Caelan grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. “I dinna care how many times ye have done anything around here. This is the first time ye’ve done these things with bairns in your belly. ’Tis a dangerous time, Rachel. Ye must be more mindful. I’ll not have ye hurt because ye refuse to listen to reason. Act with caution, ye ken? I canna always be here to catch ye if ye fall!” His eyes were wild with terror, as though some unseen enemy he couldn’t fight was stalking her, and he hated being helpless to protect her.
She had never seen him so upset, and it tore at her heart that she was the one responsible for making him that way. Pulling him into a tight hug, she melted against him, snuggling as close as she could.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I promise I’ll be more careful since it’s not just me anymore.” The tension seemed to leavehim, and she listened closely as his heartbeat calmed even though he held her tighter.
He stroked her hair and inhaled as though breathing in her scent. She found it strange but didn’t say a word. Not when she’d just upset him so.
“Just promise me ye will take care,” he begged, his voice husky with emotion. “I canna bear the thought of anything happening to ye or the bairns. Promise me, aye?” He tangled his fingers in her hair and held on tight as though fearing she would disappear.
She leaned back and touched his face. “I promise with all my heart and soul to be more careful andtryto stop being so hard-headed.”
He angled an eyebrow higher while cocking his head to one side. “I suppose a half promise is better than no promise at all.”
She gave him a teasing thump on his chest, then returned to her quest for food. “I am not allthathard-headed—at least, not as hard-headed as some people I know. Which reminds me, how was your trip to town? You said you had to get the lawyer to redo some of the paperwork. What was wrong with it? I thought everything was taken care of.” She hoped she’d understood all the legal jargon correctly when she’d read that as long as she and Caelan were alive and well—and in this time—the property and money would remain in their names and not become a protected wetland foundation.
Caelan groaned and fidgeted beside her, raking a hand through his hair as his irritated scowl returned. “My trip was for naught. The documents I needed to change had already been sent to some such place to be recorded or filed or something, and they have yet to return.” He shook his head, frustration flashing in his emerald eyes. “Some such nonsense about waiting periods and filing times. I dinna see how anything gets done in this century.”
She pulled a bag of chocolate sandwich cookies and the jar of peanut butter down from the cabinet and moved to the kitchen table. “That’s how lawyers stay in business. All the filing and re-filing and waiting periods and such. They’re the only ones who can keep up with all that mess. Do you want some?” She offered him a cookie she had smeared with peanut butter.
“No, thank ye.” He wrinkled his nose, making a face as if she was eating dirt.
“It’s good,” she defended.
“Must be the bairns that think so,” he said as he poured her a tall glass of milk to go with them.
“Thank you.” She accepted the drink with a smile. “You know…it’s supposed to be a beautiful night with the moon nearly full. You and Emrys need to see the view of the farm in the moonlight—from the pond before we cross over into the past.” She rose from the table and started clearing away her mess, carefully avoiding Caelan’s gaze as she laid the groundwork for her plan. “Since I’ve stuffed myself with cookies and peanut butter, there’s no way I’ll be hungry for supper at the regular time. How about if I fix the three of us a good old-fashioned picnic? Fried chicken and all the fixings? We can take it up to the pond and enjoy a moonrise supper. You, me, Emrys, and the dogs. How about it? Granny and I used to do it a lot when I stayed with her in the summer. It’s so beautiful up there. What do you say?”
She snapped her mouth shut when she realized that the more she babbled, the more she sounded like she was up to something. She’d never been a convincing liar as a child and apparently, her skill at lying hadn’t approved as an adult. Turning from the kitchen sink, she risked meeting Caelan’s watchful gaze.
“What are ye playing at, lass?” He leaned against the doorjamb with his arms folded across his chest.
“What?” She lifted both hands in the air and forced as innocent a look as possible. “It’s just that I know we’re going to be leaving soon, and I used to go up there with Granny every summer. This might be the last chance for me to relive that memory.”
She silently sent up a prayer to her grandmother to forgive her for playing the homesick pregnant female card and hoped Caelan would fall for it. It was the only thing she could think of to get everybody up there. She’d accidentally used the termmoonrise,and if Caelan repeated it to Emrys, well, then she knew the game would be over before it even began.
He dropped his gaze to the floor and scrubbed a hand over his face as if suddenly stricken with an overwhelming weariness. “Aye, lass. A picnic tonight would be a fine thing indeed. Forgive me for not understanding how much it meant to ye. I’m afraid it’s been a verra long day. I’ll go to the apartment and tell Emrys of your invitation.”
She couldn’t help but grin. “Great! Do me a favor and keep Emrys occupied until time to go to the pond. He gets underfoot worse than a toddler sometimes. Just bring him and Maizy to the pond at midnight. Sam and I will have everything ready and waiting. Would you be able to do that?” She held her breath while waiting for his answer.
“Aye, lass,” he agreed with a tired smile. “I can do that with no trouble at all.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose, laid a gentle touch on her stomach, then quietly let himself out the screen door with a hitching sniffle.
“Are you getting a cold?” she called after him.
He cleared his throat and answered without looking back at her. “Nay, lass. No cold at all.” But his voice broke and sounded strange.
“It almost sounded like he was about to cry,” Rachel mused aloud but forced herself to shrug it away. Everything would be allright after tonight. He would probably be angry for a while, but hopefully, would forgive her when she explained all her reasons for trapping him here in this time—the most important thing was that they would be here together where everything was so much safer.
“It will be all right,” she promised herself as she started putting together the most important picnic of her life.
CHAPTER 15
“Sam!” Rachel snapped her fingers at the sneaky little dog just as he nosed his way under the towel covering the picnic basket. “Stay out of there. You know you can’t have chicken bones, and you also know how important this is. We discussed it all the way up here, remember? Now, behave yourself while I finish things up.”
Granny’s book lay open on top of a boulder. Rachel leaned closer and squinted at the flowing script in the moonlight, double-checking every step. She had to follow everything to the letter. Nothing could be left to chance. Just as the little black and tan dog poked his head into the basket again, she scooped him up and moved the basket to a higher perch on a rock.
“I need you to behave. Please?” she implored him as she set him back on the ground.
Back at the book, she picked up where she’d left off. “Salt for protection. Done.” She counted the steps off on her fingers while frowning down at the passage. “Area cleansed with sage—done. Candles lit. Circle open and blessed by the directions, and the crystals are ready. All I need are the guests of honor, and it will be time to seal them here.”
