by Lexi Post
“It’s Milly!” Holly floated back to them as the old farmer pulled the sleigh to a stop in front of the church doors.
The few people left milling about there immediately approached the sleigh. Milly’s father stepped down first then helped his daughter out.
Holly’s smile was wider than the street. “She’s so lovely. I’ve never seen her hair down. She always wears it up, like you. I can’t do that. Mine is too thick. It gives me a headache.” Holly looked back at her for a moment. “Is your hair thick?”
She shook her head, and Holly was back to watching the scene.
The scent of bayberry alerted her to Malcolm leaning in again. He whispered in her ear. “Dinna ye let yers down on occasion?”
She was sure the delightful shiver that raced across her skin was noticeable to him, but she refused to turn her head. “No, I don’t. Since when do you have a Scottish accent?”
“We all have the brogue, lass. We just decide when ta use it.”
She gave him a scowl. “You don’t need to be using it on me. We need to concentrate on our mission.”
His lips quirked up. “I dinna ken I disturbed yer concentratin’.”
She wanted to throw her hands up and stalk away, but Holly was nearby. Instead, she settled for ignoring him and drifting toward Holly.
Maybe the happiness of the occasion was starting to seep in with Malcolm, but if his Scottish accent was a result of that, she’d rather he remained dour. It was bad enough she was interested in him and dreamed about sex with him. She didn’t need to have him using that accent on her.
“Tell me she’s marrying Luca.” Holly’s hopeful expression was too hard to resist.
“Yes, she is, thanks to you introducing them.”
“Now, that was only because Coco told me they were soulmates.” Holly gazed past her and squinted at Malcolm, who had floated over. “And I never told them I knew that. All I did was make sure they met.” Holly crossed her arms to punctuate her statement.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Joy ignored him. “I had no doubts.”
“Can we go inside now?” Holly drifted toward the church. “I’d love to see her walk down the aisle. Did Luca ever stop growing? He made me feel like an elf when he came into the store to buy Milly an ornament the other day.”
Joy didn’t answer immediately. It wasn’t time for Holly to see herself yet. She wasn’t ready for her own future.
“You’ve already seen the bride. Do you have to see the groom?” Malcolm’s negative attitude was back to dour.
She should be careful what she wished for. “I think we can hang in the back and watch the bride meet the groom. After all, we have plenty of time.” She looked at Malcolm. “Besides, what’s better than a wedding?”
At the look of sorrow on his face at her words, she wished she could take them back. She softened her tone. “If you want to wait for us out here, that’s fine. I realize this isn’t a man’s favorite event.”
He just shrugged and followed Holly inside.
Men could be so stubborn. She sincerely hoped he wasn’t hurt by watching. Knowing he’d lost the woman he loved gave her so much sympathy for him that she was now worried. It was much easier thinking he’d never settled on one woman.
She finally followed, floating into the church, not unaware of the irony that she’d never found the one herself…though she’d thought she did.
Malcolm made sure Holly stayed where she couldn’t see herself. If she did, it could jeopardize everything.
Joy’s attitude was already causing him serious irritation. Now that she knew about Blair, she kept looking at him like he might break. He needed to find out what was beneath her caring exterior.
His brogue had definitely affected her, but in a completely different way. Still, he’d seen a crack in her composure similar to her anger at her home. He hadn’t used his brogue or had sex since he’d transitioned to the afterlife, but if it helped him figure her out then it might be worth the risk.
The rules were different now. He didn’t have to worry about someone killing the woman he loved, but this assignment could very well be a set-up.
Just like Coira—his wife.
He rarely thought about the woman he’d married years after Blair’s death. He’d done it out of pity, saving someone from the hellish underground, who thanked him by betraying him to a crime chief. Coira wasn’t worth his time. She only served to remind him how stupid he’d been.
No, having sex with Joy wasn’t a good idea. He needed to get inside her head another way. Not just because he wanted her to come out of this assignment with a new appreciation for the future, but because he needed to know how much he could rely on her…if at all.
He sensed her presence even before her minty scent filled his nostrils. The bride was about to start up the aisle, the music announcing her as everyone stood.
Holly floated higher.
He grabbed her hand, forcing her down. “You can watch from here only.”
She rolled her eyes at him, but remained where he put her.
Floating back to where Joy hovered, he clasped her hand. At her startled expression, he pulled her out of the church and through the ether.
“Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer since the ether parted, and she could see the green mountains of northern Argyll. Flying them down between two one-thousand-footers, he pulled her through the roof of his cottage. Once inside, he let her go and solidified.
She solidified as well and viewed his living area.
He made himself comfortable in his Barra Chair, the seat and back conforming to his body as he settled in.
Joy didn’t say a word. She wandered around the room, studying everything, the blank white-washed walls, the log beams holding the thatched roof, even the plain brown couch. She paused next to an antique side table beneath a shuttered window. If she expected to see pictures of Blair or Coira, she’d be disappointed. They belonged to his former life and had no bearing on this one. Sure, they didn’t.
She finally faced him. “Is this a replica of where you lived in Scotland?”
“Aye. The last place I lived. I moved here from Glasgow.”
“It doesn’t look very futuristic. In fact, it seems like something from the past.”
He understood her confusion since the futuristic pieces, at least to her time frame, were not obvious. “I’m not a century ahead of you. Probably about fifty years or so, but I bought this as a holiday home when I wanted a break from the city. I moved into it permanently in the end.”
She meandered to the only other chair in the room and perched on the edge of it. When she suddenly stood and looked back at it, he couldn’t contain his laughter.
“The Barra Chair is from my time period. It will adjust to your shape.” He held his hand out. “Go ahead.”
Joy glanced down at the chair before carefully sitting in it. “Wow, I can see how this would be of great help to people with back pain.”
He clamped his jaw tight to keep from responding with a sarcastic comment about her no longer being a nurse. That wouldn’t help him figure her out.
“Your place is rather…sparse.”
He crossed his legs at the ankle, his chair shifting with him. “I like it that way. My life became too complicated in Glasgow. I like the simplicity of this area, the standing stones, and the scenery. Open the shutters.”
The dark wooden shutters snapped back against the walls, flooding the room with an opaque light that had just a hint of green in it, the ever-present mist reflecting off the grass on the surrounding mountains.
Joy smiled in appreciation. “It’s beautiful. I bet it’s spectacular when there’s no fog.”
He refrained from telling her there were no clear skies here. He didn’t bring her here to talk about the weather. “Why did you want Holly to see Luca marry Milly?”
The change in subject caught her attention. She folded her hands in her lap and crossed her legs, bringing his attentio
n to her thighs where the green velvet lay. He couldn’t tell which would be softer to the touch.
She shrugged. “After the visit to Thea, I thought that one appropriate. I wanted her to see that some of her efforts over the year did bear fruit.”
“But that isn’t our charge. Are you saying that the visit to the church would in no way help her open herself to new experience?”
“Of course not.” She moved her gaze to the window view. Her head cocked slightly to the right. “I want her to be open to the possibility of love, to see what could be in store for her as well.”
If she hadn’t moved her head, he would have believed her, but his training as a Glasgow Watchman kicked in. “You didn’t mention that while we were there.”
She moved her gaze back to him. “It wasn’t time. I plan on doing it later, when she’s ready.”
He didn’t shake his head, forcing himself to hold her gaze. She wasn’t that hard to read…to him. “You brought her there so you could go.”
“What?” She broke eye contact, even as she waved his comment aside. “Why would I want to go? Except, perhaps, to cheer up after that harsh visit to the hospital.”
He rose from his chair, positive he’d found a vein. His height, already an advantage in their solid forms, would be more so now with her sitting. He took the two steps to bring him directly in front of her, forcing her to look up. “You wanted to attend the wedding of the soulmates. Why?”
She frowned. “I told you why.”
“No, you told me why you brought Holly there, but that wasn’t the main reason we made that visit.”
A flash of pain in her blue eyes reflected her thoughts before she scowled at him. “I don’t know what you’re trying to intimate, but you’re way off track.” She uncrossed her legs and stood, about to walk by him.
He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Tell me.”
Her eyes widened before she looked down and tried to twist away. “What are you doing? We’re supposed to be helping Holly. Why are you attacking me?”
He didn’t let go. There was too much at stake, but he was careful not to hurt her. “Joy, we have to be honest with each other. There’s more going on here than simply Holly’s need to be ready for her own life without Cameron.”
She scowled up at him. “You keep saying that, but what evidence do we really have?”
His lips quirked up of their own accord. “How about the fact I had a trance induced memory of something I haven’t thought of since I transitioned? How about the fact that I was told if I’m not successful doing it ‘their’ way instead of mine then this will be my last assignment?”
She stilled. “They told you that?”
He nodded.
“So, when you said if you were a failure, Cameron would be too, you meant you would no longer be a spirit guide if you failed?”
“Correct.”
“And if Cameron is a failure then that means a terrible future for Holly.”
He wouldn’t say that, but if she thought that, she might open up and hopefully give him an idea of what was really going on with their assignment. Seeing her vacillate, he nudged, “Tell me why you chose Luca and Milly’s wedding…please.”
Her gaze flitted away before she would meet his eyes again. Her slender throat revealed her hard swallow before she spoke. “I wanted to witness a marriage that would last forever.”
“Why?” He kept his voice low, as if he sympathized with her. That was what he’d been taught.
“I was in love once, too.”
That was different from what she’d said earlier, that she didn’t have time to find a husband. Then again, she cocked her head slightly to the side at the time. “What happened?”
She twisted beneath his hands, and he let her go, giving her room to choose her words, her story. He’d decipher what he needed to once she started to talk.
Joy moved around behind the chair she’d been sitting in and grasped the back of it. That was a position she’d taken at her own home. A defense mechanism? With him? Or everyone?
“Alan was a good man. We’d been seeing each other for well over a year. I could tell he was thinking of proposing and I was ecstatic.” Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. Not surprising.
He didn’t say anything, letting her decide when to continue. It was more likely to be closer to the truth than if he pushed. He hadn’t had many suspects with her personality, but enough to know she would tell the truth if he let her.
She looked down at the chair as if viewing her life on the seat. “He’d talked often about having a family, getting a place up in Prescott where we all could go during the hottest months in the valley.” She glanced at him. “That’s what we call the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.”
He nodded to show he understood, his patience waning, but his training kept him quiet.
“I thought the idea was lovely, but never explained to him why it might not work like that for us.” She paused again.
Did she let her career get in the way of her happiness? In a way, it was ironic when compared to how his career had ruined his.
Joy gripped the top of the chair so hard, he noticed it adjust away from her pressure.
“I tried to tell him as soon as I realized his intentions, but it never seemed the right time and the couple times I started to, we were either interrupted or I lost my nerve. He was such a good man. Finally, the day came that I both wanted and dreaded. He proposed.”
And what did you say? The thought begged to be spoken, but at the same time he noticed his hands had curled into fists. He forcibly relaxed. Rule number one, never get involved with a suspect. If he did that, he’d lose all his objectivity. But she’s not a suspect. She’s your partner.
Joy was back to staring at the chair seat. “I said yes, of course. I loved him with all my heart. But before he could slide the beautiful diamond solitaire onto my finger, I curled my hand and told him the truth.”
Her gaze finally lifted to meet his. “I told him I couldn’t have children. I told him of the genetically malfunctioning uterus I once had and how the doctors said it had to be removed when I was sixteen. I assured him I was happy to adopt as I always saw myself as a mother and even grandmother.”
Despite his trained objectivity, Malcolm’s gut spasmed with anger. The pain in Joy’s watering eyes told him the end of her story, and he wanted to bash the man that had hurt her so much.
Oblivious to his feelings, she continued with her tale. “He closed the lid on the ring box and rose. He was shocked. He wanted to know why I hadn’t told him before? Why I had let him fall in love with me when I couldn’t give him the family he wanted. I tried to tell him we still could have a family. There were so many ways to do that, but he just kept shaking his head. He was actually in tears.” Her own tears cascaded down her cheeks, and she wiped them away carefully with her index finger, obviously concerned about her make-up.
It took all his willpower to remain standing on the other side of the chair she used as a shield. He wanted to take her in his arms and tell her the man didn’t deserve her.
Why?
Only because she was his partner. That was it. He just wanted to offer her comfort because he couldn’t have her an emotional mess. That’s the only reason he had to clasp his hands behind his back to keep from going to her.
She gave a half-hearted chuckle and attempted a smile. “After that, I refused every wedding invitation I received, and there were many. I know it was silly, but I just couldn’t stomach seeing people so happy when my love affair ended so terribly. I was on a wedding strike.”
Now the trip with Holly made sense. She’d called off her strike. “But why Luca’s wedding in particular?”
This time her smile was real. “Because Coco was right. They are soulmates. Their marriage lasts forever.”
“The happily ever after you never got.”
She nodded then shrugged. “Silly, I know, but I really do think that the wedding can come in handy later. Don’t you?”
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br /> He didn’t disagree. He held out his hand. “Come here.”
She strolled around the chair and stood to the side of him, though she didn’t take his hand. Not that he could blame her. He now knew she had some depth, which made him trust her abilities enough to work with her.
He motioned toward the chair. “Please.”
She gave him a regal nod and took her seat again.
He didn’t resume his. Instead, he walked to the window and put his back to it, well aware it would leave his face in shadow. “All three of us, you, myself, and Holly, have suffered the loss of a loved one in three different ways.”
“Of course! You’re right. So how does that fit into the larger scheme of things? Neither you nor I had a second chance.”
His wife popped into his mind, but he brushed that away. They were never consummates, so her influence on him was minimal. “But Holly could have.” And so could they.
Where the fux had that come from? Unless they had a chance to reunite with the ones they loved. The thought wasn’t as comforting as it should be, probably because he was wrong.
Joy frowned. “Yes, she could, but I’m not sure how we can possibly make that happen. She is completely in love with Cameron.”
“The file said Holly had two soulmates. Cameron was one, but Ethan was the other. She’s already aware that a person can have more than one since she said Luca has two. My question is, when Cameron said he wanted her to be open to new experiences and deeper relationships, do you think he intends for her to be willing to love again?”
“Oh, I can’t see Cameron being happy with that.” Joy shook her head.
“But Cameron isn’t calling the shots here.” And if that was the case and he did get Holly to see she could love again, would he be allowed to keep his job, only to have his boss hate him? Was he in a no-win situation?
Joy tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m not liking this at all. Maybe he meant for her to find a new passion in life, like a new job or project.”
“Do you really think that’s the case?” He waited for her to come to the same conclusion that he had. It didn’t take long.