“Doesn’t everyone?” Quinn asked before taking another bite.
“Margarete eats like a bird and complains about the food much of the time.”
“Tell me again why you tolerate her.”
“She’s an interior decorator, restoring the rooms on the west side of the castle back to their former glory after an unfortunate fire.”
Quinn swallowed. “Ah, you need her but don’t want a booty call. I get it. It’s like that time my pool guy took off his shirt. Tempting, but he must have been drinking the pool chemicals because he was short a few screws. Well, not screws if you know what I mean.” Quinn wiggled her brows. “I’m sure he got plenty of action, just not from me. Speaking of screwing, is the universe still playing with me, or did my pilot make a miraculous recovery?”
“I spoke with the doctor last night before I tucked you in. Johnny is still very sick, and the official diagnosis is measles. Since a rash has appeared, he is contagious.”
“How long am I looking at?”
“Possibly two weeks, could be less. They’ve transported him to a hospital in the nearby town. One other housekeeperhad a fever and was taken as a precaution.”
Quinn’s heart fell into her stomach. Her annoyance was replaced with concern. Poor, poor Johnny. Here she was sitting in a castle with amazing food, having fun pissing off the locals, and Johnny was stuck in a hospital, probably covered in anti-itch lotion. Quinn’s skin crawled. She pulled her shirt away from her chest and peered down at her creamy skin. She sighed in relief. False alarm. No rashes.
“Your ghosts are conspiring against me,” she announced, pouring a cup of coffee from the carafe. “I woke up to find three of them staring at me. Gwinnie thinks I’m here to set things right.”
“Who were the other two?” Collin asked, before sipping his coffee.
“Well, we didn’t have a formal introduction, but one looks like an older version of you with red hair and beard, and the other was a white-haired fellow wearing Ian’s colors.”
“Sounds like Alastair, my four times great-grandfather, and his rival, Alexander McDougall. The stone was stolen during their time.”
“Well, now it’s returned. I’ve set things right; so why are they being creepy and watching me sleep?”
“The curse,” he answered as though he believed it himself. Quinn was starting toget the suspicion that he did. Who was the weird one now?
“I don’t believe in curses,” she announced. She didn’t even want to know what the curse entailed. No ancestor or dead gypsy had any say in her life or her future.
“You’ve made that abundantly clear, but arenae you the least bit interested?”
“I’m about as interested as a toll booth operator, on a road closed for construction, looking for the next car.” She shook her head. The thought of being the catalyst of the curse gave her a headache.
“Disease, death, fire, and fallen men are foretold in the tale. Measles is just the start.”
“Hey.” She pulled at the blueberry muffin. “I wasn’t the one to inflict the measles. It’s just a coincidence that my pilot was the carrier. Did your curse mention that?”
“Actually, it reads: A woman with hair of fire, and eyes the color of the stolen stone, will descend from the sky. Her word will carry a bite and sting worse than the fiercest beast, making the lines between past and present blur.”
“Any redhead with green eyes fits that description.”
“Disease will spread; death will follow; walls will crumble, and men will fall.”
“That’s a lot to put on my shoulders, don’t you think?” Quinn sipped her coffee.
“Friend or foe, it is she who controls the Menzie destiny and will bring down the deceit of once noble men, making them fall from grace into hell.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit vague?” she asked. “That’s like saying one of your unborn children will be a girl. Why not give details and say one of your children will be a unicorn with rainbow hair? Now that would be interesting, and something I’d stick around to watch.”
Collin smiled. “You arenae quite right, Quinn Thatcher.”
“Words to live by,” she said, standing and slipping her phone with the half-dead battery from her pocket. “I need to call Johnny’s family and check in with my sisters.”
“Reception is best outside, if you’re going to use your cell phone.”
“Thanks.” She picked up her uneaten biscuit and headed for the door, only pausing before she stepped out of the room. She turned back to face him. “I promise not to bring down any of your walls.”
