A smile lit up her wrinkled face.“Tavish!What a lovely surprise.”
“Granaidh,” he greeted, walking over to place a kiss on her cheek.
She closed her laptop and swiveled to face him as he sat in a chair near the windows.
“Have you eaten dinner yet?”she asked.“I can have the cook fix you something quick.”
“I’m fine.”He took a deep breath and for a moment, his stare defocused as he thought of Mairi, wondering what she was doing right then while he sat over four thousand miles away.
“Are you all right?”
Tavish blinked.“Oh, aye.Sorry.May I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Why did you insist I marry Mairi Monroy?”
Confusion furrowed her brow.“Well, that was an unexpected question.Why are you asking this now?”
“I assume you know she left Scotland,” he said.“I finally tracked her down in America.So, I went to divorce her.”
“What!”His gran surged to her feet.“Tavish MacAlary!I won’t allow that.”
“Allowthat?I’m a grown man, Gran, and I didn’t want to have an arranged marriage.You forced my hand, so how could I not want a divorce?”
“She’s good for you, Tavish.”
“She was a stranger.”
She tilted her head, looking confused.“A stranger?”
“I went there with divorce papers,” he admitted.“When I found her, I realized she was my moon-fated mate.”
A huge smile spread over her face and she clasped her hands together in happiness.“Really?‘Tis wonderful news.I knew it.Her gran and I knew it.”
“Wait.What do you mean, you knew it?”
“How could we not?You two went everywhere together when you were little.”
The bombshell struck him over the head, and had him collapsing back into the chair.“What?”
“You two were inseparable when you were children.Did you not remember?”
“I ...how...”The words died away as he racked his brain trying to retrieve memories long lost.“Nae.I thought a lot of bad things about her, Gran.I thought she wanted me for my money.My title.”
His gran blinked.“Are you joking?”
He shook his head.“Why else would she marry a stranger?”
“You thought I’d force you into a marriage with a stranger?”
“Aye!You did!Because she was the granddaughter of your friend.”
“Oh, Sweet Jaysus, you’re an idiot,” she muttered.“When your mum passed, your da could not take care of you while he rebuilt his life without her.So, for a while, you stayed with me and when you met Mairi, you gravitated toward her like she was your sun.That’s when her gran and I figured you were moon-fated mates.”
He leaned forward, with his elbows on his knees as thoughts swirled through his head, trying to find Mairi in the blank void after his mother died.
“I, uh, I don’t have those memories,” he admitted softly.
