Time's Secrets (Taylor's Girls Book 3) Read online

  Time’s Secrets

  ISBN: 978-1-932926-40-8 (ebook version)

  Copyright © 2003 and 2015 by Sabra Brown Steinsiek

  Cover Photo: Gergely Zsolnai - Shutterstock

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission of the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review

  Artemesia Publishing, LLC

  9 Mockingbird Hill Rd

  Tijeras, New Mexico 87059

  [email protected]

  www.apbooks.net

  Time’s Secrets

  Book 3 of the Taylor’s Girls Series

  by

  Sabra Brown Steinsiek

  Artemesia Publishing

  Albuquerque, New Mexico

  Dedication

  For Geoff Habiger, Paul Rhetts, and Barbe Awalt for believing in me.

  Epigraph

  To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven…

  a time to embrace…a time to seek…

  a time to keep silence and a time to speak.

  ~ Ecclesiastes 3

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Novelist Laura Collins Morgan finished putting all the family travel dates for Meg’s graduation into the calendar program on the computer. It was going to be a crazy summer, she thought, as she looked at the wall of family pictures above the computer.

  There was their last family photo taken just before the older girls left for college. At the center was her husband, Taylor, a Broadway and recording sensation. She never tired of looking at him with his reddish hair and incredible turquoise eyes. He was preparing to open a new show in the fall after their recent move back to New York from New Mexico. He was busy with prepping for the show but would be taking time off as needed this summer as their daughters and extended family came and went.

  Megan, with her petite build, black hair, and cobalt eyes was their eldest daughter, who was finishing up her senior year studying pre-med at Stanford and would be graduating with the whole family in attendance before coming home to New York for the summer. Sometimes Laura, was surprised to remember that Meg was adopted, first by Taylor when his first wife, Annie Miller, died, then by Laura when she and Taylor married. Meg had been almost thirteen then.

  Their second daughter, Elisabetta, with her brown eyes and long brown hair was also adopted and almost the same age as Meg. Betta, as she was known to the family, had become Meg’s inseparable alter ego in the dark days after her mother’s death. Her parents had been killed in a car accident almost two years before Meg’s mother died and she lived with her aunt and uncle, Rosina and Matteo. Rosina had become the family’s housekeeper when Laura had proven to be “domestically challenged” when she married Taylor. Matteo was the family chauffeur. Betta had made the decision as sixteen to be officially adopted by Taylor and Laura much to Meg’s delight. Now Betta was studying fashion design in Milan, Italy and had been there for four years with only a few visits home. She would be home for Meg’s graduation and planned to spend June with them.

  Laura was seated beside Taylor with Annie on her lap. Almost six years old now, she was Taylor and Laura’s birth daughter. An elfin child, she had her mother’s red hair and her father’s turquoise eyes. Her sisters had been eighteen when she was born so she’d had the advantage of living the life of an only child with her parents and still being the adored baby sister of her siblings.

  Also on the wall was the picture of Laura’s parents, Sean Patrick and Maria Consuela Bernadette Genevieve Armijo Collins. They lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico where Laura had grown up. Tall, red-haired, Sean had come from Ireland to study at the University of New Mexico and met the petite Maria Armijo. It had been love at first sight. They’d both completed their educations there and then married. Sean never went back to Ireland except for visits. His home was securely in the southwest with the woman he loved. Now both of her parents were professors at the University, Sean in Linguistics, Maria in Women’s Studies.

  The final picture was of Laura’s best friend, Beth, and her family. The two had been friends since they were thirteen and, as only children, had served as the other’s “sister” for years. They talked often and were godmother to each other’s children.

  It was a crazy, mixed-up, family bound by heartstrings instead of blood. And all because Laura, a reporter for the Albuquerque Herald, had been assigned to interview Taylor Morgan when he’d come to Albuquerque for a charity concert. She hadn’t wanted the assignment and nearly missed the chance of meeting the love of her life. It was true – timing was everything.

  Her perusal of the wall of photos was interrupted by her phone. A quick glance at the caller ID told her it was her father and she answered with a smile. “Hello, Dad!”

  “Laura, my girl, how are you this fine morning?” He’d never completely lost the lilt of his native Ireland from his voice.

  “I’m fine. Everyone’s fine. Mom?”

  “She’s doing fine, too. Are all the plans in order for Meg’s graduation?”

  “I just finished entering all the flight times and arrivals and departures from California and from New York. It will be amazing if we pull it all off.”

  “You’ll have it all in hand I’m sure. But I may have a wee bit of a wrench to throw into the works.”

  “Really? You’re still going to be at graduation then come here later this summer, I hope!”

  “We’ll be there for the graduation. It’s the later part I might be changing.”

  “OK, out with it, Dad. What are you up to?”

  “I’m going to Ireland right after the graduation for a conference. Your mother has a women’s retreat she’s in charge of so she won’t be going with me. I thought I might ask Meg and Betta to accompany me for the trip and we�
�d stay two weeks.”

  “I think they’d love it.”

  “I’m hoping they will, but I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t interfere with any of your plans. “

  “No, it’s all clear and I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

  “Good. I’ll e-mail them tonight.”

  Chapter 1

  Meg ran her fingers through her short, black hair, stretched, and stood up to get a soda from the fridge. She needed a break from studying for tomorrow’s chemistry final but she simply could not look at one more formula right now. She walked around the apartment to stretch her legs, idly looked in the mirror at the dark circles that were under her cobalt eyes, and decided to check her e-mail before she plunged back into studying.

  She kept telling herself that school was almost over. That was a lie. It would all start again in the fall when she began med school. But that was not until fall. Once tomorrow’s chem exam was over there was only graduation, then a blessedly carefree summer!

  She smiled when she saw the message from her grandfather. Taking another swig of her soda, she opened it and settled in to read it.

  Good morning! (or Evening as the case may be!)

  How are my girls? It seems much too long since either of you have been home to visit. Even though we have Annie to spoil, your grandmother and I miss you.

  I have a conference in Belfast in June, after your graduation, Meg. Since you’ll already be here for the ceremony, Betta, I have a proposal for the both of you. I’d like you to come along to Ireland with me. My conference is only 4 days. I thought maybe we could take the rest of two weeks to explore my homeland before the chance is lost. A colleague of mine will be away for the month and has kindly offered us the use of his house while he’s gone. Your grandmother can’t go since she’ll be running a retreat. So I thought I’d see if the two of you would like to come keep your old Granddad company.

  Ireland’s beautiful then…let me share it with you.

  Your loving,

  Abuelo

  She smiled as she read her grandfather’s message. He was so much fun to be with that she knew this trip would be great. It was only two weeks. That still left her time to visit her Florida grandparents and spend time with Laura and Taylor and Annie.

  Before she answered Sean, she sent a quick note to Betta in Milan. They’d already made plans for Betta to take time off so they could be home at the same time. If they worked this out right, they could spend some time in New York with the family, then Betta could fly back to Italy from Ireland. Maybe she’d go back with Betta for a few days, too. As she wrote the message, Meg could feel some of the pressure receding and a smile lit up her face as she typed.

  * * *

  Betta really didn’t care if she ever saw another pin or swatch of cloth again. Aldo had been a total slave driver these last few weeks as they readied the fall collection for showing. This week had been beyond awful as he threw temper tantrums and fussed at every stitch and fold. Still, he’d chosen one of her designs to feature—a soft copper-colored silk dress and shawl that she’d designed with Laura in mind. It wasn’t by accident that the sample was being made in Laura’s size either.

  She’d been in Italy for four years now, studying fashion design, apprenticed to Aldo for two of those years. She’d learned a lot but Aldo was almost a caricature of the temperamental designer. She’d been feeling for a while now that it might be time to move on.

  After scooping fabric off of her computer, she pulled her long, brown hair back into a ponytail. She was a head taller than Meg with the figure and grace of a model. Unlike Meg’s striking cobalt eyes, Betta’s were so dark they were almost black.

  She logged into her e-mail and smiled as she saw Sean’s message followed by Meg’s. She opened Sean’s first.

  Ireland! Just the three of them. What fun that would be! Aldo was closing the studio for June and she’d already planned on being home. She was pretty sure that Meg’s message had it all figured out.

  As she opened her sister’s message, her exhaustion fell away and she smiled.

  * * *

  Meg was excited about the trip and dreading tomorrow’s exam. But, neither of them were what kept her awake that night. After tossing and turning for a couple of hours, she got up and went to her computer, opening a file that she had never looked in since she had created it years earlier. In it was everything she knew about her birth father.

  She’d been curious about him and had decided to see what she could find in a computer search. It wasn’t much…almost nothing really. His name, Cary Edwards, a couple of clips about his working for television news, and a small note that said he’d died in Ireland when she had been only thirteen.

  It had only been curiosity that led her to look. She’d had a wonderful childhood. Taylor had taken the role of father anytime she needed one. But, when her mother had died, she’d wondered if she had more family out there somewhere. It had been a fruitless search and she’d never given him much thought after that.

  Now, though, she was going to Ireland, to the city where he’d died. Maybe if she found his grave, there would be a birthdate and she could do some more genealogical searching for his side of her family. Not that she needed more family! The one she had was more than enough to make her feel loved and secure.

  Silly idea, she thought, as she closed the file and shut down her computer. If the opportunity arose, she might follow through. But she was through with not sleeping tonight…that chem exam would be hard enough without suffering from sleep deprivation. Resolutely, she put it out of her mind and, going back to bed, she quickly fell into dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 2

  Their flight arrived at Belfast International Airport early in the morning. They made it through customs in good time and found a cab to deliver them to the house they would be using. A motherly little woman met them at the door.

  “Welcome to Ireland, Dr. Collins. I’m Katyrose and I’ll be keeping house for you while you’re here. Let me help you with those bags and show you and the young ladies your rooms.” Katyrose efficiently took charge and had them sorted out quickly. “You must be starving by now,” she said as she turned to go downstairs. “There’s a bit of breakfast in the dining room if you’re feeling up to it. Come down whenever you’re ready.” Meg and Betta looked at each other then broke into muffled giggles as the housekeeper went down the stairs.

  “She’s just like Rosina!” Meg whispered.

  “If she is, we’re not going to get away with anything!” Betta whispered back. “I’ll bet you that the ‘bit of breakfast’ is a huge meal.”

  “No bets! I’d lose. I’ll meet you down there.”

  Sean was already in the dining room when the girls arrived. Warming trays on the buffet held a dozen different breakfast offerings and Sean was tucking into them with enthusiasm.

  “Well, my dears, we’re here. What shall we do today?”

  “Sleep?” Meg ventured knowing that it was out of the question.

  “Sleep! You girls are young enough a little jet lag shouldn’t slow you down. We need to be out exploring!”

  “Maybe time for a little nap this afternoon?” Meg pleaded.

  “Okay, a nap later. Eat now and we’ll head out. Professor Wolfe has left a whole pile of brochures and maps for us to use. I want to check on the conference hotel as well so I can find my way there.”

  * * *

  True to his word, Sean took them sightseeing until late afternoon, returning them to the house in time for tea and the nap he’d promised Meg. He had told Katyrose not to make anything for dinner, as he wanted to take the girls to the local pub that evening.

  “So, what do you wear to a pub?” Meg looked at Betta, stunning as usual in simple tailored slacks worn with a blouse of her own design. Meg had quit growing at five foot six but Betta was tall and willowy at five foot ten.

  “How shoul
d I know?” Betta answered. “I’m Italian!”

  “Something simple I guess. It’s not like a fancy restaurant.”

  “What about that new skirt you brought and your blue sweater? It’s just the color of your eyes. You can charm all the local guys.”

  “Me? You’re the one with the glamorous job in Milan. Elisabetta Morgan, fashion designer to the stars!”

  “A lot you know! It’s more like Betta Morgan, slave-girl.”

  They were interrupted by the sound of Sean calling up the stairs. “Are you girls coming this evening or not?”

  “We’re coming!” Betta called as Meg quickly slipped into the sweater and skirt. After running a brush through her short dark hair, she put on some lip-gloss and called it done.

  * * *

  The pub was busy when they arrived. Not a lot of strangers visited the little neighborhood pub and there were a lot of whispers and quick glances at the newcomers. Sean found a table for them and the barmaid arrived quickly.

  “What can I get for you this evening?” she inquired. Sean ordered three pints of Guinness and asked what the dinner menu was.

  “Dinner tonight is soup and roast beef sandwiches,” she replied. “The soup is good and hearty.”

  “Sounds fine to me,” Sean said as he looked at Meg and Betta for their opinion. They nodded their agreement. “We’ll take three.”

  “Three ’tis. I’ll be back with your pints in a few.”

  Meg tried to look around without being too obvious. They were so out of place here. Everyone knew everyone else. Her eyes caught those of the bartender, a young man near her own age with dark red hair and deep green eyes. He stared at her for a moment before turning back to building the pints Sean had ordered.