Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Quinn stood, by the edge of the cliffs, with her cell phone pressed against her ear.
“The package was delivered,” Ian said across the line. “He refused and is on his way. He’ll be about twelve hours behind the others. How’s the little momma?”
“Ian, she’s six weeks. She’s fine except a little morning sickness.”
“Aye.” Ian’s Scottish drawl was thick. “I’ll be staying a wee bit. Let me know if there’s anything else I need to do.”
“Thanks for your help, Ian. Cara isn’t going to be happy, but she’ll get over it.”
“Tell her my offer still stands. I’ll raise the bairn and marry her.”
Quinn rolled her eyes. Cara had refused the first five times Ian had asked. She wasn’t about to change her mind. “What are you running from, McDougall, that you’d marry a woman you don’t love?”
“A McDougall never runs, Lady Menzie. Call me if you need me.”
“Aye,” Quinn answered back. She had a million things to do and a short time to get them done.
Six hours later, Quinn stood in the study with her mother, her aunt Betty, and all of her sisters except Cara. She’d been resting late into the afternoon.
“I have to admit. You guys screwed up pretty darn bad. One might even say that this one screw-up trumps all of mine.”
“Quinn, just tell me where she is,” her mom said, sitting on the couch, her hands clenched together. “She won’t return any of our calls, and I need to know she’s okay.”
“You should have thought about that, Mom.” Quinn clasped her hands together.
“You each have single-handedly destroyed her trust. She thought she was helping save her sister.” Quinn stared at Becca.
“Instead, she’s been manipulated by the lot of you.
She’s been humiliated by finding out Cooper knew about her, and the visions, yet didn’t want anything to do with her.
” Quinn’s gaze turned to Aunt Betty. “She almost died. I can’t say I really blame her for shutting you all out.
” Quinn lifted her hand to her chest. “I, on the other hand, am the good sister. I wasn’t involved. I’m just cleaning up the mess.”
Quinn chuckled. The words felt foreign on her tongue. “I’ve talked her off the ledge. I’ve eased her worries, and convinced her that you guys didn’t deliberately set out to hurt her. That your lies came from a place of love.”
“Yeah, that’s you.” Harper leaned back and crossed her legs. “All love and light. Tell me she saw right through that.”
Quinn dropped her hands to her sides. “It comes down to this. She needs us. All of us, especially now. So each of you better find the right words to fix things, or you’ll never see your grandchild or her.
” Quinn pointed at her mother. “Or your niece or nephew.” She glared at her sisters.
“Cara is six weeks pregnant, so you ladies better fix things, and fix things fast.”
Her mom clutched her hand over her heart. “My baby is going to have a baby?” Hope poured from her words, and there was a light in her eyes.
“Oh my God. This should be the happiest time of her life.” Becca cupped her face and cried. “We ruined it for her.”
“We can make things right.” Harper stroked Becca’s back. “We will.”
“I love her. We all do, and it’s time she felt it. Cara is hormonal and having morning sickness, and there aren’t enough brownies in all the land to mend her broken heart.”
“You just did,” Cara said from the doorway as a tear slid down her cheek.
Quinn stood back as the family rushed Cara, each pulling her into a hug and begging for forgiveness as they touched her flat belly. This was better than Quinn could have hoped. She had all of her family in Scotland, and she had a niece or nephew on the way.
Collin entered the room and wrapped his hands around Quinn’s belly. “You did good.” He kissed her cheek. “Are you going to tell them about ours?”
“Not yet.” Quinn patted his hands. “I still have more damage control to do, and then we can truly celebrate.” She turned in his arms. “Is everything ready?”
“Aye. You know there’s a chance she’ll want to kill you.”
Quinn shrugged. “It won’t be the first time.”
Quinn leaned against the Town Car with her sunglasses pulled down over her eyes.
Angus remained behind the wheel, sitting in the air conditioner.
The plane landed right on time. She spotted Cooper the second he stepped out of the airport.
He was tall, dark, handsome, and everything she could ever want for her sister.
“Cooper Cruz?” she asked with arms folded.
“Yeah?” Hearing his name seemed to catch him off guard. “Who are you?”
“Quinn Thatcher.” Quinn held out her hand. “I’ve been expecting you.”
“Let me guess, Ian called.”
“No, dear,” she said, opening the Town Car’s back door. “He didn’t have to. I sent him.”
“Is this another one of the Thatchers’ games? Does she know I’m here?”
“No game. The paper I sent was real, although she wasn’t the one requesting it. She would have in time.” Quinn slid into the car and leaned across the seat, peering up at him. “If you’d rather that day not come, then I suggest you get in.”
He slid into the seat. “So it’s true that she’s pregnant?”
“Aye.” Quinn lifted the glass from her head as Cooper shut the door.
“Angus, we’re ready.”
“She hates me,” Cooper announced.
“Hate is a strong word, Mr. Cruz, and my sister uses it sparingly. You’re the father of her child. You gave her two things in the world that no one else could ever do.”
“Two?”
“The baby and feeling what it’s like not to have a vision when touching someone.” Quinn turned to face him. “If I take you to see her, I need to know what your intentions are, because I won’t let another soul hurt her, least of all you.”
“Honestly?”
“Honesty is a good start.”
“I don’t know. I love her. I went crazy with worry when I couldn’t find her.
At first, when Betty told me about her vision, I didn’t want any part of getting to know Cara.
I was headstrong. Being without her, and worried sick for the last six weeks, I was scared that I’d never see her again.
And I don’t get scared, Quinn. I don’t ever get scared. ”
Quinn nodded. “Let me make myself abundantly clear. I have no filter, and I don’t lie.
If you hurt my sister again, I will hunt you down, chop off your dick, and shove it down your throat.
” Quinn smiled. “I’ll spend the remainder of my life thinking of ways to make yours worse.
I can promise that. You think those three ghosts in your house are bad?
Imagine a hundred. That’s my promise to you. ”
“You’re threatening an American federal agent.”
“Good thing we’re in Scotland. Now get your head out of your ass, make things right, and don’t think about ruining what I have planned.”
“Where are we going?” Cooper asked, gazing out the window.
“A special place where the magic happens and dreams can come true.”
“You sound like a walking advertisement for Disney.”
Quinn smiled. “I can only start the ball rolling. This is it, Cooper Cruz. Make your stand. This is the one and only shot you’ve got, so don’t screw it up.”
Cara strolled around the castle on Collin’s arm.
She’d felt sick to her stomach, and he’d been kind enough to take her for a walk to tour some of the other grounds she’d hadn’t yet seen.
The fresh air calmed her queasy belly. They’d been to see the horses and everywhere, except where she wanted to go.
She’d been dying to see the place where Quinn had first laid eyes on him.
The place of the infamous battle and the bridge.
Cara strolled toward the hill that Quinn had named Baby E for Everest. The air in Scotland had mellowed her some. It was as though a switch had been flipped and Quinn was now happy. If only Cara could be.
“This is where she was tackled by Harness.”
“The dog?” Cara grinned. “I bet she loved that.”
“It ruined her favorite white skirt. She still complains to this day.”
Cara chuckled as they entered the empty clearing.
“It was here that Ian and I were sword fighting on horseback. Can you imagine your sister stepping into the fight and whistling to get our attention? Because that’s what she did.
She proclaimed she had the prize, tossed it at me, and said, ‘Game over.’ I think it was in that minute that I fell in love with her. ”
“Now who’s fibbing?” Cara squeezed Collin’s arm. “We all know why you chased her down. It was because of the curse.”
“Aye, the one she told me you saw before you tried to talk her out of coming.”
Cara shrugged. “I didn’t want to see her hurt.”
Collin led her toward a cabin at the end of the clearing and stopped. “You know Quinn loves you.”
“Of course,” Cara answered. Growing up, she might have questioned it, but not anymore.
“She disna want to see you hurt either. I want you to think about that before you kill her, because kill her, you’ll try, and then I’ll have to stop the fight. We cannae have your wee one getting hurt, or hers and mine.”
“She’s pregnant too?”
Collin opened the door and placed his hand on her back, easing her inside before yanking the door closed from the other side. She would have protested, but she stood stunned. Cooper stood in the middle of the small room.
Collin’s words made sense now. Her heart raced, heavy in her chest, the beat echoing in her ears. She swallowed the knot that had formed in her throat, and her mouth suddenly ran dry.
“I was going to call you,” she whispered. “I just needed more time.”
“Six weeks wasn’t long enough?” Cooper asked, unmoving from his spot.
“I picked up the phone several times, but I always hung up.”
He took a step in her direction and stopped. “Why did you hang up?”
Cara remained silent as she ran through all the reasons in her head. None of them seemed worth the weight they’d carried weeks ago.