Highlander's Beloved 02 - A Highlander's Passion Read online

  After dressing and drying her hair, Kenzie joined Effie in the breakfast area. Mary Kate placed the soup tureen on the round table, and based on the delicious aroma, she’d made cock-a-leekie.

  “Come sit, Sparrow,” Effie said. “Only in this marvelous land can a simple chicken-and-leek soup have such an interesting name. ‘Cock-a-leekie’ sounds half obscene, don’t you think?” Her eyes twinkled, and Mary Kate’s face bloomed with a deep blush while she struggled not to smile. “For dessert, our sweet Mary Kate’s made us crannachan with raspberries, oats, and whisky. I even talked her into serving it with ice cream.”

  “Ma’am Effie has a sweet tooth, so she does.” Mary Kate filled their bowls, bobbed a curtsy, and scurried back to the kitchen.

  Kenzie was too amused to speak. This old woman was like a human sunbeam.

  “Tell me all about your day. I saw your car parked near the garage. Did Bryce fix whatever was wrong with it?”

  “Aye. The motor runs much smoother. He also fixed the side mirror and had new tires put on it. None of which he’ll let me pay fer.” She cast an embarrassed glance at Effie. “He claimed it was a man’s job to make his intended’s life easier and wouldn’t tell me how much he’d spent on repairs.”

  Effie sipped at her soup. “ ‘Intended?’ He used that word with you?” Her bright pink smile spread.

  “Yes.” She felt the heat of a blush creep across her cheeks. “He said a lot of things to me today. I think we’re slowly working through some of our past issues, but there are so many.”

  “Be patient, Sparrow. The wait and the work will be worth it. He is the nicest man. I can tell how much he cares for you.” The corners of her lips lifted. “I sense something else.” She winked as she took another spoonful of soup. “There’s a change in the color of your aura.”

  Mary Kate carried in a basket of warm rolls, bobbed another curtsy, and swiveled to exit the room.

  Effie sighed. “Mary Kate, darlin’, your knees are going to give out with all that bobbing every time you do something for me. Let’s not stand—or bob—on ceremony.”

  The young cook blushed, and bobbed. “Yes, ma’am. Will ye ring the bell when yer ready for dessert?”

  “Yes, darlin’, I will.” Effie leaned across the table. “Now that it’s just the two of us, tell me the rest. Your aura glows with happiness and…” She tilted her head. “And a sense of peace that wasn’t there this morning.”

  Just how much explanation did she want to give? Kenzie put down her soup spoon, glanced out of the windows beside the table, and was startled by the lynx’s appearance. How the animal had acquired the reputation of being an often invisible, elusive animal was beyond her, fer he seemed to hang around her at every opportunity.

  Question her about Morpheus and yer da. Ye have been lied to all yer life and it must stop. She knows it all. A shimmer of tan and green waves, and the lynx vanished.

  Never looking up, Effie dipped her spoon into the thick bisque. “We’ll discuss Paws’ remarks upstairs as part of your lesson. Tonight, I shall give you both your first and second Wiccan names. Being what we are, we sometimes choose and sometimes earn additional names to distinguish us in the realm.”

  What lies had she been told about her da? She’d always heard he’d been killed in an accident on his job. Yet she never knew what kind of work he did. How could Effie know anything about him? Surely the lynx was mistaken.

  Kenzie picked up her spoon again. “I told Bryce what I am.”

  Effie’s spoon stopped midway to her mouth. “Did you now?”

  “He claims he wants to date me again and fer me to spend time around Colleen. I felt he should know all about me.”

  “A wise move.” Effie patted Kenzie’s hand. “I suspect the young man is crazy over you. How did he react?”

  “Not at all like I expected. He said if I could handle his shifting, he could handle my powers.”

  “Oh, I do love a man who’s into equality among the sexes. It took a while for my Morris to accept it. I mean, we all have distinctive talents, right?” She tilted her head. “Some of our skills are just more unique than others. Morris could make fabulous things out of wood. I accepted that. He was a little less accepting of my talents. And it took my changing him into a goat two times before he realized life, for him, ʼtwould be easier if he just went with the flow.” She gave Kenzie a sheepish look. “ʼCourse, I got in trouble with the current high priestess every time I did it.” She waved an open palm through the air in a fluttering movement. “It’s all part of one’s learning curve.”

  Now would come the tough part. “I ken I will probably make ye angry when I tell ye what I did, but I told him about ye, too…in confidence, of course.” She cast sad eyes on Effie, hoping she hadn’t betrayed her.

  Pink curls bobbed. “I think that was wise. With all that lies ahead of us, he needs to know.” Effie wiped her mouth with her napkin. “He may need to help us, so don’t you give it a second thought.”

  How could she not give it a second thought, or a third or fourth? What was Effie talking about? The specter, perhaps? What else could it be? “What did ye learn from all the phone calls ye made?”

  “Oh, I called Poland and Finland last night. Today I called Canada, a couple sisters in the States, Jamaica, and had Hamish drive me over to see your aunt. I learned a lot from my Wiccan sisters, and I’ll share it all with you.” She rang the little bell on the table. “Once we’ve had our dessert and go upstairs to the privacy of my quarters.”

  Chapter 10

  Having decided to delay their Wiccan discussion until they were alone upstairs, where they wouldna be interrupted or overheard, Kenzie changed the topic of conversation to Colleen. While they ate their dessert, she told Effie about Bryce’s hiding his shirt and his daughter’s discovering it and a few other things.

  Effie’s hands covered her mouth for a minute. “She found a girlie magazine? Oh, how wild!” Giggles burst forth. “I’m going shopping with the brothers’ mother tomorrow. I can’t wait to hear Fiona’s version of her granddaughter finding that porno magazine under Ronan’s bed and then putting it on his plate at the dinner table.” Effie dissolved into another fit of laughter as she stood from the table. Fiona dearly loves her three sons, but like all grandmas, she has a special place in her heart for Colleen.

  “My, that child is a caution. I hope Paisley’s baby has as much spirit as little Colleen. I know she and Creighton are hoping for a boy, but I’m partial to little girls.” Effie’s palm flew to her mouth and she blinked away tears. “Listen to how thoughtless I am, talking about Paisley’s pregnancy with such joy. I must be hurting your feelings.” She paused at the bottom of the stairway and pressed a cool hand to Kenzie’s cheek. “I’m sorry if I have.”

  “Nay, ye arna. Bryce is helping me heal from my loss. In fact, learning Paisley was expecting a bairn just about broke me heart, but tonight—” Those two little rosebuds came to mind, and her soul smiled in healing. Added to their therapeutic effect was the replaying of Bryce’s words of comfort at the loch. She wrapped her arm around Effie’s narrow waist and together they climbed the wide, curved steps. “Ye were right the other night: There was another bairn. It was Bryce’s, and I didna find out about it until a week after he’d ended things between us.”

  Effie’s steps faltered. “Oh Sparrow, my little sister, what did you do?”

  “I was in shock. Me pride kept me from going to him. A couple weeks later, Duncan came home from the service, full of himself and pretending to be interested in me. I told him I was already pregnant, thinking that would chase him off. He claimed it made no difference, but ʼtwas a lie.” They’d reached the top of the steps, and she paused, wondering where Effie wanted to hold her Wiccan session tonight.

  “Let’s talk in my quarters. Then if I get too tired, you can help me into the bed. I don’t want to miss a word of your story. Make yourself comfy on the sofa while I go to the bedroom and slip into my pajamas.” She shook a finger at Kenzie. “T
hen I want to hear every word.”

  An hour later, Effie was still face-planted in tissues, a pile of dampened ones lying on the sofa next to her. “Ohhhh, two white roses,” she wailed. “Just the sheer beauty of it.” Her sobbing began anew as she shook her head. “Little Blaine and McKenna.” Her shoulders trembled again, a sure sign she was nearing her fourth episode of blubbering. She reached for another hankie, only to find the box empty. “Sparrow, be…be a doll and get me a new box of tissues in the little closet in the bathroom.”

  Kenzie had no idea a woman could cry so hard over someone else’s misery. She hurried to the closet and snatched a box of Kleenex. She brought it to Effie, ripped open the top, and replaced the empty box with this new one. “Here ye are.”

  Effie pulled a couple tissues from the container and dabbed at her eyes. “I don’t know how Fiona raised her sons, but she certainly taught them well. Creighton is so adoring of Paisley.” She waved crumpled hankies through the air in an arc. “And all I have to do is mention I’d like something and he moves heaven and earth to see I have it.” She snorted. “Even if it’s blue morning glory wallpaper in the breakfast room or that pink butterfly paper I wanted in the foyer and hallway. Looks to me as if your Bryce is the same way.”

  “I’m afraid to call him ‘me Bryce’ yet. I’m afraid to trust him.”

  “I’d say that’s only natural.” Effie pursed her lips. “Unless we look at the whole picture. Why don’t you call down to Mary Kate and ask her to make us a pot of hot chocolate and fix a plate of her cookies before she goes home for the night. Then we’ll talk about this whole picture business before beginning our lessons. Because, little sister, that man adores you.”

  Kenzie laughed. “I’m on to ye. Ye just want to find out if we had sex or not.”

  “One look at your aura and the glow on your face and I already know the answer to that.” Effie winked. “Now call Mary Kate. I have a craving for chocolate.”

  A few minutes later, perched on the sofa in her pajamas, Effie sipped from her cup and licked her upper lip. “Did you ever taste anything this good? In America, we make hot chocolate from a mix. Here, you Scots use the real thing.” She rolled her eyes and moaned. “It’s almost as good as an orgasm.”

  Kenzie nearly choked on her drink. “Nay, Effie, nothing compares to an orgasm, if the man knows what he’s doing.” Och, listen to me. Less than a week with the old woman and I’m as bawdy-soundin’ as she.

  A smile played at the corners of Effie’s lips. “I just knew he rang your bell this afternoon.” She shuffled across the room, brought over an empty wastepaper can, and filled it with her pile of tissues. “Lord, I haven’t cried like that since my best friend died. Susan was the dearest person and, boy, could we get into trouble together.” She stopped for a minute and stared off. “Sometimes women are soul mates too. Not sexual soul mates, although that happens, but friendship soul mates. Susan was mine. God, I miss her, and damn that drunk driver who took her from this earth. Susan was the type of person who made it a better place.”

  Effie set the wastepaper can back beside the desk where she’d gotten it and returned to her spot on the sofa. “I told you I contacted many of my Wiccan sisters regarding the ominous smoky vapor with tentacles that you’ve seen. I must say it’s not often all are in agreement on something, but they are in regards to what you’ve seen. It’s meant to scare you off. To keep you away from me.”

  “Why?” Obviously they don’t ken what I’ve already been through in me lifetime. I dinna scare so easily.

  “Well, first off, Morpheus is royally pissed about my moving here to the Highlands. I’m telling you, the sorcerer is a control freak. He places us here and there,” she said, positioning her fingers as if holding chess pieces, dabbing in the air. “The chauvinistic warlock treats us as if we’re pawns in his chess game of witchcraft.” She swayed her shoulders in a display of her obstinate attitude, a smirk brightening her face. “Obviously, I get in trouble from time to time. His overbearing nature and my free spirit tend to knock horns.”

  She leaned forward and placed her wrinkled hand on Kenzie’s knee for an instant. “He’s afraid my attitude will rub off. He had another high priestess in mind to train you, but then I moved here and kind of horned in on his plans. He wants to separate me from you. Did I mention he’s a control freak?”

  Kenzie glanced around the room, taking in all Effie had said. “So, Morpheus will eventually exert control over me too?” Great: Another bossy man trying to rule me life. No, worse than a man—a sorcerer!

  Effie waved away the topic of their conversation with an open palm. “Enough of him. I’ll get to saying too much and only get my skinny ass in trouble.” She shifted a pillow behind her back. “Let’s start our class, shall we? Tonight, why don’t we begin with the basics of your young life. Tell me what you know about your parents and what growing up was like for you with them before moving in with Una. Then I’ll tell you what I know about you and your family.”

  About me? What could she ken about me or me family, being from America like she is?

  Kenzie shifted on the sofa, tucking her feet under her, trying to decide if she really wanted to go through with this Wiccan training. Wasna living life, everyday life, difficult enough? She inhaled a deep breath and made her decision.

  “I dinna remember me da, except for faint things, like his aroma.” She closed her eyes and inhaled as if he were in the room. “He smelled of sulfur, which is an odd thing fer a child to recall, isna it? And he had the palest gray eyes that turned silvery white when he became angry, which always scared me.”

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  Kenzie reached fer a biscuit. “He was killed in a work-related accident a month before me fifth birthday. Afterwards, me mum and I traveled to her aunt Una’s house. We stayed with her until Mum died of cancer about the time I turned thirteen. Aunt Una opened her home to us, and we never wanted for anything.”

  She bit into her biscuit and chewed. “After Mum died, Una encouraged me to stay on with her. At times, she would do the most surprising things, like take me on little trips or send me to weekend art classes. She showed her love, but not in huggy ways. She wasna what the English call a ‘soppy sod.’ ”

  “And you don’t recall any whisperings about your father that stopped whenever you entered a room?”

  The prompting tone of Effie’s voice indicated she shoulda. “What ʼtis it ye want to tell me?” A buzzing began in Kenzie’s ears and her heart pounded as if she’d been running. Deep within, she kent that what she was about to hear would alter her life forever.

  Effie drained her cup, and it clattered against the china saucer when she set it down. “I hate to tell you, for it will hurt you terribly. But I must, my Sparrow. Your father didn’t die. He is alive.”

  The buzzing in her head grew louder. Her breathing came in pained gulps. “Alive? Nay! Ye lie! I was always told he was killed on his job.” If what Effie said was true, that would mean both her mother and aunt had lied to her. Why? Why would they do that? They would never be so cruel. She shook her head. “Nay, ye are mistaken. ʼTis not true.”

  Effie laid her cool hand on Kenzie’s arm. “You were lied to for a good reason—to protect you. Una and I talked about it some more this afternoon, although I already knew the major points.”

  “Protect me how? From whom? From what? Ye make no sense.” How could this American ken anything about her Scottish family? What gibberish was she talking? Besides, Aunt Una was always quiet about family matters. Why would she tell such things to Effie?

  “I know of your father, but what I know will hurt you. It will make you question everything you’ve ever been told.” She wrung her gnarled fingers. “My dear, how I wish I didn’t have to tell you this. In such a short time, you’ve become so precious to me.”

  Thunder and lightning warred as if in an ancient battle for a few seconds. The windows rattled. Lights flickered as another sonic boom hit the house.

&n
bsp; “Didna the weatherman call for a clear night?” Kenzie’s stomach did a slow roll, then knotted. If she didna know better, she’d fear the elements were revolting against what she was about to hear. She stood, walked to one of the double windows, and pulled back the curtain to peer at the dark sky. Lightning jaggers torpedoed across the blanket of night, shredding it into black swaths. Thunder detonated as if bombs were bursting overhead. What had caused the sudden explosions? Were they a result of this conversation or was she simply being paranoid? Did she want to ken the truth of her father? Could she handle what Effie was about to reveal?

  A security light attached to the side of the stone mansion caught the reflection of two pairs of eyes staring at her. One pair glowed golden, the way a shifter’s did in human form, when he or she became angry, or after they’d shifted to bear form. Slowly the creatures came into focus. Her lynx and a bear—Bryce’s bear, wearing a burgundy ball cap with “DAD” across the front—waited beside each other. It was as if they were standing sentinel in case she needed them. How could they even ken she might? What in heaven’s name was going on?

  “Whatever ʼtis ye have to tell me must be bad—both the lynx and Bryce’s bear are standing watch below your windows.” But their presence fortified her somehow. “How could they ken? The lynx, being our token, I can kind of understand—but Bryce’s bear? How would he recognize tonight would be the night I’d learn of me past, or that I even had a past? I’m thinking ‘surreal’ is the word of the night.” Chills prickled across her skin as if she’d fallen into a patch of thorns.

  “Is the bear’s owl out there? Perhaps Paws told the owl to pass the message on to the bear.”

  “So we have a cat who would tell a secret to a bird, instead of killing him. And a bird who would relay it to a predator without fear of being eaten by that predator?” Kenzie rubbed her fingers over her forehead. “All so those two could stand guard while ye tell me tales that couldna be true. None of this makes a whit of sense.”