Cara strolledaround the castle on Collin’s arm. She’d felt sick to her stomach, and he’d been kind enough to take her for a walk to tour some of the other grounds she’d hadn’t yet seen. The fresh air calmed her queasy belly. They’d been to see the horses and everywhere, except where she wanted to go. She’d been dying to see the place where Quinn had first laid eyes on him. The place of the infamous battle and the bridge.
Cara strolled toward the hill that Quinn had named Baby E for Everest. The air in Scotland had mellowed her some. It was as though a switch had been flippedand Quinn was now happy. If only Cara could be.
“This is where she was tackled by Harness.”
“The dog?” Cara grinned. “I bet she loved that.”
“It ruined her favorite white skirt. She still complains to this day.”
Cara chuckled as they entered the empty clearing.
“It was here that Ian and I were sword fighting on horseback. Can you imagine your sister stepping into the fight and whistling to get our attention? Because that’s what she did. She proclaimed she had the prize, tossed it at me, and said, ‘Game over.’ I think it was in that minute that I fell in love with her.”
“Now who’s fibbing?” Cara squeezed Collin’s arm. “We all know why you chased her down. It was because of the curse.”
“Aye, the one she told me you saw before you tried to talk her out of coming.”
Cara shrugged. “I didn’t want to see her hurt.”
Collin led her toward a cabin at the end of the clearing and stopped. “You know Quinn loves you.”
“Of course,” Cara answered. Growing up, she might have questioned it, but not anymore.
“She disna want to see you hurt either. I want you to think about that before youkill her, because kill her, you’ll try, and then I’ll have to stop the fight. We cannae have your wee one getting hurt, or hers and mine.”
“She’s pregnant too?”
Collin opened the door and placed his hand on her back, easing her inside before yanking the door closed from the other side. She would have protested, but she stood stunned. Cooper stood in the middle of the small room.
Collin’s words made sense now. Her heart raced, heavy in her chest, the beat echoing in her ears. She swallowed the knot that had formed in her throat, and her mouth suddenly ran dry.
“I was going to call you,” she whispered. “I just needed more time.”
“Six weeks wasn’t long enough?” Cooper asked, unmoving from his spot.
“I picked up the phone several times, but I always hung up.”
He took a step in her direction and stopped. “Why did you hang up?”
Cara remained silent as she ran through all the reasons in her head. None of them seemed worth the weight they’d carried weeks ago.
“How about I start?” he said as he stepped closer. “I’m sorry I didn’t take a chance on you when Betty told me about her vision. I was a skeptic, and when she told me that I’d be the only one not to giveyou visions, and that we’d one day end up married, I didn’t believe. I’m sorry my sister was the center of the danger you went through, and I’m sorry that I broke your trust. But know this, Cara. I’m not sorry I went into your office. I’m not sorry for getting to know you, and I’m damn sure not sorry that you’re pregnant.”
“You know?” Her brows knit together. “How?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He closed the distance between them and cupped her cheek. “What matters is that you know I’ll never do anything to hurt you again. I love you, Cara, and it about killed me when you disappeared.”
Cara lowered her gaze to the floor. She wanted to believe him, more than anything, but after everything she’d been through, she was afraid it was yet another ruse. “If you’re saying that because of the baby, Cooper, you don’t have to worry. I’ll let you in his or her life as much or as little as you want.”
Cooper lifted her chin until her gaze to meet his. “You aren’t hearing me, Cara. I’ll love that baby no matter what, but my life isn’t complete without you. I didn’t know love until I met you. I didn’t realize how much I needed it until you left. Cara…baby. I need you, and I don’t need anything else.”
Cara chewed her bottom lip. “You once said one problem at a time. I don’t want to be a problem, Cooper.”
“Don’t you get it? You’re not a problem. You’re my solution, baby. You’re more than I could have ever asked for. You’re more than I ever dreamed of. Please, baby, give me a second chance to do things right.”
Cara nodded, and that was all it took. Coop wrapped her in his arms quicker than she could blink and pressed a kiss to her lips. A spark ignited from that brief touch and settled in her heart, spreading a hazy sense of comfort throughout her body. Relief rolled off him in waves, calming and blanketing her in his warmth.
A second chancewas all it took. Within two months, she was married with the last name she’d despised. Within four, Cooper had quit the bureau to help run the bar because he wanted to be there when their child was born. This was her life. It was finally complete. With each visionless touch and each heated kiss, her world was forever rocked by the one man she’d once wasted brownies on.
