Highland Shift (Highland Destiny: 1) (3 page)

“I believe a case could be made that I provided certain services to Marty in the form of tutoring and study aids, which were necessary to help him become an attorney. Marty offered me this townhouse as partial compensation for my work as his tutor. He obviously passed the bar or you wouldn’t be here; therefore, I expect to receive the deed.”
She took the sheaf of legal documents and threw them on the table. 

“Although you have far more legal resources at your disposal, I have right on my side. I won’t go quietly. Marty’s academic records will become public as will your role in this unpleasant situation. I will subpoena every person at every event I attended with Marty, every client, and every opposing counsel with whom I have come into contact while working for the firm.

“Make no mistake, Martin. This will not merely be a personal disagreement between us. I will seek compensation from Marty, from you, and from the firm for breach of contract, pain and suffering, and defamation of character. Perhaps you should speak with your partners before we proceed any further with our negotiations.”

For one long minute, Martin and Elena stared at each other
, then a slow smile formed on his lips but never reached his cold eyes.

“Name your terms, Miss MacFarland.”

****

Elena was physically exhausted from the travel and emotionally drained from the humiliation of her story. After talking for what seemed like hours, she’d certainly told Faolan enough to make a personal connection. Would that be enough for him to let her go? Elena kept her eyes on the road, but she sensed his gaze on her. They didn’t speak again except for his terse directions once they arrived in Inverness.

Elena tried to sort through her muddled thoughts. Somewhere along the way, she’d forgotten to think of him as a kidnapper. After all, he now knew more about her than anyone else in Scotland. More than anyone, anywhere, really. When she saw the Hilton right in front of them, she realized he’d seen her safely to her destination. She pulled to the curb, but Faolan stared into the rain, his expression unfathomable.

She watched her traitorous hand as it reached up to gently touch his face, “Are you okay?” The moment Elena touched his
face, a bolt of electricity shot up her arm and coursed through her body, straight to her core. Her breath caught in her throat, and her gaze lingered on his firm, luscious lips. If he kissed her she knew she’d be lost forever. At that thought, Elena’s lips parted and she unconsciously wet them with the tip of her tongue, an invitation as old as the ages.

Faolan turned to face her, a fierce, haunted look in his eyes. Then his expression changed to something hungrier and need seemed to smolder between them. “Elena,” he whispered hoarsely. Then his mouth was on hers, and she thought no more.

His kiss was gentle. He reached to cup her face in both of his hands, caressing her cheek with his thumbs. Her mouth parted on an exclamation of surprise, and his tongue darted past her lips as he deepened the kiss. Faolan loosened her hair, and her raven curls spilled down her back. Threading his fingers through the silken strands, his kiss turned urgent as he pulled her even closer, and the console pressed into her side.
He kissed her with such suddenness that her brain was ten steps behind her body. His tongue thrust in, then retreated, gliding in an intimate rhythm. Elena leaned toward Faolan, getting as close as possible to his broad, warm chest and moaned softly into his mouth. Her fingers splayed across his stomach, and she slid her hands over his powerful muscles that rippled under her touch.

Elena’s body sparked to life, heedless of the circumstances that brought them together. A reckless abandon fueled her kisses. She laced her fingers behind his neck and pulled him closer. He groaned, and Elena felt the heady power of a woman who knows she’s desired. She was being devoured and had no will to stop him. His kisses claimed her, and she wanted him to keep kissing her until her last breath.

Breathing heavily, he pulled back slightly and nibbled on Elena’s lower lip before running kisses along her jaw to her neck. With his face buried in her hair, he whispered her name once more, “Elena.”

Then he pulled away from the embrace, opened the door, and walked away without a backward glance. Faolan disappeared into the mist as though he were nothing more than a figment of her imagination.

When Elena had presented her counteroffer to Martin Worthington, III, she’d expected to get half of what she asked for. However, since Martin wanted her gone from Phoenix more than he cared about the money, Elena had a bigger bargaining chip than she’d realized. In their final agreement, she’d received five years’ worth of salary plus the performance bonuses. It turned out that the townhouse had actually belonged to the firm, not Worthington, so it couldn’t be part of the settlement. In an effort to end the unpleasant situation quickly, Martin had offered a small bungalow on a hundred acres of land in Scotland as an alternative.

Moving to Scotland had seemed like a big step until she realized she’d been the only one really surprised Marty was just using her to get his license. When Martin sweetened the pot by offering to pay off her student loans, Elena decided leaving Phoenix for a while was a good idea. An isolated farm in the land of Grandda seemed a great place to escape her embarrassment. 

As promised, the house had three bedrooms, fireplaces, and oak floors throughout. Unfortunately, the house looked long abandoned, and there was no way to tell what damage lay hidden under the years of dirt. Elena’s solicitor, the ancient and frail Mr. Burns, dryly informed Elena of her right to refuse the settlement. The house was clearly not in the condition advertised by Worthington.

Her solicitor’s advice notwithstanding, she wanted nothing more than to have this final connection to the Worthington family over. Elena signed the documents with a flourish. Mr. Burns would continue as her accounts manager and promised he would send a handyman for repairs. Less than an hour after arriving, the farm provisionally belonged to Elena MacFarland. She need only complete the six-month waiting period as stipulated in the agreement and the house was hers.

Once alone, Elena surveyed her first home with a mixture of pride and purpose. Surrounded by frozen grass and patches of snow, Elena turned slowly around, letting the atmosphere of the old farm wash over her. The farmhouse was nestled into gently rolling snow-covered hills and canopied by a sky so blue it made her throat tight with the beauty of her.

Her house was over three hundred years old, made of stone, and retrofitted somewhere along the way with large picture windows on all sides. There was a barn-like structure that was listed in the particulars as a ‘steading.’ Similar to a large modern horse barn, the outbuilding was U-shaped and opened into a fenced paddock. The south side of the steading was two floors tall, probably to accommodate storing hay, Elena thought. The north end butted up against a hillock, and looked as if it disappeared into the land.

After a quick inventory, Elena drove back to Inverness to get the items most necessary to her survival. She couldn’t imagine staying another night at a hotel. This place already felt like home, even if it meant roughing it for a while.

****

Elena tackled the master bedroom first. The windows faced the east and had an expansive view that stretched for miles. Perhaps in the spring and summer it would include a stream or loch, but for now, large patches of snow blanketed enough of the landscape to leave her wondering. She built a roaring fire and began to clean.

By bedtime, the rest of the house was still cold and dark, but Elena’s room was cozy, warm, and mostly clean. She looked around with satisfaction. Her back might ache from the hours spent scrubbing, dusting, and sweeping, but now she’d reclaimed the space from decades of neglect. A warm glow built in her chest as she imagined a new bed, a dresser, maybe even a rocking chair to place by the hearth. She marveled at how far she’d come to get here. She was in Scotland; she was home.

She stepped outside into a spectacular night. Her breath frosted on the air. Stars dominated the heavy black velvet sky, but Elena knew they would soon cede their supremacy to the rising moon. As she stood, surrounded by darkness and a silence so complete it pressed against her ears, she watched a wolf cross a field in the distance. When a howl echoed over the land, Elena wondered if the wolf was lonely. She realized that she had been lonely for much of her life. Now she was alone in the truest sense of the word, in a new country, in a completely new life.

She had never felt more at peace.

****

“How do you do? Mr. Burns sent us. Said you could use some help out here. I’m Lilly, and this is my husband, Red,” said the short, soft-looking woman with white curly hair. She looked like Elena’s idea of a real mother, full of hugs and laughter, spun sugar with a steel core. Elena suspected summer followed her wherever she went.

Red was tall, lean, with a ruddy complexion and, appropriately enough, a full head of red hair that faded to gray around the temples. He wore denim and flannel and heavy work boots. With his easy smile and gentle manner, he reminded Elena of the Scarecrow in the
Wizard of Oz.

Elena invited them into the recently cleaned kitchen, and they looked around with interest.

“Aye, looks as though you have your hands busy. We’d like to help, if you’ve a mind to hire both of us,” Lilly said. They suggested a reasonable salary and were happy to start right away. With her settlement from Worthington filling her bank account, she was happy to accept the terms and get the business of renovation underway.

Elena left them to work in the house while she went to explore the steading. Beginning on the south side, she discovered a workshop and a garage-type storage area. Although Elena longed to build her own garden, the thought of using even a small tractor was intimidating. The rest of the space contained an assortment of tools, sawhorses, and feed.

The main part of the barn was set up with stalls, each with a two-part stable door that opened into the fenced paddock. As she continued through to the north side, she noticed it was definitely warmer than the other two sections. This wing was also deeper and darker than the others were. When her eyes adjusted to the dim light, her jaw dropped as she saw the jumble of contents.

Elena had shopped in second-hand stores all her life; there had simply been no money to shop elsewhere. She loved the challenge of the hunt and the excitement when she unearthed a treasure that had been someone else’s trash. The day had just turned into Christmas and her birthday all rolled into one. The entire back part of the wing was one giant rummage sale, and everything was free.

Sleeves rolled up and hair tied back, Elena dragged an iron headboard, three dressers, and two brass lamps with filthy leaded glass shades that made her heart beat fast, to a corner of the room she mentally labeled the ‘Save’ pile. A sled without runners, a box of broken dishes, and three rusted bicycle frames went into the ‘Toss’ pile. She’d even started an ‘Unsure’ pile in a third spot, so she could delay making a decision on an old bookcase and some rusted farming tools. 

Several hours later, most of the junk was sorted into her three separate piles. The boxes at the very back of the barn would have to wait until she had more light, so she could see the contents. She stretched her back,
then twisted from side-to-side in order to relieve the ache she’d begun to think might be permanent. Just as she decided she’d done enough for one morning, Lilly called out that lunch was ready.

Lilly ladled
homemade chicken soup into bowls and ordered Elena to wash up in the kitchen sink. Elena moaned with her first taste; it was like heaven, rich and loaded with vegetables. Served with thick slices of fresh baked bread with butter, she swore it was the most delicious meal she’d eaten in her whole life. Lilly beamed, and Red’s eyes sparkled.

Red and Lilly took turns telling Elena stories of the previous owners and tenants. Then they shared a quick glance, and Elena suspected there was more to the story. Lilly admitted as much and said, “I hope you aren’t the superstitious type?”

“Not at all,” Elena replied quickly.

“Good, ’cause there’s them that think this place is haunted,” Lilly said, with a wink.

Elena laughed delightedly, “Even if it
is
haunted, it won’t scare me away. This place feels like home deep down in my bones. I don’t know how else to describe it. It calls to me.” This time the glance Red and Lilly exchanged was longer, but they were not inclined to share.

****

Saturday morning found Elena working in the north wing. She’d decided to spend the weekend cleaning out the corner where the junk pile had started. All week trucks had hauled in appliances and furniture and carried away the unwanted items from the steading, so she had much more room to spread out.

The week had passed in a flurry of activity. Elena worked with Lilly to clean the remaining rooms, and Red had the floor polisher going non-stop, bringing the oak floors to a gleaming shine. The house was still sparsely furnished but she wasn’t sure which of the other pieces of furniture she’d found could, or should, be salvaged. There was plenty of time to decide, and she thought she might like to fill any gaps with pieces from local antique shops. With Red and Lilly away until Monday, she could work on the items she wanted to restore.

Late that afternoon, she’d moved enough boxes and furniture to notice that the rear wall of the north wing had a slight downhill slant. It was very dark in the back corner, but she discovered a dirty metal plate against the back wall, tucked into the corner. Elena examined it as best she could in the dim light. It looked like two pieces of metal, attached somehow to a boulder that formed the back wall.