“Brenna, are ye sure ye’d like to go with him?” Edna asked.
“Aye. More than anything,” Brenna replied, a brilliant smile on her lips.
“Alright, then. I’d be happy to send you both back. Ye’ll need to go to the bridge. Leave tomorrow and when ye arrive there, call to me. I’ll be listening for ye.”
“Then what will happen?” Brenna asked.
“Not to worry dear, Zeke has done this before. Ye only need wait for the fog to take ye home to San Francisco.”
“Edna, thank you for knowing what I needed even before I did,” Zeke said.
“You’re welcome, me dears. I’m happy to be of service. Now, what of yer sister, Sara. Did ye convince her to go home as well?”
“No. She’s happy here with Logan. I was wondering though. Do you think it would be possible for us to visit with each other once or twice a year.”
“I think we can manage that. Mayhap at Christmas and then mid-year. What do you think?”
“That sounds great.”
“We’ll work out the details later. Ye ken ye can always call to me if ye need me.”
“Can I call you at the inn?” he asked.
“That would be fine, but yer fireplace works just as well. Granted ye need to give me time to get to mine. Dinnae be impatient,” she chuckled.
“Thank you, Edna.”
“I must go now. I’ll speak with ye again when yer at the bridge.”
The snow swirled and Edna’s face disappeared.
“Isn’t this the most amazing thing? Edna gave it to me when we visited with her last Christmas. She invited all of the MacKenzies to the inn. It was wonderful. Maybe next year we can convince her to let us go to San Francisco,” Ashley said.
“Only if Dougall and I can come with ye this time,” Helene said.
“I’m sure Edna wouldn’t have any objections to that. I’m just not sure she can send a huge group of people directly to San Francisco, but we’ll see.”
“Ashley, it has been a pleasure getting to ken ye and yer bairns. Thank ye fer yer help while I’ve been here,” Brenna said. Ashley stood and hugged Brenna.
“What about you, Zeke? Can I get a hug?” Ashley asked, arms out and facing him.
“Of course,” Zeke obliged.
“Good luck to you both,” she said.
“Thank you. We’ve got many goodbyes to say if we’re to leave tomorrow, so we should go do that.” Zeke looked to Brenna who was beaming with joy. She latched onto his arm. “We’ll see you later, Helene.”
***
“Oh, no! You’re leaving so soon,” Sara pouted.
“Brenna wants to come with me and I think it’s best if we get out of here before Munro decides to return,” Zeke explained.
“Yes. Of course. Silly me, I didn’t even think about that. I guess I was being selfish wanting to keep my big brother here with me for as long as possible.”
“I talked to Edna about the twice a year thing and she agreed. We thought maybe Christmas and mid-year would work well. Ashley told us everyone went to the inn last year for Christmas, so it seems like we’ve got a plan for seeing each other.”
“I’m going to miss you so much,” Sara said, hugging Zeke tightly around the waist. “You really are the best brother ever, you know that, right?”
