Love Beyond Boundaries (A Scottish Time Travel Romance): Book 12 (Morna's Legacy Series)

by Bethany Claire

  “It’s Ross. He’s going to need physical therapy, Sue, and there’s no one else in Boston he should go to when we all know you’re the best.”

  I shook my head in protest.

  “No. That’s not true, Caleb. There are lots of great physical therapists. I’d be happy to give some recommendations.”

  Caleb continued. It seemed that now that he’d started, he was determined to see this conversation through. “You’re right. There are some excellent therapists, but they’re not the best. That’s you. And frankly, Sue, I need Ross back at work as soon as possible. I’m having to take over his maintenance jobs while he’s out of commission, and that’s a whole lot harder for me to do now that Beth’s gone and it’s just me and the girls. I know he was a jerk to you. But you’re the most professional person I know. Do you think you could set that aside and help him? For my sake?”

  God, Caleb was good at saying just the thing that made it impossible to turn him down. But he was right about one thing. I was a professional. Surely, I could separate my own feelings from the job in front of me if I took Ross on as a patient.

  “Fine. I’ll work him in on the mornings after I walk the girls to school. Tell him to be at my office by ten a.m. sharp.”

  Caleb grimaced and I could already sense where he was going to go.

  “He can’t travel there by himself, Sue, and I can’t take him then either. He doesn’t really have anyone else here. Can you just work with him in his apartment? Wouldn’t that be easier on everyone?”

  All I would see every time I stepped foot in Ross’ apartment would be memories of me ramming my skull into his, but I couldn’t very well tell Caleb that.

  “Fine, Caleb. I’ll head over there right after you get back from running. You owe me. I hope you know that.”

  He leaned forward and pulled me into a tight hug before kissing the side of my cheek.

  “You’re the best. And yes, I know I do.”

  Every part of him hurt. Never in his life had he felt so helpless. He hated it. And he hated the look of absolute pity on Sydney’s face as she stared at him from his phone.

  “Your color is a little bit better today. That’s good.”

  He grunted, unsure of how to respond.

  “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for your surgery. I wish I could travel over there to you right now, but I’m just too swamped with work.”

  He hurried to reassure her. He was not Sydney’s responsibility, no matter how much his friend seemed to have taken that job on.

  “Nonsense, lass. I doona want ye here. I’m fine on my own. Mrs. Jenkins has delivered more food to my apartment than I’ll ever be able to eat. She’s also taken to doing my laundry and making sure I have what I need. Tink is keeping me fine company, and Caleb is somehow finding the time to come over and walk the pup for me. I’m as well as I could be right now. Truly.”

  A sudden knock on his door surprised him. The only people to stop by since his surgery were Caleb or Mrs. Jenkins, and they both always just walked right in without knocking.

  Sydney furrowed her brows at him. “Are you able to get up to answer the door?”

  He shook his head. “Aye, I could, but I willna do so. ’Tis unlocked. Hold on just a moment.”

  “Okay.”

  Leaning slightly toward the door so his voice would carry, he called out to whoever was on the other side. “’Tis unlocked. Ye may come in.”

  When a brief moment passed in silence, he called out again, louder this time. “Did ye hear me? Come in. The door is unlocked.”

  The door handle turned and to his surprise, Allanah stepped into his apartment. “I heard you.”

  Ross quickly directed his attention to Sydney. “I must go. I’ll text ye later.”

  He hung up on her without another word and twisted toward Allanah.

  “Allanah. What are ye doing here?”

  Her face was tight and expressionless. Not that he could blame her. He could hardly expect a warm greeting after the way he’d simply disappeared without explanation.

  She pointed to his elevated leg. “You’re injured. Caleb asked me if I would work with you.”

  “Ah.” His leg was currently cast from hip to ankle. He couldn’t imagine what they could work on.

  As if reading his mind, she continued. “Today, we will just make sure you’re moving the rest of your body. Stretching, twisting. Being limber and keeping your blood circulating will help later.”

  He stared at her. How could she come in and get right to business without demanding an explanation for his horrid behavior?

  When the silence stretched on too long, he decided to try to clear the air first. “Allanah, lass, I believe I…”

  She interrupted him, giving her head one quick, firm, shake. “No. When I am in this apartment, it is in a professional capacity. Is that understood? If not, I’ll be happy to refer you to some other really great therapists in the city. What happened was months ago. There’s no need for us to talk about it. Not now. Not ever. Okay?”

  There was a glimpse of the woman who’d screamed at him after keeping her grandfather locked out in the cold. He knew he shouldn’t be smiling at her, but he couldn’t help it. The contradiction between the two sides of Allanah—the flirty, soft lass who’d ridden with him in the limo, and the tough, sassy, professional, intrigued him.

  Rather than quip back with what was on his mind, he replied in the only way that would get her to stay.

  “Aye, lass. I understand perfectly.”

  “Good.”

  She turned just long enough to set her bag down by the front door and remove her shoes.

  Then, she slowly walked toward him, moving to stand behind the couch.

  “Let me see your hands and we will begin.”

  By the time Allanah left him, he was sore, happy, and God help him, his cock was hard.

  Allanah could choose to keep her interactions professional if she wished it.

  He knew without a doubt that he would be unable to do so.

  Chapter 14

  One Month Later

  * * *

  “I’m really not sure this is a good idea, Ross. You’ll be so sore afterwards, and it won’t be good if we exhaust you.”

  Staying angry with Ross was the only way I knew to keep things strictly professional with him. Despite my best efforts, I’d not been able to stay angry with him for long. I understood why Hannah and Caleb adored him so much. I could see why Beth had, as well. Ross simply had a way of getting under your skin.

  While he'd done as I had asked him the morning of our first session and never mentioned our previous time together, somehow, over the next few weeks, his warm demeanor and charm had lessened the hurt I'd felt over all of that mess.

  And so…against my better judgment, I was standing in the doorway of Ross’ apartment at six in the morning, helping him get dressed and ready with his crutches so he could accompany me on my bi-weekly walk with the girls to school.

  “’Tis the best idea I’ve ever had, lass. I need out of this apartment. I need to rebuild my strength, and I miss the girls. I’ve strong arms, and I’m steady with the crutches. I willna fall.”

  I sighed, knowing there was no talking him out of it.

  “Fine. Maggie and Hannah will be delighted to see you.”

  And they were. Hannah squealed and nearly knocked him down when she opened the door to find him standing there. I had to hurry to step in between them, reminding her that he was still healing and couldn’t pick her up.

  When we made it inside so I could ready the girls, Maggie squirmed in my arms as she reached for Ross.

  “Let me sit down and hold her a minute, lass. We are early. We doona need to leave just yet.”

  Seeing Ross so eager to hold the baby made something flutter uncomfortably inside my chest. I bobbed my head in the direction of the rocking chair in the living room in resignation.

  The moment he was seated, Maggie reached as if the only thing she wanted in the whole worl
d was to be held by him.

  “I haven’t grown on you at all, have I, little one? Not after a whole month of these morning walks together.”

  Hannah laughed and ran over to reach for my hand. “You’ve grown on me a little bit, if it makes you feel any better.”

  I smiled down at her. “It most definitely does.”

  We all glanced toward the sound of steps on the stairway and turned to see Caleb jog down in his running clothes.

  He beamed when he saw Ross. “Ross! It’s so good to see you out of the house.” He paused and mouthed the words thank you to me before moving over to shake Ross’ hand.

  Then he turned to face me once more. “I gotta tell you, Sue. Your grandfather is a taskmaster. I can hardly keep up with him.”

  “He’s surprisingly spry for his age, and I’m glad to hear that the chemo doesn’t seem to have slowed him down.”

  Caleb twisted and lifted his arms up to stretch as he talked. “If it has slowed him down, there’s no way I would’ve wanted to run with him before chemo. He’s going to dominate the race.”

  He probably wouldn’t dominate the entire race, but he most certainly would win his age division—of that, I had no doubt.

  “I bet you’re going to surprise yourself with how well you do, as well.”

  Caleb stopped bouncing around and stretching and moved to tell his girls goodbye before answering me. “I’ll just be thrilled with myself if I finish the damn thing. That’s my only goal. Thanks for everything, guys. I’ll see you two in a few hours.”

  The old grandfather clock in the corner of the living room chimed once to indicate the half hour, and I walked across the room to reach for Maggie.

  “Time for us to go.”

  The walk, while good for the morale of Ross and the girls, had done exactly what I’d expected it to do. It exhausted him. By the time we said goodbye to Hannah at school, I noticed that his hands were shaking and insisted that Maggie and I see him back to his apartment before I returned to Caleb’s house.

  “Thank you for letting me go today, lass.”

  I laughed and opened the door to his apartment for him, taking care not to disrupt Maggie who was sleeping against my chest.

  “I didn’t let you do anything. You were going to go no matter what I said.”

  He did his signature shrug as best as he could while leaning on crutches. “Mayhap so. Still…thank ye.”

  He was pale, and I knew he needed to lie down.

  “Drink lots of water this morning, and take a good long nap. Let’s work in an extra session tomorrow evening, okay? I think you need it after today. I’ll come by after I finish my appointments, if that’s good for you.”

  He nodded then laughed. “O’course. What fun could I possibly be having in this condition?”

  “I’m sure you could find some sort of trouble if you really put your mind to it.”

  Laughing, he winked and closed the door as Maggie and I made our way back to the elevator.

  By the time I made it back to Caleb’s, Georgie was already there, wiping down the kitchen counters.

  She extended a bottle filled with Maggie’s formula as she began to stir in her carrier.

  “How did that go? I know you were nervous about it this morning.”

  “About as well as I expected it to. It wore him out, but he loved it. So did the girls, so I guess that’s what matters.”

  Unhooking the carrier, I lifted Maggie into my arms, shifted her into a position where I could feed her, and moved to sit on one of the barstools so I could visit with Georgie while she cleaned.

  “What is it about handsome men and babies, Georgie? It did something strange to my insides to watch Ross with the two of them.”

  Georgie laughed and paused her wiping to come and sit down next to me.

  “I think it’s just in our DNA. Makes us want to breed.”

  “Not that I’m interested in Ross in that way anymore. I’m just no longer angry and embarrassed over the whole situation, is all. And it’s not like anyone could deny that he’s attractive.”

  Her brows were arched so high they looked like they were about to rise off the top of her head. “Uh-huh. Tell yourself whatever you need to.”

  I protested. “I’m not telling myself anything. It’s the truth.”

  “Uh-huh. Look. I don’t actually care. You let me have my private life. I’ll let you have yours. Do you think I can ask you a favor though?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’ve been seeing this guy for a little while now, and we’re both getting a little tired of having to do everything at his place. Do you think you could maybe make yourself scarce tomorrow night—at least until ten, or so? If you can’t or don’t want to, I understand. I know it’s your place, and I’m not even paying rent. I just thought it would be nice if the two of us had a change of scenery.”

  “Sure. I’ll find something to do. It’s not a problem. Can I ask the name of the man you’re seeing?”

  She smiled, and I knew right then I was getting nothing.

  “No, you may not. It doesn’t matter in the least.”

  Laughing, I stood to go and rock Maggie until Caleb made it back from his run.

  “Fair enough, sis. Fair enough.”

  Chapter 15

  “Can you rotate to the right a little bit more? Don’t overextend, but if you can stretch slightly farther, I want you to try it.”

  Ross did as I asked without argument. Surprisingly, he was a pretty good patient. I knew that if he continued to work as hard as he had to date, he would heal far faster than most.

  “Okay, release it.”

  As he twisted back to his original position, the front door of his apartment swung open and an elderly woman with pink hair and overalls strode into the living room. She had oven mitts on her hands and held a casserole dish as she strode into the kitchen without giving me a second glance.

  “Good evening, Ross. How are you feeling today?”

  Giving me a wink to let me know that he wanted a minute, he pushed himself up from the couch, reached for his crutches, and hobbled off after the woman.

  “Feeling better all the time, Mrs. Jenkins. Ye do know that ye doona have to cook for me every night, aye? I still have far too much food left over in the fridge.”

  I moved to stand at the edge of the kitchen, as I watched in fascination.

  Mrs. Jenkins dismissed him with a huff. “Then freeze it if it’s about to go bad. I like having someone to tend to again. Who is this?”

  She surprised me by pointing at me, and I realized that she’d been so focused on walking to the kitchen that she hadn’t seen me when she first came in.

  I extended my hand as Ross spoke.

  “This is, Sue. She’s my physical therapist. She lives in the building, as well.”

  It surprised me to hear him call me Sue, as he never called me that, but I blew past it as I shook Mrs. Jenkins’ hand.

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You too. It’s always nice to get to know those that live in the building.”

  She released my hand and pointed back at her casserole.

  “It’s hot now, so dig in soon and then freeze the rest. Now, I’m going to go before your little dog decides to attack me.”

  I frowned at her and looked at Tink in confusion. The puppy would never attack anyone, though I said nothing until the door closed behind Mrs. Jenkins on her way out.

  When she was gone, I scooped Tink up and rubbed her reassuringly.

  “What was that about? Why is she worried about Tink attacking her?”

  Ross shrugged as he made his way back over to the couch.

  “I couldna begin to tell ye. She’s been terrified of the wee pup since she first laid eyes on her.”

  “Why did you introduce me as Sue? You never call me that.”

  The question slipped out of me before I had a chance to stop it.

  “Ah.” He pursed his lips as if he wasn’t quite sure himself. “I suppose
I quite like that I am one of the few that call ye by yer real name.”

  It was an honest admission, and somehow seemed an intimate one. My skin grew hot, and I felt my cheeks blush. I hurried to change the subject.

  “Okay, I think we’ve done enough for tonight. I suppose I’ll be on my way.”

  “Back down the hall, aye?”

  His question reminded me of the promise I’d made to Georgie, for that was, in fact, where I was about to go.

  “Crap.” I covered my face with my palms. “Well, no, actually. That’s not where I’ll be heading right now. Georgie has a date over. I told her I would stay gone until ten.”

  “Where will ye go, then?”

  I really needed to work on adding more friends to my social circle. I could think of nowhere to go.

  “I would go over to Gramps’ place, but if I remember correctly, he’s having his girlfriend over tonight. The last thing I want to do is walk in on anything that might throw me into a catatonic state, so I’m actually not quite sure.”

  He responded immediately. “Stay here, lass. We can watch television, and ye can help me eat some of Mrs. Jenkins latest casserole. ’Tis only a few hours until ten. It makes far more sense for ye to stay here for a while than to go out somewhere else. We can open a bottle of wine.”

  His last statement triggered an automatic response that kept me from getting really awkward about the whole situation.

  I shook my head firmly. “No way. Not with the pain meds that you’re on. No alcohol until you’re off all of them.”

  He frowned playfully. “Ye’re no fun at all, lass.”

  Resigning myself to the fact that I was about to have to relax my strict rule of professionalism for just a little while, I headed toward the kitchen to get us two plates.

  “You’re absolutely wrong about that. I’m a ton of fun.” I lifted the foil on the casserole. I couldn’t tell what it was, only that it was covered—absolutely smothered—in cheese. “Do you have any bagged salad or anything in the fridge? I’m afraid if we only eat this, we both might end up with a clogged artery.”