The city was beautiful at Christmas—covered in snow, with garland and lights strung up over many buildings and doorways.
I didn’t realize I’d not replied to him until Malcolm spoke up again.
“Are you all right, Kenna? You’ve hardly said anything since we left Morna and Jerry’s.”
Reluctant to look away from the window on the chance that I might miss something wonderful, I turned my head and smiled at him. He was right—I’d been quite rude.
“Ach, I’m sorry, Malcolm. ’Tis only that I canna remember the last time I was so excited about anything. I’ve simply been enjoying the view.”
He smiled a crooked smile, and my heart sped up in response. The view outside was wonderful, but I couldn’t have been missing anything that looked better than looking at him.
“You don’t get to Edinburgh very often, then?”
I answered honestly. “The last time I was in Edinburgh, I was fifteen years old.”
He looked as if he didn’t believe me.
“Truly? Have you lived in Scotland all your life, or did you leave here for a while?”
“Aye, and all of my life.”
Malcolm slowed the car and turned the corner onto a street lined with tall, connected buildings with doorways lining the front and steps leading up to each one. They looked like homes, though I’d never known homes to be connected in such a way.
“In what part of Scotland do you live, Kenna? I still haven’t gotten an answer from you.”
I wasn’t sure how to answer him. I didn’t know just how familiar he was with Scotland’s geography. If he was familiar at all, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to catch me in a lie. Most especially since I had no way of knowing if areas that were once remote, still were today. I decided it best to lie as little as possible.
“I live with my…my nephew at McMillan Castle. McMillan is my last name. He and his wife run the castle and keep it open to visitors. I assist in managing the staff.”
It was an answer that was only about halfway true, but I saw no way for him to be able to discern that I lied.
His face lit up, as if my words had suddenly solved a great mystery.
“Ah! Well, that explains it, then. I’m sure you have people that bring whatever you need to the castle. If so, there wouldn’t be much need for you to leave the area or to do your own shopping.”
While I didn’t quite appreciate the insinuation that others did everything for me, I couldn’t argue the point. In truth, there was much that was taken care of for me. I was a remarkably blessed woman in any century.
Slightly embarrassed, I nodded.
“Aye. Though ’tis not as if I couldna do any of those things myself if I needed to.”
His hand reached across the space between us and squeezed my hand as the car slowed to a stop in front of one of the doorways.
“I wasn’t suggesting that you couldn’t. That just explains your reaction to my credit card at the Christmas tree farm yesterday. Hey, McMillan Castle is the one with all of the extraordinary Christmas decorations, isn’t it? Rosie has wanted to see it for years. Perhaps, you could arrange a special tour for us?”
I nodded and then pointed to the woman who had just appeared in the doorway closest to the car.
“Aye. O’course I can. Is that Emilia?”
I knew her name from Rosie’s mention of them yesterday. The moment a man cradling a baby appeared next to her, I knew I was right.
“Yes, it is. She will be thrilled to meet you. Don’t worry about your bag. I’ll get them after we say hello.”
The moment I stepped outside the car, the woman called to me.
“Kenna, lass, if ye wish to see Edinburgh at Christmas, ye have come to the right place. While he may not be Scottish himself, Malcolm knows the city better than even I do. ’Tis a shame, but it seems that it often happens in such a way. Locals doona appreciate the uniqueness of a city the same way that visitors do, so we doona get out and see as much.”
Emilia talked quickly and without end as she wrapped one arm around my shoulder and led me inside their home.
While quite small, the home was beautiful and welcoming. I’d been unable to keep up with Emilia’s chattering. Just as I worried that I wouldn’t be able to answer her should she ask me a question, I was rescued by a hand at my back and turned to greet Malcolm’s brother.
The man, while shorter than Malcolm, still stood far above the top of my head. He strongly resembled his brother with the same thick dark hair and brows. But where Malcolm had blue eyes, Kraig had brown, and his face was clean-shaven. He also had no gray in his hair. As I examined his face, I looked over his smooth unweathered skin and saw a man not much older than my sons. Kraig Warren looked all of twenty years younger than his elder brother.
“Welcome to Edinburgh. You must be Rosie’s new favorite person. By agreeing to come with Malcolm, she got to stay away. I know we were boring her to tears.”
Kraig pulled me in tight with one arm while still holding the baby in his other arm. Once he released me, I reached out and placed my palm gently on top of the babe’s head.
“And this must be Robbie, aye?”
Kraig nodded, and the glimmer in his eyes as he looked at his son nearly brought tears to my eyes.
“Yes. I don’t imagine he will sleep too much longer, though. Soon he will bid you a proper hello by screaming at the top of his lungs.”
I grinned as he walked away and Malcolm came up behind me. He must’ve read my mind for he leaned in close to answer the question I’d not yet asked him.
“Kraig was the surprise of my mother’s life. She had him when I was twenty-eight years old, at the age of forty-four. Our father was forty-eight. My mother and my wife were pregnant at the same time.” He laughed. “It was a very strange time in my life.”
Eyes wide, I looked up at him.
“Ach, God bless her. Kraig would’ve been seven years old when yer mother was my age. I canna imagine it. My grandchildren are work enough. Did she…” I hesitated. “Did she live long enough to raise him?”
Malcolm smiled and pointed to a photo on the small table to my left.
“Oh, yes. She’s still very much alive. You’d never guess she’s as old as she is. She lives in Scotland now, just across the street actually. I’m sure you will meet her either tonight or tomorrow.” He paused and his brows pulled in. “Which I suppose means that I lied to you before, though I didn’t mean to. My mother is technically a grandparent to Rosie, but she’s lived in Scotland since Rosie was born. They’re not very close.”
I’d thought nothing of it.
“It takes more than blood to form a bond, Malcolm. Look at wee Cooper. I am not his blood, but I am no less his grandmother for it. In the same way, blood doesna necessarily make someone a grandparent. Ye dinna lie.”
“Oh look at the two of ye. Look where ye are standing.”
Emilia stood in the kitchen but pointed to us. She looked thrilled. We both looked blankly back at her.
“Ye are under the mistletoe. Come now, Malcolm. Ye must kiss her. ’Tis bad luck if ye doona do so.”
I’d not been kissed in fifteen years. My entire body seized up with nerves at the thought of being kissed now. Surely, I’d forgotten how. Surely, I would do it all wrong.
I had little time to think on it as Malcolm’s hand slipped to my lower back and he pulled me gently against him, his head quickly bending to my ear.
“You heard her. We can’t have bad luck following you around.”
I’d always thought the notion of women swooning in response to a man’s touch lacking in realism. I was a level-headed woman—ahead of my time is what my daughters-in-law always called me—but as Malcolm’s lips brushed against my own, I knew that if not for his steady hand holding me tight, I would’ve dropped to the floor like a sack of flour.
It was that wonderfully, deliciously good.
Chapter 12
“Are you awake? I was surprised to see the fire still burning
when I woke to relieve Emilia for a little while.”
Malcolm stood from his makeshift bed on the couch and waved his brother downstairs to join him.
“Yes, wide awake. Here, why don’t you hand me Robbie. I’ll bounce him until he goes back to sleep. You can go back to bed if you wish.”
While his brother didn’t hesitate to hand him the baby, he didn’t turn around and head back upstairs.
“I’m awake now, too. I’ll stay up and visit with you. I haven’t had a chance to visit with you alone yet.”
Malcolm knew well enough what his brother would ask him, and he had no answers to give him.
Whether it was the touch of someone new or just the fact that Malcolm was so warm from laying near the fire, young Robbie relaxed instantly as Malcolm cradled him in his arms. He continued to bounce the child gently as he walked around the room.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve held a baby—not since Rosie was one.”
Kicking Malcolm’s pillow onto the floor, his brother collapsed onto the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table.
“You’ve always been good with them, but I don’t want to talk to you about babies.”
Keeping his voice low so Robbie would continue to drift to sleep, Malcolm walked over behind the couch.
“I know what you want to talk about, but there’s not anything for me to say.”
“Sure there is. You didn’t tell me anything on the phone yesterday when you called to tell me she was coming with you. Who is she?”
Malcolm still knew so little about her. Just as he’d begun to believe that her strange behavior at the Christmas tree farm had been explained away, her behavior at the symphony had raised new questions in his mind.
He couldn’t recall a single melody the symphony played. He’d spent the entire two hours watching her take in the spectacle.
She looked on with the wonder of a small child. As the lights changed around the stage, her eyes darted around to watch them as if looking for the source. When the conductor stepped up to the microphone and his voice boomed out over the audience, she’d nearly fallen out of her chair. It was the strangest thing he’d ever seen. It was incredibly enchanting. Wonder was something he’d not felt in decades. That Kenna could still be so surprised and fascinated by anything at their age was one of her many attractive qualities, but it still made no sense.
“I’ve only known her a few days. She’s related to Morna and Jerry. She and her grandson were visiting them when Rosie and I intruded on their trip. The rest is exactly what you’ve heard. Rosie wanted to stay and Kenna wanted to see Edinburgh at Christmas. So here we are.”
His brother twisted in his seat on the couch and looked back at him.
“And that’s it then. She’s just your friend?”
Kenna had given him no indication that she was interested in anything more than his friendship. While he hoped that would change, he couldn’t claim that they were more than that now.
He nodded and his brother stood from the chair and reached for Robbie as he shook his head.
“I wonder what Emilia would say if I kissed one of my female friends under the mistletoe like that? I can’t imagine that she would be very pleased.”
* * *
I woke sometime in the early hours of the morning, just past midnight, with my bladder so full I thought it might burst. While I knew it probable that there was a restroom somewhere on the top floor, I had no desire to start opening doors in the dark, and I knew with certainty that there was one just past the front door on the bottom floor.
With Malcolm sleeping on the living room couch, I opened the bedroom door quietly, intending to sneak through the house unnoticed. Instead, as I opened it, I could hear voices from down below, and the staircase was illuminated by the fire that still burned.
“And that’s it then. She’s just your friend?”
It was Kraig’s voice. I knew I should back up into the room and close the door and hold it until morning—Malcolm’s answer to his brother’s question was not something he intended me to hear, but I desperately wanted to know his answer. Instead, I moved just a little closer to the staircase and listened.
Nothing. Malcolm gave no answer. Before I could move away, Kraig was moving toward the staircase with the baby in his arms, calling back over his shoulder something about kissing his friends under the mistletoe.
Knowing that I could do nothing to keep from being seen, I spoke out to try and avoid the uncomfortable interaction that was headed my way.
“Kraig, is the baby awake? I was just going down to the restroom but if ye’d like me to take him for ye, I’d be happy to.”
Kraig smiled at me and reached a hand out to gently squeeze my arm in thanks.
“No need now. Malcolm got him to sleep. I hope we didn’t wake you.”
Perhaps too dramatically, I dismissed him with a wave of my hand.
“No, ye dinna at all. I dinna even know ye were down here until I saw ye coming toward me on the stairs. Goodnight, Kraig.”
Hopeful that I’d covered up my eavesdropping well enough, I made my way downstairs to where Malcolm stood behind the couch.
“Ye should be asleep, Mac. Ye promised me a full day of sightseeing tomorrow, and I’ll not let ye out of it even if ye are tired.”
He laughed and looked down at me. I suddenly felt very self-conscious in Adelle’s robe.
“I think my anticipation for tomorrow is precisely why I can’t sleep. Don’t worry. I won’t back out on you.”
Leaving him to return to bed, I went to the restroom and came out with every intention of sneaking back upstairs. Instead, I walked past the living room to find Malcolm sitting on the couch as he faced the fire.
“Do ye not wish to at least attempt some sleep?”
Using his head to wave me over, he didn’t face me as he spoke.
“Why don’t you come and sit by me a minute? Maybe after some conversation, I’ll feel like sleeping.”
I knew he’d not meant anything unkind, but I didn’t hesitate to point out what his words had suggested.
“Well, thank ye. I’m so pleased to hear that speaking with me is an effective way to put ye to sleep.”
He laughed, his voice deep. Knowing that I would now sleep little myself, I went to join him. He sat at one end of the couch with both the middle and its other end unoccupied. I began to retreat to the couch’s other end, but the warmth of him was too alluring. Cautiously, I slid closer toward the middle.
“You know I didn’t mean it that way. Kenna…” he hesitated as I turned to look at him. The glow from the fire made his eyes look even more blue than usual. With the memory of his lips against mine still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t keep my eyes from drifting toward his mouth.
“Aye?”
“May I ask you a question?”
“Ye may.”
He reached for my hands. I adored how strong and warm his grip was. His hands completely enveloped my own.
“What are we doing? I’m past the age where games suit me. Shall we be friends or is it possible that we might be something more?”
I could hear my heart beating in my ears. There was only one thing I wanted to do in answer to his question.
With my hands still clasped in his, I closed the space between us and leaned in to kiss him.
The urging of all the twenty-first century women in my life sounding in my mind, I allowed myself to stop thinking as I moved against him, opening to his tongue as his hands pulled away and moved to the sides of my face. We kissed until my body shook all over from need. Recognizing where this would lead if I didn’t stop soon, I pulled away.
“Was that your answer? If so, I’m very much in agreement with it.”
Malcolm’s own breath was shaky, and the need in his eyes made it difficult for me to breathe. I scooted away to give myself the space to gather my composure.
“In a way, though ’twas not all of my answer. I wish to tell ye something.”
While I wa
s here, I wanted Malcolm. I wanted to feel alive, to dust off some of the neglected parts of my soul and body, but I needed him to understand that I could promise nothing beyond the next few days. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us to enter into something that was bound to cause us eventual pain without knowing exactly what would come.
“Tell me. I would listen to you say anything.”
Hesitantly, my voice unsteady as the effects of his kiss continued to course through me, I told him everything that was on my mind.
“Mac, I was fourteen when I married my husband—still a child. And while I did love him in my own way—I never would’ve chosen him for myself. He was two verra different people, and I kept my distance from him because of it. He was a remarkable father to his children—fair and gentle with them all his life. But William was far too serious and harsh with me. He never laughed when we were together, and I only saw him smile in the presence of his sons. Our marriage cost me much of my childhood, but for him, our marriage cost him the woman he truly wanted to marry. While I played no hand in our betrothal, I doona think he ever forgave me for it.”
I could see the question in Malcolm’s eyes and paused to give him time to ask it.
“It was an arranged marriage? At fourteen? That’s outrageous, Kenna.”
Ignoring most of his questions, I continued.
“Aye, ’twas arranged from the time of my birth. If there is a blessing to come from it, ’tis that William vowed to never force his own children into such an agreement. Despite our lack of passion for one another, we lived easily together as husband and wife.
“William has been gone for fifteen years now, and there’s been no one since then. I only tell ye this so that ye may understand why I’m about to propose something that may not be acceptable to ye. If ’tis not, I willna blame ye for it.”
I waited for him to say something, but instead he just nodded, urging me onward.
“I’ve never known what ’tis like to explore a relationship of my wanting. If I were wiser, I would stifle what I feel for ye now and accept yer friendship. But Malcolm, for once in my life, I wish to be selfish. I wish to be selfish even knowing that in a few days, we will go back to Morna and Jerry’s where ye will collect Rosie and I will most likely never see ye again. We live in verra different worlds, we canna pretend otherwise. So…” I was shaking all over again, but no longer from need. I’d never felt so vulnerable, so open to rejection. “To answer yer question after a verra long explanation—aye—I wish to be more than friends with ye, but I canna promise ye that anything shall last past the next few days. Can ye accept that and not think me the most selfish of women?”
Morna’s Magic & Mistletoe - A Novella: Book 8.5 of Morna’s Legacy Series Page 6