She smiles and looks down as she blows on her tea. I can’t help the trip my eyes take downward to her puckered lips. They are quite kissable.
I swallow. “So anyway. Your neighbour is Scottish. That’s braw.”
“He was Scottish. We lost him a few years back.”
I’m about to express my condolences when she waves me off. “It’s fine. He was old and had lived a great life. We loved him though; I called him Uncle Callum. For years I thought he actually was my uncle.”
“You have that part of your genealogy; maybe he was.”
Makenna laughs. “That’s true. But also …maybe you and I are related.” She raises her eyebrows at me.
I chuckle. “As far as I know I haven’t had a family member move from Scotland in the past hundred years. Before then, I don’t really know.”
“Are you into genealogy?”
“No. But Mam is. She has a very organized and very large, family tree she’s put together.”
“I knew I liked her.”
“She liked you too.”
She grins and sips her tea. “Callum was an amazing storyteller, and he had so many stories of growing up here. He planted the seed to travel here when I was quite small. As I grew older, I wanted to learn all I could about Scottish history, so Iread a lot and even took an online course.”
“Wow. So this really is a dream come true kind of trip.”
“It is.”
“If … well, if you feel like you can’t see and do all the things you want to while staying with me, I understand.” I set down my fork. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay. I know I was somewhat insistent on it, but that was only because I wanted you to know that it would be really okay if you stayed. And it is. I’m glad you’re here. But I don’t want to hold you back from the trip you’ve been dreaming of for so long. Of course, you’d have your mam to contend with.”
“That’s true.” She laughs. “I’m glad I’m here, too. In fact, apart from the appendicitis, my trip is better than I expected. It’s at least better than what I expected since Mai canceled. I don’t know what I was thinking coming alone, but it’s really worked out. And everything I had planned to do is within driving distance, so as long as you’ll have me, I’ll stay.”
It’d likely give her a right fleg to know just how long I’d like her to stay. My voice is a bit more gravelly than usual when I say, “I’ll have you for as long as you’ll stay.” I enjoy the pink in Makenna’s cheeks as I pick up my fork and take another bite.
23
Makenna
“Thisisdelicious,bythe way,” Malcolm says, as if he hadn’t just said the sweetest thing in the sexiest voice possible.He’ll have me here as long as I’ll stay. Did I come on vacation and bump into the nicest doctor in all of Scotland?
“Thank you. I wanted to make you something else Southern. Although, now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not sure it’s necessarily Southern.”
“We do have chicken pie here, although a bit different.” He smiles and man, if it doesn’t send my heart all over the place.
“Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying it, even if it isn’t the cultural experience that the chocolate gravy was.”
“Now that I’m thinking, a lot of early immigrants from Scotland settled in the South, so I’d bet there’s a fair amountof overlap in culture.” He seems excited by this revelation.
“You know, I’ve felt very at home here. Maybe that’s it. The place seems familiar, even though it isn’t. The people here remind me so much of the Southern hospitality back home. And maybe there are subtle similarities I’m picking up on that I don’t even realize.”
“Likely so. Maybe one day I’ll get to see Georgia, the state, not the country, and see if I feel the same.”
I laugh. “I’d be glad to show you around.”
He takes his last bite and I sip my tea.
“Oh. I almost forgot. I traded some shifts so I can be off tomorrow. I just have to go in late the next morning and do the overnight. And I was thinking, if you’re interested, I have plenty of holiday days I could use later in your trip. Not that you have to take me along on your adventures, but I thought you might like me to go as your guide.”
“I’d like you to go as my friend. The guide part would just be a perk. But also, do you really want to take vacation days? It’s nice enough that you’ve switched shifts.”
