“Much like it. Studyin’ with your grandpa Jack I learned tae use longitude and latitude and with an equation I can go to exact locations, tis a help.”
He added, “If I jump, daena grab my arm.”
I nodded solemnly.
He pushed at one of the rings so the markings shifted.
I asked, “Does the ring turn easily?”
“Tis verra easy until the vessel grabs ye.”
He tapped the ring and the markings shifted again. “I was wonderin’ if ye would be able tae make sense of it.”
I read the markings and came up with nothing. “We need an expert, but I don’t know who. Neil deGrasse Tyson? Bill Nye? Elon Musk? I don’t know who it would be.”
Magnus explained how he came up with the numbers and then how he tried the different numbers to see which would work.
“You jumped each time for the science of it?”
“To see if the numbers were true.”
“So the science.”
“Aye, if tis the word, then that is what I did.”
“Have you figured out how to make it not hurt so badly?”
“I have not. But if I prepare for the trip, the right clothing, some food in my sporran, tis nae so bad.”
“I’ll help you pack then.”
I started another list:
Food.
Medicine.
Weapons.
Clothing.
“This time you should take a horse.”
Chapter 2
Hayley, Micheal, and James with his new girlfriend, Lee Anne, all came over after work. Hayley now called herself Aunt Hayley and commanded the room bossily, but seemed uninterested in Baby Ben generally. I had figured out pretty early on that Hayley was not interested in kids at all, but Micheal was now going to be a school teacher; they were going to get married; he would probably be interested in having kids before long.
James introduced his girlfriend around as if we would be impressed. She was an interesting choice for him, beautiful, like a well-practiced Barbie with the brain-power of a hunk of plastic. She said, when we mentioned Quentin wouldn’t be there until later, “Oh, that’s right, he’s your black friend,” in her languid southern drawl, with a pretty sneer on her outlined lips.
I glanced at Hayley and she looked at me wide-eyed.
A moment later Hayley and I were standing in the kitchen. “Help me, Katie, she is a mind-numbed, hate-spouting idiot. What am I going to do?”
“I don’t know, come here more often? Does James seem to like her?”
“I think he’s totally in love.”
“Ugh.”
We met everyone on the back deck. Lee Anne was giggling at something Magnus said, flipping her hair, arching her back just a bit, super flirtatiously. James’s brow was drawn down.
Served him right I supposed, since he was usually the center of flirtatious attention.
And of course Lee Anne was flirting with Magnus. He looked amazing wearing his modern jeans and shirt. They had been laundered and folded and waiting for him for months and months.
When I walked out on the deck, he raised his eyes to mine and for a moment time stood still.
It was a moment where my mind said breathlessly — yes.
And I swore I could hear him say inside my head, deep and resonating — aye.
Hayley said as she passed through the sliding door, “Jesus Christ girl, that is some serious smolder.”
Emma was in a rocking chair on the deck nursing Baby Ben. Zach had a table set up with an whirring ice cream maker. He was assembling bowls of toppings and sauces, setting up a regular ice cream shop in Magnus’s honor.
James said, “I brought you a present Boss.”
Magnus laughed, “Last I checked I wasna your boss, Master Cook. Has something changed in our friendship?”
“Katie bought some apartments over on First Avenue. I’m the contractor.”
Magnus smiled at me. “You have become lord of the land, my Kaitlyn?”
I laughed. “I might be the landlord of a tiny plot, yes.”
Magnus shrugged at James. “Sounds like Kaitlyn is your boss.”
“Yeah, well, true,” James chuckled. “I brought a present for you both then. I’ll get it from the truck.”
James disappeared downstairs and returned a few minutes later with his tool belt and a box with Tiki Toss printed across it. He placed the box in front of Magnus. “You have the perfect deck for this.” He set about installing the game at the other end.
The goal of the game was to aim a ring for a hook on a surfboard shape. Magnus asked, “We toss this tiny ring? How will the women see our muscles?”
I laughed, “Depends on how you pose as you toss it.”
A few more people showed up then and soon enough the ice cream was ready. Vanilla, though Zach had about eight more ready-made flavors to choose from.
Magnus was appropriately mystified and impressed by the ice cream machine and the wide variety of toppings. He sprinkled so many colored sprinkles on his bowl that it was impossible to see the ice cream, assuring us that, “Highlanders love these tiny candy bits.” Then he happily took a bite, made a face, and added, “Tis nae my favorite.”
Chef Zach cracked up. “I told you that was too much.”
Magnus shook his head forlornly. “I have ruined the majestic display.”
Chef Zach took Magnus’s bowl to the kitchen to scrape sprinkles from it and returned a moment later with just the vanilla in a bowl.
Magnus said, “Tis just how Highlanders like their ice cream.”
And everyone laughed.
We had ice cream sundaes, played Tiki Toss, drank a lot of beer, and ate grilled cheese sandwiches that Zach whipped up for us. It was beautiful weather. We enjoyed friends and fun with a late sunset and an afternoon that went on and on. It was a wonderful evening. I tried very hard not to think about Magnus leaving because what would be the point — to be sad while he was here?
The truth was our time together was fleeting, had always been. Like all time ours was a mystery of interwoven strands moving together, sometimes going alone. I had to make sure that our time together was good. Even if it was short.
Especially if it was short.
But that was also a lot of pressure to always be smiling.
A look passed between us again — yes — aye.
Night came on, the sky had grown dark. We were sitting at tables, watching the game, candles flickering, drinking, and laughing.
Hayley said, “Now that you’re back Magnus is Katie going to take you to Orlando like she’s been dreaming about?”
We were sitting beside each other, leaned back in deck chairs. Magnus finished the beer in his hand. “Sadly I must go away again.”
Hayley said, “What? What are you talking about? When?”
“Three days hence.”
Hayley, like a good friend, turned to me with a frown. “Oh no, he’s leaving again?”
I nodded.
Hayley protested, “It’s not fair Magnus. It’s not fair to Katie. Can’t you figure something out?”
“I have pressing business—“
“Get someone else to do it.”
I said, “Hayley, he’s the boss. You know what that’s like. He’s the only one who can do it.”
She said, “I’m the boss of like a ton of people and I can take a day. It’s not that freaking hard, you just have to prioritize what’s important.”
“Hayley, it's not like that.”
“It’s exactly like that.” She turned to Magnus, “If you sir, gave one thought to Katie you wouldn’t be leaving again.”
Micheal said, “Whoa now, babe.”
“It’s true, she’s been heartbroken all year. How many days have you been together since your marriage?”
I said, “Like a week.”
Lee Anne said, “Oh, are you in the Navy? My sister’s husband is in the—”
James said, “Nah, it’s not like that, he’s just got work.”
I pointed at Lee Anne, “But yeah, like a Navy wife. Lots of wives have to deal with this...”
Hayley said, “You know it’s not the same. I’m just saying Magnus shouldn’t put you through it again.”
Magnus said, “I wish I dinna have tae, but I do.”
Hayley took a deep breath. “How are you going to deal with it Katie?”
“I don’t know, I’m trying to be a grown up about it.”
Hayley rolled her eyes and huffed.
I decided to try to lighten the mood by being over-dramatic and collapsed on the table. “Oh! If I had only known getting married would mean growing up! I didn’t realize it was going to be so tragic and lonely.”
Hayley looked at Micheal. “If we get married are you going to leave me?”
Micheal looked from me to Magnus to Hayley. “Um, not sure what to say, but no. I’m gonna take classes at college, then get a job.”
Hayley gestured at Micheal. “See? Marriage isn’t supposed to be lonely. It’s supposed to be waking up every day making each other crazy.”
Magnus was watching my face, looking at Hayley’s and back to mine. “I warned ye. I said twould be hard tae marry me.”
I grinned, still trying to lighten the mood though my heart didn’t feel light at all. “You, my love, did warn me but this is what I heard... jaw line, sexy, blah blah blah, shoulders, hot, dangerous, biceps bulging, yum, kilt, and sexy. It was very hard to hear you over your hotness.”
His brow drew down with his familiar look of confusion. He asked, his voice low and rumbling, “Do ye regret marrying me?”
“Never. Not once. No.”
He took my hand and stroked the back of it.
Hayley raised a brow. “Not once? How about when Lady Mairead put a knife to your throat—”
I shot her a shut up look but it was too late.
Magnus dropped his voice. “What did — Lady Mairead — when?”
I realized that James and everyone was looking at us, listening. “Hayley’s joking. Lady Mairead and I got into a thing. She’s joking about the knife.” I turned to Magnus. “I didn’t want to worry you. Let’s talk about it—”
Magnus leaned forward in his seat. “I need tae know Kaitlyn. What did Lady Mairead do?”
Quietly I answered, “She just — when I returned from Scotland and came home, Lady Mairead was waiting for me. She was furious. Accused me of letting you leave against her orders. She told me I would never see you again.”
Hayley said, “Actually if you think about it she made you think he was dead.”
“Hayley, you are not helping.”
She rocked her head back and forth, her words a little slurring. “I’m not hurting either, gotta tell the truth. Even if it is about someone’s bitchy mom.”
James said, “You didn’t tell me about that.”
“It’s not your business — mine, Magnus’s.” I directed my attention back to Magnus.
“Except you dinna tell me.”
“I would have... It just didn’t seem important enough to say it right away.”
“What else did she say?”
I pulled toward him and spoke so that only he could hear. “She pulled a knife on me. Told me she wanted to kill me, but she would let me live. I just wouldn’t ever see you again.”
“How long ago was this?”
“Months ago.”
He pulled me by both hands toward his waist, wrapped my arms around his chest all but pulling me from my chair, and kissed me on top of my head. “I am sorry I have brought danger tae ye, mo reul-iuil.” He spoke it quietly into my hair.
It made me a little misty-eyed. It had been a long bleak time, but it was nice he knew about it and was sorry for it. I nodded my head against his chest.
Hayley said, “Aw, now see, that is so sweet. Okay Magnus, I forgive you. Because you are so romantic to my Katie. Forget I said anything.”
“Madame Hayley, you have been a good friend to Kaitlyn Campbell and me this day.”
“Good!” She hiccuped and seemed to have lost interest in the conversation.
The party continued for a while longer, Magnus and James had a Tiki Toss battle to the end and we all cheered for one or the other. They were preening and posing like two Olympic athletes as they tossed the tiny ring. It was comical and lifted our mood, yet between the laughs Magnus’s face clouded over. He became thoughtful and ruminating before he would shake himself out of it and laugh again a moment later.
I decided he must be thinking about his mission in a few days. I had my own mission. Tomorrow we would be moving my grandmother into her assisted-living home. I needed to concentrate on that.
Chapter 3
Finally, people began to go home. Emma disappeared with the baby up to her room. Chef Zach cleaned the whole kitchen, offered everyone a last round of beers, left some extras in a tub of ice, and followed her upstairs. Having a live-in party staff was awesome. Hayley was the last to leave. She hugged Magnus extra long and gave a long slurring speech about how he was her “Favorite of Kaitlyn’s husbands” and “Don’t let all that garbage Micheal was saying earlier hurt your feelings. Micheal doesn’t understand true love, because Micheal is a poop head.”
Micheal helped her down to their Uber leaving me and Magnus at the teak table alone on the deck. It was a beautiful night, stars above, the sound of the ocean reaching our ears because the music ended and now it was quiet — crashing waves, rustling sea grass. The gentle hum of the air conditioning.
Magnus leaned back in his chair and looked down at his hands.
“You okay?”
He took another deep breath.
“Don’t let what Hayley was saying bother you too much. She was just drunk. Plus she doesn’t have any room to talk. She and Micheal don’t have a good relationship by any standard.”
“Tis nae the words of Mistress Hayley, nae really. I canna stop thinking of ye with Lady Mairead’s knife point at your throat.”
“Yeah, well...she is — you know, you say not to trust her. Let’s just say her threats can’t be trusted either.”
“I believe her threats are the one thing she is verra truthful about. She knows how much ye mean tae me, I am surprised at her actions.”
I looked at him sadly for a few moments then said, “Would you like to do something cool? Something super fun that will get your mind off of all of this? Because mothers and their crazy, idle threats are as common as fleas. We need to scratch it off and continue our lives.”
He chuckled. “Och aye, mo reul-iuil, what is fun?”
“Skinny-dipping. It’s the perfect night for it. Warm, languid waves, dark, a bit drunk out.”
“Are we now? That does sound good.”
“I’ll race you.” I shoved back my chair, jumped from my seat and bounded down the boardwalk, giggling loudly, actually more like a squealing with Magnus in full chase behind. Clomp clomp clomp. I skipped down the steps jumped to the sand and sprinted across the dunes. The tide was low, the waves non-existent. I whipped my shirt off over my head, unclasped my bra, and tossed them both over my shoulder. I unbuttoned my shorts and dropped them to the side with a kick, and then just before my feet hit the water, I slipped my panties off, wiggled my hips, and tossed them way far behind me. I splashed into the warm water until it was thigh deep and then dropped all the way in. I came up a minute later and looked back at the beach.
Magnus was hopping on one leg trying to pull a shoe off while laughing.
“God, you are so slow!”
He got a shoe off and tossed it up the beach and then balanced on the other foot, pulled off the second shoe and tossed that up the beach too. Then he pulled his shirt up over his head, all muscle-bound arms and shoulders and then, oh abs, and — his pants hit the ground and he bounded in after me doing a half dive and coming up just in front of me with a “phwesha!”
“Hi.”
“Hello Madame Kaitlyn.” He chuckled. Two strong hands grabbed my ass and pulled me close. A small
wave picked us up, rolled under us, and dropped us down. My calves slithered against his skin, soft kicks and gentle brushes. “You are verra slippery.”
I grinned and slid my arms around his neck. “Lotion.” I ran my hands down his back, still not used to the crisscrossing scars there, but not minding them because they were a part of him now. “How come we haven’t done this before?”
“Tis my first time all the way in the ocean.”
“It is? Really? It is? I mean, I guess so, but — wow. Well, my love, this is the Atlantic Ocean and...”
One of his hands flitted and played between my legs and his fingers explored and I lost track of my words as his lips went over mine, his tongue playing deep in my mouth. “And?” he asked as he pushed inside my body.
I moaned happily, wrapping my legs around his waist, inviting him in closer, more, “It’s salty and — oh god, Magnus—” The feel of his hands clasping me tight to his body was amazing. I arched back, floating on the surface of the water, concentrated power and relaxed motion inside me. The sky was flung with stars, deep black, the water shimmering, and my husband, head bowed, eyes closed, intense. His hands holding me so strong and sure, pulling me in, pushing me away, return and release. I rose up to wrap my arms around him again and floated just above. My tongue pressed to the salt of his neck, moaning into his skin, repeating my mantra, ohgodohgodohgod, as his body rushed full of force and power. And that now familiar feeling of Magnus, finishing, still and driven, hot and filling and pulsing and deep-breath-exhaling — aaahhh — more felt than said.
And then a long delicious pause. Where slowly mind returned and memory and place and touch slowly bit by bit, until consciousness was full again. Oh. It was me, Magnus, love. My lips felt his pulse. His body held a hum. The water was warm and lifted me away and dropped me back on him.
God, I loved him. His temple was pressed to my cheek. The salt of his sweat mingled with ocean and breeze. “How do you like it?”
“Tis verra fun.”
“We should add surfing to our list—”
Suddenly from the direction of the house, faint, Quentin’s voice, “Boss!” He was running closer down the sand. “Magnus, Kaitlyn, something’s—” He got to the water’s edge out of breath. “Barb is freaking out.”
Warrior of My Own Page 2