MacLarens of Balmorie 05 - Once Upon A Time In Scotland

by Kam McKellar

  The conversation died. After a moment, Liam asked, “Were you able to get Logan on the line?”

  She shook her head. “No, my dad took him to the park.”

  Once again the conversation died, and Abbie let it. She felt a little sick inside.

  Eventually they made it to the airport. Liam didn't drop her off, but instead parked the truck and helped get her luggage from the back. As he stood there, setting it down, the crack in her heart grew. He reached into the bed and lifted a duffel, tossing it over his shoulder. He stared down at her. “Ready?”

  She blinked. “That's not my bag.”

  His smile went crooked and he leaned down and kissed her lips. “Aye, Abigail Murphy. It's mine.”

  “Yours.”

  “Mine.”

  He wasn't going with her. He couldn't. His whole world was wrapped up in Balmorie. “I don't understand...”

  “You dinna think I'd just drop you here and wave goodbye, did you?”

  Her heart was pounding so loud she could barely hear. “Well, yes. That's what we agreed.”

  “We agreed to give it six weeks. Open mind, open hearts, remember?” He hiked the duffel higher on his shoulder. “My heart is open, Abbie.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a plane ticket. “I'd like to come with you, if you'll have me.”

  “But...” She was so shocked she didn't know what to say. While she'd imagined so much, she never imagined he would leave Scotland to be with her. “Number one, why the hell didn't you say anything? And, two . . . you can't just leave.”

  It was wrong. All wrong. Liam loved his home. And the distillery, his dream, it was just beginning. She wouldn't let him sacrifice that for her. “Your work... the distillery. God, Liam.” Tears gathered in her eyes. “You can't leave now.” And she loved him too damn much to see him lose it.

  “Well, I'm hoping we can figure it out. Maybe half the year in the States and half at Balmorie. And, aye, I could stay and run the distillery with Ross and Harper. But without you...” he shook his head, his gaze becoming stark. “I'd be a miserable sod without you. None of it would make me happy.”

  Abbie's mouth opened, but nothing came out. He smiled at her with gentle eyes. “You walk, I walk with you. That's how it is with us, how I'd like it to be. I love you, Abbie.”

  Well, shit.

  She didn't know what to focus on first. The fact that he was coming with her, or the fact that he said he loved her.

  “I want to meet your son,” he continued. “I want to love him. I want you both in my life. I want to get on that plane with you, you ken?”

  She nodded, blinked tears from her eyes, and tried to swallow. “Kind of waited until the last minute, didn't you, Highlander?” she managed.

  “I bought my ticket the day after you came to my house in the rain.”

  Shock coursed through her at his admission.

  “And I dinna tell you because you'd have tried to talk me out of it. And our time was too precious as it was to argue.” He bit back a smile. “As Hamish would say, the heart kens what it kens. The auld man is right about some things.”

  Abbie stared up at the man in front of her. He was beautiful, caring, kind, and when he'd said he wanted to love her son, she'd almost started sobbing. And he was right; she would have argued with him about leaving, would have wanted him to stay and build upon his dream.

  She couldn't fault him too much for not confiding in her because she'd been making plans too. Her parents had started on the forms to get passports for them and Logan. She'd contacted Logan's father—the man couldn't have cared less about Logan leaving the country.

  She hadn't been certain how things would end between them, but she had hoped, and she had started to put things in motion, praying that what she'd read in Liam's eyes had been real.

  And it was real. She was looking at it right now, his blue eyes sparkling with love.

  “Logan, my parents... They're going to fall in love with you, you know that, right?”

  A cocky smile split his face. “I'm a lovable sort, lass. And what about you, Abbie?”

  A grin tugged at her lips. “I think I fell that night in the woods.”

  His eyebrow rose high and he moved closer, his gaze filling with hunger at the memory. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Say it. Say the words.”

  She leaned away and met the intensity in his eyes. “I love you, Liam MacLaren. And we'll be back home, on Scottish soil sooner than you think.”

  A blinding smile crossed Liam's face and he laughed, tossing his arm around her shoulder as they walked toward the airport.

  EPILOGUE

  When the lad finally woke from his nap and waddled into the kitchen where Liam and Abbie had gathered with her parents, Eleni and Brain, all talk stopped and all eyes went to the little boy.

  He held a sippy cup in one hand and a blanket in the other. A slight pang went through Liam's chest. The lad looked just like his mother right down to the freckles across his nose. A shock of black hair stood on end from his nap and his eyes were sleepy as he took in the scene, going from one person to the next before landing on his mother.

  As though she hadn't been away at all, he walked up to her and held up his arms.

  Abbie laughed and picked him up, hugging him to her for a long time.

  The rush of emotion at seeing Abbie hold her child on her hip, hit Liam so hard it stole his breath. And when she finally faced him with a happy smile, it made him yearn for way more than he ever thought possible.

  She shifted the boy on her hip and said to him, “This is Liam.” She kissed Logan's cheek. “Can you say hi?”

  When Liam met Logan Murphy Kowalski, the toddler stared at him with the big, dark eyes of his mother, the gaze discerning as though weighing Liam's worth. Liam didn't say anything, instead allowing the child as much time as he wanted to look.

  After a very long moment, Logan held out his sippy cup.

  Liam glanced to Abbie, unsure. Eleni and Brian began to laugh. “What should I do?” he asked.

  Abbie was grinning ear to ear. “He wants you to hold out your hand.” Liam felt sure he was missing a joke, but he did as asked. “No, palm up.”

  He flipped his hand, palm out, and Logan turned the sippy cup upside down and shook it until a few drops of chocolate milk landed in his palm.

  Abbie beamed, her eyes a bit glassy.

  “That's a good sign,” Eleni said with a laugh. “He only shares his chocolate milk with people he likes.”

  “Hey, at least he didn't get the top unscrewed. Nothing like a chocolate milk bath while you're napping,” Brain said, speaking from experience.

  Abbie winced. “Yeah, we're going to have to work on that.”

  Liam glanced down at the milk in his palm, then up at Logan. He smiled at the boy. The boy smiled back.

  And Liam knew that fatherhood was going to be a wild, amazing ride indeed.

  END