Again My Love (Kaitlyn and the Highlander Book 9)

by Diana Knightley

  Archie was eating waffles. “Mammy! Da!” He shoved his chair from the table and bounded to us and I lifted him into my arms and got the little baby boy hug I was needing desperately.

  “What have you been doing?” I asked.

  “I waked up. Went walk with Ganpa. Baba made waffles.”

  “Perfect, and you weren’t sad at all?”

  Barb said, “Nope, he was a perfect soldier.”

  “Good,” I said and then I asked Magnus, “Do we have time for a swim before we go?”

  Jack walked in just then. “Where are you going?”

  Magnus said, “We have tae leave, Lady Mairead told us how tae work the vessels but she also warned us that we arna safe. We have tae leave, we daena want tae bring danger tae ye.”

  Barb dropped the oven mitt she was carrying. “So you’re going to be on the run? What kind of life is that?”

  “Nae, we will continue tae live on Amelia Island, with more precautions, we will be always on guard.”

  “That doesn’t sound like any life at all. Magnus, can’t you do better than this?”

  “I canna, I have tried tae leave tae keep Kaitlyn safe, but I canna bear tae be away from m’family.”

  She softened and patted his cheek. “Well, dear, that does sound awful.”

  To me she said, “Your husband is doing his best to keep you safe. You will need to be strong and live as if you aren’t in danger, it’s all around us, you can’t stop living, you must be the motherfucking matriarch and live bravely. The only thing you can do, the most important thing, is to make memories with your family. If you have memories of good times then you have everything you need.”

  “Thank you, Barb,” I said, “that’s good to remember. And yes, you’re right — I’m going to demand a swim and lunch before we go. We can go at Archie’s nap time. Danger is always imminent, but the lake is calling to me, it deserves a proper goodbye.”

  Our morning swim was full of pool noodles and cannonballs off the dock, and swimming games and floating moments, and then we had lunch, a simple fare of bologna and cheese sandwiches and chips, and then, Barb and Jack walked Archie over to the field and showed him the wildflowers and butterflies while we packed our belongings. We all skipped rocks, one... two... three... into the lake, a traditional ceremonial goodbye to it for now, then Baba told Archie how much she loved him and Jack hugged him. After all of that, Archie sat on my lap and we watched as he slid his two little fingers into his mouth. His eyes glazed over, his lips turned up in his sleepy smile.

  Magnus went to our room and emerged with our packed bags. I hefted Archie up to my shoulder and we left the lake house and walked down the road to the field. By the time we reached it Archie was asleep.

  I was nervous.

  Magnus was going first, six weeks after we left. Then I would come the following day. He would protect me when I landed.

  And we would hope, really really hope, that we would survive what came next.

  Thirty-four - Magnus

  I awoke with Master Quentin standing afore me. “Boss, you up?”

  “Dost it look as if I am up? I canna tell, my teeth hurt too much tae stand.”

  “Very funny. Is Kaitlyn coming tomorrow?”

  “Aye, with Archie. Is everyone safe?” I pulled myself tae sittin’ and then sat there unable tae move.

  “Yep, there were three men. Dead men. I killed them, jumped them to 1682 Scotland, because I could. Left them in a bog, with all their stuff, because someday an archaeologist is going to find them and have their whole world view blown the fuck apart and then I jumped back here. We haven’t had a visitor since. I hired a security consulting firm to make sure that keeps happening.”

  He added, “We’ve also got a new, new house. Zach wants you to call him as soon as you get back.”

  He helped me climb tae my feet.

  Master Quentin explained on the way tae the house that Hayley had found it for us. It was nae far from where we liked tae jump and included so much property we would hae our own place for landin’.

  We pulled up tae a security gate and I kent that it was already a better house, havin’ more layers of security than we ever had afore. Down the long drive, lined by oaks covered in hangin’ Spanish moss, we came tae a paved circular drive. The main house was large, encompassin’ two thirds of the circle, and another smaller house stood across from it. There was also an enclosed swimmin’ pool and a pool house beyond.

  “Och, tis a fortified town.”

  “If this isn’t perfect for us, what is?”

  Master Quentin turned in his seat. “Something I want to mention, Boss.”

  “Aye.”

  “Beaty is... well, she’s gotten really modern. I just want you to be ready. She has embraced the New World. First thing you’ll probably notice, her hair is bright blue.”

  “Och, blue? How dost ye...?”

  “It’s a hair dye, also she is going to be so excited to see you, she needs people to talk to about all the stuff she’s learning.” He grinned.

  “What kind of stuff?”

  “Mostly makeup and clothes and shopping. She’s keen on driving lessons, but we need to get her a birth certificate, first. She’s barely recognizable, though she does say she misses the food back home, I think because we haven’t had Chef Zach in a month.”

  I chuckled, “Och, tis a mistake tae be missin’ what inna worth rememberin’. We will ask Chef Zach tae come home soon.”

  When we got to the door Master Quentin called in, “Beaty?”

  She came bounding out of a back room wearin’ verra short shorts and a shirt that exposed her stomach. Her feet were bare. She wore a great deal of makeup around her eyes, colored lips, and her hair was a verra bright blue and loose around her shoulders.

  “King Magnus!” She hugged me hello. “Welcome tae the house!”

  “Madame Beaty, ye have become a Campbell blue.”

  She smiled and preened, flippin’ her hair over her shoulders. “Dost ye like?”

  “Tis verra bonny.” I looked around at the walls and high ceilings of the house. “The house is verra braw, have ye been enjoying it?”

  She grabbed a camera and took a photo. “I’ll call this one ‘King Magnus sees his castle for the first time.’” She bounced on her feet excitedly. “You are home from exile? We really hope Chef Zach will come home now, the food here sucks, daena it, Quenny?”

  He chuckled. “Och aye. I’m not known for my cooking and apparently Beaty isn’t either.”

  “King Magnus, we are verra happy tae see ye.”

  Master Quentin said, “Come with me Beaty, let’s show King Magnus the house.” Beaty bounded ahead of us, pointin’ and talkin’ endlessly.

  The two of them guided me, showin’ off the rooms and bathrooms, all furnished grandly, with thick walls, and fewer windows. Master Quentin shewed me the roof with a view for miles and already with the monitor installed.

  Then they took me down tae the grand kitchen. Beaty happily shewed me how tae work the ice and water in the refrigerator.

  Master Quentin said, “We should call Zach.”

  Chef Zach’s image and voice emitted from inside Master Quentin’s phone. “Magnus you’re back! Are Katie and Archie okay?”

  “She has delayed her arrival by a day, and they are both verra well. We have been worried. I am glad tae hear yer family is unharmed.”

  “We are, we’re laying low in Austin. Great place by the way and it worked out well for us — we were fucking gone while Quentin moved into the new house. James and Michael helped him and I got to be on vacation.”

  Master Quentin said, “The new house is amazing, I told you about it, there’s a whole wing with your name on it. It’s got a bedroom, a bathroom, an office. All the things.”

  “Sounds great, when do you want me, boss?”

  I said, “Tis a good question, if I ask ye tae return, would ye? Tis nae too much tae ask? I have taken yer protection verra seriously, but I have also brought danger
tae ye. I ken ye need tae keep yer family safe and....” I was sitting on a barstool at the kitchen island with my head in my hand. I wanted tae beg him tae return but I also kent it was too much tae ask. “I have more protections. Master Quentin has fortified the house.”

  He said, “Yeah yeah yeah, turn the phone around, let me see the kitchen.”

  I held up the phone. I was using two hands but he yelled, “Hold it tighter, don’t drop it!” I clutched the phone tightly. He laughed. “Now your hand is over the camera, see that circle at the top?”

  I turned the phone tae inspect it. Chef Zach laughed. “I can see up your nose.”

  Master Quentin and Beaty were laughin’ hard. “Verra funny, I daena want tae break it.”

  Chef Zach said, “I’m just kidding, you won’t break it, just turn the phone around to show me the kitchen.”

  I turned the phone and pointed it in every direction. I heard Chef Zach say, “I told you, Emma, it’s a dream kitchen, look at it.”

  Her voice through the phone, “It is really pretty.”

  I said, “Madame Emma, I ken tis a verra big decision. I want ye tae keep your family in mind. I will understand if—”

  “No, we’re definitely coming back, my aunt is driving me crazy. We need my parents and Zach’s parents nearby. We miss the island and all of you. We’ll be on the next flight.”

  “Och, tis good news. Ye will be here by the morrow?”

  “Yeah, Quentin can send someone to get us.”

  Master Quentin said, “Text me once you know your flight details.” The call was ended.

  Beaty went tae watch her shows and Quentin and I spent the rest of the evening discussing safety and protection for the family.

  He had hired a security consultant, a firm that handled big cases, and he had been thinking on it long. For a month he had been plannin’ the protection of all of us, and by the end of the day I kent that it was time for us all tae come home.

  Thirty-five - Kaitlyn

  Magnus carried Archie in his arms. I leaned against Quentin and was carried-dragged to our car. I mumbled, “We all good?”

  Quentin said, “We’re all good, safe, and accounted for. You, on the other hand, look like hell, like you've been on a thirty year road-trip.” He lowered me into the backseat of the Mustang.

  Magnus climbed into the front seat, holding Archie in his lap. Archie had been wailing but now had his arms around Magnus’s neck and was looking over his shoulder at me.

  I smiled. “There’s your da, he’s right there. I’m right here.”

  I looked around and woke up enough to ask, “What’s happening? Where are we going?”

  Quentin pulled us down a road and up to a gate, he pushed buttons and it slid open.

  I said, “I have a gate? Oh my god, I have a gate?” Archie started to smile so I said, “Archie! We have a gate!” He giggled.

  We drove down a long driveway, in my head I decided to call it an avenue, and pulled up to a circle of buildings. This was a freaking compound, with so many cars it was like a used car lot. “Holy shit, while I was gone did I become a drug lord?”

  Because it looked like I was now a big, important person who needed gates and men to stand guard on the roof.

  Magnus stood from the car and helped me out. “Come see our new house, Kaitlyn.”

  There was a larger house and a few smaller buildings. Quentin gestured to one. “That’s the guest house, where me an Beaty live. There isn’t a kitchen so we will be in your house a lot.”

  “No worries, I can’t freaking believe there are houses.”

  He pointed, “Chef Zach and Emma’s rooms are at that end of the house.”

  “They came back?”

  Magnus said, “Aye. They are back.”

  Quentin opened the giant front door. “This is the main house.” Across the great room was the kitchen and standing there around the kitchen bar were Zach, Emma, and Beaty.

  Ben was toddling toward us.

  They all yelled, “Welcome home!”

  Archie called, “Bebo!” apparently a newly invented nickname for Ben and slid to the floor. They ran to the living room to see the basket of toys that was already there.

  I burst into tears. Like the wailing kind. “I love you all so much. I love that you’re all here. I love this new house. Thank you for getting it ready for us.”

  I asked Emma, “We have this much money? Wait, don’t tell me, not right now, I’ll worry about it later and—”

  “Yes, we have this much money, you’ve got all that Google stock and—”

  “Google stock? When did...? Have I always had Google stock?”

  “It was surprisingly in your grandmother’s estate.”

  “Oh, of course, yes.”

  Emma continued undaunted, “Plus the real estate, the paintings, the stock your dad bought, you have plenty. And you’re actually kind of frugal considering. You drive a three-year-old Mustang, for instance. Your biggest outlays are salaries for security. But you have an offshore trust account, one that was set up in the early 20th century that your dad just located, it’s full of money.”

  “Whoa, and I have so much to say about that when I can think it through.” I took a barstool. “What are you cooking Zach?”

  “Ben asked for chicken fingers and fries, if that’s okay. I figured you’d probably ask for McDonald’s but you’d be happy with food picked by an almost three-year-old.”

  I said, “Ben, you’re the greatest! Chicken fingers might be the best choice after a time-jump. Is there honey mustard, no worries if there isn’t, but is there?”

  “There is.”

  I collapsed on my arms on the counter, waving my hand, my head still down, I called, “Beer!” because I just time-jumped and got to be bossy and demanding about it.

  Magnus grabbed two bottles and popped their tops for us, because Zach was adding fries to a deep fryer.

  “When is Hayley coming?”

  “Twenty minutes.”

  “Good.” I swigged some beer. “And where are all the vessels?”

  Magnus sat down beside me. “A vault in the office.”

  “Awesome. I have a vault. Did I tell you guys how much I love you?”

  Emma said, “Continuously since you got home.”

  “It’s true. So totally true. And I mean it so much.”

  Thirty-six - Kaitlyn

  Hayley arrived.

  She stormed into the house. “Good, you’re home, we need to talk. Not now, not in front of everyone, but I’ve been kind of having a mental breakdown and you have to help me.”

  “Jeez honey, you’re mental breakdowning?”

  “Just in every way, but seriously, you look great.” She sighed. “Like this whole motherhood thing is agreeing with you and yada yada I’m so happy for you.”

  “I was just at the lake house, hiding out with Barb and Jack.”

  She sat down, full attention. “You were? What were they doing? How long ago?”

  “Before I was born. We went there to hide. They knew Magnus, so he introduced me. It was not at all as fun and wonderful and heartwarming as you might think.” I took a swig of beer. “It was a lot more awkward and sad and felt like a big big mistake most of the time.”

  Magnus took my hand. “I am sorry for it.”

  I said to Magnus, “We didn’t know, not really. I mean, they were pleasant enough, but when you’re around a time traveler you want to know your future, you just do. It becomes all you think about.”

  Hayley said, “That kind of sucks.”

  “Yeah, I couldn’t talk about anything without worrying about what I was changing.”

  “You might have changed your whole life.”

  I shrugged. “Probably, apparently I got us even richer by talking about Google, but if I changed anything else, how would I know? I’m in it now, like it happened. I have no memory of it not happening. Has anything changed for you?”

  “No, it’s all been just...” She groaned and curled into a b
all on the couch.

  Ben came over and patted her on her leg. “Aywee, wha wrong?” He climbed to her lap, put his nose up to her nose, and pulled his mouth into such an epic frown that we all squealed with delight at his cuteness.

  “Aunt Hayley is going through something, sweet sugar-booger, and her bestie, Katie, has been MIA for a month, so I’m feeling sorry for myself, but you’re very cute.”

  She raised up and sniffed the air. “What is that smell, Zach?”

  “Chicken fingers and fries.”

  Hayley said, “Is this your doings, Ben? Are you the one?” She pretended to swoon on the couch. “Why must it always be about Ben. Why can’t it ever be about me?”

  Zach said, “What would you have wanted, if I had asked, not that I’m asking?”

  “Chicken fingers, barbecue sauce, and another beer.”

  Everyone laughed.

  Zach said, “Done.”

  I asked, “Who fed you, Quentin, while Zach wasn’t here? Did Beaty cook?”

  He grinned. “She tried oatmeal a few times, that’s pretty familiar. But she didn’t know how to work much.”

  She giggled. She was wearing short-shorts with her legs folded up in her seat, showing off a lot of thigh. She wore a tiny crop-top. Her hair was big and flowing and bright blue, and she had on a lot of Kardashian-style makeup. I thought her smoky eyes were pretty epic. She was short and curvy and her clothes were very sexy. She looked beautiful, a gorgeous teen. And here she was, married.

  Quentin looked at her adoringly.

  Hayley said, “Speaking of Beaty, what’s going on with Beaty? I haven’t been here much.”

  Beaty said, “I have new clothes, dost ye like them, Madame Hayley?”

  “I do, I love them, I actually want you to teach me that eye-thing you’ve got going on there.”

  I said, “I know, right?”

  “I learned it on the YouTube, dost ye ken ye can learn everythin’ on YouTube? I am learnin’ tae play the pipes.”

  Quentin grinned widely.

  My eyes went wide. “The pipes, as in the bagpipes? Oh — awesome.”