“Could be. Would you like me to ask the linger of Garretsville ghosts if they too see auras?”
She chuckled. “Not really. It’s enough that I know you do.” Meredith slid a hand into the front pocket of her dungarees and stopped walking. “Here we are,” she said, pulling out the keys. She sorted through them until she found the one she wanted and unlocked the padlock latching the front door.
Daniel followed her inside and looked around. An aisle divided two sets of student desks, all facing a slate chalkboard, and a teacher’s desk made of pine stood off to one side. Like everything in Garrettsville, the building appeared aged and weathered. The interior walls had been whitewashed though, and a newer pot-bellied stove made to look old took up one corner.
Meredith strode across the room and sat atop the teacher’s desk. She patted the space beside her. Obligingly, he settled himself beside her. “Tell me the news, lassie.”
“Boann can’t get involved, or she’ll be banished from the earthly realm for good. She has her human family to think about, and they take precedence.”
He nodded gravely as all his dreams burst like soap bubbles hitting a stone wall. It took several seconds before he could respond. “It’s sorry I am to hear such news, but I cannot say I’m surprised.”
Meredith ran her palms up and down her denim-clad thighs. Even as upset as he was, the slide of her hands over her legs mesmerized him. She kept talking, but her words couldn’t compete with the erotic images his mind conjured, giving him a phantom cock stand.
“Daniel, did you hear a single word I just said?”
He shook his head, his gaze still glued to her shapely thighs, and his mind still imagining them bare and opened for him … only for him.
“Hey, I know you’re disappointed about Boann, but like I said, Alpin is willing to help.”
Her words finally penetrated his ghostly haze of remembered lust. “What?” He frowned. “Who’s Alpin, and how can he or she help?” His question elicited an eye-roll and a comment about ghosts and attention deficit disorders. He deemed it best not to respond.
“I’m sure I’ve mentioned Alpin to you before. He’s Fionn MacCumhail’s cousin. Unlike Fionn, Alpin is one hundred percent Tuatha dé Danann. He’s the real deal.”
“I don’t recall hearing his name, but go on.”
Meredith explained what this Alpin fellow had offered to do for them and the risks involved. His dreams resurrected, and the possibility of a future with Meredith once again beckoned on the not so distant horizon.
“It doesn’t seem as if the risks are as dangerous as they are inconvenient. Aye? If you arrive a week too late, you can use the other gem to return to this time. If that were to happen, would Alpin be amenable to offering us another chance do you think?”
“I couldn’t say, and I’m not sure the inconvenience would be as simple as arriving a week too late. He also said I might not land where I intend to be.” She shrugged. “What if I end up in Belgium or the Antarctic?”
“Then you’d still have the second diamond for your return. If your intent or familiarity have anything to do with arriving where and when you wish to be, then all will be well. Perhaps we should discuss this with Alpin a bit more before making a decision, aye?”
“We will need to talk to him, but I’ve already decided. John and Judy gave me money from Frederick’s treasure, and I’ve done some online shopping and ordered appropriate clothing for the time period.” She lifted her chin, and the warmth she always radiated rose a few degrees.
“Daniel, I’m willing to take the risk. Even if it’s only for a handful of days, I’d really like to meet you while you’re alive.” Her words came out a little strained as if fraught with feeling. “I need to do this. I don’t understand why, but deep in my bones I know I’m meant to help you.”
His mind churned with questions he dared not voice aloud. Did she harbor feelings for him as he did for her? Was it possible her pulse quickened at the sight of him? Could it be she thought about him constantly the way he thought about her?
What if, when they did meet in the past, none of these feelings proved real? What if they did prove real, and she left him anyway? He couldn’t decide which would be worse. For several emotion-laden moments, he lost the ability to form words, and he wished like hell he could draw her into his arms and hold her close.
“Say something,” she whispered.
“I long to know you in life as well.” Their eyes met and held, and within the gray-blue depths of hers, he searched for answers to his unasked questions. If he’d needed to breathe, he would’ve been out of luck, because everything within him stilled. Even time seemed to stop.
She was the first to look away, and the two of them continued to sit in silence for another few moments. Perhaps she, like he, needed to contemplate what had just passed between them. To him, it felt as if they’d entered into an agreement, a declaration of serious intentions toward one another. Wishful thinking, boyo, and that is all.
“It’s settled then. I’ll call my sister, and she’ll get word to Alpin.” Meredith rose from the desk. “I have an idea about how to prove to you that I’ve come from the future to save your life.”
“Have you now?” He smiled to himself. How fortunate he’d been to have met this intrepid, beautiful, clever woman. “Tell me then, lassie.”
“A person’s handwriting is as unique as their fingerprints. True?”
“True.”
Meredith pointed at him. “If you write the letter describing how we know each other and why I’ve come to you, then—”
“Grand idea.” He grunted. “What
