“You took your mother’s last name?” Lia peered at me over the top of the book.
“No father to speak of.” I shrugged. It didn’t sting anymore, not really. Even though I’d dealt with outrage from other people in my life growing up, I’d never questioned if I was loved. Eriska had loved enough for two parents, hell, her optimism and enthusiasm for life could have filled the world with love.
“No interest in finding out?” Orla asked and then winced. She put a hand in the air. “To be clear, I am the last person to ever push someone into a reunion. You do you, girl.”
“It’s just a door that I’m happy to remain closed. He died not long after Eriska had moved us on, and I’m not confident that anything good would come of tracking down his family and trying to force something unneeded. I think people always have these romantic stories in their heads that bringing family back together will always end well, and I just haven’t seen that to be the case.” I shrugged, hoping I wasn’t being too pragmatic for the girls.
“I’ll admit, I do find it a touch sad. ButI come from such a different space. I have the best parents in the world and a large family that is constantly in each other’s business. But then I look at Munroe and the difficulty he’s had with his family, and I can understand why he’s enforced boundaries. I don’t think there is a ‘one-sized fits all’ solution to these situations. It’s especially nuanced. And if you aren’t lying awake, night after night, yearning for that connection, then why seek it out?” Lia smiled gently.
“It is sad. But then so is a lot of life. There’s also a lot of love to be found elsewhere, and to be given. I always try to remember that when I’m working with animals. I hope they feel my love and positive energy when I help them.”
“They do.”Gloam lifted his head and put his chin on my thigh and I scratched at his favorite spot behind his ears.
Talk of love made me wonder about Luch. The only other person I’d felt so connected to was my mum. And now, these amazing women. But there were times when Luch looked at me and I swore he loved me. Each time, I’d thought it was too soon. Was it? How long did it take for two people to fall in love?What does that feel like?If I didn’t know the answer to that, did that mean I wasn’t in love with him? I did know that I didn’t want things to change. I felt happy. Content.Settled.
But that alone made me nervous. Like waiting for the axe to fall. I wasn’t used to calm waters, I was a ship built for weathering storms.
“Right, so what I can find in here really has to do more with your great, great, grandmother than it does anything with your father. I was just asking to make sure I had the last names correct. Because I do have a Flora Fletcher who was also a healer.”
My mouth dropped open and I let out a small squeal.
“No way. Do you really? Och, I don’t know much about Flora. Just her name and she worked with her hands as well. But my mum didn’t have much in the way of records. We moved too much.”
“Yes, it’s quite clear.” Lia brandished the book and I stood and crossed the room. Sophie slid over on the couch to make room, and I dropped down between them both.
I leaned down and looked at the faded writing on the page. The script was precise and elegant, in the way of old-fashioned cursive, and just seeing her name written down lit me up. It was as though she hadn’t entirely been erased from history, that she still mattered, and I reached out to brush a finger lightly across her name.
“There she is.”
“It says she was also a healer, and that she was almost persecuted for being a witch when she helped to heal a child under suspicious circumstances. Instead of the family being grateful, they accused her of witchcraft,” Lia read out loud and the entire room made noises of disgust.
“Typical. Here someone saves your freaking kid’s life, but instead of being grateful they attack.” Shona huffed out an annoyed breath.
“But,” Lia continued, holding a finger in the air, “it looks like Lachlan’s kin stepped in and did something to stop it. Flora went on to live a long and healthy life at the castle.”
“That’s my man,” Sophie said, proudly. “The Order must have found her and taken her in.”
Tears pricked my eyes and I held a hand to my chest.
“Roots,” I breathed. I hadn’t realized just how much itmattered to me, to feel connected somewhere, to know of those who came before me. “I have actual roots.”
“Oh, you do. You really do. You’re home now, Faelan.” Before I knew it, I had five women surrounding me, all giving me a hug, while trying not to spill the champagne I held. The dogs jumped up, and Sir Buster, sensing an opening, made his move on Gloam. Dashing across the room, he bared his teeth in a show of bravery, when Calvin simply walked up and swatted him across the nose.
Sir Buster shrieked and raced back to his corner and we all laughed, even though I was still wiping tears from my eyes.
“Willow?” Lia asked, and I realized she’d been the only one not to hug me. Instead, she drew furiously on her iPad, but her eyes stared out the window, not seeing anything.
“I think she’s having a vision,” Sophie whispered, coming to her side, but not touching her. “Willow? Are you okay?”
Willow heaved in a massive breath and then seemed to snap back into reality, her slack expression changing to one of confusion, before she blinked down at the pad in her hands. Looking back up, her eyes sought mine. Her gift was one of foresight, and she’d told me sometimes the visions came through when she was sketching.
“Oh no,” I whispered, fear clenching my gut. Gingerly, I stood and walked across the room to her. She tilted the iPad to face me. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t quite grasp it all.” Willow looked down at the drawing she’d made. On it, a Kelpie loomed from the water and swooped low over a wolf that bared its teeth to the beast.
Relief filled me.
“Oh, that already happened. Everything’s fine.”
