Highland Shift (Highland Destiny: 1) (9 page)

His head went down again, and his voice was just above a whisper, “I was away the night you went to town. By the time I got here, you were in the yard with those…and he smashed your head…and I thought I would kill him.” His voice, which had started to shake with anger, faded away, and he just looked at her.

Bleakly, he said, “I am sorry, Elena. I should have protected you better. I should have believed you were really in danger. It’s just that the first time, I thought it still might just be a coincidence or that Worthington had somehow found out something. Now that we know the property will revert to him if something happens to you in the next six months, we must be extra careful. He never intended you to own this farm.”

Elena looked at all of them and waited.
They all watched her, as if waiting to be told she believed them. She thought through what he had said. She was convinced of the evidence of the recent attacks. It made sense that Martin wanted her out of the way. She certainly hadn’t gone as quietly as he’d initially expected. It also made sense that if this were Faolan’s family home, he would track the new owner, especially if the family lost it under coercion. Elena could also make a convincing case that Faolan would initially be suspicious of her, and track her movements. That was all evidence that told a story she could believe in.

However, an apparently unreported murder, ancient weapons and artifacts, and what sounded suspiciously like magic were stretching Elena’s credulity to the limit. Faolan hadn’t spoken very much about any of them, yet they were integral to understanding the whole story.

They were at an impasse. Faolan was finished telling the story he
wanted
Elena to hear, but not the one she thought she
needed
to hear. She knew she hadn’t heard the whole truth yet, certainly not enough of it to explain everything. Most importantly, Elena still had no idea why Faolan was pushing her away.

“Faolan,” Lilly said gently, “you must tell her all of it.”

He looked back at her, his face stricken, and then roared, “No!” He stormed from the room, and the front door slammed behind him.

Elena looked at Red and Lilly in the deafening silence that followed. Both of them were looking towards the door where Faolan had just left, their eyes full of love and concern.

“Lilly, tell me the rest, tell me how to help him.”

“Nay, lass. ‘Tis his story, and he must tell it in his own time and in his own way. Just as you must find the way to tell him of your feelings for him.”

Elena started to speak, but Lilly cut her off, “Tis plain as the look on your face, dear.”

Red finally spoke, “We need to be
goin’ now, but we will be back in the morning, and if it pleases you, we will arrange the flat in the morning and bring our things back after lunch. Doona’ fash yourself about being alone. Faolan is out there watchin’ over you, lass. He willna’ let anything happen tonight.”

Lilly hugged Elena; then she and Red said good night, leaving her alone in the house. Elena stirred the fire and turned out the light in the library. She walked to the window and stood staring out at the snowy landscape. The new moon did not diminish the brightness of the stars.

Elena thought about all she had heard and all that she’d not heard, and realized none of it changed her growing feelings for Faolan. She already trusted him with her life. She needed to show him he could trust her, as well.

Out on the hill a lone wolf howled. The sound echoed around the house, and it reminded her of the dog growling the night of her attack. Then another, smaller wolf joined the first wolf, and they turned and ran together into the night. Elena picked up her kittens and went to bed.

When Elena was in foster care, she hated that transitory feeling of not belonging. You could never be sure when your caseworker, a judge, or the foster parents would send you packing. As soon as morning came, she presented Lilly, Red, and Faolan with written agreements indicating she would provide them room and board for the next year in exchange for them living on the property. No other strings attached. They could break the contract with verbal notice. Since she already had a work agreement with Lilly and Red, Elena was comfortable with the arrangement if they were.

Red and Lilly took their copies with many assurances that it wasn’t necessary. “Truth be told, lass, me and the missus are just grateful to have the old place back,” Red added gruffly. As the family’s caretakers, they would have lived here when Faolan’s father was alive, but Elena was positive they had forgotten to mention that little detail.

Faolan kept his face carefully neutral but didn’t
move to take the agreement from her, so she set it on the table to give him time to think about it. His strong jaw clenched and unclenched, the only trace of his deep emotions. His tawny eyes were deep and full of secrets.

Lilly suggested this would be a good day for Elena to visit the furniture stores in a nearby town, “Perhaps even Inverness for the harder to find items, dear.”

Faolan turned his flat gaze on Lilly, and with a look that would cause grown men to crumble, growled through clenched teeth, “I will go with the lass.”

Lilly smiled imperturbably.

****

Elena wanted to buy a larger bed for Faolan’s room; she knew the room’s current twin-sized bed was too small for him. Not that Faolan would ever complain. In fact, she was sure he would object if he thought she was buying anything especially for him. Elena risked his towering rage and sent him across the furniture warehouse on an urgent mission to check the measurements of a couch she didn’t want.

Once Faolan was finally away from her side for a few minutes, she bought the largest bed available to put in his room, hoping it would accommodate the six and a half foot highlander. She enlisted the sales clerk in her conspiracy and swore him to secrecy. The clerk was more than happy to add it to her already impressive list of purchases, and he assured Elena that her husband would love it. Yikes, husband!

Faolan’s black mood was in full force, rating a category four on the hurricane scale when he returned from his errand. Perversely, he wouldn’t leave her side, even though she seemed to have gotten on his very last nerve. He glowered while Elena arranged delivery for her purchases, and they walked back outside to the Rover.

Outside, Faolan surprised her when he took her arm and directed her to a small café. They ordered lunch, and Elena prattled on about her purchases. It was a totally novel experience to have enough money to buy what she needed without giving up something else. Like food. She still wanted to buy rugs for all the rooms, and Faolan suggested a small specialty shop back in Fairth.

Faolan seemed distracted by something over Elena’s left shoulder, and she turned and saw a beautiful woman leaving the café. The tall blonde was everything Elena wasn’t: elegantly thin and dressed like a fashion model. She couldn’t compete with a woman like that.

“Would you like me to wait here while you go introduce yourself,” she asked dryly.

“Yes, doona’ move,” he ordered and stood up.

Elena’s jaw dropped. “Don’t you recognize sarcasm when you hear it, you big Neanderthal?”

Faolan looked down at Elena, back up at the door, scanned the room and street, and pulled her to her feet. He threw some bills on the table and rushed Elena out of there so fast her feet barely hit the floor. They practically ran to the Rover, where he tucked her in on the passenger side, ran around to the driver’s side, and told Elena to buckle up.

He started driving, cutting in and out of traffic, keeping one eye on the rearview mirror. He stopped at a petrol station, and got out to examine the Rover. Finally, he found what he was looking for, got back in, and drove away. He still hadn’t spoken to her, and Elena wasn’t going to break the silence. She realized he was angry that she’d made a fuss when he wanted to go meet Blondie, and this silent treatment was part of the payback. What a complete and total ass!

Elena risked a glance in his direction, and his clenched jaw confirmed he was royally pissed off. She stared out her window again and blinked hard against the sting of tears. She was angry and hurt with no one to blame but herself. If she’d kept her big mouth shut, he wouldn’t have known she was a virgin until it was too late to stop and they would have had terrific sex, even if they both couldn’t call it making love. Now she realized he would keep her at arm’s length because she wasn’t the type of woman he wanted.

One of the tears spilled over and ran down her cheek. She kept her head turned so he wouldn’t notice. She wasn’t his type. He probably considered her obvious fascination with him as nothing more than a schoolgirl crush. No wonder he didn’t want to tell her the rest of his story. Faolan didn’t want to furnish a room because he didn’t want to stay. He was only staying because he wanted his revenge on Worthington. Elena finally had a story that fit the facts. How could I have been so blind?

“Take me home, Faolan,”
she said in a small, choked voice.

Without a glance or another word between them, he did.

****

As soon as they arrived back at the farm, Faolan went to find Red, and Elena went to go check on her kitties. She needed some unconditional love. Their personalities were very different. The orange tabby rarely needed attention, he would love on her for a few minutes when it suited him, and the rest of the time,
he was nothing but trouble. She’d named him Rascal. The black kitten was much more needy. With his white boots and a wisp of white on his chest, he followed her wherever she went, earning the name Shadow. As predicted, Rascal came over, gave a quick head bump, and then went in search of something to stalk. Shadow howled for her to pick him up, licked her chin, and began to purr loudly.

Her mood restored by the kitty loving, Elena began to plan the arrangement of the new furniture. She realized, good intentions aside, the bed she bought for Faolan was too big for his room. She would have to switch and put her current bed in his room and put the new king in hers. With such a large mattress, if Faolan changed his mind and wanted to make love with her, there would be plenty of room for both of them. Holy show! She blushed at her thoughts and for what Faolan might think about her getting such a large mattress.

Faolan didn’t show up for dinner that night, but the rest of them ate together in the kitchen. Elena described the new furniture, but left out the details of the tall, leggy blonde. She accepted an invitation to Red and Lilly’s flat the next evening for dinner and a little house-warming party. They all worked together on the dinner clean up before the older couple left for their own apartment, and then Elena got to work.

She went to the library and finished pulling all of the books out of boxes, dusting them as she went, and stacked them on shelves or on the floor. There had to have been nearly three hundred books and still more left in the steading! She wanted to categorize them so she could put them on the shelves in a logical order. For now, she ran her hands lovingly over the fine leather covers, randomly picking up one book after another, thumbing through it before moving on to the next book.

She flattened the boxes and carried the stack out to the steading. Elena grabbed another box of books to bring inside and started for the back door. Midway between the house and the barn, caught in a proverbial no-man’s land, she froze in her tracks. No more than fifteen feet away, a giant wolf watched her progress. His lips drew back in a feral grin and his yellow-brown eyes locked on her in silent appraisal. His reddish fur was a lighter mask around his eyes and muzzle, and gold on his chest. He was a magnificent animal, bigger than anything she’d ever seen.

Elena’s heart pounded, and the adrenaline was rushing with need for fight or flight. She had no weapon, even if she had been willing to use one, so fight was out. That left flight, but with a quick glance in both directions, Elena knew she could never outrun the beast. Elena did the only thing she could think of, inhaled sharply and began to speak, “Hi there, big fellow. Why don’t you run along now
? I need to get back in my house.”

He looked for a minute longer, shook his head, as if to clear it, then turned and loped easily into the night. Elena’s heart was still racing when she finally convinced her feet to cross the yard.

****

The next morning Faolan was at breakfast and as usual said nothing about where he’d been the previous night. Conversation turned to the various projects each of them was working on, but Faolan appeared not to be listening.

Elena told Lilly about the hundreds of books she’d found, and her plan to start sorting them by topic, maybe after dinner tonight. Faolan looked up and asked, “Do you mind if I help with that?”

Without looking at him, Elena said, “Of course not but don’t feel obligated. You don’t work for me.” It was the first comment he had directed at her since the café, and her response was sharp with pent-up hurt. Faolan stood and left the kitchen, letting the back door close with a bang. Saying nothing further, Elena helped Lilly clear the table before getting ready for the furniture deliveries.

Elena dressed in jeans and a sweater, so she could push up the sleeves when she got too warm. She pulled her black curls into a ponytail, all the while thinking about what a jerk Faolan was being. When she came out of her room, someone had already laid fires in all of the rooms, and Lilly had started sweeping and mopping the lounge.