Summoned in Time: A magical, ghostly, time travel romance... (The MacCarthy Sisters Book 3)

by Barbara Longley

  13

  “Have a seat, sheriff.” Daniel gestured toward the kitchen table, where Oliver, Meredith and Charles were already settled. Meredith and Oliver had rehearsed what they were to say, Meredith choosing to let the lad do most of the talking. He and Charles had tutored the two on their connections to the Hannigan relatives in New York in case the sheriff should ask. Still, Daniel’s nerves were on edge. “Oliver, this is William Ramsey. He’s Garretsville’s sheriff. Bill, this is Oliver, Meredith’s half-brother.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Ramsey.” Oliver stood up and offered his hand, and they shook.

  “I made a fresh pot of coffee. Can I offer you a cup?” Daniel busied himself with filling mugs for everyone present.

  “Absolutely. It’s bound to be better than the sludge I make.” The sheriff settled himself at the table and accepted the mug Daniel handed him.

  Once everyone had been served, Daniel took his place between Meredith and Oliver.

  The sheriff glanced around at each of them. “So, what’s this all about?”

  “Go ahead, Oliver,” Meredith said as she peered around Daniel at her supposed half-brother. “You heard what they said better than I did. I caught only fragments of their plan.”

  “Right, right,” Oliver said, bobbing his head. “My sister and I were eating breakfast at Higgins Trading Post in Hellgate on the day Cousin Charles was due to come for us.”

  “What day was that?” the sheriff asked

  “Sunday, June fourth,” Charles answered.

  Bill gave Oliver an encouraging look. “Go on, son.”

  “There were three men sitting at the table directly behind us. They were discussing plans to ambush two prospectors here in Garretsville—two prospectors rumored to have recently struck gold. Their informant had told them the partners always brought their haul to the assayer on Monday mornings.”

  “Can you guess who the two are?” Charles shot a wry look the sheriff’s way. “Most bring their hauls to town Thursday or Friday. Over the weekend they drink, gamble, and whore their way through their profits.” Charles glanced at Meredith. “Excuse my language, Meredith.”

  “It’s fine.” She waved a hand in the air as if brushing away the mention of whores.

  Charles crossed his arms over his chest, a look of disgust suffusing his features. “Too many drunks staggering around, and too many fights break out over the weekends. Dan and I like to steer clear of that nonsense. We prefer to head into town while the hungover fools are heading out.”

  “You don’t have to tell me. Who do you think hauls the drunk and disorderlies off to jail to sleep it off?” Bill grunted. “So, you believe those three are planning to ambush your cousin and his partner here?” he asked Oliver, canting his head toward Charles.

  Oliver nodded. “Who else could it be?”

  “We’re the only two we know of who bring our haul to town on Monday mornings.” Daniel leaned forward. “I’m guessing you’ve heard we recently struck gold.”

  “I had heard the rumor.”

  “Whoever told those three about Charlie and Dan also described exactly where to ambush them. Obviously their informant knows the area well, because they mentioned landmarks.” Oliver straightened in his chair. “I’ve checked the area they described, and I can show you exactly where they plan to do the deed.”

  “Hmm.” Sheriff Ramsey frowned. He opened his mouth to say something, and Meredith cut him off.

  “The one who did most the talking mentioned they had business elsewhere to take care of first, so they’ll likely commit the crime on Monday the nineteenth, or on the twenty-sixth,” Meredith said, her gaze going to Oliver. “Isn’t that right, Ollie?”

  The lad nodded, and Daniel had to squelch the grin threatening to break free. The two had done incredibly well with their parts, and even he was convinced it had happened exactly as they’d described the scene.

  “Charles and I believe the three they overheard are the same men who robbed and murdered poor old Gus out by his sluice, as well as Eddie Hague, whose claim lay just beyond Cross Creek. Those probably aren’t the only two victims either.”

  “I don’t need convincing, Dan. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they’re the same outlaws who’ve been preying on the prospectors around Moose Lodge. That might be the business they’re attending to now. Got a letter from their sheriff a week ago, asking if we’d had any trouble. He was looking for information about who the culprits might be.”

  The sheriff leaned forward in his chair. “Come to think of it, did either of you catch a name while they were discussing their plans? Can you give me physical descriptions?”

  Meredith and Oliver both shook their heads. “No names were mentioned. We didn’t want them to know we could hear what they were saying, so Oliver never turned around, and I only glanced at them once,” Meredith said. “Two of them had their backs to us, and the third had his head tilted down and a cowboy hat on. I tried, but I couldn’t see his face. All I can tell is that one of them is very tall.”

  Meredith had gotten that information from him, the only thing he could share with her with any certainty. He had no memory of their faces. The one who’d stopped them wore a bandana, and the other two had snuck up on them from behind. He had no memory of their features in life, and that had remained true in death. The three were a menacing, hostile presence, and that was about it.

  “All right, what we need is a plan.” The sheriff’s features held steely determination as he looked at him, then Charles.

  “Here’s what we were thinking,” Daniel volunteered. “We gather a group of men we trust and swear them to secrecy. We don’t want the thieves to catch wind that we’re on to them. Charles and I pretend to bring our haul to town on Monday morning as usual, while you and the others hide at the ambush site. We’ll give a signal when we’re entering the area, a joke and loud laughter. Then you and your men arrest them the moment they make their move.”

  “Six men ought to be enough to form a net.” The sheriff cocked a brow at Oliver. “You’ll show us where they plan to make the ambush?”

  Oliver’s gaze flickered to Daniel for an instant before returning to the sheriff. “I will.”

  “All right. I’ll gather the men, and we’ll meet you here next Tuesday afternoon. I’ll have the others stagger their departures from town so as not to cause any notice. We’ll go to the site, and plan our strategy once we see what we’re dealing with.” He looked steadily at each of them, including Meredith. “Carry on as you normally would. Don’t do anything that might draw attention to yourselves.”

  Meredith frowned. “I’m afraid my trip into town with Daniel yesterday may have already—”

  “Oh, we drew attention all right, and that’s a fact.” Daniel smiled and covered her hand with his. “I don’t believe that’s the kind of attention Bill is talking about, Meredith. Sheriff Ramsey doesn’t want us to suddenly change our routines. Doing so might lead the gang’s informant to speculate that we’ve been tipped off.”

  “Exactly,” Bill agreed. “I’m assuming by now the entire town knows you have company, and they’ll expect you to bring Miss MacCarthy and her brother to Garretsville. Plan a trip into town soon. Eat at the diner or at that new hotel. Show your kin around town. Folks will want to meet them.”

  Oliver’s brow rose. “I’d like to visit Garretsville.”

  Charles flashed Daniel a wry look. “Since it’s my turn to cook supper tomorrow evening, I propose we head into town then.”

  “Fine with me.” Charles turned back to the sheriff. “One more thing. We’ve done a lot of thinking about who might be feeding these three information. It could be anyone who happens to be observant, but we suspect Joe Biggs might be involved. Rumor is one thing, while an assayer telling a gang of thieves there’s gold to be had? That’s fact.”

  “Makes sense.” Bill’s expression turned pensive. “I’ll see to it that Biggs is detained on the morning of the nineteenth, and if the crime doesn’t happen then,
we’ll figure something else out for the following Monday. Might be our assayer will have to close down for a week due to a sudden illness. We’ll stash him away somewhere safe and secure.”

  “Sounds good.” Daniel stood up and stretched.

  “Would you like more coffee, Bill?” Meredith asked as she too rose from her chair.

  “Naw.” Bill pulled a pocket watch from his vest and checked the time. “I’ve got to get going. I have things to do before I head home.” He rose from the table and moved the chair back into place. “You all take care now, and if I were you, I wouldn’t go anywhere unarmed.”

  Daniel walked the sheriff to the door. “We won’t. Thanks for coming out our way.”

  “Glad to oblige. I’m hoping those three are the same men who’ve been terrorizing our town for the past few years. I haven’t been able to turn up a single clue as to their identities, and I’ll be mighty relieved once we put a stop to them.”

  Once they’d said their goodbyes, and the sheriff had ridden off on his horse, Oliver turned to Daniel. “Sorry. I got caught up in my role when I said I’d checked out the place where the ambush happens. You’ll have to take me there before the sheriff returns.”

  “Dan and I took a look around the ravine this morning. You and I can go check it out right now,” Charles told him. He disappeared into his room, and when he returned, he had a gun belt strapped around his waist and his revolver holstered.

  Daniel’s eyes widened. “I see you’re taking the sheriff’s advice to heart.”

  “I am, and so should you, Danny.”

  “I will.”

  “Let’s go, lad.” Charles gestured toward the door. “We’ll be back in about an hour and a half,” he said. “We’ll walk.”

  The door shut behind the two, and Daniel’s pulse raced. “We’re alone, love.” He opened his arms in invitation, waiting with bated breath for her to come to him.

  Meredith didn’t hesitate. She walked into Daniel’s arms. “I wish we could somehow capture those three before they actually try to ambush you and Charles.”

  “As do I, but at least we have help and a plan.” He smoothed the hair from her face and gazed into her eyes. “Meredith, why is it I feel as if my entire life has been about waiting for you to appear? I’ve only to look at you, and I’m filled with …” His brow creased.

  “I don’t have the words to adequately describe what I feel. Overwhelming happiness and a sense of homecoming will have to do.” He ran his hands up and down her back. “And desire the likes of which I’ve never before experienced.”

  He kissed her forehead, his touch feather light. “I feel as if we’ve known each other for a lifetime, and yet the idea of getting to know you even better makes me dizzy with anticipation. Can you make any sense of what I’m trying to say?”

  Meredith pressed closer to his work-hardened chest, inhaling his intoxicating scent. “It’s possible we’ve known each other in another lifetime. These feelings could also stem from the strands of time between now and the future are intersecting, giving us that sense of knowing.”

  She put her arms around his neck and returned his searching gaze with one of her own. “I was summoned to help you, Daniel. All of this seems … surreal, a dream, and I don’t want to wake up. Maybe fate led us to this point in time.” She shook her head. “I don’t have the words either, but I can’t ignore what I feel.”

  He kissed her, and none of the bewilderment about what was between them mattered anymore. She’d known she wanted him from the moment she’d decided to travel through time to save him. Meredith broke the kiss, took him by the hand, and drew him to the stairs leading to his room—to his bed.

  “Do you mean to have your wicked way with me, Meredith?”

  “I do.”

  “Hmm.” He placed his hands on her hips and followed her up the narrow stairs. Once there, he swooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. There, he laid her down gently, moving to sit at the end by her feet. “I recall feeling quite disconcerted by how your presence stirred lust within me when I was a ghost.” He unlaced her boots and took them off.

  “While I found it awkward and disturbing to want you even though you had no physical form,” she admitted. “I fought those feelings.”

  Daniel took off his boots and placed them on the floor next to hers. He stretched out beside her and propped himself up by his elbow. His eyes roamed hungrily over her, and a look of wonder suffused his gorgeous features. His nearness, coupled with that expression, were all it took for her blood to heat and her heart to pound. Her entire being quivered with wanting him, and she could hardly breathe.

  She reached out and stroked his cheek, and he turned his head to nuzzle and kiss her palm. Sighing, Meredith tangled her fingers in his curls. “I love the way your hair curls around my fingers. It’s so soft.” His answering smile held such tenderness it brought a lump to her throat.

  “I love your eyes,” he murmured. “Did you know they change color depending upon what you wear and the weather outside? Sometimes they’re very blue, and other times they’re more gray.”

  He drew her into his arms, and his mouth found hers in a bone-melting kiss, a kiss that began as a tender exploration and quickly turned to passion. Meredith found the buttons of his shirt and fumbled to undo them. The need to run her hands over his bare skin had become an imperative. She groaned. “Help me get this off.”

  He chuckled low in his throat, and the vibration traveled straight to her sex, producing a throbbing pulse. They both rose to sitting, frantic attempts to undress each other bringing forth a laugh. “Oh my God, Daniel. How can you wear long underwear this time of year?” she asked as she revealed his undergarments.

  He mumbled something about how it got cold in the mountains, and the undergarments being the custom of the day. He tugged her blouse out from her skirt and tried to take it off. She helped, and the blouse fluttered to the floor. She raised her arms and he groaned as he removed her camisole to reveal a lacy blue bra.

  “Ah, Meredith, how you move me,” he murmured as he ran his callused hands over her shoulders and down her arms. His eyes were fixed upon her breasts, and he traced a finger along the top edge of the lace, sending electric shivers down her spine.

  “How does this come off?”

  “Hooks in the back.” Pleasure rippled through her at his touch, and she leaned toward him. More. She wanted skin against skin, heartbeat against heartbeat, breath to breath. She’d never felt so alive or so sensitive in her entire life. “I have condoms,” she whispered hoarsely as she reached for his belt buckle.

  “Sheaths do you mean?” His hands circled to her back, finding the fastening of her bra. “We won’t need them, love.”

  “We won’t?” She drew back and frowned. “Why not?”

  “Because we won’t be having intercourse.”

  “We won’t?” Her voice rose an octave. “Why not?” Her tone had turned downright plaintive.

  “There are many ways we can give each other pleasure, Meredith, and I intend to bring you to fulfillment.”

  “Okay …” Confusion swirled through her mind. “You know attitudes toward sex are much different in the twenty-first century than they are in the nineteenth century, right? I’m freely consenting, and I have protection. What’s your objection?”

  “I happen to be a nineteenth-century man who respects and cares deeply for you. The way I was raised … What my father taught me …” He cleared his throat. “Intercourse is reserved for those who have shared the sacred vows of matrimony. I don’t wish to dishonor you or what I feel for you. Besides, our future is not settled.”

  “Huh.” She scowled. “So you’re holding out on me until and unless I agree to stay in the past?”

  “I am holding out until we are wed no matter what century.” He ran a knuckle along her cheek, peering at her with intense longing.

  Her heart stuttered, and she drew in a breath. “You would consider returning with me? Really?”

  “
Won’t you consider staying with me as well? We’re going to work through this together. We will come to a decision. I will not lose you, Meredith. I cannot.” he said, his voice fraught with emotion.

  Nodding, she let his words settle into her heart. “All right. So …” She didn’t know what to say. She studied his beloved face, unsure how to proceed.

  “Let me show you,” he said. “Let me adore you.”

  “If you insist.”

  He laughed and then they came together in a frantic effort to disrobe. She attacked his clothing as if any barrier between them was an enemy to be routed. To her, naked Daniel was perfection. Physical labor had sculpted him into a lean, muscled paragon of masculinity. She couldn’t drag her eyes from him.

  “Finally,” she sighed as he drew her to him, bare skin to bare skin. The combined sound of their heavy breathing, the heat and the feel of his body against hers, and their mingling scents cocooned her in a state of erotic bliss. Meredith slid her hands lightly over his chest, memorizing the smooth softness covering hardened muscles. She lowered her head to nibble his neck, tasting the slight saltiness of his skin.

  Daniel’s low growl elicited a surge of need. He explored her contours, and oh how she loved the feel of his hands on her, loved the slightly musky way he smelled, and the way his body hair ticked her sensitive skin.

  When he reached her bottom, he pressed her against his erection, and thrust against her belly. He found her mouth in a crushing kiss and rolled her to her back, pressing her into the mattress. Lacing his fingers with hers, he raised her hands above her head.

  “Mmm.” He studied her intently, pausing on her lips and moving on to her breasts. “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you. I’ve never before experienced this kind of—”

  “Stop talking and start adoring.” Meredith squirmed beneath him and sent him a pleading look.

  He grinned wickedly, and dipped his head, taking a hardened nipple into his mouth, grazing the sensitized bud with his teeth before sucking her deeper into his mouth. He teased her into a frenzy with his tongue and teeth.