love to see your Clear Creek.”

  “I’d love to show it to you.”

  He let go of her hand and wrapped her arm through his. “There’s something special between us, Lorelei. I don’t know what it is, only that it’s there.” He gazed at her as they walked. “It’s as if you were made just for me. But look at everything that separated us. If it weren’t for them …” He tossed his head at the couple trailing behind them.

  “I know, right?” She stopped them and waited for Dallan and Shona to catch up. As soon as they did, she held tight to Jeff. “Why did you really bring me here?”

  Dallan smiled. “Is it not obvious, lass?”

  She looked at Jeff and back. “Yeah, I guess it is. But I wanted to double-check.”

  “Aye.”

  “But why did you have to take her against her will?” Jeff asked.

  “To save her,” Dallan said calmly.

  Lorelei’s face screwed up in confusion. “What?”

  Dallan glanced at Colin and the others, now walking ahead. “The two of ye are … compatible. That’s all ye need ken for now.”

  Lorelei’s eyes narrowed. “Oh no, no, no. You’re going to have to do better than th
at.”

  “Dallan,” Shona said. “Let me explain it.”

  He glanced at her and smiled. “Verra well, Flower. Explain it as ye will.”

  Shona took a deep breath. “There’s a lot I can’t tell you – that I’m not allowed to explain. There are things at work here beyond your understanding.”

  “That sounds … ominous,” Lorelei commented.

  “You have no idea,” she said. “Suffice to say we’re trying to clean up a very big mess.”

  “Of your own making?” Jeff asked, glaring at Dallan.

  “No, someone else’s. I can tell you that Lorelei cannot survive without you. It’s why we brought her here. If we hadn’t … it would have been bad for her.”

  “I knew it!” Lorelei said in triumph. “But that still doesn’t explain a lot of things.”

  “Like the …” Jeff lowered his voice to a whisper. “… mind reading.”

  “It’s not mind reading. It’s something else entirely and has to do with your particular bond.” She looked at Lorelei. “And it has to do with what you really are. But we’ll talk about that another time. Just know that Dallan and I have that too. You’re literally that close.” She glanced at the ground and back. “And I’d also better tell you that it’s not safe for you to stay here.”

  Jeff was slack-jawed. “What? You mean we have to leave Clear Creek?”

  “Eventually, yes – for the same reason some others have left. Your Uncle Duncan has arranged everything.”

  Lorelei suddenly guessed something. “Was he Mr. Aerosol Cheese?”

  Shona glanced at Dallan and smiled. “You figured that out, I see.”

  “Just now.”

  Jeff shook his head in confusion. “What does my uncle have to do with this?”

  “He is a very powerful man in some circles,” Shona said. “Circles that can’t be talked about.”

  Lorelei thought it made him sound like James Bond but decided not to mention that right now. Things were confusing enough without having to explain fictional British spies.

  “The upshot, Jefferson, is that your uncle wishes to groom you to take over the estate in England,” Shona said. “Your father doesn’t want to, nor does your uncle Harrison, and Duncan doesn’t have any children. That makes you the next male heir.”

  Jeff thought a moment. “That’s true. Father mentioned it once or twice. But I never thought anything would come of it.”

  “Yer father will be receiving a letter from your uncle soon,” Dallan said. “Ye’ll leave for England sometime in the coming year. Again, ‘tis no something that hasna already been discussed.”

  “Is this true?” Lorelei asked.

  Jeff nodded. “Yes. Nothing was decided because we never had a serious conversation on the matter. I always figured Duncan would have a son eventually, and that’d be that.” He looked at Lorelei. “How would you feel about being a duchess?”

  Lorelei now knew the full meaning of the word gobsmacked. “I … wow. It never … I don’t know, but it sounds like a great adventure.” She laughed nervously.

  Dallan put his arm around Shona. “I ken it’s hard to understand how ye two have bonded and all that comes with it, but a man brought me to Shona much like we brought Lorelei to you. If I hadna taken her as my wife, harm would have befallen her. I’ve never regretted my decision. Nor will you.”

  Lorelei gaped at them. “Wh … where are you from, then? I mean, when?”

  Shona glanced at her husband and back. “I’m from the late 20th century. My birth certificate says I was born on June 6, 1976 in Portland.”

  Dallan shrugged. “Scotland, January 1672.”

  Lorelei took a breath. 1672?! “And your friend Kitty?” she asked Shona.

  Shona smiled. “We’re the same age, from the same century, the same city. It doesn’t matter where I am in time – she’ll always be my ‘bestie,’ as you might say.”

  “Does she do what the two of you do?” Lorelei asked to clarify.

  “Thank the saints, no,” Dallan quipped.

  Shona rolled her eyes and continued. “We know it’s a lot to take in and we wish we could tell you more, but you’d only be more confused.”

  Jefferson ran a hand through his hair. “I’m confused enough now.”

  Shona sighed. “Lorelei will understand this better than you and I’ll let her explain more later.” Shona turned to her. “Suffice to say, you carry a rare set of genes. To ensure they are passed on properly to your children, you must be with someone compatible or you and your children will die.”

  Lorelei could only stare. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

  “Would ye have believed us?” Dallan asked. “And come here to the past to meet the one man we found ye’re compatible with?”

  Lorelei felt like the village idiot. “Mm, no. I’d have said you were nuts.”

  “Aye.” He shrugged.

  “You cannot tell a soul what we’ve just told you,” Shona added. “Not your friends, not the Wallers – not even your parents, Jefferson. You have to swear to us.”

  Jefferson stared at them a moment. “Is Lorelei in danger?”

  “Not anymore,” Dallan said. “Not so long as ye …” He glanced at Shona and back. “… join. Marry.”

  Lorelei faced Jefferson. “I think I understand about the genes.” She glanced at Dallan and Shona. “Marriage is just a way to make sure I don’t have kids with the wrong guy?”

  “Aye,” Dallan said with a smile. “And let’s face it, marriage is something taken much more seriously here than in yer own time, lass.”

  She couldn’t argue with that. Still … “There’s a lot more, isn’t there?”

  “Of course,” Dallan said. “But that’s our problem, not yers.” He stepped toward them. “Ye canna deny the bond between ye two, can ye?”

  They looked at one another. It was true. They were tied together by something beyond their comprehension.

  “That’s what I mean by compatible. So marry, have children, live a wonderful life. That’s all we ask.”

  “Sounds reasonable enough.” Lorelei gave Dallan a hard stare. “But … who are you?”

  The Scot stood straight, then gave them a formal bow. “I am Dallan Keir MacDonald of the MacDonalds of Glencoe.” He straightened again and looked them square in the eyes. “And I am a Time Master.”

  Epilogue

  New Year’s Day, 1880

  “And do you, Lorelei Carson,” said Preacher Jo, “take Jefferson Cooke to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

  Lorelei shook with happiness and something else, she wasn’t sure what. She couldn’t get enough of Jeff. It was bizarre, and she was the first to admit it was too much to take in. No one would believe her or Jeff if they told them, and they couldn’t begin to explain things. It’s just as well that they were prohibited from talking about it with anyone but each other not to mention the fact they probably only knew half of what was really going on.

  Most of the rest of Clear Creek still didn’t know the truth about Dallan and Shona, but it was better that way. She knew there was more to them than just this whole time-travel business, but for now that was information she could live without. She wasn’t sure she could comprehend it anyway.

  But Jeff was all she needed, all she wanted. Her dreams of having a loving family had finally come true, and she was marrying a man she could never have imagined being with before. Jeff was kind, loving, protective and accepting. She knew she was broken, but that wasn’t what he saw when he looked at her. He wanted her, all of her, as-is, and she him. The trust between them was building, and marriage would help it along. After all, they were going to be together the rest of their lives.

  Before she knew it, she was saying “I do” and facing a church full of cheering townspeople. Her people now. They’d pulled together to make her wedding possible. Her dress was borrowed from her new mother in-law – a little short, but that was minor. Some of the women from the town sewing circle took care of her veil and flowers. Cyrus Va
n Cleet and Paddy Mulligan put together her reception – what the town called a “wedding supper” – while Mrs. Dunnigan, with Sally and Rosie from the hotel, made all the food. She’d never seen anything like it.

  “I love this place,” she said as they started down the church aisle.

  “It does kind of grow on you,” Jeff agreed, then in a low voice, “I hate that we have to leave.”

  “But we can always visit.”

  He stopped them, turned and kissed her.

  “That’s the stuff!” Wilfred Dunnigan cried somewhere near them.

  Jeff broke the kiss with a laugh. “Thank you, Uncle Wilfred.” He smiled at the older man before gazing into her eyes. “Wilfred’s kind of a hopeless romantic. A terrible gossip too.”

  “Well, we just won’t tell him anything.”

  They continued down the aisle, out of the church and smiled at a wagon decorated with evergreen boughs and red ribbons. Colin was driving them to the hotel for the wedding supper. “If it were summer that wedding wagon would be covered with flowers,” Jeff told her. “The only other winter weddings in Clear Creek that I know of were the Drakes’ and my cousin Honoria’s.”

  She smiled, nodded and breathed in a lungful of crisp winter air. She wasn’t dreaming. She’d have to keep telling herself that.

  She spied Dallan and Shona in the crowd pouring out of the church and smiled. “When will they leave?”

  “Shona said sometime after the wedding supper. Speaking of which, let’s get to the wagon. Everyone’s waiting on us.”

  At the hotel, they received congratulations and well wishes from the townspeople. Lorelei was having the time of her life with the people, the food, the … ooh, music! A few folks were tuning fiddles at the other end of the hotel’s dining room.

  “Happy, lass?”

  Lorelei and Jeff jumped, then spun to face Dallan and Shona. “Very. Are you leaving right now?”

  “Not yet, but soon.” Shona glanced at Dallan. “There’s the small matter of your wedding present we need to discuss.”

  “Wedding present?” they said at once.

  “Aye,” Dallan said with a smile. “Something Shona said ye’d like. But we’ll have to wait until everyone else has left.”