“Come on,” Nick said, and grabbed Tara’s hand. “She’s out of her gourd, delusional. We’ve taken enough crap from her. No one can say we didn’t drop everything to come help. Now we can go home.”
“Delusional? No, Nick. I’m delirious—deliriously happy, thanks to this place.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin when the entire space erupted. One cheer, in unison. You’d think I’d just scored the winning goal in an important soccer tournament, and I looked around to see if the people of Aviemore were watching some match on TV. But they were all grinning my way, shouting over each other for a minute before they settled down to listen for more.
Nick realized he was the villain to these folks and tried to drag Tara toward the door, but she was furious and dragged him down a hallway instead. I tried not to watch, but soon understood what was happening. Tara wanted Nick to come back and defend her. She was telling him what he needed to say, and he wasn’t going to do it.
With them out of the way, and the drama apparently over, the line formed again, only now, the patrons of the Cairngorm Hotel were eager to have a turn. They no longer congratulated me on my survival skills. Instead, they offered vague praise, a lot of “Well doon, lass.” A lot of thanks—for putting in a good wordfor their beloved country, I assumed. And a lot of grins and silent handshakes.
But none of those smiles came from a balding man with spiked hair and a beauty mark beside his eye.
I’d been waiting all evening for John the Amorist to introduce himself so I could pull him aside and tell him what had happened, and hopefully find out if Cian had visited him that day. Not knowing was killing me. I wasn’t sure which would be harder on my heart—knowing he had turned back when I headed into town, or if he’d gone to John’s and left when I didn’t show up right away.
Probably the latter. The latter would have been my fault.
So many men bought me drinks that I had to start handing them out to whomever was close by. When I asked the waitress if she could just tell people I didn’t need any more, she just smiled and shook her head. So I just kept handing them off.
In my periphery, I noticed a man in line who was much taller than the crowd, but the old gentleman in front of me held my hand tight and demanded my complete attention. When he finally moved on, I looked up to find a familiar face grinning down at me.
CHAPTER 25
“Phillip!”
“Matty!”
Standing between us was another familiar face and I stood up to hug her. “Margo Sud-Nelson. How are you?”
“I’m well, now that my favorite chef has been found. We had to come see for ourselves. We’d been kicking ourselves for not keeping you with us on the trail. Can you forgive us?”
“Nothing to forgive. The last two days may have been the most important of my life. I wouldn’t have missed them for the world.”
She cocked her head and looked into my eyes. “Promise me that the next time we meet, you’ll explain it to me?”
“I promise.”
She stepped aside and laughed when Phillip picked me up under the arms and swung me in a circle, driving the other onlookers back. I squealed like a child and begged him to let me down. And in the distance, somewhere outside, I thought I heard something…like a wounded animal.
Some old Scot raised his cane over his head and shouted for Phillip to do it again. Someone else started a chant—do it, do it, do it!
Phillip reached for me again. I shook my head and said, “Don’t you dare!”
He ignored me and my feet left the ground again. All my weight was concentrated on my ribs, where his hands lifted me. I was sure I’d be bruised in the morning.
This time, he turned slower and let my feet dangle straight. When he set me down again, he panted and laughed.
“I’m surprised you didn’t break your back.”
“Light as a…feather,” he got out between breaths, and the three of us laughed at his obvious lie.
I heard that injured animal again. Only this time, it came from inside the pub. It was real this time, not imagined, and as clear as my memory. Which meant only one thing. Cian MacInnis had decided to join the real world again. He had come out of hiding…
And he’d done it for me.
Everyone in the pub froze, but they were ready to bolt. I remembered that feeling.
“What the bloody hell was that?” Phillip pushed Margo next to me, then put himself in front of us, and put his hands on his hips and waited.
I giggled like an idiot and stepped out from around him so I could see. “That, sir, was the Ghost of Glenmore.”
