“Why, you, of course.” He sighed and chuckled again. “That does sound a bit strange, doesn’t it? My grandmother! Ha! Strange, but true.”
Emmy’s head spun. “But how can that be?”
“As I said, you will see it all again.” He patted her hand in comfort. “You will return to Duart, bring your children and grandchildren here to the ferry...”
“Are you sure?” she interrupted suddenly frantic, clutching at his sleeve. “I’ve been so worried about it! I tried before! It didn’t work!”
Gently he put an arm around her and led her to a nearby bench. “There now, don’t cry. Of course, it will work. If not, I wouldn’t be here today. You told me stories in my youth of this day and I came to find you just as you said I must. To assure you that all would be well.”
Emmy looked up at his handsomely weathered face thinking that perhaps this was what Connor might look like at that age. Hope blossomed in her. Hoping and praying that he wasn’t just some mad, loony...well, psychic, or something. “I told you that?”
“Aye, of course it’s not something one would bandy about outside the family.” The warm chuckle was back as this new Connor patted her hand. “The shrinks would have had a field day with us, you know.”
“But, I did try to return,” she whispered hoarsely. “I couldn’t find Donell…”
“But you weren’t certain yet, were you? You didn’t know yet.”
Emmy stared at him in confusion. “I told you that? I felt like I was certain.”
“You were given a chance,” he told her. “A chance for yourself and a second chance for others. Now you have a second chance for you if you truly want it. With every fiber of your being. Nothing held back. No doubts. No reservations.”
“But I wanted to return right away more than anything. Why wasn’t Donell there then?”
“It was your doubts that caused your return, you said. You missed the things you had and the first thing you did when you got back was order a Coke.” He stared off for a moment. “One moment of doubt was all it took for it all to end. If you decide that Duart is what you really want, if you clear away all those doubt and return with no reservations then you will be there forever.”
A feeling of calm descended on her. To be with Connor forever. Nothing here in this century mattered any longer, simply Connor and her life with them. “Then I will be,” she whispered at last.
“I know,” he whispered in return. “As I said, I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t. May I also add, a more beautiful grandmother one could never hope to find?”
Emmy smiled for the first time. “Nor a finer grandson.” She patted his hand. “The family...you...are doing well?”
“Of course.” His handsome MacLean eyes twinkled. “Grandmother ran our family investments until her death and then made us remember two highly useful words on her deathbed.”
“Oh? What were they?”
“Microsoft and Google.”
They both laughed out loud until Connor the Fourth stood using his cane as leverage. “The ferry will be docking soon. May I give you a ride home?”
Emmy rose to stand beside him. “I would like that very much.” She bent to pick up her heavy bag and hooked the strap on her shoulder and Connor laughed aloud. “What?”
“That bag!” he chuckled. “My whole life, I was fascinated by it and everything it held.”
“Really?”
“Aye, did I not mention that I am a doctor?”
Emmy smiled brightly. “Are you really?”
“Retired, of course, but I still deliver a baby every now and then,” he smiled as well and held out an arm for her.
Emmy took it and smiled up at him as the gangplank was lowered and the crowd of passengers went ashore. The pair moved with the flow through the terminus and out the other side. A limousine waited there and Connor gestured toward it. The driver remained in the car but Connor held the door open for her.
The ride was short but by the time they arrived, Emmy had grown anxious again. “Are you sure?”
The old man laughed aloud heartily. “I don’t remember you being so jumpy.”
“I’m not jumpy…just anxious.” She watched as Duart came into view. “Do we have a good life?” She didn’t expect to answer. In every TV show she had ever seen where a man from the future came to someone, they were never allowed to tell. Or said that it wasn’t good to know how your future turned out.
“You marriage is still one of the best I’ve ever seen. You will fight like cats and dogs sometimes but your love was always evident,” he told her. “And before you ask, obviously you will have children.”
“More than one?”
“Aye, more than one.”
“And,” she swallowed apprehensively afraid of the answer in the face of nineteenth century medicine and this grandson hadn’t mentioned knowing her Connor. “Do we have a long life together? I know I shouldn’t ask but…”
“Trying to make sure it will be worth it?” he chuckled.
“I would be worth it for one minute more,” she replied firmly.
“You will get more time than you imagined,” he assured her.
Emmy sighed happily and giggled. “God, we’re going to be a couple of old farts knocking around the castle someday, aren’t we?”
“Not you, you were always ahead of your time.” The car rolled to a halt in front of the castle and he patted her hand. “We are here.”
“Duart Castle,” she whispered staring up at the old castle.
“And still open from May until October just as you always insisted it be,” he teased.
“Well, good thing it was!”
“Indeed. Well, I guess it is time for you to go.”
“Thank you so much.”
“You helped yourself. I was only the messenger.”
“Still, I thank you. I will live a long happy life knowing what a fine future is in store for me. Especially that I shall have a grandson such as you.”
“Thank you....grandmother.” He winked one twinkling eye.
Emmy laughed with a wince. “Not quite
