Penmort Castle (43 page)

Abby planted
herself in front of him and threw her arms around him, crushing her
body against his and she held on finally effectively halting
him.

“Please, honey,
stop walking,” she pleaded. “You might cut yourself. Let me clean
up the lamp.”

At her words,
something inside him imploded. He pulled viciously out of her arms
but bent low, put one arm behind her knees and one at her waist. He
lifted her and carried her to the bed. Tossing her on it, he came
down on top of her.

“You’re not
going to clean up the lamp, Abby,” he clipped. “You’re never going
to clean anything again. Aileen’s going to clean up the fucking
lamp. That’s what I fucking pay her for. That’s why I fucking work
so goddamned hard.”

Her hands were
on him, stroking his back slowly, soothingly, and she whispered,
“Okay Cash.”

Cash felt
Abby’s hands moving on him, her soft body under his, the silk of
her nightgown against his skin and he sucked in breath.

On his exhale,
he shared, “My father left the money, the holdings, everything, to
my mother but Alistair took her to court. It was years, battle
after battle, appeal after appeal. And he got it back.”

Abby’s hands
stopped moving and her arms slid around his back to hold on
tight.

“I looked
through her papers,” Cash told her. “She had a case. A strong one.
She was sick, drove her attorneys up the wall and then she ran out
of money and they jumped ship.”

“Oh Cash,” she
breathed softly.

He dropped his
forehead to Abby’s and muttered, “I can’t fucking wait to see his
face when I kick his ass out.”

Abby’s body
went still under his, she hesitated then suggested quietly, “Maybe
you should wait until after the anniversary celebration. I think
Nicola’s looking forward to that.”

Cash replied
instantly, “Oh, I’ll wait.” Then something occurred to him, he
pulled slightly away and asked, “Why did Honor tell you this?”

He heard her
hair slide along the covers as he saw the shadowy outline of her
head shake in front of him. “I think,” she started then paused and
went on warily, “I’m not sure but I don’t think Alistair was very,”
she hesitated again then finished, “
nice
to them.
Any
of them.”

Cash caught her
meaning. Alistair not being “nice” included Nicola.

In a low voice
that came directly from his gut, he knew because he felt it, Cash
promised, “He’s going to pay.”

Abby’s arms
flexed around him and she warned, “Be careful, Cash. He scares
me.”

Belatedly, Cash
realised his weight was likely too much for her and he rolled to
his side, taking her with him.

His arms moved
around her and he pulled her close. Her arms stayed tight and she
tucked her face in his neck.

“Don’t worry,
darling. I won’t let him hurt you, or anyone, not again.”

Her head tilted
back and she replied, her voice showing her surprise, “Cash, I’m
not worried about
me
.”

His chin dipped
down and he looked at her face in the shadows and he repeated, “I
said I won’t let him hurt anyone.”

She pushed her
body into his as she pressed him verbally, “Even you?”

It struck him,
uncommonly slowly, that Abby was worried about him. And this
knowledge sheared the edge off his anger.

His hand slid
up her back, sifted into her hair and he tucked her face back into
his neck.

“Even me,” he
murmured.

She nuzzled
closer and whispered, “I’m sorry about all this.”

“Stop saying
you’re sorry,” Cash demanded.

She nestled
even closer and continued softly. “Well, I am. About you, your Mom.
Nicola and the girls. And your grandmother. What she must have gone
through.”

Absently,
Cash’s fingers caught a lock of her hair and started winding it
around his fingers.

“Don’t think
about it,” Cash gave her the advice he was going to use
himself.

“Okay,” she
mumbled, “I’ll try.”

He held her
until everything about her enveloped him, her scent, her feel, her
touch, her warmth, the sound of her breathing. After he felt the
peace only Abby could bring him, he pulled her right in the bed,
yanked the covers over them and settled her into his side.

When he felt
her head go heavy on his shoulder, her arm slackening around his
stomach, he called, “Abby.”

“Yes, honey?”
she mumbled sleepily.

His arm around
her waist got tight and his fingers at her hip gripped her
briefly.

“Thank you for
telling me,” he muttered.

She gave him a
squeeze and pressed deeper into his side.

“You’re
welcome.”

He waited until
her breathing evened, her body relaxed and he took her slumbering
weight.

Only then did
he allow himself to sleep.

The Battle
Begins

Abby drove her
car along the winding roads toward Penmort, concentrating closely
because she didn’t really know where she was going and also because
she was scared half out of her mind.

She had no idea
how she’d let Angus talk her into this.

Yes, she
did.

Tomorrow night
Cash and she were going to the castle and spending the weekend
there, staying Friday through Sunday. A “family” celebratory dinner
was to be held Friday night. The extravaganza was Saturday night.
And they were to leave Sunday after a brunch of family and close
friends.

And if she
didn’t meet Angus tonight she might not make it to Sunday.

Angus called
Jenny’s phone that morning when Jenny and she were on their way to
pick up her great-grandmother’s gown. Abby had taken it to the
cleaners on Monday to have it cleaned and pressed. Jenny and she
were headed there to pick it up as well as do other shopping for
the weekend when Angus called.

Jenny, Abby
noted, was acting weird.

She was far
more quiet than normal, especially when Abby explained all that had
happened with Cash that week.

Jenny, who Abby
expected to freak out, simply turned to her and said, “That’s nice.
He’s a good man, Abby, and I think he wants to make you happy.”

She sounded
like she didn’t entirely believe her own words even though she
wanted to. Furthermore, she shared no advice, guidance, concerns,
warnings or even giggles, smiles or lewd questions about how Cash
looked naked.

Definitely
weird.

Then Abby had
gone on to share her new life philosophy, something to which she
was certain Jenny would have a reaction.

She’d come up
with it lying in Cash’s bed last night, waiting for the cramps to
go away and allowing herself the time, finally, to think of
everything that had befallen her and what she was going to do about
it.

When she got
the call that Cash had an accident (she thought), she was
definitely reacting or more to the point, overreacting because of
what had happened with Ben. But she hadn’t been reliving losing
Ben. She’d been upset because she couldn’t fathom the thought of
losing Cash.

Which was
something she couldn’t ignore even if she wanted to.

But he’d said
himself that they weren’t going to lose one another until one of
them wanted to be lost.

Which meant he
knew one day he would move on.

Abby didn’t
like this idea, it hurt even to contemplate it.

But she lay in
his bed asking herself how she would behave if someone had told her
that her time would be short with Ben.

In order to
avoid the pain, would she have turned away, left him behind and not
spent her years of love and laughter with him?

Never.

What she would
have done was packed much more love and laughter in those years.
She would have treasured every moment, even the bad ones, for the
precious memories they would become.

So she had a
monumental shift in thinking.

For she knew
upon feeling the immense relief that Cash was alive and well that
she cared about him. And she had to admit, finally, that what she
and Cash had was good. No, it wasn’t good, it was great.

No, it wasn’t
even great, it was
magical
.

She couldn’t
kid herself anymore and she didn’t even want to.

But this time,
she’d been given a boon. She already knew their time together would
be short. That meant she could prepare. And that was exactly what
she was going to do.

She was going
to pack as much into her time with Cash as she could fit. And she
was going to savour it while she had it. She was going to stop
living her life in fear.

She was just
going to live.

Abby thought
Jenny would be thrilled to hear this though she didn’t tell Jenny
that Cash had intimated the end at the same time he was initiating
the beginning.

Instead, Jenny
got a strange look on her face and gave Abby a hug.

Abby leaned
back in her friend’s arms and asked, “Are you okay?”

Jenny pulled
her lips between her teeth and bit them.

When she
released them, she nodded and said, “Just happy for you.”

She didn’t look
happy nor did she look okay but Abby let it go.

When Jenny was
ready to share what was troubling her, Jenny would share. That had
always been the way no matter how much Abby wheedled her.

So she let
Jenny have her space.

That’s when
Angus called.

Jenny handed
Abby the phone and Angus told her he’d been at the castle and “on
the job” for the last two nights but the “ghosty she-bitch”, a.k.a.
Vivianna wasn’t showing.

“She’s a clever
girl but not more clever than A McPherson!” he decreed grandly.

Then, without
further ado, he told Abby his scary plan. A plan which consisted of
Abby going to the castle and offering herself up as bait to a
murderous, vindictive ghost.

Angus had
already spoken with Fenella and Cassandra and everything was in
place. Alistair and Nicola were out for the evening as was Suzanne,
none of them to return until late.

Honor and
Fenella would have Abby over to dinner and Abby would draw out
Vivianna so Angus could take her down. However, Cassandra would
give Abby some protection and Angus would give her some coaching
before Abby went in.

Though, Angus
assured her, Abby had nothing to fear. Angus would always be a
“hairsbreadth” away.

There were a
variety of things Abby didn’t like about this plan.

First, she
didn’t want to be bait. Vivianna was a spirit-bitch-from-hell and
Abby didn’t want to be anywhere near her until she
had
to be
near her.

Second, she
didn’t want to be bait (Abby thought that was worth pointing out
twice).

Third, dinner
with Honor and Fenella to draw out a ghost meant that she’d have to
tell Cash she had other plans, plans that didn’t include him, and
she didn’t figure he’d like that much.

That morning
before he left for work when he, as usual, slid her hair off her
neck, she felt it and she woke. Her eyes opened when his lips
touched her skin.

She looked at
his shadowy form and he murmured, “I’m leaving, darling.”

She’d muttered
back, “Hang on,” and with sleepy energy she’d flipped her legs
around his body and jumped out of bed. He rose with her and she
grabbed his hand, led him to the guest bedroom and flicked on the
lights.

“Abby –” he
started but Abby was mumbling sleepily to herself.

“I should have
come in and got it last night but I…” she stopped by the bed and he
halted beside her, looking puzzled and somewhat impatient. She let
go of his hand, reached under the pillow and pulled out an
envelope. “Honor said she’d leave it here and she did,” Abby
finished.

Cash’s eyes
went from hers to the envelope and Abby explained about the copied
diary pages and the safety deposit box.

Abby had not
had time to process their emotional evening or any of the profound
secrets Cash had let slip during his tirade. Secrets about his
surprising history of being poor (something about which she had no
idea, she thought, especially with his manner, that he’d been born
to money,
lots
of it). Secrets about his father leaving his
mother and him a fortune that had been taken away (something which
neither Angus nor Honor or Fenella mentioned and she wondered if
they knew). Secrets about the reason he worked so very hard
(something which made her heart hurt).

That morning,
he seemed none the worse for wear, his usual charismatic self. But
a deadly light shone in his dark eyes when she explained what the
envelope contained.

When she was
done, his arm went around her waist, he hauled her into his body
and his mouth came down on hers in an intense, thorough,
mind-numbing kiss.

When he was
done, her knees were weak and she sagged into his body.

After she
recovered, she lifted the envelope and slapped it on his chest.
This was done in an effort to be cute and try to control her heated
body caused by the ferocious triumph she felt in his kiss
and
her concerns about what that might mean for his
safety.

“Be smart with
this, Mr. Fraser. Don’t make me regret giving it to you,” she
teased mock-severely and he smiled but his smile didn’t reach his
eyes.

His eyes were
still deadly serious.

His fingers
closed around the envelope and he tucked it into his inside jacket
pocket.

Then his hand
went into her hair and he asked, his burr so rough it vibrated
against her skin, “Fancy living in a castle?”

A shiver slid
through her at his question, right before it hit her he was
Penmort’s master, true and legal.

Her eyes moved
over his handsome face and she realised it suited him.

Instead of
answering his question, Abby snuggled closer and admitted, “That
night we were there, Alistair stood by the fireplace and I thought
he seemed out of place.” Her fingers curled into his lapel, she
went up on tiptoe and tilted her head back as she got closer to his
face. “You wouldn’t seem out of place. As crazy as this sounds, a
castle suits you, Conner Fraser.”