Always and Forever (24 page)

"It isn't my call. The boss wants him there..." Cole glanced over at her and grinned, "And he is as much a fan of Derek's as I am."

"We've been writing to each other."

Cole continued to watch the road as he answered her. "I know."

"I like him."

"He likes you, too. He's meeting us at Whispering Winds."

Quinn turned in her seat and looked out the window but her anticipation at finally meeting Gabriel in person made the drive the longest in her life.

When they approached Whispering Winds, her heart hammered hard in her chest. This was not the same place she found all those years ago. Tour buses lined the paved area about a kilometer from the castle as hordes of people milled around the lush landscape with cameras in hand snapping photos. Quinn's voice sounded strained even to her own ears when she asked, "Has this placed always been like this?"

"What? A major tourist attraction? Yeah."

She was fairly certain that she was experiencing shock. It took her months to convince herself that her time in the past had been a dream but now she was seeing evidence that suggested otherwise. Had she really traveled back in time and somehow managed to change the future? She couldn't deny what her eyes were seeing and her heart leapt because maybe, just maybe, Archer had been real.

"This is still the Scarcliff family's main residence but they spend three months a year at their estate in the Cotswolds so the Duke agreed to allow visitors to Whispering Winds when the family was not in residence."

Quinn's head snapped around to face Cole. "Scarcliff?"

"Yes, surely you've heard of them? It isn't really possible to live in England and not know of the Scarcliffs."

Oh, she knew of them. But she was surprised that he did since there were no documented records on the castle or its owners, or at least there hadn't been. She was glad she was sitting because her legs suddenly went weak. And then she realized what else Cole had said. "Duke?"

"Yes, Nicholas Archer Scarcliff, the Duke of Scarcliff."

Nicholas Archer! Oh, that couldn't be a coincidence. She felt as if her head was going to spin right off her body. She definitely needed some time to process all of this and as she pondered the impossible, she asked, "When was the family elevated to the status of a duke?"

Cole's eyebrow rose ever so slightly in response, "1896."

A smile cracked over Quinn's face knowing Archer's legacy now included a dukedom.

"Why are you grinning, Quinn?"

"Just happy."

Cole pulled the car behind the castle to a private parking lot discreetly hidden among towering trees. Even though the place could now handle the tourists, access was done so subtly that when the buses and people were gone you wouldn't notice the added lots. Once parked, Cole climbed from the car and held open a back door of the castle for Quinn. She was bewildered -- she'd never seen this room before.

"This is the restoration annex," Cole offered in response to her look of confusion. When Quinn's eyes adjusted, she saw the computer lab and library dedicated to research, clean rooms for the delicate fabrics and papers that couldn't be exposed to all the contaminants in the air, rows and rows of tables where people were working on precious artifacts. They walked through the annex, out another door, and into the main castle. As soon as Quinn entered, she felt the tears sting her eyes because it still looked as it had in Archer's day except for the small guided tours milling about. As they passed, Quinn heard little tidbits about the Scarcliffs through the generations and knew she would be among one of the tour groups later. Cole reached for her hand.

"There's Gabriel," Cole said gesturing toward a man standing a bit of a distance from them: a man who only had eyes for her.

Gabriel McCabe was dressed formally in a beautiful black suit, his one concession to casual was a charcoal-colored shirt unbuttoned at the collar, but there was no denying the magnificently built body under the tailored clothes. He was tall and muscular with broad shoulders and a thick chest that tapered to a flat stomach and narrow hips. His black hair was cut short and spiky.

But it was his eyes, a clear emerald green, that seemed to look right into her soul. Gabriel's face was beautiful but hard, as if his life experiences were carved into his features -- sort of his trophies of battles fought and won. Quinn's breath halted in her lungs as an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu swept over her. He approached, his stride easy and deliberate, and stopped just in front of her, reached for her hand and lifted it to his lips.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Quinn."

His lips barely brushed her knuckles but still she felt her knees go weak and wondered how she didn't fall into a boneless heap on the floor. At first, words would not come so Quinn just stared.

She snapped out of it when Gabriel asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, now, and I thank you so much for coming to visit me in the hospital."

Quinn didn't miss the stealthy glance Gabriel threw Cole, so perhaps that wasn't news he wanted shared. But he recovered quickly and offered quietly, "As I've mentioned, I was very upset to hear about your accident."

There was an undercurrent to his comment but Quinn couldn't exactly place what emotion was fueling it.

"It could have been a lot worse, I'm just grateful to be here." She gestured to the grandeur around her and realized someone was missing.

"Where's Derek?"

There was no question what emotion fueled the dark look that crossed over Gabriel's face before he offered rather cryptically, "He's off looking for buried treasure no doubt."

Quinn couldn't help grinning at the note of repugnance in Gabriel's tone. Cole heard it too, and sought to change the subject, "Quinn are you available for dinner tonight? Gabriel and I were going to check out a new place in town."

After a bit of exploring the research area, Quinn jumped into one of the tour groups. She was astounded! None of this was here before. There were no records at all of who had claimed the place as their home, and yet now the Scarcliff name really was linked to Whispering Winds. And incredibly, the castle looked as it had in Archer's time: the tapestry weren't faded beyond recognition, the furniture was much the same, and she even remembered the weapons on the wall.

She had been here just after graduating and the place was desolate. And now it was teaming with people. She had convinced herself that her time in the past had been a dream but how could she really believe that?

In her heart she knew that she had gone back in time, but how? How did she go back over three hundred years in the past? She stood in Archer's home as sadness enveloped her. She missed him and he was gone and had been for centuries. The thought made her heart hurt.

Quinn was only half-listening as the tour guide recited the same spiel she'd clearly recited more times than she could count. But there was no tour guide speech for what had really happened here. People had lived here, loved here and the evidence of that was all around her. When they reached the portrait gallery, Quinn's focus was immediately drawn to the portrait of Archer. He looked as he did whenever she closed her eyes and she couldn't help but think about the last time she had seen him. She loved Archer, as real a love as any, and he was gone now.

She absently wiped the moisture from her cheeks as she turned her attention to the next portrait: Nickie. He was older than when she knew him maybe early twenties, and he looked so much like his father. She wasn't quite ready to hear about how they spent the rest of their lives since that would force her to face the reality that they were quite literally history.

The group moved from the portrait gallery and started up the winding stone steps to the circular room. Remembering the magic she and Archer had shared in that room had Quinn daydreaming apart from the group and forced her downstairs and outside for some fresh air.

She came to the tree where she had rescued Nickie and absently looked up expecting the kite to still be there. There wasn't a kite but there was a tree house that now graced a few of the thicker branches. Quinn studied the tree house which looked to be very old. Had Nickie escaped into it or was it built later for his kids or grandkids?

She continued along and when she reached a familiar patch of woods, she stopped quite suddenly. The woods looked exactly as they had, that glorious place where she and Archer had made love the first time. Lost in her thought, she almost didn't notice she wasn't alone in the space. Gabriel stood there, looking very out of place, staring up at the tree: a tree that had the power to make a blush rise on Quinn's face. Not wishing to disturb him, she started to turn away but stopped when she heard Gabriel's deep voice from behind her, "It's beautiful here, isn't it, Quinn?"

How did he know it was her? "Yes."

He turned and looked at Quinn with such intensity that her legs again felt weak. "For some reason this spot, in particular, I find I'm quite fond of," he seemed to tease.

She felt her cheeks burn from embarrassment as Gabriel tilted his head to study her.

"Is it something I said?" he asked but there was no missing the note of humor in his address.

Quinn's voice was a bit hoarse when she replied, "No."

He stopped just in front of her and she tilted her head back to keep eye contact. She couldn't control the shiver of recognition that went though her. In that moment, in this spot, it felt as if she was looking up into Archer's face. She wanted to reach out and touch him but she didn't dare.

"I'm sorry I forced Derek on you," he said finally, "especially in light of how that all turned out. The bastard didn't even wait around to make sure you were okay before he took off to get here."

"Well, he looks out for himself so I can't say I'm all that surprised," Quinn soothed, "I
am
surprised that I finally got to meet you. Writing is nice but I like having a face to go with the name. Can I ask why I never met you before today?"

He looked uncomfortable but he didn't reply.

"You aren't going to tell me?" she probed, "Tell me, at least, why you started writing to me?"

He grinned which made him look almost boyish before he offered, "And ruin the mystery?"

Quinn spoke before she realized what she intended to say. "I suspect, Gabriel, it would take a hell of a lot more than that to ruin the mystery surrounding you."

She wasn't certain but she thought she saw longing wash over his features but he lowered his head before she could really discern what emotion fueled the look.

"I'll see you tonight," he started away from her but she stopped him with a question.

"Why did you come to Whispering Winds now?"

He turned his head and offered cryptically, "It was time," before he turned and continued on his way.

She couldn't help leaning up against what she now considered her favorite tree and watched him walk away. Was it coincidence that Gabriel had come to Whispering Winds now, particularly when he seemed to hold some memories that were not his own?

Quinn didn't believe in coincidences.

That night she dressed in a black sheath dress and pulled her hair up into a messy knot. She added a touch of makeup and slipped into her four-inch black sandals, then grabbed her wrap and purse and headed downstairs.

Cole wasn't there yet but Gabriel stood in the overly feminine room decorated with wallpaper covered in little pink roses and Victorian-style furniture -- not Quinn's style at all. A fire was roaring in the creamy white-wood trimmed fireplace and it was there, looking into the fire, where Gabriel stood. He was dressed in a different suit, though still black, and the collar of his shirt was peeking out in the back so she could see he had opted for a black shirt as well.

She wondered what he was thinking that had him so absorbed and then, as if she had spoken his name, he turned to her. He said nothing as he silently watched her and a smile touched his lips.

He whispered hoarsely, "You are exquisite."

She could feel herself blushing and not so much from his words, which were fabulous, but from the unguarded and heated look he was giving her. Before she could reply, he walked to her and reached for her hand.