Magnus called, “What are we havin’ for dinner, Chef Zach, and how long until the meal is ready?”
“We’re having lobster rolls, shrimp skewers, and a bunch of other treats, twenty more minutes.”
“Och, m’mouth is waterin’. Did I hear the ice cream churn goin’?”
“Ayuh, as they say here in Maine.”
CHAPTER 70 - KAITLYN
Afew minutes later everyone had gone in different directions. Karrie and I were sitting beside each other staring out over the dock where Magnus, Finch, and Fraoch were standing. “Thank you for coming, Karrie, it means a lot to Magnus to meet your husband, family is really important to him.”
She smiled. “It was a bonkers scenario: first Dad gets a visit, then he gets robbed, but he gets a rare historical artifact during the robbery so he’s not that upset about it. But Finch was, he’s been really worried for a while. Then Dad says the family that robbed us has invited us to dinner. We weren’t sure what to expect, but this is lovely. Sort of surprised how many knives and swords there are, hope his brothers won’t be a bad influence on him.”
“We live in Florida most of the time, so we won’t be around enough to get him in too much trouble.” The kids ran past. “You said you’re newlyweds…?”
“Arlo is my stepson, his mother passed away about ten months ago, after a battle with cancer.”
“Oh, Archie is my stepson too. It’s complicated isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s also really simple, I love him so much, but yes, it’s complicated.”
“I one hundred percent agree.” We grinned.
She said, “I remember you, your YouTube channel, I wondered what happened to you.”
“Yeah, here I am. Traded in the dickhead for Magnus Campbell.”
“So you won in the end, married a duke, and you don’t need my PR help?”
“I don’t need PR help, but thank you.”
She said, “The thing is, we’re really relieved to have Magnus take that box away, Finch was really worried about the recent threats. It’s rough on him, he’s very private.”
“Magnus is too, he’s very guarded.”
“I know, I Googled him and came up with nothing! In this day and age it was astonishing.”
I nodded. “We all keep a very low profile.”
“Good, it’s such a relief to meet new family members and have it be low pressure, and no one wanting anything from Finch.”
I chuckled. “Have we mentioned we would like concert tickets?”
She said, “Well that’s a given!” She looked out over the dock. “What do you think they’re talking about, all those brothers?”
“I have no idea,” I lied. I was pretty certain he was telling Finch Mac about time travel. I could see it in his body language. “I think he’s just really happy to have another brother. Donnan was so awful, finding brothers is the one good thing from it all.”
The kids rushed up, Isla said, “We go swimming?”
“No, dinner is about to happen, just wait… maybe after dinner.”
Chef Zach called out, “Dinner is ready!”
We all stood to go down a buffet line then settled in different places all over the yard. Joe and Lydia spoke with Beaty about Mookie, some sat, some stood around the table, it was convivial and fun. I leaned my head on Magnus’s shoulder. “This is so cool, right?”
“Aye, I like him, did ye ken we get tae go tae a concert?”
“Awesome. Did you hear that, Beaty, we get to go to a concert!”
