One Magic Moment

  John shook his head slowly. “I couldn’t bear to. As far as I was concerned, I had no past. Certainly no past in the past.”

  “How interesting for you, then, to encounter a woman whose specialty is the past.”

  “Trust me,” John said dryly, “the thought has occurred to me more than once. I looked for every possible reason not to see her again.”

  “Unsuccessfully, apparently,” Nicholas said with a smile, “and fortunately for you, I think.”

  “Do you like her?”

  “Very much,” Nicholas said without hesitation. “I think she might be the single person in the Future who could live with you and not think you completely mad.” He studied John for another very long moment. “Would you stay?” he asked finally. “If we begged you to?”

  John shifted uncomfortably. “The thought of you down on your knees makes me slightly ill.”

  Nicholas laughed. “I was going to advise you not to expect me to be the one begging, but that would have sounded too much like Robin.” He sighed. “I wouldn’t ask it of you. This will sound as daft as anything you could possibly say, but I think you belong in that time of yours.”

  “I’ll make sure we have guest chambers enough that you might make a visit in your hoary-headed old age.”

  “By the saints,” Nicholas said with a shiver, “what a thought.” He shot John a look. “But don’t think I haven’t fondled your keys already just the same. And your phone.”

  “How did you know how to work it?” John asked in surprise.

  “I can find the on button as easily as the next medieval lord,” Nicholas said archly.

  John laughed in spite of himself. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”

  “Neither can I. We’d best head for the lists. I’m sure a morning of swordplay will ground us in the proper year.”

  John wasn’t opposed to that, for a variety of reasons. The first was because he wanted to be prepared, but perhaps even more than that, he wasn’t going to pass up a morning spent with his brothers.

  By the time Nicholas, Robin, and Miles had taken their turns with him, he was so wrung out, he wasn’t sure he would make it back to the house, much less back to the Future. He stumbled off the field and looked for a place to sit only to find the bench by the wall occupied by Tess and an extensive collection of nieces and nephews. She was holding Robin’s only gel Mary on her lap whilst others had piled onto the bench next to her. Kendrick and Rose, Amanda’s eldest, were standing in front of her, arguing the merits of investigating things better left uninvestigated if the speed with which they bit back their words on his approach was any indication.

  He folded his arms over his chest and looked at them severely. “Plotting naughtiness?”

  “They are,” Amanda’s eldest son Jackson said without hesitation. “I can tell you—”

  Rose sat down on her brother and robbed him of his wind. She smiled up at John innocently. “Nothing untoward, Uncle John. Just expanding our minds in useful ways, as Father always instructs me to do.”

  “I can just imagine,” John muttered. He looked at Tess and smiled. “At least they’re keeping you warm.”

  She looked perfectly serene. “Warm and entertained. A lovely combination.”

  John looked at the collection of the eldest lads there, sons of Robin, Nicholas, Jake, and Miles, and tried not to let the sight of them make his heart ache. If he could have, he would have taken a few pictures of them with his phone, just to have in the Future.

  “I’m going to clean up,” he said to those same lads. “See to your future auntie Tess for me until I return.”

  Chests were puffed out and weapons checked for proximity to young hands should something dangerous occur. John smiled at Tess, then walked away whilst he still could without it breaking his heart further. His siblings he could live without—especially Robin—but the bairns?

  He walked into Robin before he realized what he was doing. He had to take a deep breath as he steadied himself.

  “I’m maudlin.”

  “Aye, you always have been.”

  “Nay, you’re mistaking me for Montgomery,” John said, pursing his lips. “I’m the hard-hearted one.”

  Robin shook his head slowly. “You hid it well, but your heart was tender. You haven’t changed.”

  “Shut up, Robin,” John said with a sigh.

  Robin laughed a little and slung his arm around John’s shoulders. “I’ll do this for you, because I love you so much. I’ll have Jake paint a portrait of all the wee ones every couple of years and hide them up somewhere in Artane. You can dig them out of the wall when you go home. Surely the current Earl of Artane won’t mind you nosing about in his artifacts.”

  John cleared his throat. “Likely not. And that’s very generous of you.”

  “I didn’t say I would pay Jake to do it, just that I’d needle him. You’ll have to work out his price yourself.”

  John shook his head and walked on with his brother. Things didn’t change. Robin took delight in tormenting his brothers, doting on his wife and spawn, and grinding every swordsman in the area into dust whenever and for however long possible. He supposed he and Tess could attempt another trip at some point in the future and find Robin at three score just the same—

  He turned away from that thought because he wasn’t at all sure he trusted any time gate in England, no matter how easily James MacLeod seemed to use them. His own experience had been so terrible, he was hardly willing to take the risk for himself alone. The thought of risking Tess for a lark of that sort, or any children they might have . . .

  Nay, he would make peace with his father, kiss his siblings and their progeny good-bye, then he would take Tess home and wed her. Explorers and pilgrims of all stripes had done the same over centuries of the world’s tale, leaving behind the hearths and homes of their childhood and knowing they would never see them again.

  He wondered how they’d borne it.

  The cuff on the back of his head had him turning with his sword half drawn. He glared at Robin. “What?”

  “Nothing,” Robin said cheerfully. “Just dislodging a bit of good sense.”

  John rolled his eyes and carried on with getting himself cleaned up and back downstairs where he could join Tess in keeping warm with those sweet children his siblings were fortunate enough to call their own.

  He spent a good part of the afternoon entertaining those sweet children with French translations of all the modern children’s music he could bring to mind whilst keeping a close eye on Kendrick and Rose. The saints only knew what mischief those two would combine, though perhaps less than they might have if Jackson the Fifth hadn’t been watching them with a frown.

  John spent quite a bit of time smiling to himself as well.

  He had just sat down next to Tess at supper, envisioning a long, lovely evening stretching out in front of him, when a man burst into the hall. John was standing in front of the table with his sword drawn before he realized he’d leaped over the table to do so.

  The messenger held up his hands quickly. “Not war,” he blurted out. He walked swiftly to Nicholas and bowed low. “From Joanna of Segrave’s steward, my lord.”

  Nicholas took the missive, read it, then sent the messenger off to the kitchens for something to eat. He turned around and swept them all with a look.

  “Grandmère has sent for us. Well, not for me because she doesn’t want me to leave my lady so close to her time.” He exchanged a brief look with Jennifer, then continued. “She wants the rest of you to go to Segrave, as quick as may be. Leave what children behind you will and I’ll see to them. My mother-in-law and her mother will be arriving any time, so we’ll have extra hands enough.”

  John resheathed his sword, let out his breath slowly, then walked around the table to drop down in the chair next to Tess. He looked at her seriously. “Care for another journey?”

  “Of course,” she said, just as seriously. “Do you think this is why we’re here?”
br />   “Perhaps,” he agreed, though he couldn’t imagine time would have brought him back to the past merely to see his grandmother shuffle off her mortal coil. She could have haunted him—and likely had been but he’d been too stupid to realize it—in the Future without much effort. He smiled at Tess. “Perhaps. I imagine we’ll leave at dawn. Robin likes to get an early start on these sorts of things.”

  She nodded. “Will we just camp, do you think, or stay in inns?”

  “I imagine both,” he said, “and I believe, my lady, that I will be sleeping on your floor, and the critics be damned. Or I could just wed you tonight and solve that problem.”

  She smiled, looking substantially more at peace than she had before. “And here I thought you promised me medieval wooing, up close and personal. I wonder if it will involve something besides herding.”

  “That’s all I know how to do,” he said, only half jesting. “Though I suppose I could save you a tumble off your horse if the opportunity arose.”

  “That’s very romantic.”

  ’Tis better than a broken neck was almost out of his mouth, but fortunately the filter between his brain and mouth was functioning as it should. He smiled. “I’ll stretch myself and see what comes to mind.”

  She took his hand. “I’m sorry about your grandmother.”

  “She’s ancient,” John said with a sigh, “and long overdue for a new adventure, I daresay.” He smiled. “You’ll like her, I think, given that she is, as you know, the one who forced me to learn to play the lute.”

  “It was well done, by both of you,” she said. She looked at him carefully. “And then we’ll go to France?”

  “If you wouldn’t mind.”

  She looked a little green, truth be told. “I’m not sure about how I’ll do with your parents, but I would like to see Pippa. How will we get there?”

  “I’ll borrow gold from some brother or other,” he said with a shrug. “The journey isn’t easy, but we’ll manage.”

  She nodded, then turned to answer a question Amanda had asked her from her other side. John leaned back in his chair and watched Nicholas and Robin making their plans. It was how things had gone for as long as he could remember, though his father had always been a part of that very small circle, and Jake had joined it years ago. He had still been too green at nineteen to be invited, which he supposed had been part of the reason he’d taken his own fate in his hands and marched off toward points unknown.

  He realized Robin was trying to get his attention. He excused himself and walked around the table to find himself now part of that exclusive circle of planners that now included Miles as well.

  He supposed he was too old for it to please him as much as it did.

  Robin rolled his eyes. “Stop daydreaming and concentrate. This might be an excellent opportunity to see what hunts you.”

  John blinked. “Whilst Tess is there? Are you mad?”

  “I don’t think you want to leave her here, do you?” Robin asked, no doubt quite reasonably to his mind. “You could try, of course, but I don’t imagine she’ll stay.”

  John exchanged a look with Nicholas, then glanced at Jake. Jake only held up his hands in surrender.

  “Amanda won’t stay behind, but that won’t come as much of a surprise. Your Tess is very much like her, I’m afraid. I think between the four of us, we can keep our ladies safe.”

  “I brought my own guardsmen, of course,” Robin put in. “Though I’ll leave most here to see to Anne, Jason, and Mary, I’ll bring enough with me that no one will dare assault us.”

  “I don’t like this,” John said grimly.

  “You would like it even less if Tess wandered off without you because you allowed fear to rule the day,” Robin said sharply. “I’m bringing Kendrick, for pity’s sake. You don’t think I would put my son in danger, do you? Well, I left Phillip with Montgomery when he still had holes in his walls, but that has nothing to do with this. I have perfect confidence in my ability to vanquish anything that might be hunting you, even if you don’t.”

  Unless that soul had acquired a modern weapon, then Robin would be rapidly reassessing his prowess. John sighed, dragged his hand though his hair, then nodded, because he could do nothing else.

  “Go pack,” Robin said briskly, “and say your good-byes, all of you. We’ll leave before dawn.”

  John watched him walk away to consult with his own guardsmen, the steely eyed, supremely capable looking lads who were interspersed within the ranks of Nicholas’s garrison, and supposed his brother had things aright. Jake and Miles would bring a contingent of their own men to add to Robin’s, and it wasn’t as if he and his brothers couldn’t attend to any stray threats.

  But what convinced him was the thought of Tess taking matters into her own hands—and he was quite sure Nicholas would be unable to control her.

  He could only hope that taking her with him wouldn’t be worse.

  Chapter 27

  Tess stood in the courtyard before dawn and honestly wished herself anywhere else. She wasn’t a coward, though, so she made herself witness a parting she wished she didn’t have to.

  Robin was leaving Anne behind because of the swiftness of their prospective journey and something to do with Anne’s leg that she didn’t seem to want to talk about. Amanda and Jake were coming, as were their two eldest, Rose and Jackson the Fifth. Miles was bringing a pair of his sons, but leaving the rest behind with his wife, Abigail.

  Nicholas was staying behind as well, though she imagined both he and Jennifer were unhappy over missing his grandmother’s last days.

  She realized he was standing next to her, and she couldn’t help but jump a bit.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realize you were there.”

  “You were lost in thought.”

  She looked up at him. He was every bit as gorgeous as the rest of his brothers and had charm to spare. She could see why Jennifer had readily left the future to itself to remain and camp with him for the whole of her life. She cleared her throat.

  “Do you always do what your grandmother tells you to do?” she asked.

  He smiled. “We were there visiting in the spring, and aye, I always do what she tells me to do. She pinches my ear if I don’t. And were I to disobey her edict, she wouldn’t be at all pleased to see me, and the trip would have been wasted.”

  “She sounds formidable.”

  “She is. She’ll be thrilled to see John, though she’ll remind him that I am her favorite grandson. I don’t know that John isn’t next in line, though. She grieved enormously when he went missing.”

  “I understand,” Tess said, because she did—at least in part. At least she’d known what Pippa had intended to do and she’d had a day or two to get used to the idea and say her good-byes.

  “Jennifer’s family came to our wedding,” Nicholas said, as casually as if they were talking about the weather. “And her mother and grandmother have come for the birth of each of our children. They should be arriving soon.”

  “Brave women,” Tess said faintly.

  “They are,” Nicholas agreed, “but they didn’t have John’s experience with the gate near Artane. I daresay, if I might offer an opinion, that he was meant to stay in the Future. I would imagine that most souls are likewise wedded to their places in time. My mother-in-law and her mother are the only ones I know who seem to be scampering about out of Fate’s sights, as it were.”

  “At least they can see Jennifer now and then,” Tess said, then she realized what she’d said. She took a deep breath and, it had to be admitted, blinked rather rapidly a time or two. “Her siblings must miss her. I know Megan does.”

  “I’m sure they do,” Nicholas said quietly. “But ’twas her choice, wasn’t it?”

  She looked up at him, pained. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I stood in your shoes,” he said simply. “Jenner stayed for me.”

  “And you think John is going for me?”

  “He’s certainly
not going for those four damned cars he has plunging him into the sin of gluttony.”

  She couldn’t even attempt a smile. “And how did you survive it?”

  “The responsibility?” he asked. He shrugged. “I spend every moment—well, almost every moment—trying to make sure she doesn’t regret her choice. You needn’t do the same. Adoration is for my brother to see to. Your task is to keep him in line, which is far more difficult.”

  “I’ll try to make sure he doesn’t regret it.”

  “I don’t think you’ll have to do much more than breathe to see to that,” Nicholas said dryly. “You might allow him to herd you now and again, just to make him feel more manly.”

  “He doesn’t give me much choice.”

  “He wouldn’t,” Nicholas agreed. “He loves you very much. And I imagine he’s also feeling rather fortunate that you understand his past.”

  She managed a smile. “I suppose that’s true. At least when his right hand twitches, I know he’s reaching for a nonexistent sword.”

  Nicholas laughed uneasily. “Please keep him out of your modern dungeons for me, won’t you? I don’t think I could rescue him there.” He hesitated, then smiled. “And keep Megan apprised of your happenings, if you would, so her mother might bring us those tidings.”

  “I will,” Tess agreed.

  “And send the occasional thing to Montgomery, will you? He is unwholesomely addicted to all manner of future snacks.”

  Tess promised him she would see to that as well, all the while trying to find her linguistic bearings in the rush of medieval French and modern English that Nicholas seem to toss about with abandon. She continued to make polite conversation with John’s brother until she found herself pulled away by John’s nieces and nephews. By the time she’d said good-bye to all of them, John was coming to fetch her.

  He looked at her, then closed his eyes briefly and pulled her into his arms. “Let’s go,” he said hoarsely. “Before I break down and bawl like a bairn.”