Duncan ran a hand through his sweat-thickened hair. He looked so uncomfortable that her heart sank. Had she called it wrong after all? Had that coma messed her up more than she’d realized? “I just…I saw you talking, and how you looked at each other, and I thought, maybe there’s something there, but I shouldn’t have made assumptions and I deeply apologize if?—”
“No.” Duncan cut her off. “Do not apologize. You are correct. I am very…drawn to Jamie.” He turned to her brother, who was still staring at the floor. “I don’t know if I’m gay so much as bi, because I’ve been with both sexes, as well as a girl who was transitioning. I don’t care about the labels, it all depends on the person. And I’ve never quite felt what I feel for you, Jamie.”
Her brother finally lifted his head, and the two young men shared a look so intimate that Mathilda wished she could clear the room for them.
“I feel the same,” Jamie whispered.
“I know this is a bit rushed, but I’m willing to give it a whirl if you are.” He dropped to one knee. “Will you marry me, Jamie Wheeler?”
Charlotte let out a soft squeal, then covered her mouth. Mark drew her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her as the two of them watched their son struggle with his emotions.
“I will,” Jamie said softly. “But only because I might love you. I mean, I could. Maybe I do. Not because of all that other stuff.”
“Fair.” Duncan let out a delighted burble of laughter. “That’s very fair. Couldn’t have said it better myself.” He drew Jamie to him and whispered something in his ear that made Jamie blush even more. At least they were keeping part of this moment private and just for them.
Philip Phelps cleared his throat. “We are running short on time, I’m afraid to say. Perhaps we could locate a justice of the peace or an online minister of sorts?”
“Would a descendant of one of the ali’i do?”
They all turned as the doctor stepped back into the room, accompanied by a nurse who hurried to Mathilda to begin unhooking her IV.
“What’s an ali’i?” gasped Charlotte.
“They were the nobles and chiefs of ancient Hawaii,” Mathilda explained. “They were considered sacred and commoners weren’t even supposed to meet their eyes.”
“Things have loosened up since then,” the doctor said reassuringly. “I’m not an ali’i myself, but I am connected to a family of ali’i on my father’s side. And more to the point,” he added, “I have an online minister’s license. I’ve performed a number of marriages and would be happy to help out.”
And so it came to be that Jamie Wheeler and Duncan Aberdeen fulfilled the conditions of the Aberdeen Bequest only hours before it expired.
Mathilda felt quite pleased with herself. Finally she’d cracked the code of her brother and won his open affection and a big hug. Her mother was beyond happy to see her son fall in love with a handsome Englishman. Her father was about as happy as he always was, which meant he was entirely, perfectly happy.
In Mathilda’s opinion, their marriage probably saved thousands of animals’ lives and prevented great harm to the environment. Best of all—selfishly speaking—Mathilda didn’t have to live a lie and marry a man she didn’t love, a man who loved her as a brother should, nothing more.
She wouldn’t get all that money, but she was fine with that. She intended to pitch Jamie and Duncan on a few funding ideas. They owed her, after all.
As for love…at least she finally knew what it felt like. Even if she never saw Rory again, she’d experienced something with him that she’d never expected, and for that, she would always be grateful.
33
At the Shady Pines Residential Home, a new wing was under construction. That worked to Rory’s benefit as he was easily able to blend in with the construction workers.
After two months of off-radar existence, he didn’t know if anyone was still looking for him. He didn’t know if anyone ever had been, in fact. It would be to Lincoln’s benefit to keep Rory’s involvement to himself. Beyond that, the man owed his life to Rory and he seemed to take that debt seriously.
But just to be safe, Rory had gone completely off the grid for the past two months. He’d stayed in Hawaii long enough to secure a forged passport, then flown to New York, where it was easy to get lost in the crowd. It was also easy to monitor the news from there.
The mysterious blackout in Kailua-Kona got minor coverage. No cause was ever officially identified. The financial papers reported on a major rift in the Kerr family, with Maureen Kerr attempting a coup on the company’s board of directors. After days of suspense and drama, her move paid off. Lincoln stepped down as the CEO, but not without extracting a price. He took over sole ownership of an obscure alternative energy startup called Higher Ground Solutions.
Try as they might, none of the financial reporters were able to figure out why Lincoln was so interested in that particular company. But they did gleefully report on his demotion from powerful billionaire to a mere millionaire. Lincoln himself issued no statements and gave no interviews.
But Rory felt sure Lincoln had several cards up his sleeve and that the world would be hearing from him soon. Had he and his security team managed to find the crystal? Was that why Lincoln was still so focused on that company? In all the articles and online forums he researched, he saw no mention of an energy magnifier like the crystal. Did that mean they were back to square one with its development?
Or did it mean Lincoln had made a deal with the billionaire bunker crew which meant that no one would ever hear about that amazing technology? Was Rory literally the only outsider who knew of its existence?
If so, what responsibility did he have regarding it? Without the crystal itself, no one would listen to him even if he did break his NDA. He’d sound like a crackpot ranting about magic crystals, and he’d get into legal trouble if Lincoln chose to enforce the NDA.
For now, he was staying quiet. And invisible.
But he knew Ethan would be wondering why he hadn’t come to visit, and the one thing he couldn’t handle was hurting his brother’s feelings. So here he was, wearing carpenter’s overalls and a baseball cap, blending in as he slipped into the Shady Pines foyer.
