Scotland For Christmas Part 33

"So...do you have any chowder left?" he asked. Daniel liked to have New England clam chowder for Christmas lunch. It had become his mom's ritual, too. "Because I'm kind of hungry."

His mom smiled at him. "I'm glad you came home."

TWO DAYS LATER, Jacob sat in a private interrogation room at the New York Field Office and steepled his hands. He gazed at Diane across the conference table.

"Thank you for meeting with me on short notice," he said.

She placed her reading gla.s.ses on the files she'd brought along with her and raised a wary eyebrow. "Jacob, I know you don't want to hear this from me, but I can't possibly expedite your case this quickly, or give you clearance to join Eddie Walsh in the Presidential Protective Division. I'm sorry, but that's my answer for now."

"Really," he said, deadpan. "That's interesting, because I asked you here in order to get your professional opinion about something else."

Diane leaned back; he'd surprised her.

"Really," she replied, echoing his tone.

"Yeah. I went to Scotland and I did the investigative work I told you I had planned. I saw the place where my father was killed. I talked with the hostage that he died protecting."

Diane was listening intently. He continued on. "I wrote the details down for you on the flight home. Everything I learned about the timeline, the hostages, my father's role."

"All right," Diane said, nodding.

"But then I threw the notebook away because I realized the details didn't matter. None of the technical aspects of the operation were even important to me. Not really."

"And why is that?"

"Because my father loved me. That's all that matters."

"He said that?"

Jacob nodded. "He said that to the vic before he died-yeah."

"Jacob, my purpose in questioning you was to a.s.sess-and more important, to get you to a.s.sess-your fitness, motivations and state of mind, given what happened in your family's background."

"Yeah, and I'm grateful that you pushed me. Look, I know now that the whole birth certificate quest you gave me was just to get me to talk to my mother about what happened. She'd told me he'd abandoned us, but that turned out not to be true. And the trip to Scotland-that made me confront what really happened to him and my reaction to it. I got to see it through the eyes of the people who were with him when he died.

"My dad didn't fail, Diane. I'd always a.s.sumed he had. The way he abandoned us and then died, well, it was pretty traumatic to me, even if I never wanted to admit it. By choosing to join law enforcement, I wanted to...I don't know...in a twisted way, maybe I wanted to prove that his life had meaning. I was going to do what he did, only better."

He shrugged, feeling embarra.s.sed. "It didn't work out that way," he finished. "His life did have meaning, just not in the way I'd expected."

Diane was listening, silent.

"Look, all I can do is make meaning for myself. And I have. I know I'm super lucky. I have people who love me and want me to come home to them at the end of the day, and living with that is what matters most to me at this point."

"You sound like you've made a decision?"

"I have. Remember how you gave me a choice-stay in the field office, avoiding the work you were asking of me, or explore my motivations and eventually transfer to the PPD? Well, I'm not avoiding the work you asked for, but I do prefer to stay in a field office."

"So...do you want to continue meeting with me, here in New York?"

"Actually, I notice we have a London field office," he remarked. "And since I was born in Great Britain, I figure that gives me a leg up."

She eyed him. "Did you know we have an Edinburgh field office, too?"

His heart beat faster. "No, I didn't."

"It's new. Not many protective details are involved, but we do have a burgeoning investigative office there."

"I love investigative work," he deadpanned. "Especially credit-card fraud."

She cracked a smile. "Are you asking for my blessing in preparing your transfer papers?"

"That is affirmative."

"Is moving to your father's country just another way of following in his footsteps?"

"Actually, I'm following my heart. Her name is Isabel and she lives in Edinburgh."

Diane nodded, fully smiling. "You have my blessing, Jacob Ross."

"Great. There's just one more thing."

"Oh?"

"I, ah...might want to talk with a professional now and then. Someone with a specialty in trauma therapy."

He gave Diane credit; she kept her composure. "That...is for the best, and it certainly can be arranged."

"Great." He stood and reached for his sungla.s.ses. "I feel like we're developing something here, Diane."

She nodded, not batting an eye. He was starting to like this psychologist.

"Before I leave..." Jacob pointed to the stack of files that Diane had laid on the table before her. "May I have that original birth certificate I gave you? I never made a copy of it, and it occurs to me that I'd like to see where in Scotland my parents were born. Because who knows? Maybe I have cousins I'd like to meet while I'm over there."

Diane reached into her pile of folders. "I can certainly support that."

NEW YEAR'S EVE-Hogmanay-in Edinburgh and Isabel was solo. She had invitations to several parties, with people she liked, but in celebration of her newfound independence, she decided to spend the night taking pleasure in her own company.

Bundled up in her warmest winter coat and hat and her favorite boots, she walked through the city, alive with people. Lingering where she liked, and enjoying her own observations.

On one street a stage was set up, and she watched the comics there for a while. On another street she strolled through a festival geared toward children, with puppet shows and sing-alongs. She bought a hot cider from a vendor, and she sipped as she walked, warming her hands on the cup.

All along her meandering stroll, she made comments in her head, things she and Jacob would have noticed and discussed. A funny song. The sweet smell of cinnamon pastries. The wonder of a new year beginning.

For so long, she'd wanted to be home in Scotland, and now she finally was. She felt happy; she loved it here. And yet, with Jacob, the happiness would have doubled.

She thought about the phone in her pocket, and wondered if this was the time to call him. But he'd asked her to wait, and waiting meant being patient. And it was a stretch to hope he might return to Scotland, especially more permanently. Moving between countries was a major life change.

She had just made the most important life change. She had moved to the Land of Isabel. The Land of Isabel didn't need "one more year to be happy." In the Land of Isabel she could seek contentment daily. Because her decisions were hers alone.

That was why, when her phone rang, her heart leaped. She pulled off a glove with her teeth and in her haste spilled a bit of her cider in the rush to get the phone from her pocket.

"Jacob?" she said. She had to yell, because the noise on the street was so loud.

"No, it's Malcolm," her cousin yelled back.

That was good-she liked Malcolm, too. "What's going on?"

"Are you near the Royal Mile?" he shouted.

She was on it, near the bottom. "I'm working my way up the hill for the fireworks!"

"How far away are you from my party?"

The pub where Malcolm was hosting friends in a private room was only a few blocks closer to Edinburgh Castle. "Five minutes, I think," she yelled. "Maybe I'll pop in."

"Brilliant! Please join us, straightaway. Hurry!" Malcolm shouted.

"I'm coming!" She ditched the cider and pocketed her phone. Of course, there were festive crowds ahead, but she plunged her way through.

As she came closer to Malcolm's party, she heard a man singing karaoke, "A Red, Red Rose," over a microphone inside the pub.

Jacob! she thought again. She ran to the door and burst inside just in time to see the singer serenading Malcolm and Kristin. Jacob wasn't in sight.

Sighing, Isabel grabbed a gla.s.s of wine and stood along the wall to listen. How could she not think of the Vermont wedding and her first kiss with Jacob as she danced with him in his kilt?

"Isabel?" Jacob's voice was low in her ear, and she thought she must be imagining him. "Isabel, it's me."

She felt Jacob's strong arms around her and, twisting to see him, threw her arms around him, too. She hadn't forgotten how good he felt to her, how solid and strong. No person had ever looked so welcome to her. "You're here!"

"I'd hoped to surprise you. Are you surprised?"

She laughed. She should have known he would coordinate something wonderfully top secret. "How long are you staying?"

"Forever." He grinned at her. "I'm moving to Edinburgh, if you'll have me in the same city as you." And then he kissed her. He cupped her face and kissed her as if she were the most precious person to him.

When he finished, she was breathless.

"Yes, I'll have you!" she said.

He wiped her lip gloss that he'd smudged, smiling at her. "I'm sorry I left so abruptly, but I needed to get things straight. I transferred to the Edinburgh Field Office. I wanted to surprise you after I'd nailed everything down."

"So..." She was almost afraid to ask. "You'll still be a bodyguard, but over here instead of in Washington?"

Someone b.u.mped into them, so he steered her by the shoulders to a quiet corner. "Nope, something entirely different. I know it's late, but here's my gift." Beaming, he pressed something solid into the palm of her hand and closed her fingers around it. Then he put his hands over hers.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Credit-card fraud."

"Excuse me?"

"Credit-card fraud. It's my gift. And if that doesn't work, there's always business law. You reminded me of my apt.i.tude there."

She broke out laughing. "This is business law?" She shook the small box in her hand, because she'd realized that a box was what it was. Inside it, something rattled.

"No, not exactly. This is love. You love me, right? And I love you. Well, if you've decided you can carve out time for me, I've put my gun away for you. Instead, I've brought roses."

Roses? He had not. This was a ring. She shook the box again to be sure. "May I open it now?" Because it was a jeweler's box, and she was giggly with antic.i.p.ation and excitement. "Please!"

"I take it you can make time for me?" He said it in a teasing voice, but she knew he was utterly serious.

"Oh, yes!"

"Even if you're CEO?"

"No, Jacob-I met with my uncle at Christmas, and we've decided I'll manage the Cosmetics Division. I'll be busy, but fulfilled-busy, happy-busy and-"

"And with a personal life?" he finished.

"Absolutely." She leaned over their hands, wrapped around the box together, and kissed him. With a slight sigh, he kissed her back.

"You're the most important thing to me," she said.

With that, he took his hands away from hers. She opened the box he'd given her. A golden ring sat on a white satin cushion, a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece with roses sculpted around it. She grasped the significance, and held on to it tight. It occurred to her that she had everything she wanted, here at this moment.

"Which hand should I place this on?" she murmured.

"Whichever one you please."

She was the luckiest woman she knew. "The left hand, please."

He threw back his head and laughed. "I love you, Isabel Sage. How could I ever stay away?"

Be sure to look for the next book about

the Sage family from Cathryn Parry and