“It's pretty.” Delighted with her new treasure, Jenny rubbed it against her cheek. “I can put it on my windowsill.”
“She'd have been pleased,” Colleen said softly. “She kept it on hers.” With a harsh cough, she cleared her voice to briskness again. “You boys, take these, and don't lose them. They were my brother's.”
“Neat,” Alex whispered, reverently holding a perfectly detailed soldier. “Thanks.”
“Thanks,” Kevin echoed. “It's just like a treasure box,” he said, grinning at her. “Aren't you going to give anything to Aunt Coco?”
“She'll have the photograph.”
“Aunt Colleen.” Overcome, Coco reached for her hankie. “Really, you mustn't.”
“You'll take it as a wedding gift, and be grateful.” “I am grateful. I don't know what to say.”
“See that you clean that tarnish off the frame.” Bracing her weight on the cane, Colleen rose and turned to Megan. “You look pleased with yourself.”
Megan's heart was too full for pretense. “I am.”
For a moment, Colleen's damp eyes twinkled back. “You should be. You're a bright girl, Megan. And a resourceful one. You remind me of myself, a very long time ago.” Gently she picked up the pearls, letting the glowing strands run through her bent fingers.
“Here.” Megan stepped toward her. “Let me help you put them on.” Colleen shook her head. “Pearls need youth. They're for you.”
Stunned, Megan dropped her hands again. “No, you can't give them away like that. Bianca meant them for you.”
“She meant them to be passed on.”
“Within the family. They...they should go to Coco, or-”
“They go where I say they go,” Colleen said imperiously.
“It isn't right.” Megan searched the room for help, but found only satisfied smiles.
“It seems perfectly right to me,” Suzanna murmured. “Amanda?”
Amanda touched a hand to the watch she'd pinned to her lapel. “Completely.”
“Lovely.” Coco wept into her hankie. “Just lovely.” “Fits like a glove,” C.C. agreed, and glanced at Lilah.
“Destined.” She tilted her face up to Max. “Only a fool fights destiny.”
“Then we're agreed?” Suzanna took a quick survey and received nods from the men. “The vote's in.”
“Ha!” Though she was enormously proud, Colleen scowled. “As if I needed approval to dispose of what's mine. Take them.” She thrust them into Megan's hands. “Go upstairs and clean yourself up. You look like a chimney sweep. I want to see you wearing them when you come down.”
“Aunt Colleen...”
“No blubbering. Do as you're told.”
“Come on.” Suzanna took Megan's arm to lead her from the room. “I'll give you a hand.”
Satisfied, Colleen sat again, thumped her cane. “Well, Where's my drink?”
Later, when the waning moon had tipped over the edge of the sea, Megan walked with Nathaniel to the cliffs. The breeze whispered secrets in the grass and teased the wildflowers.
She wore blue, a simple summer dress with a full skirt that swirled in the wind. The pearls, glowing like small, perfect moons, circled her throat.
“You've had quite a day, Megan.”
“My head's still spinning. She gave it all away, Nathaniel. I can't understand how she could give away all the things that mattered so much.”
“She's a hell of a woman. It takes a special one to recognize magic.” “Magic?”
“My practical, down-to-earth Megan.” He tugged on her hand until they sat on a rock together, looking out over the churning water. “Didn't you wonder, even for a moment, why each gift was so perfectly suitable? Why eighty years ago Fergus Calhoun would have been compelled to select just those things to hide away? The flower brooch for Suzanna, the watch for Amanda, Yeats for Lilah and the jade for C.C.? The portrait for Coco?”
“Coincidence,” Megan murmured, but there was doubt in her voice. He only laughed and kissed her. “Fate thrives on coincidence.” “And the pearls?”
“These.” He lifted a finger to trace them. “A symbol of family, endurance, innocence. They suit you very well.”
“They— I know I should have found a way not to accept them, but when Suzanna put them on me upstairs, they felt as though they were mine.”
“They are. Ask yourself why you found them, why, with all the months the Calhouns searched for the emeralds, they never came across a hint of the strongbox. Fergus's book turns up after you move into The Towers. There's a numbered code. Who better to solve it than our logical CPA?”
Megan shook her head and blew out a laughing breath. “I can't explain it.” “Then just accept it.”
“A magic rock for Jenny, soldiers for the boys.” She rested her head against Nathaniel's shoulder. “I suppose I can't argue with that kind of coincidence. Or fate.” Content, she closed her eyes and let the air caress her cheeks. “It's hard to believe that just a few days ago I was frantic with worry. You found him near here, didn't you?”
“Yes.” He thought it best for her peace of mind not to mention the dicey climb down to the ledge. “I followed the bird.”
“The bird?” Puzzled, she drew back. “That's odd. Kevin told me about a bird. A white one with green eyes that stayed with him that night. He's got a good imagination.”
“There was a bird,” Nathaniel told her. “A white gull with emerald eyes. Bianca's eyes.”
“But—”
“Take magic where you find it.” He slipped an arm around her shoulders so that they both could enjoy the sounds of the surf. “I have something for you, Megan.”
“Mmm?” She was comfortable, almost sleepy, and she moaned in protest when he shifted away.
Nathaniel reached inside his jacket and drew out a sheaf of papers. “You might have a hard time reading them in this light.”
“What's this?” Amused, she took them- “More receipts?”
“Nope. It's a life insurance policy.”
“A— For heaven's sake. You shouldn't be carrying this around. You need to put it in a safe-deposit box, or a safe. Fireproof.”
“Shut up.” His nerves were beginning to stretch, so he stood, then paced to the edge of the cliff and back. “There's a hospitalization policy, too, my mortgage, a couple of bonds. And a damn Keogh.”
“A Keogh.” Megan held the papers as if they were diamonds. “You filled out the form.”
“I can be practical, if that's what it takes. You want security, I'll give you security. There are plenty of figures there for you to tally.”
She pressed her lips together. “You did this for me.”
“I'd do anything for you. You'd rather I invest in municipal bonds than slay dragons? Fine.”
She stared at him as he stood with the sea and sky at his back, his feet braced as if he were riding the deck of a ship, his eyes lit with a power that defeated the dark. And with bruises fading on his face.
“You faced your dragon years ago, Nathaniel.” To keep her hands occupied, she smoothed the papers. “I've had trouble facing my own.” Rising, she walked to him, slipped the papers back into his pocket. “Aunt Colleen cornered me today. She said a lot of things, how I was too smart to take risks. How I'd never make the mistake of letting a man be too important. That I'd be better off alone than giving someone my trust, my heart. It upset me, and it frightened me. It took me a while to realize that's just what she'd meant to do. She was daring me to face myself.”
“Have you?”
“It's not easy for me. I didn't like everything I saw, Nathaniel. All these years I've convinced myself that I was strong and self-reliant. But I'd let someone so unimportant shadow my life, and Kevin's. I thought I was protecting my son, and myself.”
“You did a hell of a good job, from where I'm standing.”