Trish pulled the covers around Nessa’s shoulders. She tucked Nessa in as though she were her child. “Well, okay. You try to get some rest. You can fill me in tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.” Nessa closed her eyes, sighing as she slipped back into the lonely darkness.
ChapterSeventeen
Nessa slung her backpack over her shoulder as she entered the front of the shop. She smiled her good mornings at Brodie and Fiona where they stood chatting behind the counter. “Have either of you seen Trish this morning? The minx got up early to beat me to all the hot water and now I can’t seem to find her. We’ve got to get some data sent out so that it gets to the university by Monday.”
Rummaging through the cluttered shelves behind the counter, Fiona found the note from Trish. “She’s already gone to overnight the papers. She said she didn’t have the heart to wake ye this morning since ye’ve been so exhausted of late. She said there was no need for ye to come along. She said something about having everything covered.”
Unfolding the piece of paper, Nessa groaned and dropped her bag to the floor. Trish and her meddling. How many times had she told that chick to butt out? “She knows I promised Gabriel we’d stop by the pub for lunch. I really hoped our visit to him today would get him to take the hint he’s wasting his time. Did she say she was going to be coming back in time to pick me up? Her note is kind of vague.”
Brodie lowered Latharn’s globe from the shelf above the counter and placed it in front of Nessa. “She mentioned something about going to the pub without ye and relaying your regrets to Gabriel. She said ye told her yesterday ye were trying to find a way to back off a bit from that evil bastard.”
“Brodie!” Fiona scolded. “Gabriel is no’ an evil bastard, Nessa. But Trish did mention ye weren’t quite as taken with him as ye had first thought when the two of ye met.”
Since when did everyone have full rights to her love life? Nessa fumed, her aggravation tightening in her chest. “That still doesn’t give her license to interfere. I’ve talked to her about his before.” She slid her over-stuffed backpack across the floor and propped it against the counter. When she did, the hypnotic pulse of the glowing witch’s ball captured her eye.
Mesmerized, Nessa’s irritation with Trish disappeared as she gazed into the swirling purple vortex. She cupped the globe between her hands and sank into its endless depths. Nothing else in the room existed. The whirling energy captivated her within its dancing lights.
Fiona elbowed Brodie and nodded toward Nessa. “Look at the aura. The light surrounds her. It’s as though the globe cradles her in its energy.”
With a nervous cough as though to clear his throat, Brodie tapped the counter beside the globe. “What do ye think of our wee bauble here? It’s been in the MacKay family for years.”
Nessa tore her attention from the vibrating energy. She found it difficult to look up from the crystal orb. “Oh it’s…it’s lovely. I don’t know why but it seems to draw me into it. It’s as though the lights are dancing to some silent song.” She trailed her fingertips across the surface. Nessa smiled as the energy patterns changed with her touch. “Look! The lights are following wherever I touch. It’s almost as if it’s following my fingertips. How does it do that?” The glass felt warm. She swore it pulsed as though it had a heartbeat.
Brodie’s lips twitched. Then he shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve never seen the globe react that way before. Not in all the years I’ve had it in my possession.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. Nessa touched the ball again. The light sprang from within its core in response to her touch. “Really? I wonder why it responds to me. You said it’s been in your family for years. What’s its story? Where did it originate?”
Fiona edged her way between Brodie and the counter. “They say it was given to Laird MacKay and his wife, Rachel, in the early 1400s. They were the laird and lady of Clan MacKay at that time. The globe has been protected and passed down through the family since that era until it came to be Brodie’s and mine.”
The dancing lights entranced her senses. Nessa had to drag herself away from the counter. The globe drew her in. It mesmerized her and made her feel as if she floated on a cloud of purple down.
“It’s addictive. I could gaze into that thing forever. It’s so hypnotic. It’s almost as though it’s alive. Who gave it to Laird MacKay and his wife? Some sort of wizard maybe?”
Her fingers trembling, Fiona smoothed her hands across the top of the counter and dusted around the globe. “No one knows the true identity of the giver. That information seems to have been lost.” Brodie coughed and shuffled his feet, backing away from the edge of the counter.
Nessa couldn’t resist a mischievous grin at Fiona as she bent to retrieve her bag. “Wouldn’t it be great if it was like a genie’s lamp? We could just tell it our deepest desires and poof...our wildest dreams would come true.”
Brodie’s eyes bulged; he coughed and wheezed until tears streamed down his face.
“Brodie! Are you okay?” Nessa dropped her bag and rushed around the counter. Brodie’s face flamed a bright cherry red.
Thumping him on the back, Fiona waved her away. “Oh, he’s fine. He just gets choked verra easily sometimes.” With a smile, she nodded in the direction of the globe. “Now wouldn’t that be grand if that crystal ball was just like you said! Our verra own wishing ball. Perhaps that’s what it was meant to be all along and it was just forgotten down through the passage of time.”
Fiona pulled a box of tissues from under the counter and shoved them into Brodie’schest. Turning back to Nessa, her eyes sparkled and her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “And if it were such a magical thing? What would be one of your dearest wishes? What would ye ask of the ball?”
Nessa paused before hefting her bag up on her shoulder, half-tempted to play along. Wouldn’t it be great if she could wish her nocturnal Highlander into reality and fall right into his arms? Wouldn’t that be her lifelong dream come true? Who was she kidding? That’s the stuff fairy tales were made of. Her old self-preservation habits kicked in at the last minute and she recoiled back inside her carefully constructed shell. Settling her backpack on her shoulder, Nessa shuttered her emotions as well. “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve pretty much got everything I need.”
Fiona’s face fell at Nessa’s reply. “Ah well…then ye truly are blessed. Ye not only have everything ye need but ye are wise enough to know it.”
Sure, she did. Nessa turned toward the door. She wasn’t about to share her deepest desires with the MacKays. They were a kind and generous couple who she felt certain would become friends. However, she just wasn’t ready to open up and bare her soul.
She’d learned at a young age that when you shared your innermost thoughts and feelings it only exposed you to painful barbs. In her experience, Trish was the only person who’d never hurt her and she just wasn’t brave enough right now to enlarge that elite circle of trust.
Remembering the words of the mysterious woman at the goddess well, Nessa paused and turned back into the room. “By the way, do either of you happen to remember any stories about an ancestor of yours by the name of Latharn MacKay?”
A new fit of coughing seized Brodie, his hands flying to his chest as panic registered in his eyes. Fiona renewed her pounding on her husband’s back, her eyes wide as she replied, “Latharn MacKay? Why do ye ask? What have ye heard about the name?”
