big brother.”
He kissed her on the cheek. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Is Uncle Horatio really going to be okay?” she asked.
“I think so.” Bryce looked at me. “Thanks to you and Willow.”
“Happy to help,” I said blithely. “Anything for a friend.”
* * *
I was ridiculously proud of my parting shot. Bryce was a gorgeous male specimen in the prime of his life. Did he actually think he could deny himself physical pleasure? It’s not like he lived in a monastery.
Or maybe I was the one with the problem. For a woman who normally went weeks and months without so much as a platonic date and never felt deprived, I was surprisingly cranky about the prospect of being Bryce MacBrae’s friend .
I wondered how much of our conversation Abigail had overheard. She could have been playing possum. I blushed at the realization that I had come very close to kissing Abby’s brother in front of her.
Clearly he wanted to kiss me. He’d merely decided he shouldn’t. The problem was too much for my brain at this late hour.
Abigail’s suite surprised me.
She must have noticed my reaction, because her grin was wry. “Sorry. This is my childhood bedroom. I left to get married, and when I came back home, I was too traumatized to care about changing it. I suppose I should get around to redecorating.”
“It’s a very nice room,” I said diplomatically. The pink walls and peace sign posters were oddly sweet. Perhaps Abigail had unwittingly tried to regress to a happier time in her life.
We were in our beds and had the lights out in twenty minutes.
Abigail’s voice came in the darkness. “Are you going to stay with us for part of your vacation?”
“I suppose I am.”
“I’m glad, Willow. Goodnight.”
“Me, too.”
* * *
I had hoped to wake up the following morning to sunny skies, but the weather front had stalled out. We heard on the news that some sections of Inverness were flooded, and south of us, at a little village on Loch Ness, several buildings had been swept away entirely.
Drumnadrochit. The name clicked. “That’s where my friend Hayley is staying,” I muttered. “I hope she’s okay.”
“Call her,” Abby said, looking at me as if perturbed that I hadn’t thought of it.
I was forced to explain all over again about my friends and our passion for Outlander and our no-technology promise. “Don’t you see, Abby? I can power my phone on tonight and send her a message, because this qualifies as a real emergency. But I can’t break our pact.”
Abby cocked her head. “I’d love to meet these friends of yours. It must be interesting when you three get together.”
“In other words, you think I’m crazy.”
“Not crazy. But I can’t imagine jetting off to the other side of the world because of some television program.”
The way she said program , all Scottish and upper-crust and disdainful at the same time, made me smile. “Watch Outlander with me and you’ll change your tune. Jamie Fraser is God’s gift to women.”
“You mean the actor?”
“Not the actor…although he’s a real sweetheart. I’m talking about the character. Jamie. Women everywhere want a man like him.”
Clearly, I wasn’t getting my point across.
Abby smiled the way people do at a senile grandparent. “Maybe it’s because I’m already Scottish,” she said. “The magic falls apart with familiarity.”
“How do you know? You haven’t even seen the show. I could order the Blu-ray collector’s edition for you, and we could watch it together. Do you have Amazon in Scotland?”
She frowned. “Of course we do. And I have Prime, so I can stream a lot of stuff for free. I’ll pass on the collector’s edition.”
“You’ll change your mind. Every true fan wants a hologram of Jamie and Claire on her bookshelf.”
Chapter 16
Life at Dunvarstone Castle turned out to be far more exciting than staying at a youth hostel, even though the laird made himself scarce. I did see him at meals,
He kissed her on the cheek. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Is Uncle Horatio really going to be okay?” she asked.
“I think so.” Bryce looked at me. “Thanks to you and Willow.”
“Happy to help,” I said blithely. “Anything for a friend.”
* * *
I was ridiculously proud of my parting shot. Bryce was a gorgeous male specimen in the prime of his life. Did he actually think he could deny himself physical pleasure? It’s not like he lived in a monastery.
Or maybe I was the one with the problem. For a woman who normally went weeks and months without so much as a platonic date and never felt deprived, I was surprisingly cranky about the prospect of being Bryce MacBrae’s friend .
I wondered how much of our conversation Abigail had overheard. She could have been playing possum. I blushed at the realization that I had come very close to kissing Abby’s brother in front of her.
Clearly he wanted to kiss me. He’d merely decided he shouldn’t. The problem was too much for my brain at this late hour.
Abigail’s suite surprised me.
She must have noticed my reaction, because her grin was wry. “Sorry. This is my childhood bedroom. I left to get married, and when I came back home, I was too traumatized to care about changing it. I suppose I should get around to redecorating.”
“It’s a very nice room,” I said diplomatically. The pink walls and peace sign posters were oddly sweet. Perhaps Abigail had unwittingly tried to regress to a happier time in her life.
We were in our beds and had the lights out in twenty minutes.
Abigail’s voice came in the darkness. “Are you going to stay with us for part of your vacation?”
“I suppose I am.”
“I’m glad, Willow. Goodnight.”
“Me, too.”
* * *
I had hoped to wake up the following morning to sunny skies, but the weather front had stalled out. We heard on the news that some sections of Inverness were flooded, and south of us, at a little village on Loch Ness, several buildings had been swept away entirely.
Drumnadrochit. The name clicked. “That’s where my friend Hayley is staying,” I muttered. “I hope she’s okay.”
“Call her,” Abby said, looking at me as if perturbed that I hadn’t thought of it.
I was forced to explain all over again about my friends and our passion for Outlander and our no-technology promise. “Don’t you see, Abby? I can power my phone on tonight and send her a message, because this qualifies as a real emergency. But I can’t break our pact.”
Abby cocked her head. “I’d love to meet these friends of yours. It must be interesting when you three get together.”
“In other words, you think I’m crazy.”
“Not crazy. But I can’t imagine jetting off to the other side of the world because of some television program.”
The way she said program , all Scottish and upper-crust and disdainful at the same time, made me smile. “Watch Outlander with me and you’ll change your tune. Jamie Fraser is God’s gift to women.”
“You mean the actor?”
“Not the actor…although he’s a real sweetheart. I’m talking about the character. Jamie. Women everywhere want a man like him.”
Clearly, I wasn’t getting my point across.
Abby smiled the way people do at a senile grandparent. “Maybe it’s because I’m already Scottish,” she said. “The magic falls apart with familiarity.”
“How do you know? You haven’t even seen the show. I could order the Blu-ray collector’s edition for you, and we could watch it together. Do you have Amazon in Scotland?”
She frowned. “Of course we do. And I have Prime, so I can stream a lot of stuff for free. I’ll pass on the collector’s edition.”
“You’ll change your mind. Every true fan wants a hologram of Jamie and Claire on her bookshelf.”
Chapter 16
Life at Dunvarstone Castle turned out to be far more exciting than staying at a youth hostel, even though the laird made himself scarce. I did see him at meals,
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