Creighton Manor (13 page)

“Any change?”  She walked over to the bed and put her hand on his forehead. “He doesn’t seem as warm.” She watched the rise and fall of his chest. It was slow and even. She glanced at Lotti. “The fever’s broken. Surely, that means he’s going to be all right.”

Lotti took her grandson’s hand in hers, hoping this was so. “Zachary, can you hear me?”

Zachary seemed to stir at the sound of his grandmother’s voice. “Seanmháthair.” His voice croaked in a hoarse whisper.

“Omigod, he’s delirious again.” Gillian touched his forehead.

Lotti smiled. “I see you are on the road to recovery if you are going to call me a name that I most certainly loathe.” Lotti noticed Gillian’s confusion and decided to clear up the matter. “When Zachary and his sister were younger, I wanted them to learn the Irish language. Zachary being stubborn, as I’m sure you know, didn’t want anything to do with it. So, I made up a game. To play, they had to decipher the messages. Zachary never realized what I was doing.”

“You tricked me,” Zachary croaked out the words in a forced breath.

“Yes, I did and glad of it.”

Gillian sat down on the bed. “What did he say, Lotti?”

“Grandmother
.”

Gillian chuckled. She helped Zachary sit up and placed two pillows behind his back. Zachary rubbed his hands over his face. “What happen? I feel like I’ve been beaten to a pulp.”

“Well where should I start?” Lotti sighted. “You were stabbed and nearly drowned. You’ve been unconscious for two days. I’ll tell you, you have put us through a terrible scare.”

“Stabbed? Yes, I think some of what happened is coming back.” He cleared his throat with a cough. “May I have some water, please?” 

Gillian went to the nightstand to pour him a glass.

“I was with Ellery. He wanted to tell me—”

Gillian handed him the glass. “Tell you what?”

He looked at her then away. “I don’t remember.”

“No wonder, too.” Lotti clicked her tongue. “You were foolishly drunk.”

“No lectures now, Lotti. I’m too tired to defend myself.” He leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes.

CHAPTER TEN

Zachary slept for another full day before he felt well enough to be awake for more than a few hours. Eventually, he moved downstairs to the library. They propped him up on the sofa with a blanket around him as if he’d freeze to death in this sweltering heat.

How he hated feeling like an invalid.

He looked around the room noticing for the first time that things were different. Cheerier, is the word he would use. There were fresh flowers on the mantle and a new rug in front of the fireplace. They were such subtle changes but they made a world of difference. He knew it was Gillian’s doing. He liked what she’d done, but it didn’t change the fact that she had lied to him.

The memories of a few nights ago had flooded back with intense reality. He had been foolishly drunk when Ellery had informed him about Gillian. The details were muddled, but he thought Ellery confirmed Gillian had made up the story about her identity.

With nothing better to do, his imagination ran wild. In his mind, he had concocted the whole conspiracy against him in vivid detail. Gillian was sent to distract him from his goal to obtain Creighton Manor. The plan had worked wonderfully too. She had indeed been a diversion. And damn it, if he hadn’t welcomed it! He hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything, but her, since they were married. He had learned from his grandmother both of the attackers had gotten away. This didn’t matter, he knew who’d been behind the assault. Cyrus Locke was the culprit, and Gillian had helped arrange the whole escapade.

Her game was now over. He wouldn’t allow her to occupy his time ever again.

Lotti said she would be by later and she would bring Ellery with her. That would be the perfect time to expose Gillian.

***

Dora made tea for the ladies, while Zachary and Ellery indulged
in
something a little stronger. Zachary tried to keep his black mood hidden, but by the looks Gillian gave him, he’d lost the battle. He’d been snappy with her all day and she didn’t understand why.
Soon my sweet, you will.

He looked at his best friend then his grandmother. Their good humor grated on his nerves. Lotti
,
he could excuse, but Ellery knew Gillian to be a liar. How could he be civil to her?

He
’d
had enough of this charade. He had wanted to wait until Tyler had gone to bed, but he couldn’t contain himself a moment longer. “Stop!” he shouted drawing everyone’s attention to him. They gaped at him in stunned silence. “I want it all out in the open,” he continued. “Everything
.”
He looked directly at Gillian. “Tell them Gillian or whoever you are. Tell them all how you’ve been deceiving us.”

Ellery put down his glass. “Zachary, don’t say anymore until we’ve had a chance to talk.”

“No more talking. I want Gillian to tell us who she is, and who she’s working for.” He pointed his finger at her.

“That’s enough, Zachary!” Lotti exclaimed in irritation. “You’re talking nonsense.”

“Am I? Ask her. Ask her where she’s from.”

Lotti huffed. “What difference does all this make?”

“It makes all the difference in the world.” He glared at Gillian. “If you aren’t going to tell them, I’ll say it then. She’s from a town that doesn’t exist. She doesn’t exist.”

Gillian shrunk beneath his gaze. She chewed on her lower lip
, knowing
she’d been caught.

Good. He had her where he wanted her. “Tell us why you and your lover wanted to have me murdered.” He didn’t bother to keep the venom from his voice.

Her head snapped up and her gaze locked with his. “Lover? Murder?” she stammered. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know someone tried to murder me on the dock.”

“I know someone tried to harm you, but surely you can’t –”

“Stop with the lies.” He shook his fist at her.

“Zachary.” Ellery stepped in. “Yes, we know she wasn’t telling us the truth about her name, but the rest you are accusing her of is false.”

“Has she bewitched you, too? You were there with me when we were viciously attacked.” He couldn’t stop the raw fury that knotted his gut every time he thought of how Gillian had deceived him.

“Yes, I was there. I witnessed what occurred. Obviously, you don’t remember everything or you wouldn’t be treating the person who saved your life with such disregard.”

“Saved me?” Zachary’s eyebrows furrowed and a ping of doubt
gave him pause
. Gillian had saved him? “What are you talking about?” 

“Gillian saved your miserable hide. That is what I am saying
.”

“That’s impossible.” Zachary shook his head.

“Impossible?”  Ellery’s voice had risen. “She did. If she hadn’t jumped into the river after you, you would be dead. She held onto you. Moreover, she breathed life into you when everyone else had given you up for dead. So if you say another unkind word to her, I’ll punch you in the nose, regardless of the fact that you are not fully recovered.”

Zachary looked at Lotti and Tyler, then back to Ellery. They were glaring at him as if he were a monster. Could what Ellery claim
ed
be true? His gaze riveted back to Gilli
an. She stood there with
her chin lifted
in defiance, refusing
to let his berating tear
her apart. His voice softened a little, as he remembered
something
he’d
forgotten. “I do remember thinking I saw an angel
soaring in the air to my rescue. I thought it was a dream.”

“That was no dream. That angel my friend, was Gillian
.”
Ellery gave her a look of admiration.

Blood pounded in his temples as he absorbed the shocking news. If she saved him, she couldn’t be Cyrus’ mistress, could she? Then who was she? He shook his head. The fact remained: Gillian Metcalf didn’t exist.

Gillian didn’t want to pretend anymore. She would tell them the truth no matter what the outcome. She took a deep breath for courage. She would need it to convince them. “You’re right, I don’t exist yet, but I will. I do live in Huntington Beach, California, but not until the twenty-first century
.”

Everyone’s mouth dropped open in surprise. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, the look would have been comical. They all wanted to know who she was, but they never expected her to say she was from the future.

“I know this seems unbelievable to you, but it’s true. I don’t know how I came to be here, but I think Molly has something to do with it
.”

“Molly?” Tyler, who had remained silent through Zachary’s tirade, finally had the courage to speak up.

“Yes, Molly. Your Molly. She appeared to me on numerous occasions, as though she wanted me to follow her. Finally, on the Queen Mary, she appeared again. I must have blacked out. When I woke up, I was in Zachary’s room aboard the Ida Belle.”

Lotti looked confused. “I thought you two knew each other.”

Gillian shook her head. “No. I had never seen him before that day.”

“How did you end up getting married then?” Lotti wanted to know.

Ellery filled her in. “Because of all
the yelling and knife throwing.
”

“Knife throwing?” Lotti gasped.

“What does this all have to do with anything?” Zachary cut in. “Didn’t any of you hear? She just claimed she was
from the future. Now, I for one—
”

“Zachary Creighton, you be quiet this instan
t
!” Lotti glared at him
, daring him to say another word.

He flustered and looked like he’d like to object. Instead he folded his arms defensively across his chest and snapped his mouth shut.

“What I understood,” Ellery continued to fill in the blanks for Lotti. “Gillian tried to escape and Zachary threw a knife at her
.”

Lotti’s glare turned dangerous. She pounded her cane as if she’d like to knock it over Zachary’s head.

“Cyrus came to the rescue and insisted Zachary marry Gillian to protect her reputation or he’d make sure the whole ship
k
new of his unsavory actions.”

“I didn’t want to marry him,” Gillian added. “But, I didn’t know what else to do. I had no place to go, and I didn’t know how to return to my time.”

“You said Molly brought you?” Lotti inquired.

“I was staying in a haunted room aboard the Queen Mary. This is a ship in my time. It’s supposedly haunted,” she explained. “Then the next thing that I knew, I was onboard the Ida Belle and Molly wasn’t anywhere to be seen. In fact, I thought I had imagined her, dreamt her up somehow, b
ut when Zachary brought me home…
to his home,” she corrected herself. “She was here.”

“Are you sure the dog was Molly?” Lotti asked.

“If I wasn’t sure then, I am now. Molly led me into town and to where Zachary and Ellery were being attacked. She must have known they were in danger.”

“So, the dog must be the key.” Ellery rubbed his chin.

“I think so. I have a theory. Maybe Molly brought me here to do something and maybe when I accomplish that task, I’ll return to my time.”

Zachary rolled his eyes. “Not you too, Ellery. Surely, you do not believe this preposterous story.”

His friend shrugged. “Well, how else would she know where we were?”

“She followed me, that’s how.” He let loose a breath
of
half frustration and half disbelief. He looked at Gillian. “If you are from the future, prove it.”

“How?” Gillian wondered what he expected her to do.

“Dear woman, there must be something.”

She tapped her finger on her chin. What could she say that would make him believe her?

“We’re waiting
.”

His doubting expression was really beginning to piss her off. “What about my Nikes?” She lifted her skirt to show her tennis shoes to everyone.

Zachary wasn’t going to be so easily convinced. “That doesn’t prove anything. As far as
we know, you could have purchased those in
Paris. They are always ahead of the fashion.”

Gillian licked her lips and tried to think. “I know.” She snapped her fingers. “I should have thought of this, first.” Gillian ran out of the library and upstairs to her room. She came back with her purse and took out her wallet. She removed her California license and handed it to Zachary. Ellery looked over Zachary’s shoulder and Lotti and Tyler walked over to view the mysterious item Gillian claimed would prove she was from the future. They stared at the thick material.

“Amazing.” Ellery took it f
ro
m Zachary. “It’s like a calling card of sorts. Nice portrait by the way,” he commented on her photo.

“Thanks.” She gave him a quick smile.