He sat down in the chair opposite and studied her face. The light from the screen reflected off her hair, catching highlights of copper and gold. He narrowed his eyes as she continued to study the screen in front of her. How had he not noticed the subtleties of colour in her hair before? Was it that he was so overwhelmed by the totality of her that he overlooked the nuances?
At that moment she looked up with smiling eyes. There was a sparkle in them which he also hadn’t seen before. And he realised it wasn’t only his lack of perceptiveness, but the answer also lay in Augi. She had unfolded, opened out, allowing the world to see the differing shades and strands that made her personality. She no longer hid behind a shield of uniformity, but was confident enough now to show the world who she truly was.
He’d helped do that. And he knew she loved him as much as he loved her.
But he knew it wasn’t only him. Since Sofia’s surprise arrival, and the unravelling of old griefs and misplaced guilt, the final restraints holding her back had fallen away.
She had always been compelling — he’d told her that once, quietly — but now she seemed to glow, as if something long locked away had finally been allowed into the open.
She laughed, stopping his reverie.
‘Daniel!’ she said with a laugh. ‘You’re doing it again!’
‘What?’
‘Looking at me like I’m an unusual artefact that you’ve just discovered and are trying to understand.’
‘That about sums it up.’
‘I’m not sure I want to be seen by you as an artefact. Such things are placed away from people, not to be touched.’ She said the last word, softly, with an undercurrent which sent fizzing sensations into his gut and lower.
He liked this new Augi, even more than the old one. He reached out for her hand, wanting to break the distance between them. ‘Oh, Augustini. You’ve got it so wrong. Would you like me to tell you the ways I’d like to touch you?’
Her colour rose and she pulled her hand away. But before she shot him a denial, she hesitated. ‘Yes, but not now. Later.’
He swallowed. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’ He rose, more than happy to make later arrive as soon as he could, and came up behind Augi, putting his hands on her shoulders as he looked at the screen which had again snagged her attention. ‘So, ready to go?’
‘I just want to take another look at this,’ she pointed to the screen.
He bowed down so he could see what she was pointing to.
‘I can’t quite believe what I’m reading,’ she added.
‘Which begs the question,’ he said mildly, ‘what are you reading?’
‘Ancestry.’
He grimaced. ‘Still glued to that?’
‘Yes.’ She exhaled. ‘Because I regularly check a particular cluster of matches.’
His eyes glazed over immediately, and he sat on the edge of the desk, preferring to look at her, rather than a computer screen.
She smiled faintly. ‘The Kowalskis.’
He straightened. ‘Why? Surely you’ve found out everything there is to know by now.’
He stood and rocked back on his heels, irritation creeping into his voice. ‘They — whether they realise it or not — will shortly own MacLeod’s Cottage. And my mother will be at their mercy.’
She laughed.
Dan stared at her. ‘What’s so funny about my mother being kicked out of her house?’
‘Nothing. Nothing at all.’ She rose and slid her arms around his waist. She kissed him briefly, then rested her hands on his arms, grounding herself. ‘But you’re missing something.’
He looked down at her, baffled.
‘Blond hair,’ she said lightly. ‘So fair, when everyone else in your family has darker colouring.’
