Love Beyond Belief (Book 7 of Morna’s Legacy Series) (9 page)

The potion. Understanding hit him immediately. Somehow, Morna knew he’d not given it to Sydney. He spotted the tray holding Cooper’s coffee and noticed the basin of cream right away.

“Cooper, ye never serve coffee with cream. Morna gave it to ye, aye?”

The boy nodded. His furrowed brow told Callum how confused he was.
 

“And ye tasted this cream, aye?”

“Yeah, but only after Sydney tried it and told me that it was the worst coffee she’d ever tasted. I had to make sure it wasn’t actually my coffee that tasted bad because we all know that’s not possible.”

“O’course. Ye are the master of coffee, lad. Doona worry. I’m not mad at ye. This is Morna’s fault, not yers. She spelled the cream. Ye canna lie. I imagine, neither can Sydney. Have ye asked her anything since she drank this?”

Cooper shook his head and leaned in closer to whisper to him.
 

“No. She wouldn’t stop asking me stuff. It’s exhausting telling that much truth.”

Callum chuckled and moved to usher the boy from the room.
 

“Aye, go and take a rest then. I’ll clear all of this up with Morna. See ye at supper.”

Once Cooper was gone, Callum turned to face Sydney. She didn’t look pleased with him at all.
 

“I think you hurt his feelings. You really didn’t need to scold him, Callum. I enjoyed his company. He was just telling stories. Isn’t that what children do?”

“Not stories like that, lass. Doona worry, he’s fine. He served ye some bad coffee, aye?”

He watched as her face distorted at the mere mention of it.
 

“Oh my gosh, it was the worst thing I’ve ever tasted. And you know what? I actually said that to him. What’s the matter with me? What happened in my mind at that moment that made me think it was okay to insult a little boy’s efforts like that?”

“Nothing is wrong with ye, lass. Though I’m afraid ye will have many instances this night where ye are surprised at the things ye say.”

She stepped toward him, and he moved from her path so she could pass him. She bobbed her head toward the door so he would follow her as she walked.
 

“I need to go back down to the kitchen. You’re welcome to come along if you’d like. I could use some help hauling some of the food upstairs. What did you mean by that? Why would I be surprised by anything that comes out of my own mouth?”

There was no need for him to explain. It wouldn’t be long before she knew exactly what he meant.
 

“Come dinner, ye will understand, and I couldna be more sorry for it.”

CHAPTER 12

“Are ye pleased with yerself, Morna? Are ye happy that ye’ve gone and spelled young Cooper?”

Morna already knew what happened with the potion. Otherwise, Callum knew she wouldn’t be waiting for him in the tower. Her eyes looked as guilty as he’d ever seen them.
 

“No, I am not happy. I’m not happy about the mix-up, and I’m not happy that I had to be the one to give her the potion. If ye’d done what ye said ye would, none of this would’ve happened. Why dinna ye give it to her this morning, Callum?”

How could she possibly have known? He still held the vial inside his shoe.
 

“I dinna give it to her because there was no reason to do so. She knew nothing of the magic until Cooper told her.”

“And…” Morna leaned forward as if expecting him to continue.
 

“And what?”

“Did she seem surprised at his mention of the magic?”

“She dinna believe him. She thought he was telling her a tale.”

Morna scoffed and threw her head back dramatically.
 

“Ha. Or she was just pretending that she dinna believe him.”

“Morna, Sydney had already sipped of yer potion. She couldna have lied about it.”

Callum watched her glance awkwardly down at her feet in embarrassment, but she recovered from her mistake quickly.
 

“Oh well, we shall find out soon enough if she truly is naïve of the magic. I willna believe it until I ask her myself. I am sorry that Cooper fell victim to the potion and that he said anything about the magic to her, but there is little I can do about it now.”

Callum was sorry for it as well. Sydney now knew the truth, even if she didn’t believe it. They would have to tell her, to show her everything much earlier than any of them planned.

“Morna, we should not wait a week anymore. The lass quit her job. She has no plans to leave here, and regardless of what she believed at the time, she’s already been told everything. It will not take long for her to see things that would make her suspect. We must tell her tonight.”

Morna nodded and extended another small vial in his direction. He protested before she could attempt to justify anything.
 

“No. Doona give me another one of yer mixtures. I want nothing to do with them.”

“Callum, take the damn vial. The lass may verra well want what’s inside by the end of this evening.”

He frowned and moved to sit on the cot, realizing as he bent to remove his working shoes that he’d forgotten to get his other pair of shoes from his old room.
 
“I doubt that verra much, Morna.”

“I intend to ask the girl some questions over dinner. She will find them odd, but she will answer them truthfully. Then, we will tell her the truth. If history is any indication, I know just how it will go. She will think us all mad until she sees the proof with her own eyes.
 

“She will need to be taken down the stairwell, Callum. ’Tis the only way she will believe it. It should be ye that takes her back, not only because of yer connection to Cagair but because I can tell ye fancy her. Ye have a way about ye, Callum, that women find calming. Ye have even managed to calm me down on occasion. That’s an accomplishment not many can claim. She will take it better from ye than she will from any other, I’m sure of it.
 

“When she believes it—if she wishes she dinna know, if it troubles or frightens her—then that is what this vial is for. If she takes it before bed, she will wake remembering nothing of the magic, and we can go on trying to hide it from her for as long as we can. Mayhap with time, when she’s not so new to this castle and to us, she will accept the knowledge more readily.”

Morna paused and moved to sit next to him.
 

“She’s the one ye saw, is she not? The one ye thought a ghost?”

“Aye. She is.”

Morna nodded and slowly slipped the vial into his hands.
 

“Then ye must know that whether she knows about Grier or not, Grier brought her here. Just be wary is all. I love ye, Callum. I think of ye as the son I never had. Tell me ye will be careful with the lass.”

“I will.”

Unlike Cooper and Sydney, no truth potion had passed his lips. The words slipped out easily. Even though he wanted to mean them, he knew he did not. The lass didn’t need magic to wield power over him. He was quite under her spell already.

“Chicken’s done. Vegetables are roasted. Bottles of wine are open and ready for pouring. Breadbasket is warm. Table’s set. Dessert will be ready by the time everyone is finished with dinner.”
 

I stood in front of the shiny stove vent checking out my reflection, looking for any stray hairs or pieces of food on my face while I talked aloud to myself, running through my mental list to make certain everything was done and ready to go for dinner.
 

I overcooked, I was certain. Even if the number of guests exceeded sixty people, there would be more than enough food. But after all of the talk from Callum, Cooper, and Anne—the only inhabitants of the castle I’d met so far—everyone was near starving at the hands of Anne’s food, so I wanted to make sure there was enough food for everyone to eat as much as they wished.
 

I couldn’t help but wonder why no one else took over the job of cook before I arrived if they all thought Anne’s cooking was so terrible. At second thought, I could tell she was the sort to never give up on anything. Chances were, she wouldn’t allow anyone else to take over even if they wanted to. I imagine the only reason she was letting me was because I was a trained professional, not one of her friends or family members constantly giving her a hard time about her cooking.
 

“It smells like heaven in here, lass. I could smell it all the way in my room.”

I jumped at the sound and turned to see an old, frail-looking man walking down the steps and into the kitchen. His knees cracked loudly with each step, but it didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. He never paused or slowed his pace at all. From his stature, I guessed he’d never been all that tall, but I could see there was certainly a time in his life where he’d been taller than he was now. Time curved his shoulders into a deep hunch, and I thought he looked much harsher than his voice sounded.
 

When he reached the bottom of the last step, he smiled at me, walking toward me with arms wide open for a hug. I happily met him halfway, delighted to be greeted so warmly. It made me feel at home with him immediately.
 

“I’m Jerry. Ye must be Sydney, our savior. I canna say enough bad things about the slop we’ve been eating as of late.”

He released me and moved to sit on one of the stools at the island. I followed and sat down next to him.
 

“That seems to be the general consensus. Poor Anne. What she made me this morning looked beautiful, but looks can be deceiving.”

Jerry chuckled and spun his stool so that he faced me.
 

“That it can. Are ye married, lass? Or do ye have someone that ye love?”

I grinned and winked at him, teasing him with my answer. “Are you asking me out, Jerry?”

“Ha.” The old man chuckled for a moment and then reached over to give my hand a tight squeeze. “No, lass. Ye are too pretty to be seen with the likes of me, though this day I’d gladly trade ye for my current wife if ye were only a half century older. I only ask because I wonder if ye know what it is like to love someone so completely all while being so angry with them that ye doona wish to see or speak to them for a month. The juxtaposition of my feelings has me feeling ill all over. Do ye know what I mean?”

I couldn’t say that I did from firsthand experience, but I understood his meaning well enough.
 

“Not personally, no, but I think it’s a common malady of being married. I believe I’ve heard both my parents say something similar before.”

“Well, then ye’ll understand that I’m so angry with her that I doona think I can sit through dinner with everyone pretending that nothing is wrong when there verra much is.”

I pushed myself away from the island and immediately set about preparing him his own very special plate.
 

“I certainly do. It is my opinion that it is best to be genuine in all things. If you don’t want to be there, then there’s no need for you to show up and pretend that you do.”

“I knew that I would like ye, lass.” He reached out and took the plate from my hands.
 

“Wait just a second. Let me pour you a glass of wine and a glass of water. I’ll follow up behind you so that you’re not trying to balance everything with two hands.”

He nodded and waited patiently for me at the bottom of the stairs. It wasn’t until we reached another long corridor of rooms on the opposite side of the castle from my own room that Jerry spoke again.
 

“Thank ye for this.”

Jerry paused and opened the door next to us, stepping inside and placing his plate down before turning to collect the glasses I held out for him.
 

“Sydney, do ye know anyone by the name of Grier?”

I shook my head, confused. “No. Does she live here? I haven’t met very many people at the castle yet. I think my big introduction is meant to happen over dinner.”

He smiled, and I thought I saw something resembling relief, or maybe confirmation, wash over his face. The wrinkles in his brow lessened a little, and his smile seemed a little brighter as he leaned in to kiss my cheek.