I glanced around, let my eyes skim over the woods where he’d disappeared. I saw no sign of him other than the line of snowshoe marks. To keep from drawing the kids’ attention to them, I went on scanning the horizon in every direction, like I was just getting my bearings.
“Listen,” I said. “I don’t want to ruin your day. Just ignore me.”
The kid frowned like he didn’t understand. “Ignore ye?”
“You’ve got better things to do than?—”
“Folks have been searchin’ for ye.”
I nodded. “I had prayed for that. I’m really embarrassed that I caused trouble.”
“No shame there,” he said.“Unless ye werenae truly lost.”
The girl swatted his shoulder. “Cannae ye see she’s been greetin’?”
“Oh, no. I was lost all right.” I sniffed, not to be dramatic, but because I needed a tissue.
The girl pulled one from her pocket and offered it to me.
I moved closer to take it. “Thank you.”
She gave the boy a dirty look. Maybe they were siblings not sweethearts.
“Would ye like to ride?” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “I can come back for her.”
“No, no. I’m okay. I got some rest. I can ski in.”
He nodded and pulled his goggles back into place. “We’ll let them ken ye’re comin’.” The girl resumed her seat, and they took off before I could think of a way to stop them.
I waited until they were a quarter mile away before I looked back at the trees. I expected Cian to show himself, but he didn’t. Shadows, snow-covered branches. Nothing moved. Had he gone on ahead?
Please, please, please let him be waiting at the armory!
CHAPTER 21
Cian watched from deep inside the tree line while Matty chatted with a pair on a snow machine. He could tell by her movements she was trying to get them to leave her be, but they were stubborn. She glanced his way once, then continued to look around her so as not to draw attention to him, and for that, he was grateful.
Finally, she shook her head and let her shoulders fall.
The driver spoke one last time, and the machine sped off. After the sound of it faded, Matty looked once more in his direction…and waited.
He knew she wanted a final farewell, but perhaps their parting was better this way. Silent. Quick. With no chance for tears, no chance for awkward blethering. And so he stood there, foolishly looking on, doing nothing to soothe the pain when he so easily could have had one more look into her eyes, one more loving word. One last kiss.
Finally, she turned her skis toward town and dug in her poles. He watched her go, felt each glide of those skis as if they were a pair of blades sliding in and out of his heart, over and over, so sharp there was little resistance.
If he started now, he would be back home before anyone noticed the Ghost of Glenmore was in the area. If he took his time, kept to the woods, and kept his head clear, Matty Gaines would be on an airplane and headed back to America before he could do something foolish.
Like change his mind.
Just before she moved beyond his vision, he whispered, “I should have shown ye the library…”
The rowof buildings still seemed a mile away when a tall police vehicle with massive tires rolled halfway across a snowy field to greet me. The two officers asked me first if I needed medical attention—I didn’t—then insisted on escorting me into town.
The driver tilted his head to the side. “The Cairngorm Hotel has offered ye a room on the house for as long as it takes for ye to recover, Ms. Gaines.”
“I have a room at the Balavoulin, if you want to take me there. I assume they still have my stuff.”
“Nae worries. We’ll collect it and bring it to the Cairngorm. It’s got more space, aye? A reception center and the like.”
