Page 35 of Cottage in the Mist (Time After Time #3)

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Mrs. Abernathy asked, her forehead wrinkled in question.

“No.” Lily shook her head, unwilling to be anything but honest. The older woman had been her rock for the past few days, and Lily suspected that before this was all over she’d be glad to have a dose of Mrs. Abernathy’s wisdom.

“I’m not sure of anything. But if there’s even the remotest possibility that I can do something to save him, I don’t see how I have any choice. ” She paused, sucking in a breath.

“I canna argue with you there, but I feel compelled to remind you that Bram himself wanted you to stay on this side of time.”

They were sitting in Mrs. Abernathy’s office, sipping scotch-laced tea, the Scottish answer to everything that ailed one, while Lily tried to make sense of everything she’d learned at Ridge Manor.

Tigh an Droma . Her mind whispered the Gaelic almost as if it were familiar.

Then again, maybe it had been. In another life.

She shivered and took a gulp of her tea. “Bram doesn’t know the significance of this,” she said, holding up the ring on its chain. “He doesn’t know who I really am.”

And of course that was the really relevent fact.

Lily was a Comyn. The great great to infinity cousin or some such of the very man who’d killed Bram’s father.

And to the Macgillivray way of thinking, most likely the great odd granddaughter of the murderer of his somewhat fewer but still many greats grandfather Graeme.

It was slightly insane on the face of it, but when one added in the fact that they were separated by over five hundred years, it made her head spin and her stomach roil. Or maybe the latter was the scotch. Hard to say for certain. But either way she felt sick.

And afraid. For Bram. For herself. Hell, even for Alec Comyn. He was kin, after all.

“What if I go there and Bram rejects me?”

“What if he doesn’t?” Mrs. Abernathy queried, her gaze accurately reading the gist of Lily’s thoughts. “After all, he loves you.”

“You can’t know that for certain. I mean, all you’ve got to go on are my crazy ramblings. For all we know I dreamed the whole thing.”

“Well, then there’s still no need to worry because everyone knows you canna truly be hurt in a dream.” Mrs. Abernathy calmly refilled Lily’s cup.

Lily sighed on a frown. “But I don’t want it to be a dream.”

“I know, child. I know.” Mrs. Abernathy’s eyes were full of understanding. “And I also know how very difficult this all is. ’Tis no’ easy to trust in love even when it’s standing right in front of you. And you and Bram are separated by over five hundred years.”

“But he needs me,” she pleaded, not sure if she was arguing with Mrs. Abernathy or herself. “If I don’t go, he’ll die.”

“In truth, he’s already dead, lamb.”

Lily jerked as if Mrs. Abernathy’s words were bullets. “But Jeff said that it was all parallel. Happening at the same time, so to speak. So don’t you see? If I can get back, it might not be too late. There’s still time.”

Mrs. Abernathy’s face broke into a smile, her eyes shining as if Lily was a star pupil. “As I’ve said before, true love takes a leap of faith. The only question here is whether you’re willing to take the risk. And I think you just answered that in the affirmative.”

“I suppose you’re right, but what if I can’t get there?

” Lily reached for her teacup, her stomach still in knots.

It was amazing her throat allowed her to swallow at all.

“I mean, he’s always been in the same place that I’ve been.

And I can’t very well camp out at the Comyns’ manor on the off chance that we might manage to inhabit the same space at the same time.

Reginald and Tildy were lovely, but somehow I don’t think they’re going to open their arms for a relative whose time traveling could put their entire existence in jeopardy.

What if by saving Bram, that means that Alec must die? Doesn’t that change everything?”

“It doesn’t seem to work like that,” Jeff said, stepping into the office, Elaine trailing on his heels. “We didn’t mean to eavesdrop but?—“

“I couldn’t stand not knowing what had happened,” Elaine finished for him. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Lily said, gesturing for them to have seats. “I’d have told you myself, but you weren’t in when we got back.”

“So you’re really a Comyn?” Elaine asked, her eyes falling to the ring.

“It’s seems so.” Lilly shrugged and then filled them in on everything they’d learned at Ridge Manor. The painting, the ring, the legend.

“And I thought Katherine’s story was crazy.” Jeff shook his head and settled back into the sofa cushions with a cup of tea. “This is truly one for the books.”

“Or legends,” Elaine added. “So you’re going to go back.”

“If I can.” Lily nodded, realizing her decision had truly been made when she heard the outcome of the battle.

“But as I was saying, I’m not sure how to achieve it.

And even if I can, I’m a little concerned about what kind of damage I’ll do if I…

if I change things.” She paused, chewing her bottom lip as she watched her friends.

“You said that it didn’t work like that.

But I thought that things did shift when Katherine went back.

Both there in her time and here in yours as well. ”

“Things did change. But only for the better—if that makes any sense at all,” Jeff replied. “I alluded to it earlier when I first told you about Katherine and Iain. We believe that the way it all came out was in fact the right order of things.”

“As if time had been stuck in the wrong loop. I remember. But still, it seems such a dangerous thing to do. I’m hoping to change the outcome of a battle. And in so doing, what if I inadvertently hurt other people? People I care about?”

Her thoughts turned to the Comyns. They were family. She might not know them well, but she certainly didn’t wish them any harm.

“I think things will work out the way they’re supposed to,” Elaine explained. “I mean, if Katherine hadn’t gone back to Iain, then Jeff and I might never have gotten together.” She shot a look in Jeff’s direction—her eyes full of love. “And my niece, Anna, would never have been born.”

“Not to mention the fact that Jeffrey and Elaine wouldn’t own Duncreag.”

“But that meant you lost it, Mrs. Abernathy,” Lily prompted.

“Aye, but as I said before, I gained a family.” She smiled at the assembled company. “The point here is that maybe there are forces at work beyond what you can ken. And if that’s so, then you’ve got to find it in your heart to believe that what will be will be.”

Lily smiled. It might be a lot of purple prose, but damned if it didn’t make her feel better somehow.

She swallowed. “Even if I accept all of that, there’s still the matter of getting back at all.

And then once I’m there, how in the world am I supposed to find Bram?

I mean, I know where Tigh an Droma is, but it’s not like I can catch a bus or rent a car.

You and Bram both, Jeff, warned that it’s a far more dangerous time. ”

“It is. But I know that Katherine will help you. And I—“ He broke off and turned to look at Elaine. For a moment it was as if the world shrank, containing only the two of them, and Lily felt like the worst voyeur, but then Elaine squeezed her husband’s hand and nodded.

“Jeff will go with you.”

“But you can’t,” Lily protested, her heart rising to her throat. “You have your life here. You have each other.”

“I’m not going to stay. I’m just going to help get you there. I’ve done it before. For Katherine. And I know I can do it for you.” He smiled. “Or at least with you. And I’ll stay to help you find Bram.”

“But what if…” She trailed off, looking at her new friends with what she knew was complete incredulity.

“That’s the beauty of having someone you love,” Elaine soothed. “It’s how I’ll get him back. Our love is like a beacon. A way for him to find his way home. He’s linked to the past through his sister, but he’s tied to the present because of me.”

“But still, what if something goes wrong? I can’t let you do this. You don’t even know me.”

“Well, first off,” Jeff said, his tone brooking no argument, “I’m not going just for you. If Bram loses this battle—if he dies—then it’s quite possible that Iain will be in peril as well. And if there’s something I can do to save my sister’s husband, then you can be damned sure I’m going to try.”

“And second off,” Elaine continued, her hand on Jeff’s knee, “you are family now, Lily. If for no other reason than because Duncreag holds the same magic for you that it did for Katherine. But you know that it’s more than that. You belong here. You can feel it. And so do we.”

Tears sprang to Lily’s eyes. She’d lost so much. And somehow managed to gain even more. “I can’t… I don’t… it’s just that…”

“We’re all in this together,” Mrs. Abernathy finished for her. “And unless we get a move on, it will all be for naught.”

“So we’re going now?” Lily hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly. And she surely hadn’t expected to have a partner in crime.

“No time like the present,” Jeff said.

“I assume you’ll be wanting the wee sgian dubh ?” Mrs. Abernathy queried, already pushing to her feet.

Lily raised a brow in question. “ Sgian dubh ?”

Elaine nodded. “’Tis a wee knife. It belonged to Iain once upon a time. Jeff used it to go back before. And you’ve got the ring, but more importantly, you’ve got Bram’s brooch.”

Lily reached into her pocket, the metal cat cold against her touch. “So we go to the cottage?”

Jeff shook his head. “I think we’ll have better luck here at Duncreag. In Katherine’s old room.” His gaze met hers, his eyes flickering with determination. “It’s your room now. That’s where I crossed over before. And where you saw Bram the night of the attack at Iain’s Duncreag.”

“So we just go there, hold our talismans and we’re transported?” she asked, certain it couldn’t possibly be that easy.