Return to Rhonan (32 page)

As Dinah struggled to get up, Douglas walked into the room. His eyes lighted upon Jess.  ‘Hi sweetheart, how are you feeling?’ Stooping, he kissed her full on the lips.

Surprised,
she laughed, ‘I’m fine thanks.  There’s a spare chair over there.’

Douglas grinned, ‘I shall sit at your feet madam.’ 

Jess felt the blush heat her face and chest. ‘Now to business – let’s discuss the letters.  Who's read all of theirs?’

Raising her hand, Lucy said, ‘There’s very little of Muriall in my lot – more newspaper articles.  However, I must say they were awful times.  She worked so hard to help, but there was little she could do really.’

George interjected, ‘The newspaper article on the evictions from the village was horrific.  How on earth could someone have that kind of power? I mean evicting all those families.  Then having the Military drive them from the holes in the ground.  That landlord literally sentenced them to death.

Lucy nodded, ‘George showed me that. No-one interfered – they just went along with it.'

‘Forced more like.’ said Dinah.
  'I
read it too.  He wouldn’t allow the neighbours to help those people – the swine. I mean four hundred people.
’

Jessie nodded her face muscles tensing. ‘It was horrific. Muriall was so fierce – so brave. Even though her heart was breaking she did not weaken but fought on trying to protect the women and children.’

Douglas’s face tensed, as he said, ‘One
thing,
I do know Jessie, is your dreams and visions tally with these letters.  There’s something we must do straightaway and that’s send off all we have for DNA analysis.’

CHAPTER
49

She drank in the moment, an idyllic scene with a gorgeous man. It had taken over six weeks for her ribs to heal.
Even
now, they were still sore. Jessie gazed at the sun-dappled leaves of the weeping willow trailing slender branches into the waters. Overhead, a Kingfisher‘s wings shone iridescent blues and greens. Jessie lounged on the blanket, stroking the black curls from Douglas’s brow.  It was idyllic, the sun, lake, trees and him; a private spot hidden far enough away from the Manor.  She bent to kiss the full lips her fingers now rubbing against the bristle of his unshaven cheek. He smiled languorously, and with a soft grunt rose to take her into his arms.  ‘So little lady what is next, food or a swim?’

Jessie laughed,
‘My stomach is pleading with me, so I guess we should....’

Tickling her under her chin, he stretched over to the picnic basket.  ‘Now let’s see what chef has arranged. He said to leave it to him; he knew exactly what we liked.’  Pulling out a linen tablecloth he began unpacking the food, passing it to Jess, barbecued chicken thighs with Piri seasoning along with King Prawns in a light Marie Rose sauce, followed by Panini’s of ham, salami, chorizo and salad.  She smelt the freshly baked bread rolls, as she took out the churned butter swirls in an iced dish.  Her mouth watered at the avocado pears laden with more prawns in a tart lime and coriander sauce. ‘Gosh Douglas, this is great. I could eat it all. He certainly knows what we like. What about you?’

‘Couldn’t have chosen better.  And he’s got some pork and apple sausage, and for dessert Strawberry Pavlova with fresh cream.’ Douglas brought out two crystal flute glasses.  'Champagne on ice no less.’ Clinking glasses he said, ‘Here’s to the woman I love.’

As they ate, they listened to the soft tones of a local radio station playing Gaelic songs.  A female voice sang of love and roses, of yearning and return to the beloved land.  Jessie was glad she’d made the decision. It had taken time for her to trust him again, but she did realize she had heaped her own assumptions and beliefs on him.  Maybe that was a bit of Prissy’s character coming out in her.  Over the last weeks, she came to realize that beliefs or not, she loved
him,
and wanted to be with him.  Nothing else mattered.  As she wiped some cream from his mouth, she grinned and standing up, said, ‘Now I’m going for a swim.’ Laughing she ran into the shallows wading through the bull rushes loving the reeds wrapping around her legs. God it was beautiful here, the water just warm, the sun sparkling like diamonds on the still water.  She had thought that maybe the terror of the attack would rise up to haunt her as she entered the water,  but to her surprise, she felt completely at ease. Taking a deep breath, she plunged beneath the surface, her feet paddling her further into the lake.  Rising to the surface, she stretched out on her back, floating.  Her thoughts turned to the first time she’d been here, wondering why he wouldn’t come into the water. Now it didn’t matter. 

Jess rolled onto her the stomach and stroked lazily to the willow tree. Did Muriall and Duncan make love beneath this tree?  She wondered if she could persuade
Douglas
to have treatment for the phobia, a phobia that kept him from having fun right now.  He’d broken through the phobia, through his terror to save her life, but she knew it was still with him, still had that fearful hold. However, he was still raw from rescuing her from the demon monster; he needed time. 

He still insisted on sharing the suite with her, the memory of the demonic attack not far from their minds. They all agreed with Father O’Reilly that the Jesuit priest should perform an exorcism to be sure that Maximillian was dispatched permanently.  However, it took weeks to arrange.  They all submitted to psychiatric analysis, which was one of the first steps in arranging an exorcism.  The tests would reveal whether the haunting and attacks were due to hallucinations or underlying schizophrenia. It was highly unlikely that all six of them and the priest also could be suffering from any mental illness, but it was one of the stipulations of the Catholic Church that they were primarily examined first by a psychiatrist.

She
had decisions to make, should she push D
ouglas
to remove to his own quarters or should she entice him to stay.
Rolling over she began using strong over arm strokes to the shore.  At least here in this idyll, the lake was screened by the bull rushes abating his fear of the water.  Thank God for that.

Slipping a towel over her shoulders, Douglas gently rubbed her back. ‘God you’re beautiful.’

His hands slid softly around her pulling her towards him. She felt the iron muscles of his arms, heard the thud of his heart, felt his abs harden with desire. She
shuddered,
closing her eyes as the tingling swept through her stomach.  His fingers swept over skin, like a pianist creating music. Trancelike she floated into the notes that rose like scintillating colours cascading through sunset.

She moaned softly, as he leant forward, his tongue trailing his fingers, his hands moulding her muscles into sensuous desire.

She pulled away. ‘Not yet Douglas, my ribs are not healed yet. But soon – soon.’

Groaning he pulled her into his arms, stroking back the wet bright hair. ‘It seems
my siren has turned into a vestal virgin.’

Smiling, Jessie laid her head on his chest, trying to control her feelings for him, longing to stroke his magnificent torso. Instead, she lay listening to the beat of his
heart,
as it returned to a normal rhythm. 

Nuzzling her
ear,
he whispered, ‘Love you Jess, stay with me.  Tomorrow we should get the results of the
DNA,
and then we’ll know where we’re going with all this.”

Her body stiffened slightly, when it came to it, how would he feel, if she was indeed the heir to Rhonan. For all his assurances that he would be happy with any result, for all his protestations of love for her, how would he really feel and more importantly, how would he react?

CHAPTER 5
0

Pulling the sea green bathrobe around her, Jessie opened the door to the pink scrubbed face of the Courier. Her hand trembled as she signed for the letter.  Excusing herself, she crossed to the writing desk whereupon a delighted Daisy jumped up ready to play with this new friend.  Jess returned pulling her off him,
'Sorry
about that she’s
just−'

‘Gorgeous ma’am – got one of these at home. Beautiful natures.’

Jess smiled broadly. She was like a doting mother when it came to Daisy. Tipping him generously, she closed the door.  Daisy busied around her legs as she stared at the envelope.  Now
was the time of reckoning. For all Douglas’s assurances, she still had that slight fear of his reactions.  Calling for him, he appeared, toothbrush in hand, a towel slung over a bare shoulder, another wrapped around his waist.

‘DNA. Results are here. I thought I’d just wait for us to do this together.’   He grinned through the toothpaste. “Give me a second, I’ll throw on some clothes.’   

Her heart thumped as she turned the letter over. What the hell did it say?  Although it was addressed to both of them, she feared to open it alone.  Better, he read it for himself. Sitting down in the chair, she called to Daisy, busy fussing around by the door sniffing all the lovely scents left by the courier.   ‘Daisy come here – come on.’

Daisy ambled over, her tongue lolling from the black smile, the dark eyes questioning.  She didn’t miss a trick where Jessie was concerned. She came
over,
and licked her hand, finishing off on her knee.  Jessie let her fingers run through the white silky fur gaining strength from the sheer calm of the dog.  Looking up, she heard Douglas re-enter the room. Smiling still, he came and sat by her. ‘Hey come on.  It’s not the end of the world. We’ll face this together. You know I’m always with you.’  

Jess
nodded,
handing him the letter.  ‘Seeing as it’s your hotel and your ancestor, I guess you should open this?’

Taking the letter from her, he put it on the table.  He took her hand, looking earnestly into her eyes, ‘Before we open any letters Jess. I just want to say this.’

He left the chair and knelt before her.  Jess‘s heart almost stopped. What was he doing?

He brought out a small navy blue box and opened it for her to see a deep blue sapphire surrounded with diamonds nestled on a tiny navy velvet pad. She caught her breath, as he said, ‘Marry me Jess. Make me the happiest man on the planet.’ He took the ring from the box and held it up for her to see, 'There’s an engraving on the inside and here's a magnifying
glass.'
  

Her eyes now open in wonder, she said ‘Oh my God.’   Taking the ring and the magnifying glass she read, “From DLR to JM Forever United.'’

Hardly able to speak, Jessie put her hand on his shoulder drawing him up to sit beside her. ‘And I’m the happiest woman on this planet. Oh Douglas, I love you.’

He held her tightly for a few seconds, his hand stroking her bright thick hair.  ‘Always babe, always.’   He drew back and grinned, ‘I wanted you to have this before – before we open the damned letter.’

He read the first page of the letter without a word, a slight frown creasing his forehead.  ‘Damn, it’s complicated.  Why can’t they just spell it out?’

She looked over, her heart racing, but said nothing except to bite her lip.

Douglas read the second page and then the third before going back again to the first page.  Putting them in his lap, he laughed and took her in his arms.  ‘Hey look at me –Jess – look at me ...  seems we’re related.’ With that, he laughed out
loud,
and grabbed her. ‘Hello cousin – we could be had up for incest.’

Jess snatched up the papers her eyes racing down the pages. ‘Oh my God, my God – we are related. You really are my family.’ She bit her knuckles.

As he took back the papers, he said, ‘It reads here that the skeleton in the grave is not related ... so Duncan did not drown himself in the lake then? They’ve got the connections of the hair from the canvas and us.’  

Jess put her hand down only to bite the knuckle of her finger. ‘So where does that leave us?’ 

‘Exactly where we were minutes ago babe. I love you even though you’re the heir to this estate.  Bugger, you just made it through, there’s only a couple of weeks to go before the whole bloody thing folded up anyway.’

‘It’s yours Douglas.  I don’t need it.  I really don’t—‘

‘Hey – we can work this out.’

‘Listen – I’ve thought a lot about it. I know that you will lose everything, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  I can re-sell it to you for pence – really.’

He took her hands in his. ‘Okay – I’ve been thinking too. I knew from all that’s happened that it was on the cards. There were too many co-incidences for me to ignore,
but
what about this?  You become the major share-holder – I’ll just hang in there.’

‘No – I’m the major shareholder in the McGregor Empire. How about I’m on the board or whatever you want to do – just a minor shareholder? I really don't want to be anything else.  I have my practice, my psychology – research, besides my art.’

Douglas held her eyes. ‘Whatever happens babe, we’re together. He saw her glance down at her ring still in the box. Tugging at her hand he said, ‘I mean that in all ways. You’ve said you love me, but you have not answered my question yet Jess. Marry me – now – tomorrow.’