“I know you’re glad to be rid of that,” the doctor said.
Meredith held her throat. “Very glad,” she said in a raspy voice.
“We’ll move you to a regular room as soon as one is available,” the doctor said while making notes on her chart.
“I’d rather go home,” she said.
“Let’s see how you do today. I know you want to leave town. We’ll try to get you out of here.”
“Great news,” Elliott said, stepping over to the bed.
“I didn’t see you,” Meredith said. “I thought David was there.”
Elliott slapped his chest with both hands, feeling crushed. “That sounds like you’d rather have him here.”
“He has a gun,” she said.
Her words were a knife to his gut. He’d been so relieved that she’d survived that he hadn’t thought through how traumatized she would be from the attempt on her life. David had understood that, and that’s why he hadn’t left her alone. Elliott vowed he wouldn’t either.
After the doctor left, Elliott said, “Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“Let’s not talk about Doc or the cancer or the baby until I’m out of the hospital, please.”
“Deal,” he said, then he kissed her.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
MacKlenna Corporate Jet – February 15
MEREDITH CHECKED OUT of the hospital the next morning and, after meeting with the police, David drove her and Elliott to the airport. Kevin was already on the MacKlenna jet going through his pre-flight checklist. Thirty minutes after arriving, they were wheels up and on their way to Montgomery Winery for the celebration.
She and Elliott curled up on the sofa, holding each other. About an hour into the flight, she relaxed and started talking.
“I thought I was going to die. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Cancer scared me. Jonathan’s stroke scared me. Daddy’s heart attack scared me. But thinking I was going to die was the most horrible experience I’ve ever had. I felt cheated. I’d come through so much yet still had battles to fight, but nothing was more important than you and our baby. I wanted to live.”
Elliott didn’t say anything. He stroked her face, ran his fingers through her hair, and listened.
“When I found out I was pregnant, thoughts of the baby consumed me, and honestly, I thought more of the child than I did for my own life. I was willing to sacrifice myself to have this baby.
“It’s not that I think less of the baby, but I want to live more than anything, and I’m willing to do whatever I have to do to survive. The only thing I won’t do is have an abortion, but I’ll have surgery, and if baby-safe-chemo is recommended, I’ll have it.
“I don’t want to die. I know that now. I love you. I want to spend my life with you, and I’m ready to fight. No more surrendering.”
His tears dropped on her cheek and mingled with hers.
“I know you don’t like to talk about ghosts—”
“I feel differently about that now,” he said with quiet, even words. “Cullen Montgomery came to the hospital.”
Meredith sat up slightly. “You saw him?”
“And talked to him.”
“Nooo,” she said.
“Really,” Elliott said. “He told me he did what he had come to do—protect you. And he told me you and the baby would be fine, and then he left.”
“I talked to him, too, while I was in the barn. I died, but he told me I had to go back.”
“He saved your life. That’s why he was here.”
She seemed to think about that for a minute or two. Then she said, “In all the excitement, I forgot to tell you what I discovered. My great-great-great-great-grandmother’s last name was MacKlenna. She was from Lexington. Do you know any other MacKlennas?”
“No, but maybe there’s something in the journals in the library. We’ll read them next time we’re there.”
“There’s something else,” she said. “I found the Session Record about your relative born on the wrong side of the sheets.”
“You solved the mystery?”
She nodded. “Are you ready for this? It’ll come as a shocker.”
“I don’t think there’s anything you can tell me that would surprise me.”
“Try this out,” she said, smiling. “James Thomas MacKlenna had an illegitimate son with the daughter of Gregory Fraser.”
“Gregory Fraser lived in the late 1700s. He’s my grandfather’s grandfather,” Elliott said. “You’re telling me that I’m a direct descendant of Thomas MacKlenna?”
“If I’ve counted right,” Meredith said, “he’s your great-great-great-great-great grandfather, and the baby would have been the first Sean MacKlenna’s half-brother. That makes you the last male MacKlenna.”
Elliott laughed a roll-on-the floor-in-tears laugh.
David stepped out of the flight deck. “What’s so funny? You’re shaking the damn plane.”
Kevin hurried out of the galley. “What’s up, Boss?”
Elliott continued to laugh. Finally, he stopped, but he couldn’t contain himself and laughed some more. After several minutes, he said, “Well, lads. You’re not going to believe this.”
Chapter Eighty
Montgomery Winery – February 16 – The Gala
ELLIOTT STOOD IN front of the fireplace in the main room of the winery’s welcome center. Above the mantel was a painting of a woman in her late sixties or early seventies. Hard to tell. Beautiful with expressive green eyes with gold flakes. Everything about her from the tilt of her chin to her straight back and her petite hands folded in her lap spoke of her elegance. Although she had noticeable wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, she seemed timeless.
Meredith walked up behind him and snaked her arms through his. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
Elliott squeezed her hand. “From what I’ve heard, yer so much like her.”
“I’ll never have the guts she had.” Meredith fingered the corner of the antique gilded frame, straightening it ever so slightly.
“Ah, my wee sweetheart,” he said, shaking his head, “you’re filled to bustin’ with guts.”
“But to forge a path through the wilderness, that takes an extra special person.”
Elliott checked the time. He had told the gang to be at the fireplace exactly at eight o’clock. They had one minute. “You’ve got your own path to forge. You and the wee one.”
Meredith opened her small purse and pulled out a mirror to check her lipstick. She dabbed here and there. “Did you make the appointments?”
He caught his reflection in the glass covering the portrait and adjusted his bow tie. “You want to talk about it now?”
“Not particularly,” she said, snapping her bag closed, “but I would like to know when surgery is scheduled.”
“A week from Monday. Your surgeon talked to the pulmonologist in Lexington. They thought you should wait a week to ten days.”
“You talked to the oncologist, too.”
He nodded.
“And the plastic surgeon and the obstetrician.”
“The entire team will be there.”
“Thank you. I just . . .”
He kissed her. “I’m here. I’m not leaving you. We’ll do this together.” But the next thing that had to be done, required him to do it all by himself. His heart beat at an irregular rhythm.
“There you are,” Louise said, walking into the reception area. “Am I late?”
“No, we’re gathering early so Elliott won’t panic over missing the receiving line,” Meredith said with a teasing lilt to her voice.
Elliott glowered at Louise.
“He told us to meet at the fireplace at eight.” Kevin’s voice echoed off the natural stone floor along the hallway in the winery’s welcome center.
“Why are we meeting?” Lyles asked. “I’m ready to taste the wine.”
Women’s high heels and men’s dress shoes clicked on the floor, announcing each step they took. “I don’
t know,” Kevin said, “but we better not be late. You know how he gets.”
David, Kevin, Evelyn, Dr. Lyles and his wife, Ted and Laurence, and Cate and Gregory rounded the corner.
“We’re all here, Boss,” Kevin said.
The photographer entered, following the group.
“Are we getting a picture of all of us? What a wonderful idea,” Meredith said.
“Aye,” Elliott said, “along with another picture that I hope brings a huge smile to your face.” He tapped his index finger twice against his leg.
David moved away from the group and extended his arm. “If everyone will step this way, we can get the photograph.” David placed Louise and Evelyn on Elliott’s left side, Cate and Gregory on Meredith’s right side. Ted and Laurence stood next to the girls, and Dr. Lyles and his wife stood next to Cate and Gregory. David and Kevin stood at each end.
“Smile big,” Louise said, giggling, her rings jingling.
“Damn rings. Remind me never to give her another one,” Elliott said to Meredith under his breath.
She laughed. “Tonight, she can jingle every ring she has. Nothing will spoil this evening.”
He pulled Meredith into his arms and kissed her to the tsking of everyone.
“Stop, Elliott. You’ll mess up her makeup,” Cate said.
Meredith patted at the corners of her lips and smiled.
After the photographer took several pictures, Elliott said, “Since we’re all gathered, I thought I’d make this an even more special moment. Not to detract from Cailean’s debut, but to add to it.” He turned and faced Meredith, knelt down on one knee, and took her hand in his.
An audible gasp went through the gathering.
“I have loved you,” Elliott said, “since the day I met you. Today, I pledge to love and protect you through sickness and in health as long as we both shall live. Will you marry me?”
She went weak-kneed and dropped to the floor beside him. “Marry—?”
“Me,” he said.
She placed her hand on her belly. “Are you asking because of the baby?”
“I’m asking because you are the love of my life, and I want to spend the rest of my days with you.” He slipped an Edwardian style, oval cut, solitaire diamond ring on Meredith’s finger.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
He smiled. “It belonged to my mother.”
Meredith started crying. “When I think of you, I’ll always have a smile on my face. I love you.”
“Is that a yes?” Elliott’s voice was soft, hesitant, and he knew she could see fear in his eyes.
She cupped his cheek. “Aye, my wee sweetheart.”
Chapter Eighty-One
Fraser House, the Highlands, Scotland – December 24
MEREDITH SAT CUDDLED up on the daybed in the master suite at Fraser House reading the latest issue of Wine Digest. Cailean had been voted Outstanding New Wine of the Year. According to the spreadsheets on her lap, sales had already surpassed Gregory’s projections. Thinking back through the year, all of her worries and fears had vanished in the arms of her Scotsman.
The gamble, adding a new wine to the portfolio, paid off tenfold. Her father would be proud of her. Elliott certainly was, but she couldn’t take all the credit for the achievement. Gregory had done a masterful job with the marketing campaign, and as a result, she had promoted him to Senior Vice-President. Giving up control of a large portion of the business had been easier than she thought possible. She was even considering taking the company public.
Elliott entered the bedroom carrying their baby in his arms. “My wee son couldn’t stay awake long enough to wrap your Christmas gift, Mrs. Fraser.”
“Did he burp? Did you change him?”
“Yes and yes, my wee sweetheart.”
Anabelle and Tate trotted in behind Elliott, then stood guard at the sides of the bassinet. Tabor jumped up on the bed and watched from a perch created out of a stack of pillows.
Meredith laughed. “We should change her name to Queen Tabor.”
“These two don’t pay any attention to her,” Elliott said. “She’d be queen of a realm of one.”
When Elliott placed his son in the bassinet, the baby squeaked, making that special sleeping noise he’d made since birth. Both dogs’ ears stood straight up. “Ah, you wee laddie. Your grandda would try to fix you with some oil.”
Meredith stacked the magazine, documents, and Kit’s journal on the table to make room for Elliott beside her. He picked a tie-back scarf up off the floor and kissed her head. “Put this on, hen. You’ll catch a cold.”
“It’s hot and makes my head sweat. Being bald doesn’t bother me.” Months ago, the thought of losing her hair terrified her. But after it fell out, Elliott’s constant reassurance of how beautiful she was convinced her that she didn’t need hair to be loved or respected.
“I just worry about you.”
“It’s eight-five degrees in the room. I’m not going to get sick.”
“Cullen lad needs to sleep in a warm room.”
Meredith rolled her eyes. “He sleeps in a room with Jacobite ghosts. A cool temperature doesn’t bother him.” Thankfully, Elliott had a workout scheduled with Ted. As soon as he left the room, she’d lower the thermostat.
He handed her an envelope. “You have mail.”
She flipped it over and read the return address. It was from her oncologist. She gave it back to him. “You read it.”
“Are you sure?”
“We already know the scan was clear. It’s her recommendation for the next scan that I’m concerned about.”
He ripped the envelope along its crease. The sharp sound of tearing paper fueled anxiety stirring in her belly. He withdrew a single sheet, unfolded it, then read silently.
For Meredith, time crawled in the room where only the sweet sound of her baby’s breathing broke through the silence.
Then he said, “She recommends having another one in six months. If that one is clear, you can wait twelve months for the next one.”
“I was afraid she’d want me to come back in three. Now I feel comfortable scheduling the breast reconstruction.”
“You don’t have to have it.”
“I know it doesn’t matter to you, but it does to me.” Many of the statements the girls had made about Elliott in those early days weren’t true at all, but she had formed opinions of him that took time to correct.
He kissed her. “It’s your decision. I’m fine either way.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. “No woman could have asked for a more supportive and loving partner. You went above and beyond during the surgery, pregnancy, and chemo. I couldn’t have gotten through it without you.”
“It’s all behind us now.” He held up another letter. “This may tell us what’s in our future.”
She looked at the return address and gasped. “It’s from the bankruptcy court. It’s what you’ve been waiting for? Open it.”
“Will you be disappointed if the Court doesn’t approve the sale of the farm to me?”
“There’s no reason the judge shouldn’t approve it. You made a fair offer, and you are a MacKlenna.”
He ripped open the envelope, pulled out a sheet of paper, then said, “Looks like we’re breaking out another bottle of that expensive wine you like. The sale’s been approved.” He tossed the letter up in the air.
“Shhh,” Meredith said. “You’ll wake the baby.”
“James Cullen MacKlenna Fraser should wake up for this. MacKlenna Farm will be his inheritance one day.”
“And I bet you already have mares lined up for Stormy.”
Elliott’s eyes sparkled. “He’ll be our foundation sire.”
“Kit would be thrilled, not only for Stormy’s success but also for the winery’s,” Meredith said, glancing at the journal.
A knock on the bedroom door interrupted her.
“Come in,” Elliott said.
Kevin stood in the doorway. “Hey, Bos
s. I thought I’d take Cullen for a walk. It’s a beautiful day. He needs fresh air.”
“He just went down for a nap.”
“Then I’ll take him when he wakes up.”
“Ted scheduled a yoga class for Meredith after my workout,” Elliott said. “You can take him while I shower.”
“I heard Ted registered you for a 10K in Edinburgh in the spring. I might have to run that one with you,” Kevin said.
Elliott put his hands on his hips. “Why? Don’t you think I can do it?”
“Of course you can. I just want to be there to watch.”
“Ted signed me up for a fall marathon,” Meredith said. “Will you run with me?”
“I’ll do a half, not a full, but I’ll do training runs with you,” Kevin said.
Elliott slipped out of his trousers and into gym shorts. “Where’s David? Have you seen him?”
“Gone to meet his sister,” Kevin said. “At least that’s what he told Alice. She has a betting pool going that David’s secretly meeting with an editor.”
David had talked to Meredith about his book, and she had found an editor for him, but she wasn’t going to tell Kevin or Elliott.
“Right. He told me that,” Elliott said, “and I don’t know anything about a book. If he’s writing one, I hope I’m not in it. Have you heard from Louise?”
“She and Evelyn will be here tomorrow,” Kevin said. “And before you ask, the Mannings will be here tonight about seven o’clock. I told everyone you planned to entertain them at Christmas dinner with a story about a ruby brooch.”
Meredith placed her hand on top of the journal, smiling. Kit had gone off to travel the world with her soul mate and live happily-ever-after. No one could ask for more.
Elliott stood and threw Meredith a kiss. “Since you haven’t mentioned Cate and Gregory, they either plan to surprise us or they aren’t coming.”
“Her doctor won’t let her travel,” Kevin said. “It’s too close to her delivery date. I can’t believe you didn’t know that. You’ve got spies at Fraser House, MacKlenna Farm, and the winery. Nothing gets past you.”
Elliott wiggled his eyebrow, and his eyes twinkled again. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” He grabbed his towel and sweatband. Before leaving the room, he gazed down one last time at his sleeping son.
The Last MacKlenna Page 41