Beyond Time: A Knights Through Time Travel Romance (Knights Through Time Travel #1)(2)

Inside the cozy apartment, she pulled the curtains open to take advantage of the night view, the lights from the boats in the harbor winking and reflecting off the water. The phone rang, interrupting her reverie.

“Hey, sis. Sunday dinner at our place.”

“Dinner?”

Cal huffed. “Don’t even tell me you forgot. Everyone will be there to celebrate Thurston’s graduation.”

“When we were little, schools only celebrated high school graduation. Now they graduate all the time. Kind of makes the high school milestone less important, don’t you think?”

Her eldest brother turned his doctor voice on her. “What’s wrong? Did Gary break up with you? What happened this time? He fall in love with a stripper?”

“It’s Greg. And nothing happened. We’re great.”

The sound he made in the back of his throat made Melissa want to reach through the phone and strangle him. She didn’t mean to say the words out loud, but her mouth took control of her brain.

“In fact, we’ve been ring shopping.”

There was a moment of stunned silence. “Good job, sis. He’s with a good firm, and Heath will love having another lawyer in the family. Wait until Mom and Dad hear.”

She winced. “I’d rather surprise everyone with the ring.”

“Right.” Cal sounded sheepish. “Guess women like that kind of stuff. Well, at least this one is a keeper. Can’t wait to meet him.” Another call beeped in. “Speak of the devil, it’s Heath. We’ll see you Sunday.”

Her middle brother was delighted to hear the news, and as she crossed her fingers, Mellie sent up a silent prayer. Please let it be this weekend.

“Can’t wait to talk shop with Greg. See you on Sunday. And sis?”

“What?”

“Don’t forget a present for the little angel.”

She hung up. Both her brothers were super successful, one a high-powered lawyer and the other a cosmetic surgeon. They had the perfect, thin blond wives along with two kids and a dog. While she, the surprise baby before her mom hit menopause, floated through life—or, at least, that was what they all thought. Her mom was a dentist and her dad a CEO of the local utility. Yep, she was the one whispered about, the free-spirited loser, just like Aunt Jilly, whom no one ever mentioned except to talk about her for another year after she showed up for the big family Fourth of July party.

It was almost ten. Greg should have been here hours ago; she was the one late getting home from school. Thinking of her boyfriend made her check that she didn’t have paint on her to give away she wasn’t sitting through dreary classes. It was odd for him to be late, and now that she thought about it, he hadn’t texted or called once all day.

When her text went unanswered after an hour, she called, her lips pulled down as if by a hook. No answer. Guess he was still busy with the big case. Her boyfriend was an up-and-coming lawyer and worked all the time, though he usually found a few hours during the week and on weekends for them to do something, even if it was only a movie or quick dinner. But he’d promised they’d spend the whole weekend together. At eleven, she called again.

“Hey, honey it’s me. Guess you left your phone on silent again or out in the car on the charger. My final went really well and I’m exhausted. I’ll see you at nine tomorrow. Sleep well.”

As she curled up in bed, the warm breeze carried the sounds of the boats through the open window, and Mellie fell asleep dreaming of the perfect wedding…though when she turned to face the groom, he didn’t have a face and was nothing more substantial than a stick figure.





TWO





1334—England





“Bloody English,” Connor McTavish muttered as he crouched beneath the scaffold, boots sinking in the muck, the stench of death filling the air as he breathed shallowly through his mouth, tasting the sweat-stained cloth tied around the lower half of his face.

“Hush, ye wee bastard.” He cuffed the man crouched next to him, glaring at the Englishman, willing the man to be quiet. Damned Thorntons.

“This is the last time I save your womanly hide. When next we meet on the field of battle, I will end you. Though I may be an outlaw, I am a Scot and you are English, not worth my breath nor my neck in a noose.”

Edward, the eldest of the Thornton brothers, snorted. “I swore to repay you tenfold for saving my hide last winter. Though if I had not been unsteady, I could have taken all eight men myself.”

“And fetched the healer as ye bled out in the dirt? Who would have tended ye until the fever broke? A serving wench?” Connor clicked his teeth together. “She would have robbed you blind and slit yer throat while you slept. Then again, the wench likely would have told the bastards where to find you and collected a coin for her efforts.”

“You have my gratitude for tracking the cowards down and ending them.” Edward scowled. “A Thornton always keeps his word. I will see those you care for are taken care of. But know this: when I next meet you on a field of battle, I will grant you a quick death and then say a prayer after, Scotsman.”

Connor rolled his eyes in the gloom. “Perhaps I should let you hang and wed your woman.” He put a finger to his mouth. “’Tis a jest. Future women are troublesome wenches. I would sooner wed a pig.”