A Thistle & Hive Christmas: Book 4.5 of The Thistle & Hive Series

by Jennae Vale

  “Good morning, Edna.” Jenna said. “Thank you again for taking such good care of us.”

  “Aye.” Cormac added. “We love ye, Edna.”

  “Thank ye. The feeling is mutual. I’ll see ye in the dining room. Dylan has set out a lovely breakfast for all of ye.”

  “I think you’re needed in there,” Jenna said as she headed for the inn.

  Edna walked in to find Ashley in tears and Cailin doing his best to console her. “Cailin, would ye mind if I spoke with Ashley alone for a moment.”

  “Of course.” Cailin kissed the top of Ashley’s head and went into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

  Ashley broke into a whole new round of crying as Edna sat next to her and cradled her in her arms. “I’m destroying the family that I wanted to badly. What is wrong with me?”

  “Well, if I had to guess, I’d say ye were probably going through a bout of postpartum anxiety. Dr. Ferguson agrees with me.”

  “What can I do about it? I’m so exhausted from worrying all the time.”

  “I ken ye are. Do ye remember before ye met Cailin? Do ye remember that ye suffered from anxiety and had for years?”

  “When I met Cailin that all went away.”

  “It did, but having a baby that ye love so much, has caused it to rear its ugly head once again. The thing that ye’ve forgotten is that yer husband is there to help ye. He’d slay any monster for ye if he could and he’d lay down his life for yer bairns. The anxiety monster is a bit more difficult. Cailin can’t see it to fight it.” Edna checked Ashley to see if she understood. “Ye see, Ashley, no matter where ye live, whether ’tis here, Breaghacraig or San Francisco, yer going to have these difficulties. The difference is that at Breaghacraig, ye have an army of people who love ye. They want to help ye.”

  “I know they do.”

  “Then let them. Let Irene have Emma for a few hours or Jenna perhaps. Take some time for yerself. Get outside of yer head and enjoy the little things in life. Ye’ve a fine braw husband. Enjoy him.”

  “So you think I should go back.”

  “’Tis not up to me, dear. Ye’ve got to make that decision.”

  “But what if Emma gets sick? What will I do?” Ashley started to get choked up again.

  “Well, that hasnae happened yet. Why worry about it before ye have to? Besides, I’ve had a talk with Dr. Ferguson and he’s agreed to be available for ye whenever ye need him.”

  “He’d do that?”

  “Why yes, he would. He would like to see Lady Catherine again and in order to do that, he’ll need to travel back in time. He may even stay, ye never know.”

  “But you do.” Ashley said, brushing the tears from her eyes and grabbing a tissue for her nose.

  Edna laughed. She did know, but things would unfold in their own time, with only the slightest prodding from her. “Ye ken, ye still have yer magick backpack.”

  “I do.”

  “Well, I’m going to give ye one more item to add to it.” Edna reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a snow globe and handing it to Ashley.

  “Is that The Thistle & Hive inside?”

  “It is. Clever wouldnae ye say?” Edna chuckled. “If ye ever need to get in touch with me, or if ye need Dr. Ferguson, all ye need do is call to me while yer holding this. Go ahead, try it and see.”

  “But you’re right here.”

  “I ken that, but I want ye to see how it works.”

  Ashley lifted the snow globe and looked into it. “Edna, are ye there?” Much to Ashley’s surprise, Edna’s face appeared in the globe. She looked up and Edna smiled warmly at her.

  “Ye see, there I am.”

  “Amazing!”

  “Now, ye will have to share it with the others, so be sure to let them know how it works and keep it somewhere they can get to it if need be.”

  “It sounds like you think I’ve already made up my mind.”

  “Have ye?”

  “Yes. I’m going back.”

  “I’ll leave ye to tell yer husband. Then get yer things together and come over to the inn for some breakfast.”

  “Thank you, Edna. You’re truly my faerie godmother.”

  “Thank ye, darlin’, but I’m nae faerie. I’ll be yer witchy godmother.” Chuckling to herself, she left the cottage.

  Edna, Angus and the others were all seated in the dining room enjoying Dylan’s hard work, when Ashley and Cailin entered. Emma was wrapped in her sling and attached to Cailin’s chest.

  “What’s this?” Irene asked. “Are ye coming back with us?”

  “Aye, sister. We are.” Cailin was absolutely gleeful. He would have stayed if Ashley had wanted, but he was relieved when she told him she wanted to go home.

  “Thank ye, Edna. I ken this was yer doing.”

  “I’m going to need all of your help,” Ashley announced. “I can’t do this alone. I’m going to need babysitters.”

  “What is a babysitter?” Irene appeared puzzled.

  “Someone who watches your baby for you while you go do something else,” Ashley explained.

  “I’d be happy to do that for ye,” Irene stated.

  “We all would,” Jenna added.

  “And Dr. Ferguson will come and visit us, too.” Ashley blurted.

  Cailin noted that Lady Catherine’s ears perked up at the mention of Dr. Ferguson.

  “He’ll be here soon to say goodbye to ye all,” Edna said.

  Cormac and Jenna each had their new little pups in their arms. Chester was curious to see them and sat at attention in front of Cormac. “Dinnae worry Chester, ye’ll always hold a special place in me heart, as I ken I do in yers.” He bent down to scratch Chester behind the ears and at the same time let him sniff the puppy. “Now even though I’ll miss ye, this little one will be with me.” Chester cocked his head to the side and everyone laughed. “Why do ye laugh? He understands what I’m saying to him.”

  “I don’t doubt that he does,” Dylan added. “He’s pretty intuitive.”

  “Shall we go get the horses,” Angus asked.

  “Aye.” Robert said.

  The men, along with Wee Robert, all headed off down the street to the stable, where they would gather their horses and return for the women.

  They were no sooner out the door when Dr. Ferguson arrived. “I came to say my goodbyes. I saw the men heading off down the street as I arrived.”

  “They’ll be back shortly,” Edna said. “Would anyone like to help me in the kitchen. I’m going to check in with Dylan to see if he needs any help.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Angelina said.

  “Me, too.” Lena added

  Jenna and Ashley got the hint and followed Edna, leaving Lady Catherine alone with Dr. Ferguson.

  “Catherine, I wanted to speak with ye before ye left.”

  “I’m happy that ye did, Arthur.”

  He took Catherine’s hand and led her to a settee in the lobby. “Please, sit.” He cleared his throat. “Catherine, I’ll be visiting yer time soon and I was wondering if ye’d allow me to call on ye.”

  “I’d be delighted, Arthur. As a matter of fact, my feelings may be hurt if ye didn’t.”

  Arthur relaxed. He’d felt something for Catherine the moment she walked into his office. At first he thought the fact that she lived in another time would be a huge deterrent to any relationship with her, but then Edna had approached him with a plan to help Ashley to overcome her anxiety and he’d been more than happy to agree.

  “Yer a fascinating woman, Catherine and I’d like to get to know ye better.”

  “I’d like that, Arthur. I’d like that very much.”

  “Good. Then I’ll plan to see ye in the next month or so. Ye’ve made me a verra happy man.” Arthur thought that as an older gentleman, his chance at finding love was nonexistent, but maybe not. Maybe he could find a way to make this strange arrangement work. And if he couldn’t figure it out, he knew Edna well enough to know that she would.

  He was still
holding Catherine’s hand and he intended to keep holding it until she left. He had no idea whether that was appropriate in her time and he really didn’t care. Besides, it didn’t appear that she was interested in letting go either.

  When the men finally returned, they brought Teddy and Marissa with them. He’d been at the stable visiting with her and they wanted to come back to the inn to say their goodbyes properly.

  “Is everyone ready?” Robert asked as he dismounted.

  The rest of the men followed suit and the goodbyes began in earnest. Everyone wanted to hug Edna, Angus, Maggie and Dylan. Teddy and Marissa joined in, hugging everyone and saying that they hoped to see them again soon. Marissa mentioned that she’d like to experience time travel as research for her book.

  The flurry of activity came to a sudden stop as everyone realized that they’d said all of their goodbyes. They’d kissed everyone and hugged everyone. There was nothing left to do but mount their horses and head for the bridge.

  Edna and those remaining in Glendaloch followed along on the path. Edna, of course, to make sure everything went as it was supposed to. Marissa wanted to see how it worked with her own eyes and the others just wanted to wave to their friends one last time as they disappeared from sight.

  As they approached the bridge, the horses became a bit nervous, snorting and prancing in place. They were leaving with considerably more than they’d arrived with, but they’d packed everything and distributed it evenly among all the horses. They waited in silence for the fog to come and as they waited, Robert spoke. “Edna and Angus, we wanted to get ye a gift to thank ye for all ye’ve done for us, but we couldnae find a thing that would suffice. So, with a little help and magick from Maggie we found a way to send ye images of all of us from time to time. Ye’ll be able to watch yer grandsons grow. We’ll send them from every occasion. ‘Twill be as if yer with us.”

  “Aye, Auntie. I’ve created a magic picture frame for each family. All they need do is stand in front of it and utter a simple spell. It will automatically transmit the photo back here to ye through a picture frame here on our end.”

  Edna was speechless. Tears welled in her eyes again and Angus laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know what to say. Ye are all my family and knowing that ye are well and happy is my only wish.”

  “We’d also like to extend an invitation for ye to come and stay with us anytime ye’d like.”

  “That would be wonderful, Robert. Thank ye. I will definitely take ye up on that offer.”

  The first wisps of fog floated across the bridge and became thicker and thicker until they covered everything. Robert turned and waved, as did the others.

  “Beira will be waiting for ye on the other side.” Edna couldn’t help herself, tears continued streaming down her cheeks. Ashley blew her a kiss and Edna noted that she too had red rimmed eyes. And then before she knew it, they had all ventured into the fog and the colorful little pops of light flashed throughout, telling her that they were on their way. A few moments passed and the fog lifted, leaving an empty clearing on the other side of the bridge. They were gone.

  “Shall we?” Angus placed a soothing arm around Edna’s shoulders and turned her away from the bridge. The others followed as they headed back to the inn, where life would get back to normal once more, or at least as normal as it could get with Edna around.

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank my editor Jen Grqybeal for her help getting this novella ready for publishing. Thank you to my cover artist, Sheri McGathy of Cover Art by Sheri for bringing Edna Campbell to life on this cover.

  About the Author

  Jennae Vale is a best selling author of romance with a touch of magic. As a history buff from an early age, Jennae often found herself day-dreaming in history class - wondering what it would be like to live in the places and time periods she was learning about. Writing time travel romance has given her an opportunity to take those daydreams and turn them into stories to share with readers everywhere.

  Originally from the Boston area, Jennae now lives in the San Francisco Bay area, where some of her characters also reside. When Jennae isn’t writing, she enjoyed spending time with her family and her pets, and daydreaming, of course.

  Connect with Jennae

  @jealil

  JennaeValeAuthor

  www.jennaevaleauthor.com

  jennaevaleauthor@gmail.com

  Also by Jennae Vale

  The Thistle & Hive Series

  A Bridge Through Time - Book 1

  A Thistle Beyond Time - Book 2

  Separated by Time - Book 3

  A Matter of Time - Book 4

  The Mackalls of Dunnet Head

  Her Trusted Highlander - Book 1

  A Highlander In Vegas