Nate straightened and backed away. "You've changed, Sheena. You're harder than you used to be."
"Yes, I have changed. It's what happens when people disappoint you over and over again. I wish I could same the same about you. I'd be climbing you like a tree right now if you had ever loved me even a fraction of the amount I loved you. There is nothing I wouldn't do to protect you-even now-and I hate myself for still caring. Now go away before I call my droids."
Not saying anything more, especially with Brianna hanging on every word he said to Sheena, Nate spun on his heel and left as fast as General Montgomery had. Whatever game Sheena was playing with the other man, she obviously didn't trust him enough to confide about it.
Chapter Eleven
"Roll up your sleeves," Sheena ordered. When Carleton and Elsa looked at her without moving, she sighed. "I know I appear a bit frayed around the edges, but I swear what I'm doing is the right thing. This serum will slow the aging process in you both and is what Mom and Dad would have wanted. I should have done it years ago. It may reverse your ages a little, but probably not by much. Mostly, you'll live as long as Angus and Erin. That's our goal, right?"
"I like the new MacNamaras," Elsa said, adjusting her sleeve and holding out her arm. "They both have hearts of gold. It will be my pleasure to look after them the way I did your mother and father."
Sheena nodded, positioned the plunger, and sent her life extension serum into Elsa's body. She turned to Carleton. "You don't want Elsa living two hundred years without you, do you?"
Carleton didn't answer, just held out his arm. She picked up a second syringe and administered the serum to him.
"You can still have children if you want. I'd wait a decade more to let the full modifications become a permanent part of your DNA. It's never been tested, but I think the longevity modifications will be passed along to any offspring Elsa organically carries in her uterus."
"Do you fear for your life from those you work for, Sheena?" Carleton asked.
"No, and you shouldn't worry about yours or Elsa's. Both factions want the matchmaker illusion to continue for a while. My organization has different reasons for their compliance. If what I've done works, I've bought Angus and Erin a hundred and twenty years without harassment."
Sheena carefully returned the now empty syringes to their carrying case.
"And I don't think I said this to you before now, but thank you for all you did for Mom when she was dying. You've been the best castle keepers they ever had. You're like family to me and Brianna."
"You must certainly know the feeling is mutual," Carleton said.
Sheena nodded. "I do. You're my family as much as Bri is."
"Are ya testing them too, lass? Ya know, one day yer going to have to work on those trust issues ya have. Family may give ya hell, but ya have to believe they want the best for ya."
She'd forgotten they had a listening audience in the kitchen. Snorting, Sheena turned to Angus as he carried his tea to a chair and sat. "No. I wasn't testing them. I was merely making sure Carleton and Elsa live longer and healthier lives. I'll do the same for you and Erin one day."
"Nate's already extended us from what I understand," Angus said, setting his tea down on the table by the chair. "More than a hundred years with O'Shea nagging me into sobriety may be pushing my limitations too far."
"The poets say a hundred years is no more than a blink of an eye. Don't you love her a hundred years worth, Angus?" Sheena asked.
"I love that fretting woman. She's like the sun on a dreary day and I can't imagine living without her now. Course she won't marry me yet, but I think I'm wearing her down. I fancy a big kilted wedding at the castle with bagpipes playing with our every step," Angus announced.
"I turned off the bagpipes just like you requested."
"Well, ya can turn them back on, can't ya?" Angus laughed when Carleton gave him an irritated look.
Watching the exchange, Sheena felt her throat suddenly clutch tight and her eyes start burning. Angus was so much like her dad sometimes that it hurt being around him. She blinked and rose to put the now empty syringes back into her bag.
"If you'll excuse me for a bit, I need a nap. I didn't get much sleep last night."
Angus grinned when she looked at him again.
"Bri told us ya had yerself some unexpected company. Figured you'd have slept like a babe from her description of the man being so handsome and all."