Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (136 page)

She had finally worked up the gumption to
check one of the books in the history section, which only referred
to Cantlecroft as a footnote in the peasant rebellions of the
fourteenth century. Cantlecroft had ceased to be in 1390, as Monty
had once said, though pertinent details were unavailable.

Nothing was going right for Viviane any
more.

She turned away from the glow spilling from
Joe’s bakery, she avoided what little bustle there was in Ganges’
sleepy core. The last thing she wanted was company. Viviane
returned Ryan’s nod as that increasingly familiar man passed her on
his way to Barb’s, a tube beneath his arm that Viviane knew
contained yet more drawings for Barb’s garden.

The amazing Mouats held no fascination for
Viviane these days - in fact, going there just reminded her of
Niall and the glow in his eyes when she tried on those rubbers. The
green rubbers themselves had been consigned to the darkest corner
of her room, a room that trumpeted memories of Niall from all
sides. She couldn’t bear to part with his armor, let alone his
array of pristinely packaged toothbrushes.

It began to rain, a lazy soft sort of rain
which suited Viviane’s mood perfectly. It seemed to her that the
sky was weeping sympathetically for her plight.

Her dragging footsteps turned of their own
accord to the beach and soon she found herself standing on the very
spot where she had returned to Ganges. The sea lapped at her toes,
its surface shimmering silver and pewter as far as she could
see.

If this had been a tale of any merit at all,
Viviane concluded with annoyance, the sea would have returned what
it had stolen from her. Right now. A mermaid would have appeared
from the mist to grant her a gift, or a clamshell would have opened
at her feet to display her shattered moonstone pendant, magically
repaired.

Viviane waited, but nothing happened.

She was confusing fanciful tales with the
truth again. Viviane couldn’t help that she found such tales much
more appealing. She heaved a sigh and folded her arms across her
chest, watching a little crab scurry out of the way of the gentle
roll of the waves.

She supposed she should figure out a way to
get on with things, to make a new start, to put the past behind.
She couldn’t summon a lot of enthusiasm for the idea and looked for
a helpful mermaid one more time.

The crab started at a sudden flash of blue
light, then darted in the opposite direction. The light came from
behind Viviane, but before she could look, a familiar voice carried
down the beach.

“
Yes! Yes, yes,
yes
!
Kowabunga - it worked!”

Viviane spun around to find Monty dancing a
wild jig on the sand behind her. Monty!

Just Monty.

He punched his fists at the sky, then fell
on his hands and knees. “Man, oh man, I can like
relate
to
the Pope,” he muttered inexplicably, then noisily kissed the beach.
He did it twice more then bounced to his feet, hailing Viviane with
a wave. “Viviane, babe, how are you?”

She didn’t want to hurt his feelings by
pointing out that sand clung to his whiskers. He looked even more
disreputable than the first time she had met him but she was glad
to see him all the same.

“
Monty!”

“
Yeah, babe, it’s me!” He
let out a hoot, then ran to her and scooped her up in a hug. “And
man, it’s good to be back in ye olde Salt Spring.”

Viviane couldn’t help looking past his
shoulder, but Monty was clearly alone. Her heart twisted and she
remembered a little too vividly that Niall never had confessed to
having any feelings for her.

Maybe she
had
been wrong about
him.

“
Hey, like why the long
face?” Monty playfully jabbed his fingers into her cheeks and
forced her lips into a curve of a smile. “Miss me?”

Viviane wrinkled her nose, seizing an excuse
she knew he’d understand. “My tale of Gawain was rejected today,
for the third time.”

“
No kidding.” He gave her a
quick hug. “That’s some bitch. Was it like a form letter? Those are
the worst.” He affected a haughty tone and matching pose.
“Dear
Author. Unfortunately we find absolutely no merit in your work and
find its presence in our offices singularly offensive. Good luck
finding a sucker elsewhere. Sincerely, the Editors.
”

Viviane smiled despite herself. “Not quite
that bad.” She folded her arms across her chest, wondering how she
would ask what she really wanted to know without sounding
desperate. “Although they did take three pages to tell me
everything they disliked about the book.”

Monty’s expression brightened. “No kidding?
A real letter? You got like a
real
letter? And it was three
pages long?”

Viviane nodded. “The letter made it clear
that they didn’t want the book, Monty - let alone all the reasons
why.”

“
Viviane, babe, that’s like
gold
!” He grinned like a madman. “You’re
in
. People
would kill for a letter like that. It’s good news, a good
rejection. Make those changes, and you’ll have a sale.” Monty
rubbed his hands gleefully together. “Do you want an introduction
to my agent? He’s a shark at the negotiating table and with this
kind of interest, you’ll need…”

Viviane put her hand on Monty’s arm as he
showed no signs of stopping soon. “Monty, how did you get
here?”

Monty fell silent mid-sentence. He studied
her, his expression as serious as Viviane had ever seen.

She guessed that he saw more than she would
have liked, because he tapped the end of her nose with a gentle
finger. “Hey, you already know how I got here,” he said quietly.
“And you’re right - ah, I saw you look! - I came
alone
.” He
wrinkled his nose. “What can I say? Everyone wants a guinea pig and
-” he deepened his voice in obvious mimicry “- ’tis only good sense
to ensure…”

“
But…”

Viviane’s question was cut short by a second
shimmer of blue light. She winced even as her heart started to sing
and peeked through her lashes as soon as she could stand the
brightness.

But it was only Majella. She wavered on her
feet, her arms full of young children at various levels of
disorientation. Monty quickly stepped forward to help her,
extracting children and setting them on their feet, sparing Majella
a hearty buss.

“
Hey, babe, like welcome to
my world. You okay?”

Majella conjured a trembling smile. “Oh,
Monty, I shall never become accustomed to your strange speech.”

“
We’ll work on it,” Monty
insisted and Majella flushed slightly beneath his intense gaze,
looking suddenly like a young girl. They exchanged greetings and
Viviane noticed that there were only four children with her. She
dared to hope one more time.

Monty and Majella exchanged a smile, then
Majella glanced over her shoulder expectantly. All of them closed
their eyes against a brilliant shimmer of light. Viviane was
running into the light even before she could see where she was
going. She knew who was coming last, she knew who would ensure that
everyone was safely departed before he followed, she knew that her
luck was changing back to the good side one more time.

Viviane knew her hero was coming back to
her, just like an old tale.

And she wasn’t disappointed. Niall appeared
before her very eyes, looking as golden and as hale as she
recalled. Matthew clung to his hand, Elizabeth held Matthew’s hand.
Mark hung from his uncle’s shoulder and another wide-eyed toddler
was nestled in the crook of Niall’s arm.

And in his left hand, a moonstone pendant
remarkably like Viviane’s own reflected the shimmer of the sea and
the rain. Its chain was knotted around his fingers, the pendant
swinging free. Viviane immediately understood that they had each
held it to make their wish, then Niall snatched it back in the nick
of time.

“
Niall!” Viviane cried and
fell upon him. He divested himself of children and caught her
against him with a chuckle, lifting her high in a bone-crushing
hug.

“
My Viviane,” he whispered
against her throat, a thread of uncertainty in his tone. His cheek
was pressed to hers and Viviane felt the anxious thunder of his
heart.

He hadn’t been sure.

They might as well have been alone. Viviane
pulled back and framed his face in her hands, needing to touch him
to know for certain that he was here. “You came back,” she
whispered, suddenly shy. She was painfully aware in this moment
that there was no sweet pledge between them.

“
Aye,” he whispered, his
green gaze searching. “I had a confession and a question for you
that could not be denied.”

Viviane parted her lips but no sound came
out.

“
I love you, Viviane,”
Niall declared. “I love you as never a man has loved a woman
before.” A vulnerability dawned in his expression, the sight
tearing at Viviane’s heart. “Will you wed me now, knowing the truth
of it?”

“
Oh yes!” Viviane laughed,
she cried, she rained kisses all over Niall’s face even as he began
to chuckle.

“
Tears,” he mused moments
later, brushing one fingertip tenderly across her cheek. “You
should know that I cannot bear to see a woman weep.” He arched one
brow, mischief lighting his eyes as he tugged her even closer. “I
shall have to coax your smile, my Viviane. Be warned that you may
have need of your rubbers.”

“
No,” she whispered. “Not
any more.”

Niall’s eyes flashed, he laughed aloud for
the first time in Viviane’s experience. He looked younger, yet more
vital, a man filled with the promise of the future.

Her man and the promise of their future.

Viviane’s heart sang as Niall interlaced
their fingers and lifted his hand high. The moonstone glinted as he
swung it by the chain. He looked once to Majella who nodded
emphatically, then he flung the stone far out to sea. It flashed
once before it splashed in the distance, then it was gone,
swallowed by the ocean forever.

Majella applauded, Monty gave a hoot of
delight, and they two continued their course toward the town. The
children trailed behind them, full of questions and earthy demands
now that they were recovered from the transition.

“
We begin anew, my
Viviane,” Niall declared, his intent gaze fixed upon her, his
fingertips on her jaw. “The past can haunt you no
longer.”

He brushed his lips across hers and Viviane
shivered. Niall smiled down at her and she reached up to trace the
curve of his firm lips. “I like when you smile,” she confided and
his grin broadened.

“
Then we shall have to
ensure each other’s happiness,” he teased. “Aye, I shall pledge it
to you.”

To seal that vow, Niall dipped his head and
kissed Viviane so thoroughly that she thought her heart would
burst. Her knight was a man of his word and she had no doubt he
would keep his pledge.

In fact, the warm certainty of Niall’s love
proved to Viviane that her luck had never falter despite her
doubts. He had loved her all along. She knew now that she should
have never doubted it, just as she knew she would be blessed with
good fortune for all her days.

Not to mention her nights.

*

It was the Tuesday before Easter, on a misty
April morning, that Ryan saw the electric blue flower.

He had just come up to tuck a few more
plants into Barb’s new flower beds when she wasn’t looking - a
columbine with three perfect blossoms, a lady’s mantle with its
yellow blooms just in bud. He knew that Barb would like the shape
of the columbine flowers - they were like fragile trumpets - and
the ruffling on the edge of the lady’s mantle leaves.

Ryan was starting to have a pretty good idea
of the kinds of things Barb liked. And he liked being able to make
her smile once in a while. She looked as though she hadn’t done
much of that in the last few years.

He could relate.

He could also relate to how surprised she
was whenever anyone did something unexpected and nice for her. Ryan
had a feeling that he and Barb were slowly going to get to know
each other a whole lot better.

That was fine by him.

He felt as though he was walking through
clouds as he climbed the hill to her place and the morning mist
swirled around his ankles. Ryan paused more than once to look over
the silent harbor, glad for a hundred reasons that he had come
here. It was early. Even the birds weren’t up, but he had to catch
the first ferry from Fulford to the mainland this morning.

And he wanted to do this first, so he could
spend the day imagining Barb’s surprised smile. Ryan stepped into
the garden, hoping he was earlier than her today, and the vibrant
blue immediately snared his eye.

It was gorgeously vivid and he knew exactly
what had bloomed. Barb was going to be over the moon! Ryan crossed
the garden, circumnavigating the pond he had installed and pausing
beside the stones he had worked into place.

It was the Siberian Iris that she had tried
her damnedest to kill. Ryan shoved his hands into his pockets and
grinned at the stubborn little sucker.

This was a far better surprise than what he
had brought. Ryan quickly added the young plants to the beds,
deciding where they would look best with an ease born of
experience. He turned to leave, then stopped to look at that iris
again.

It was so beautiful, all the more so because
the plant reminded him of Barb. This little iris had toughed it
out, dumped in soil and light conditions completely wrong for it,
thriving despite the odds. All it had needed was a little TLC to
coax it to bloom.