He cast her a serious look. “I could not help but overhear the tale you told about Regan and her Fianna warrior.”
“I could not help but notice you were eavesdropping again.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have told that story if it hadn’t been for the whiskey shots.”
“Aye, well, you cannot untell the story the day after, can you, lass? Is the tale true? Did Boann send your sister back through time to prevent Fáelán from being cursed, or were you providing a bit a blarney for our entertainment?”
“It’s true. Grayce and I were both in our sister’s townhouse in Howth when Regan dropped out of thin air to land on the floor after her third-century adventure. She still wore clothing from that era, and she’d suffered a great deal at the hands of Morrigan for her efforts.”
She glanced at him, and the hopefulness she glimpsed in his gaze shot straight through her. “Daniel, I know what you’re thinking, and I’d love to prevent your murder from happening, but Boann doesn’t owe me any favors. What she did to help her own father is one thing. I’m just a shirttail relative.”
He continued to stare at her like a stray puppy hoping she’d drop a few bites of her lunch. “You also heard me tell the story involving my twin sister. Boann’s involvement in human affairs has landed her in a lot of trouble. Her grandfather happens to be King Lir Beneath the Sea, and the Tuatha dé Danann have laws against meddling in the affairs of mortals.” She shook her head, knowing what he wanted her to do was impossible.
“My twin’s case involved fae magic that had been cast nearly two thousand years ago, instigated by the founder of the famous Fianna elite warriors. Regan’s situation involved the daughter and granddaughter of a fae king. Your situation doesn’t carry even a whiff of fae association.”
Daniels brow rose to a new height. “There truly is a fae king beneath the sea?”
Meredith shook her head. “Lir holds dominion over the oceans where the fae are concerned, but he lives in the Tuatha realm along with the other kings, their council, and their people.”
Her insides performed all kinds of gymnastics at the thought of meeting corporeal Daniel. She forced those thoughts to the far recesses of her mind. Boann had no reason help them, and she wasn’t likely to risk being banished from the earthly realm. Besides, did she really want to travel through time and space herself? So much could go wrong.
“Here’s the thing, Daniel. Even though Regan and Fáelán spent enough time together in this century to fall in love, Fáelán had no memory of my sister when she went to him in the third century. He accused her of being fae or a witch. She almost—”
“How long does it take to fall in love, Meredith MacCarthy? Tell me, for I truly wish to know your thoughts on the matter.”
His steady, ghostly gaze sent her pulse racing. How could she feel so warm in the presence of his deathly chill? “Given the topic of our conversation I don’t see how that’s relevant. You won’t remember me, and you won’t believe me when I warn you.”
“Not necessarily. I’ve given the matter some thought, and I’ve a few ideas,” he said.
“Oh?” Seconds went by as he continued to stare deeply into her eyes as if searching for answers only she could provide. Her ears rang from the pounding of her heart, and as if on cue, her phone began to chime and vibrate in her back pocket. Saved by my dad’s ringtone.
She released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, and the spell between her and the ghost broke. Why the hell did she feel like crying? She grabbed her phone and hit accept. “Hi, Dad. What’s up?”
“Hey, Meredith, I wanted to touch base and make sure you’re safe.”
She glanced at Daniel. Was she safe? Physically, yes. Emotionally? The jury was still out. Was Daniel trying to seduce her into traveling back in time on his behalf with his flirty words and lingering gazes? Did it matter one way or the other?
“I’m fine. I helped one of the Garrettsville ghosts cross over yesterday.”
“That’s good news.” Her dad cleared his throat. “Listen, I’m also calling with a bit of bad news. Things are hectic at work right now, and I can’t get away until the end of June or the first week of July.”
Her stomach dropped. “Okay.”
“You’ll be all right until then. You’re a MacCarthy. You know how to handle these situations.”
“Yeah, I know, Dad.” First Daniel brought up time travel, and now her father hit her with this delay. Were fate’s sticky fingers stirring her pot?
“I know you’re disappointed, but continue to maintain the status quo until we arrive. Take all the precautions we’ve taught you, and things will be fine.”
“I will.” She sighed. “I was just hoping to send the trio on their way ASAP, that’s all. They’ve already attempted to possess one of my fellow volunteers, and we’ve hardly been here a week.”
“Hmm. That is concerning.”
“Oliver is carrying protective crystals and sage with him at all times now, and when we’re able, we make sure he’s not left alone anywhere except in our cabin, which is well protected.” She nudged the end of the trash grabber with the tip of her shoe and snuck another look at Daniel. He pretended he wasn’t listening. She was not fooled. “I guess I’ll see you and Aunt Beth in a few weeks. Text me with your flight information.”
“I will. Your mother sends her love. Call her when you get a minute.”
“I’ll call her today after my shift. Bye, Dad.”
“Take care, sweetheart.”
“I always do.” The moment she ended the call, her phone chimed a text alert … from her aunt.
“CARPE DIEM! Whatever it is, just do it!” Meredith read aloud.
Easy for Beth to say, since she wouldn’t be the one taking any risks. Meredith growled at her phone and shoved it back into her pocket. Clearly Beth’s psychic sonar had alerted her something was up, and her aunt never could resist adding her two cent’s worth. Beth saw everything in life as a grand adventure. Meredith headed for a candy wrapper in the dirt.
Daniel followed. “Are you willing to hear me out?”
“Sure, as long as you agree to do things my way if this all turns out to be a dead end.” Her way meant easing him into the beckoning light by helping let go of a promise he made to people who were long gone from this world.
“You have my word.”
She continued to walk around Garretsville in search of trash, and Daniel described his plan to her.
“There are … there were good men in Garretsville, men who would be willing to work with the sheriff. I’ll show you where our ambush occurred and give you the date and the approximate time. You’ll arrive a week or so before the event, so you’ll have time to convince me of our prior association. That will give us a few days to plan. Once your part has been accomplished, you can leave the rest to me.”
“Sounds … deceptively simple. So, I’m guessing you and Charles will be the bait. The triad of malice will be lured to you as they were the day you were murdered, and the sheriff and his posse will surround them?”
“Aye.”
“You’re forgetting you two will be in the middle, and you’ll be with the wrong group, not with the posse. What’s to prevent the outlaws from using you and Charles as hostages, so they can get away?”
Her gut clenched as every disastrous possibility circled around in her mind. “What will prevent the outlaws from slitting your throats anyway?” She cast him her own haunted look. “Why would you believe a total stranger from the future who comes to warn you?”
“Granted, the plan needs work.” Daniel began to pace. “What if I describe to you everything that happened that day, and you write it all down. I’ll include personal information, things you could not possibly know unless I’d told you.” He stopped pacing and turned to her. “Then I’d believe you.”
“Maybe. Then again, maybe not.” The seed of an idea of began to germinate. She knew how to prove she’d traveled through time to save him, but she squelched the notio
n before it could take root. No point in getting ahead of herself.
“The three were waiting to ambush us as we headed to Garretsville with our wagon loaded down with our haul. The sheriff and the posse could be farther up the trail to catch them before our arrival. Also, this time Charles and I will be forewarned. We’ll know what to expect, and we’ll cut off their escape should any of them get by the sheriff’s men.”
“I’ll talk to Regan, and she can contact Boann. But please don’t get your hopes up.” Even as she said the words, she couldn’t prevent her own hopes from rising. She’d love to be the one to give him back the full life he’d been meant to live. Even if only for a handful of days, she longed to know him as a living, breathing man. Perhaps she’d been summoned to Garretsville for this very purpose.
Carpe diem, dammit. After this adventure, her life would return to normal—as in normal for a MacCarthy, anyway. She’d continue to pursue her goals, meet a nice single professor, and live a rewarding—albeit quiet and relatively unadventurous—ordinary life.
Meredith glanced at Daniel again, drawing in the sight of him like a love-sick sponge dropped into the puddle of its dreams. If she did do this, she’d be glad to have known him. She’d be happy that she’d been able to help, and that would have to be the sum total of what existed between two souls from different centuries.
Daniel almost felt … alive. Excitement thrummed through his ghostly being, and his phantom heart raced. “That you’re willing to talk to your sister about this is all I can ask, and it’s far more than I ever hoped for. If the gang of murderous thieves can be stopped, most of the ghosts you’ve come to help will be set free. They won’t have been murdered, and therefore won’t ever have haunted Garrettsville.”
“We’d be changing history.” Meredith’s bit her lip for a second. “You and Charles weren’t their first victims, were you? If not there would likely be ghosts here still, including the felonious threesome.”
“Aye, there were others before us. The first was an old man who rarely left his claim. No one would’ve known he’d been murdered had he not missed his weekly visit into town for supplies. The sheriff went to check on him, and he found the old man’s corpse. His throat had been slit.” Daniel frowned. “Is it possible the three might not have any reason to haunt should we prevent them from murdering others?”
“Anything’s possible,” she said. “It’s afternoon in Ireland right now. I guess there’s no time like the present.”
Daniel watched as she took the device from her pocket and touched numbers on its surface. He’d witnessed many such devices over the decades and no longer wasted time trying to figure out how the things performed their magic.
Besides, Meredith interested him far more than what she held in her hand. Her lovely, fair complexion, the crease that formed between her eyebrows as she concentrated, her rose-colored lips and radiant aura … she held him spellbound.
His gaze dropped to the swell of her breasts. The shirt she wore clung to her curves and had him battling an overwhelming desire to draw her into his arms. Desire? That he wanted Meredith as he did must also set him apart from other ghosts.
These stirrings could only be memories of that sort of physical need, yet everything within him rebelled, screaming that what he felt for her was real. If their fantastical plan should come to fruition, could these stirrings be a sign that he and Meredith were meant to be together? Could he entice her to remain with him in his century?
If so, perhaps he’d eventually be able to persuade her to become his wife. Daniel knew exactly how long it took to fall in love. A single beat of his ghostly heart, his gaze connecting with hers, and he was smitten.
“Hi, Regan,” Meredith said. “Do you have a minute?”
To force his mind away from these stirrings he could do nothing about, he focused on the conversation taking place between the two sisters. Meredith told Regan his sad story and described his plan. He couldn’t hear Regan’s reply, and his mind soon drifted. He envisioned the life he might have with this amazing woman by his side.
He’d take Meredith home with him, reunite his family, and all would be as it was meant to be. Smiling, he stared off toward the horizon, dreaming of a bright future, a future that would take him back to Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century.
“Daniel.” Meredith snapped her fingers in front of his face.
His brow rose, and he blinked back to the present. “Hmm?”
“Where do all you ghosts go when you stare off into nothing like that? I said your name three times before snapping my fingers.”
She had her hands on her hips, and she looked annoyed. “I cannot speak for others, but I was imagining meeting you in the flesh. Had we both been alive at the same time—whether in your century or mine—I would’ve courted you relentlessly, Meredith MacCarthy, for I find you utterly enchanting.”
Her eyes widened and color rose to her cheeks. “Oh.”
The air around Meredith grew warmer, and he swore he could feel his body responding, becoming aroused. “Tell me what your sister said, lass.” Should he apologize for his impertinence? Nay, he meant what he’d said with his whole being.
She muttered something under her breath and raked her fingers through her hair. “Boann is with my twin sister in County Wicklow right now. Regan and her family are joining them at the inn for dinner in a few hours. Regan promised to talk to Boann about us, and she’ll get back to me tomorrow.”
About … us. Nothing would please him more than to be an us with Meredith MacCarthy.
He needed time to come to grips with everything he’d gone through since the day Meredith had entered his non-life. After decades of having nothing to consider, was he even up to the challenges she presented? Too overwhelmed to speak, he nodded, made himself invisible, and glided a short distance away.
“You’re welcome,” she called out, her tone a wee bit miffed.
He’d left her again without so much as a thank you or a farewell. His good manners must have atrophied after more than a century of disuse. Perhaps soon he’d be able to explain to her in person how her very presence shook him to the core. She brought him joy, awakened desire, and offered him the promise of the kind of love he’d always longed to experience. Sadly, on the flip side of that gold coin, she caused him unimaginable regret and sorrow.
Fate taunted and teased him with prospects he dared not hope for. Yet, how could he not do everything within his power to force fate’s hand? Daniel took one more look at Meredith, heaved a ghostly sigh, and thought himself to his mining camp. “Shite.”
“Well look who’s here, boys,” the leader of the gang of three hissed.
One of them floated closer. “Hey, Irish. Won’t be long now.” He drew a ghostly knife from his belt and ran his finger along the blade.
“Yeah, just a few days.” The tallest of the three—obviously the lackwit in the group—mimicked the throat slitting gesture.
“It’s grateful I am that I’ve no sense of smell.” Daniel arched a brow, going for sardonic. “What’s the point of these yearly charades, lads?”
The three went still, as if unable to parse the meaning of his question. For the first time since his murder, Daniel refused to cower before them in fear. “You do realize I’m already dead. Aye?” He shrugged. “We’re all dead. You must also be aware I don’t really feel anything when you slit my nonexistent throat. Guess what? I no longer fear you.” He smirked with indifference. “So I must ask again, what’s the point? What’s in it for you?”
He could sense their confusion. “Here’s a thought,” he said. “I’m sure you’ve better things to do than play make-believe with me. How about we just skip the reenactment of my murder this year?”
Was it possible no one in all these years had thought to opt out of their yearly death scene? Did his lack of fear cause them to be even less of a presence? If all else failed, perhaps indifference would end their haunting of him all together.
Why hadn’t he thought of these thi
ngs sooner? Because he hadn’t met his ghost whisperer yet, that was why. She’d told him he was unlike any ghost she’d met before. He had changed, but only because she’d awakened a spark within him—the desire to fight for the life that these three had taken from him.
Now that a plan to thwart them was in the works, might as well try to glean as much information as possible. “Perhaps it’s time to introduce ourselves. I’m Daniel Cavanaugh. What might you three be called? he asked.
The leader of the gang began to growl, and the growl grew into a roar. Small rocks began to shake, and dust rose from the ground around their phantom feet.
“I’m not impressed,” Daniel remarked, trying in vain to get a clearer image of them in his mind, something he could share with Meredith. “I’d do the same, move even larger stones, but you’re not worth the energy doing so would cost me.”
With that, all three of his tormentors took themselves elsewhere, and Daniel was left alone to continue his woolgathering in peace. “My plan will work. I know it will, and for an all too brief moment in time, I might even hold Meredith in my arms.” A man—even a man who is a ghost—could hope.
7
Meredith sat at a small table in the corner of a Missoula Starbucks. Her laptop open before her, she sipped her coffee and searched for records of Daniel’s family. Other than births, the death of his father and baby sister, and his parents’ marriage, she hadn’t had any luck. She’d been at it for a few hours, and she’d even looked for information about Daniel’s mother under her maiden name.
It had ended up taking her a little over two weeks before she could find the time to get away from Garretsville to even do this research, and the frustration at not finding anything really bit. A vital piece of information had to be missing. To have full names, locations, and birth dates, and to not come up with sibling marriages, obituaries, or anything else, was highly unusual.
“Unless of course the records were destroyed by fire or by some other disaster,” she muttered to herself. Sadly, that was all too common when it came to paper records from the past. Especially in countries that had been through WWI and WWII. She’d seen firsthand the ruins of bombed buildings from WWII while visiting Ireland. Sadly, many of those had been churches where parish records of marriages, births and deaths were often kept.
Summoned in Time: A magical, ghostly, time travel romance... (The MacCarthy Sisters Book 3) Page 8