Part 43 (2/2)
”Aye, after the first month.”
”After? Why after? What's happening before then?” David asked: Bruce turned to Toni, a smile halfway curling his lip. ”I thought I'd get away for a bit. And though I know Toni has a true love of Scotland, she might need to get away, too. Somewhere brand-new, very commercial, with a beach and lots of sun. Cancun, the Florida Keys, Aruba...Disney, maybe, though we'd definitely avoid the Haunted Mansion.” He arched a brow to her.
”Toni can't go!” Ryan said. ”Then all we'd have is Gina, and she can't do all the female roles. Ow!” he complained at the end as his wife elbowed him.
”There's Lizzie and Trish,” Thayer said. ”They'd love to be part of this, though I'm thinking of opting out myself.”
”What?” The question came from around the table.
Thayer grimaced. ”You know what all this has taught me? I want to be on the right side of the law. I want to clean up my act, get in some training, learn to be a cop...and apply to be constable here.” He looked at Bruce. ”All right, you're thinking I've been something of a sc.u.mbag, not worth a hoot--”
”Actually, I was thinking you might be perfect for the job,” Bruce told him.
Thayer sat up straighter, stunned and very pleased. ”Aye, I'd be good, I swear it.” He was quiet for a minute, staring at Bruce. ”And you.. .you should go back to police work, you know. Robert told me that you were an a.s.set he sorely misses.”
”Truly, Bruce, it is something you should consider,” Darcy said.
”There are many different ways in which you could put all your learned and.. .natural talents to good use,” Matt told him.
”Sometime in the future, maybe,” Bruce said. ”Just not immediately.”
”Okay, great. You're going off, Thayer wants to be constable and we get to keep doing the tours, minus half the staff!” Ryan said.
”You've got yourself, David and Kevin, Gina.. .Lizzie and Trish. And we will be back,” Bruce promised. He looked at Toni again. ”That is, if you're coming with me?”
”Try to leave without me,” she told him.
”Still, what happens after the six months?” Gina demanded, diverting his attention.
”I think I know,” Darcy said lightly, grinning. ”And it doesn't take a psychic to see the future here!”
Brace's eyes never left Toni. ”Well, the way I'm hoping it will go, there will be this magnificent wedding here. The bride will be incredible in white, the groom, traditional in his colors. And the bridal party...well, you all figure it out.” He glared at David and Kevin. ”No yellow!” He turned back to Toni, taking her hands. ”I was born a privileged man. I ignored that, and my heredity, a long, long time. This castle should be a home. I want to make it so, with a wife, with children. Think about it, la.s.s!” he said softly, his words earnest. ”That poor fellow, the great MacNiall, spent all those years walking this place, watching out for his antecedents. I owe him that, don't you think? A bride as fierce, as pa.s.sionate, as loyal as his own.. .and great-great-grandchildren?”
It was somehow incredibly special to Toni that he had dared to say this, before them all.
”You said you didn't really know me the other night,” she reminded him.
”I was wrong. I know now--as I knew then--everything about you that I will ever need to know.” He paused, now a little unsure of himself. ”I'm sorry, I'm rus.h.i.+ng you.”
She shook her head. ”No, you're not. I think it's the most wonderful story I've ever heard--and I didn't even make it up myself.”
”Oh, my G.o.d!” David exclaimed. ”Does that mean you two are engaged?”
”Aye, precisely,” Bruce said.
”Ach, then! It's time for champagne,” Thayer said.
And so there was a toast. And they spent most of the day together, a group that would forever be linked by the strange events they had shared.
Then night came again, and Bruce and Toni were alone at last. Cozy in their little room, he gathered her into his arms, taking her chin, raising it, meeting her eyes. ”This is what I haven't said yet. I love you. It's not that I was a monk after Maggie died, nor was I a roving lecher of any kind. I was just existing. And then there was you.”
”My dear, dear, Laird MacNiall” she returned. ”You do have a way with words.”
”You still know very little about me,” he warned her.
She shook her head, delighted just to look into his eyes. ”We'll have a month in Aruba for you to tell me everything.”
”And?” he said softly.
”And... I think I fell in love with you the moment you came riding into the hall, the great MacNiall! As you said earlier, I know everything I really need to know about you. And I love you, for everything I know, for you being you.”
He smiled and kissed her. And when the kiss would have become extremely ardent, with clothing being shed, he paused suddenly, staring into her eyes again.
”The great MacNiall?” he queried.
”I don't believe he checked into the hotel,” she teased innocently.
”Toni.. .is he still around?”
”He's gone,” she said simply.
”You're certain? For good?”
She nodded. ”He did what he needed to do. He's at peace.”
”Ah. Well, peace isn't exactly what I intend to give you, you know. I have a feeling there will be plenty of tempest ahead.”
”I wouldn't have it any other way,” she a.s.sured him.
Then he kissed her again. And the tempest began.
end.
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