Let’s hope so.I rolled my eyes.
As Rain made the call, she attached her phone to the laptop’s USB port. She better not disappoint me. Or … herself for that matter.
“She has a short callback message.” Rain sighed. “Not many word choices. My program is analyzing Simona’s voice, and with such a short voicemail prompt, it’s creating probable inflections based on her tone.”
“Use speaker when you call. I need to hear Natasha’s voice.” I glared at the cursive in my journal on the couch.She will be mine.
I didn’t need her in my life. Iwantedher … for a day or two. A little while later, Rain made the call.
“Sima? Hey, you haven’t answered me.” Natasha’s voice rang through the speaker, hopeful, sweet. Like Mama’s apology and hope that I’d make something of myself before her breaths became shallower because of the pills.
Rain typed a message that would transcribe Simona’s voice. I waited, pulse matching Natasha’s cadence through the static.
And I smiled, because Father left Mama. But me?
I’d never let Natasha go.
Even if it killed her.
42
NATASHA
“When I carriedye…”Lachlan’s voice cracked “… outta your da’s nightclub, I knew I wasn’t gonna let you go. Can’t let you go, Natasha. You belong to me.”
This wasn’t the right time to lose myself in the magnificent summer pools of Lachlan’s eyes or the pure distraught look that tore his beautiful face apart on the plane ride.
While Lachlan slept on the plane and later on that bed, I hadn’t gotten hold of Pop or Momma. My entire family seemed to have vanished off my radar. But as I peered up at Lachlan, the answer that zinged from the top of my head to the soles of my feet and sang through my body wasyes.
Breathless, that word barely brushed past my lips. “Yes.”
“Aye?” Lachlan took another step forward. A formidable force.
Throat achy from emotion, I murmured, “Yes, Lachlan MacKenzie. I’ll marry you today.”
And that formidable force swooped down to clasp me into his arms, like a rag doll except infinitely more graceful. This man,my man, wasstrength without threatening. He’d subdued his power for my sake. Always did and always would.
“Tonight,” I said, “overlooking the lake.”
“Loch Ness? That’s perfect, Tash.”
“I’m gonna try my parents again. And Sima. I have to tell Sima. They’d better answer this time too.” I pulled out my phone—at 50 percent. “Does this place have electricity?”
Lachlan chuckled as he strolled toward the door and pushed a silk drape that covered the wall, showing an outlet. He dug into his duffel bag for an iPhone cord. “Your parents haven’t spoken with you yet? Not even after I fell asleep?”
My hand shook a little. “No. I’m sorry. I’ve left a ton of voicemails. I don’t know why?”
“We’ll get through to them. Maybe they’re traveling here.” He cleared his throat, not finishing that statement with words of war. “We explain, then get married.”
If the world were perfect. I sat in a paisley lounger, then dialed Pop, next Momma. I was restless hearing Vass’s voicemail. Last, I tried Simona.
“Girl, why won’t you people answer me?” I’d called her once this morning—or sometime last night during the extensive flight—in between slamming my parents with voicemails. “I have news. So, call me. Did Pop catch Borya? Just call me, or I’ll call the twins and Luka.”
After trying Uncle Simeon and Aunt Anastasiya’s numbers, I decided not to leave them messages, letting on how annoyed I was. I almost shoved the phone away when it rang.Simona.
My thumb tapped Accept. “Sima? Hey, you haven’t answered me.”
After a second, Simona spoke. “Sorry. I’ve been busy. Vassili. Simeon.”
