Love Beyond Belief (Book 7 of Morna’s Legacy Series) (11 page)

Everyone fell silent the moment we entered. I pulled my shoulders back and walked as confidently as possible behind Anne.

“Okay guys, I’m not going to make this real formal since we’re among friends. Everyone say hello to Sydney. She’s going to be the new chef around here, which means I’m going into leisure mode for at least the next few weeks in celebration over not having to cook for you ungrateful fools anymore.
 

“Sydney comes to us from Italy. She attended one of the best culinary schools in the world and has spent the last three years running a very popular restaurant in Tuscany.”
 

Anne turned to me, and I knew she expected me to say a little something.
 

“I just wanted to let you all know that I really am so happy to be here. And while Anne’s introduction was lovely, please don’t let my culinary training frighten you. I know how to cook the fancy stuff, but I really prefer simple and tasty meals. I’ve found that most people feel the same way when it comes to food. I look forward to getting to know all of you.”

I smiled and nodded at the table to signal the end of my speech, and it was only half a second before Anne took over once more.
 

“Great. Okay. I’m going to introduce Sydney to everyone. All of you just sit back and wave when I call your name so she knows who is who. We can deal with more thorough introductions later. I’m starving.”

Anne took a breath, reached behind her to grab my hand and pull me closer, and began pointing quickly around the room.
 

“We’ll start on the left side. The empty seat there is for you, followed by—you already know Callum and Cooper—next to them is Cooper’s mother, Grace, her husband, Eoghanan, Cooper’s father, Jeffrey, and his wife Kathleen…”

The names went on and on. Despite my skill at remembering, there were so many in attendance that I feared a few of them would slip my mind from time to time. I made special note of the woman named Morna who sat at the very end opposite where I stood. She intrigued me more than any other at the table.
 

With Callum’s warning that she was mad, I expected her to look very different. She wasn’t the eccentric, frazzled, old-looking woman that I imagined, and she didn’t appear to be out of her mind in the slightest. Instead, I felt like she looked into my soul with the clarity of her stare.
 

She was older, but she looked far younger than her husband. The beauty of her youth hadn’t faded. Gray hair suited her, and she exuded an ethereal quality that made me see why Cooper had seen fit to cast her as the witch in his story, though I would be very much surprised if she was indeed crazy as Callum suggested.
 

She held herself with a sense of poise and grace that those riddled with memory problems did not.
 

When Anne ended what seemed like an endless stream of introductions, a collective laugh spread through the room as a great many of them wished me luck remembering a single one of them. The woman nearest me reached out to squeeze my hand in greeting as she spoke.
 

“Doona worry, not a one of us will be offended if ye call us a name other than our own.”

I looked over at Blaire, smiling at the sight of her pregnant belly. I remembered her name not only due to her pregnancy but also because of the similarity in both appearance and name she bore to the girl, Bri. I assumed they were twins.
 

“Good, I’m glad no offense will be taken, but I will do my utmost to figure out who’s who by the end of the week.”

Blaire smiled. As she laughed, her pregnant belly lifted with each chuckle. “I used to know everyone’s name, but it seems this babe has stolen my brain for I forget names all the time now. I hear it’s common during pregnancy. Go ahead and sit so we can eat. This babe has me hungry all the time.”

With that, everyone started to fill their plates with food, and the casual atmosphere around the room made it effortless for me to feel at ease among them. There were two empty seats at the table—one next to Callum and another next Morna. I didn’t wish to sit next to either of them. Morna’s gaze made me hesitant—I didn’t think her eyes had left me since I entered the room, and I knew what sort of danger I was placing myself in if I sat next to Callum.
 

Deciding my best course of action, I walked over to the empty seat next to Callum and leaned around him to tap Cooper on the shoulder.
 

“Hey, you want to sit next to me? You’re the only one at this table that I’ve had much of a chance to visit with. It might make me less nervous if you did so.”

The young boy jumped up from his seat almost immediately, quickly tugging on Callum’s chair to get him to stand.
 

“You heard the lady, switch me.”

Callum looked back at me over his shoulder, winked teasingly at me, and then did as Cooper bid. It amused him that I didn’t wish to sit next to him. For some reason, this playful side of him only made him more attractive to me, which in turn made me all the more aggravated.
 

Once Cooper was seated, I joined him, waiting until most everyone’s plate was filled before reaching in to do the same with my own. The moment I brought the first bite to my lips, Morna’s voice echoed from across the table.
 

“Ye are a fine cook, Sydney. I believe we are all pleased to have ye here. Do ye mind if I ask ye a few questions so that we may all get to know ye better?”

After my experience with Callum in the kitchen, I did mind very much, but of course, I meant to say that I didn’t mind at all. Much to my horror, it didn’t seem to matter what I meant. What I thought was what came out.
 

“Yes, actually, I do mind.”

Morna laughed, and her grin at my words made my stomach churn uncomfortably. She looked as if she expected my answer—like it pleased her.
 

“I’ll make them quick. Do ye believe in magic?”

I pulled my brows together and glanced around the table, expecting everyone to regard Morna with the same baffled expression as my own. Instead, everyone looked blankly in my direction, waiting for my response.
 

“No. I don’t think that I do. Why? That seems like a very strange question.”

No one else said a word, and I got the feeling that they were under orders not to. Morna was the only one that spoke.
 

“I suppose it does seem strange. Next question: Do ye or have ye ever known or had contact with the witch named Grier?”

It was the same name Jerry mentioned to me before.
 

“No, I definitely have not. Did you just say ‘witch’?”

“Aye, lass. I said witch. Ye will become quite familiar with the word this evening.”

“Your husband asked me about Grier, as well. Does she live here? I confess to being rather confused.”

“My husband? Jerry?”

For the first time since my entry into the dining hall, Morna’s expression looked less than calm. My words surprised her.
 

“Yes. When I helped him carry a plate of food up into his room, he asked me if I knew anyone named Grier. Should I?”

“No. You should not. I’m glad that ye doona. Back to Jerry—ye carried food to his room? I thought he dinna come down to dinner because he dinna feel well. Do ye know why he’s not here? Did he tell you?”

Any normal night I would have told her it was none of my business and she should ask him herself, but tonight, as per usual, I blurted out exactly what happened.
 

“He’s pissed at you, but he didn’t go into specifics. He did ask me about someone named Grier though, and then he told me that he was sorry if this dinner didn’t go well for me.”

Morna’s face grew pale, but the revelation didn’t slow down her interrogation of me.
 

“I’ve one last question for ye. Forgive me for its personal nature, but I need to make certain the spell worked.”

As the confused furrow on my face grew deeper, Callum spoke up to stop her.
 

“Morna, ye needn’t embarrass the lass. I assure ye I made certain the spell was still in effect only a few moments ago. I swear to ye, it is.”

I sat silently watching their exchange as my mind reeled from the oddity of it all.
 

“Ye dinna spell me Morna, so I’m under no obligation to tell ye what I asked her or her response.”

“Verra well.”

I could sense Morna’s words even before she said them.
 

“Sydney, what did Callum ask ye?”

In one brief moment of genius it occurred to me that silence wasn’t a lie. I could ignore her question. I could refuse to answer it without embarrassing myself further. I couldn’t make sense of what was happening with me or with this conversation, but I could at least hold on to that.
 

“You know what, I don’t want to be impolite on my first day here, but I think I’m done talking to you for now. Let’s let everyone finish the meal. I won’t be answering any more questions.”

Four seats down from me, the woman Anne had called Jane spoke up in my defense.
 

“Morna, don’t look so disappointed that she’s smart and figured out how to avoid your harassment of her. Surely she’s answered enough questions for all of us to be certain that she doesn’t know anything. If Callum says he’s certain the spell took, then I believe him. Look at her. I can’t even imagine what she has to be thinking about all of us after being asked about witches and us talking about spells. She’s not used to this.”

“What are you thinking?”

The question came from Cooper. As the attention turned to me once again, I decided not to ignore this particular question.
 

“Since I’ve apparently been slipped some sort of truth serum…” The bitter coffee flashed through my mind, and I paused and turned to glance down at Cooper.
 

“The coffee. It was the coffee, wasn’t it?”

He nodded and reached out to squeeze my arm apologetically.
 

“Yeah, but I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I promise I didn’t. I drank some of it too, remember? It’s been like the worst day ever. Usually when my little sister asks me to play dolls with her, I either lie and say yes and play, or I pretend I’m really tired or something. Today when she asked, I told her that I’d rather watch my favorite dinosaur toy get flushed down the toilet than play with her dolls. She cried for half an hour.”

“Right.” I glanced away from him and back to the group. “Anyway, as I was saying. Since I’ve been drugged—I refuse to say spelled since, let’s get real, that’s not a thing—I’m thinking that no matter how beautiful the castle, no matter how attractive the males are around here, that I’ve made a terrible mistake in coming here. As far as I can see it, there are only two possible scenarios here. The first being that this is some sort of initiation skit, and if that’s the case, it’s so juvenile I’m not sure I want to work in that sort of environment. The second is that there’s a gas leak somewhere in the castle, and it’s slowly been poisoning you all, and you’ve gone and lost your minds. Either way, I should be gathering my things.”

 
I took a deep breath as I finished. It was only through saying the words out loud that I realized how truly frightened I now was. I somehow justified my answers to Callum before by rationalizing that perhaps my subconscious had wanted me to answer him truthfully so maybe he would kiss me, but this? Morna was intentionally asking me strange questions because she believed I couldn’t lie to her. And the topic of conversation as a whole was the strangest thing I’d ever sat through in my life.
 

Morna surprised me by standing from her seat and walking the long distance around the table, only stopping when she stood directly behind me. She leaned in, placing both hands on my shoulders as she spoke quietly near my ear.
 

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done to ye, but I’m afraid I feel it more important that I speak with my husband than explain everything to ye. If he mentioned Grier to ye, then something I dinna intend has happened. The others will tell ye everything.”

She made it nearly to the doors before Callum stood and called out to her.
 

“Are ye convinced now, Morna? Can we end this and tell her so she’s no longer frightened and confused? Can ye promise me ye’ll treat her the same as ye do all of us now?”

Morna turned and smiled gently in my direction.
 

“Aye, Callum. Tell her everything. I believe her. I like her verra much. She’s as fiery as every lass I ever brought to ye bunch of rowdy men. I only wish I knew why Grier sent the email. The wondering of it is not good on my nerves, and now that Jerry knows, I only hope his heart can stand it. ”

“Morna. Wait.” The second voice was Cooper’s. I turned to see him climbing up so that he stood in his chair. “Grier didn’t send the email.”

“How do ye know that, lad?”
 

I didn’t have a clue what any of them were talking about, but I could see the hope in her eyes.
 

“I know because I was the one who sent it.”

“You what?” The question was echoed by at least three other voices around the room.