Kissed by the Rain

by Claudia Winter

  I almost regretted my words, but was too confused to change topics. “Neither did Bri.”

  “You don’t seriously believe your aunt would let some curse keep her from doing whatever she pleases, do you? Bri made a conscious decision, and she believes that her life without a husband works out beautifully. But we’re talking about you right now. And what I want you to remember is that it doesn’t matter whether you believe in the curse or whether you just made the trip because of Adele’s stubbornness. What is important is that you recognise the opportunity.”

  “What opportunity?”

  “The chance to question what you want to do with the rest of your life.”

  “But—”

  “I assure you, Josie, you’ll understand sooner or later. Let’s fetch your aunt before she has to be admitted to hospital with smoke poisoning.”

  “Absolutely not!” Bri hid her hands behind her back.

  “Bri,” I said. “Just give them to me.”

  “Who do you think I am, to let a little brat take away my car keys? Besides, you don’t have a driver’s licence. I’m sure the police won’t like that.”

  “First of all, I most certainly do have a driver’s license—I just don’t have it on me. And second, have you seen a single police car in the past three hours? We’re more likely to be stopped because your snail’s pace is holding up traffic.”

  “You’re a lawyer. You mustn’t do anything illegal.”

  Bri pouted and looked, as she so often did, like an angry little girl. However, with at least a hundred more miles to drive, I was not willing to back down.

  “Didn’t you say I should do something inappropriate for once? Well, I’m ready.”

  I held out my hand to show her that I meant business, and it worked—Bri surrendered the keys and climbed into the backseat. Settling into the passenger seat, Li patted my knee as I started the car.

  “Project Wedding Ring has begun,” she whispered, opening her book.

  “Mm,” I said, engaging the clutch.

  It took a few miles to get accustomed to driving on the left side, but traffic was running smoothly and the drizzle had let up, so visibility was good. Soon, I even dared to overtake a car, making Bri, who had sulked in the back for ten minutes, pipe up.

  “You’re going too fast.”

  “Just close your eyes and think about something exciting.” I grinned into the rear-view mirror.

  “Dear grandniece,” Bri drawled. “You greatly overestimate my repertoire of thrilling events.”

  “Hear, hear,” mumbled Li, opening the glove compartment.

  To my amazement, she pulled out the latest version of a fancy smartphone. She held it close to her thick glasses and wiped the display.

  “Wasn’t that your handsome baker back at the rest stop?” Bri asked with a strange undertone.

  “A meaningless intermezzo, dear aunt,” I replied calmly. “Mr. Murray is headed to Inverness. So you’ll have to make do with Justus, even if you think he’s boring.”

  “And we’re going to Kincraig—big k and small c,” Li mumbled, absorbed in something on her phone.

  Bri whistled. “So the dark-green pickup truck that’s been following us for twenty minutes doesn’t belong to your pastry chef?”

  “Stop it, Bri! He’s not my . . . What?”

  I braked so abruptly I almost caused an accident. A sports car had to veer to the side to avoid us—racing by me, the driver honked violently. My heart was pounding as I adjusted the side mirror to get a better view. It was true. Aidan’s car was three vehicles back.

  “That tops everything,” I said in a flat voice.

  Without signalling, I merged into the right lane, squeezing between a minivan and a camper. After overtaking two cars, I switched lanes again, and then, my heart pounding, sped off the next exit.

  The triumphant feeling of having shaken off Aidan Murray, Hollywood style, lasted only a few moments, until the car began to buck and cough like an asthmatic chain-smoker. The engine died and the car rolled downhill for about twenty yards before coming to a halt on the shoulder. I turned the key with dogged determination, but a croaking sound was all I got in return.

  Silence settled over us. Li stared out the window. Then Bri giggled and adjusted her hat.

  “Let’s hope your Scottish admirer has a tow rope.”

  A few short minutes later, someone knocked at the window. Stony faced, I rolled it down.

  “Mrs. Stone. Ladies.” Aidan tipped an imaginary hat.

  “Mr. Murray, you couldn’t have come at a better time.” Li was beaming.

  Even Bri looked at him with approval—her eyes lingering too long below his belt for my taste.

  “You’re driving a diesel,” he said with a smile, his elbows on the windowsill and thus disturbingly near me. He smelled of shampoo and a freshly ironed shirt. He had also shaved, which I hadn’t noticed earlier.

  “You could have told me that before,” I mumbled.

  “Don’t tell me you put in petrol!” Bri laughed.

  “I did try to warn you—you might remember,” Aidan replied.

  I scowled.

  There was no use trying to defend myself. He was right. What bothered me most was that he had anticipated our distress and followed us like some kind of knight in shining armour.

  “Now how are we supposed to get to Kincraig?” Li asked, and began to clean her glasses.

  I leaned back and crossed my arms. “I’m sure Mr. Murray has an idea.”

  “That I do.”

  I sat up. The dangerous glimmer in his green eyes should have warned me, but a condescending “So?” slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

  Aidan gave me a blank look. “Only if you ask for my help.”

  “Forget it.”

  “Josefine!” Bri objected.

  Li took my hand. “I’m sure he won’t walk out on us, darling. He’s too . . . chivalrous for that.”

  I turned to him with a haughty look, but all I saw were the inquisitive heads of some Blackface sheep traipsing about in the opposite lane. In my side-view mirror, I saw Aidan hop into his truck and turn it around in three energetic manoeuvres, seemingly getting ready to drive away.

  “Well, you handled that beautifully.” Bri puckered her lips.

  “Like great-aunt like grandniece, I’d say,” Li sighed.

  I fumbled with the seat belt and almost tripped over my own feet. “Hey! Stop! Wait a sec!”

  The truck began to move and I broke into a run. Even when I caught up and trotted alongside, Aidan didn’t stop.

  “You can’t do this! My aunts are over seventy!” I shouted.

  Aidan accelerated. I ran faster.

  “Okay, okay! I’m sorry.”

  The truck slowed down.

  “So?” Aidan echoed the condescending tone I had used.

  A sharp pain shot through my ribs. “What else do you want?” I huffed, trying to keep up, even as Aidan had begun speeding up mercilessly again. I gritted my teeth and ran faster.

  “Honestly, I don’t think an apology’s going to do it this time.”

  “Okay . . . What then?” My lungs were burning and the pain in my side made breathing difficult. I really would have liked to have stopped running, but I had no choice. I couldn’t leave Li and Bri stranded out here.

  “I want an explanation.”

  “What . . . kind of . . . explanation?” I panted.

  “It’s eighty miles to Kincraig. That should give you enough time to figure it out.”

  “You . . . you are . . .”

  “Breathe, Mrs. Stone. Twice in, twice out—that way you might manage another mile.”

  I closed my eyes. The pain in my left side was so intense that all I wanted was to curl up in the foetal position in the wet pasture. To my enormous relief, the truck slowed down. I grabbed the window frame, my legs moving under me like defective gears of a clock.

  Aidan scrutinised me and slowed down some more. “I’m waiting.”


  My knees felt like butter. I wouldn’t last another fifty yards.

  “You’re right. I’ve been arrogant and rude and”—I gritted my teeth—“I don’t know why I behave the way I do. Every time you . . .”

  I was shocked to feel a lump in my throat. My fingers let go of the window frame and the truck left me behind. Huffing, wheezing, and clenching my fists, I stopped in the middle of the road.

  “You make me act crazy!” I screamed after the taillights. “And I hate it when you call me Mrs. Stone!” Tears of rage, despair, and shame ran down my face. And for some strange reason, I didn’t care.

  The truck stopped. Aidan put it in reverse and inched back to where I was standing.

  We looked at each other silently. When I took off my glasses and wiped my eyes, a tiny smile appeared on his angular face.

  “What’s the matter with you, Josefine?” He motioned to the passenger seat with his chin. “Get in. Or should I collect your aunts by myself?”

  8

  “You’ll have to leave the rental car here.” Aidan shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do. The tank has to be emptied and cleaned at a proper repair shop.”

  “But we’re supposed to go to Kincraig.”

  Li was sitting on a boundary stone, knees pressed together, handbag clutched to her breast. She looked so desperate that it touched my heart. It was really sweet that she now wanted to find Charlie as urgently as I did.

  Aidan closed the hood and wiped his hands on his jeans. “I’ll drive you.” With a glance at me, he added, “Kincraig is more or less on my way.”

  Bri had been pacing in front of our car. Now she stopped and squinted at me. “That’s very kind of you, Mr. Murray. But we’re going to take a taxi,” she said, pulling out her phone.

  I wanted to hug my aunt right then. True, her tongue was sharper than the cacti in my father’s stone garden, and she was an incorrigible pessimist, but when it really mattered, she made completely selfless decisions. And until that point, I had made it clear how much I hated being near Mr. Murray.

  Li moaned. “A taxi? It’ll take forever to come . . . Have you looked up, by any chance?”

  She was right. An army of clouds was lining up for war against an unnamed opponent.

  “They predicted heavy rain on the radio, ladies. It might be a good idea to find a dry spot before it begins. It’s quite common for roads to be flooded and impassable even for trucks like mine.”

  Bri gave Aidan a dismissive look. “Nonsense. A little bit of rain won’t kill anyone.”

  “Don’t underestimate our Scottish April storms, ma’am.”

  “Mr. Murray,” she said. “The Markwitz family walked all the way from Silesia to Frankfurt, in snowstorms. Do you really believe that your drizzle can impress me?”

  “Didn’t we escape in a horse-drawn carriage?” Li asked, and was the immediate recipient of a reproachful sidelong glance.

  “Aunt Bri,” I cautiously cut in. “I think we should accept Mr. Murray’s kind offer.”

  She raised an eyebrow in offence. “I thought I was doing you a favour.”

  “It’s better this way.”

  My smile for Aidan was shy. I had avoided looking at him on the short drive back and was tongue-tied even now. “Thank you, Mr. Murray. We appreciate your help very much.”

  “What’s this, then?” Bri mumbled, watching with a frown as Li removed her travel bag from our boot and scurried happily to the truck.

  Aidan placed her bag in the truck bed and gallantly opened the door for her. She climbed into the high back seat with the agility of a young girl, knocked on the window, and gestured that we should follow suit before our knight changed his mind. Aidan turned to retrieve Bri’s and my suitcases.

  “You can call the car rental agency once we’re on our way. I’m sure they’ll take care of your car,” he said to me over his shoulder. “We can arrange for a new one in Kincraig. I know a few people there who’ll be happy to help.”

  My aunt watched as Aidan bent over the luggage and said warily, “Seems you know people all over the place.”

  “Bri!” I exclaimed, and reached for my suitcase just as Aidan did.

  Our hands touched for a moment and I jumped as if I’d touched a live wire. For a fraction of a second, Aidan paused too, but then continued moving the luggage to his truck and covering it with a tarp.

  “Sorry, ma’am, not everywhere. But I certainly do have friends in my own village.”

  “Your family is from Kincraig?” I blinked, an uneasy feeling coming over me. “In that case . . . you probably know the O’Farrell Guesthouse?”

  “Would you mind if I did?”

  “I certainly wouldn’t,” Li called from inside. “I could use a nice hot Earl Grey with just a dash of cream. They do serve tea there, don’t they, Mr. Murray?”

  He waited for my response.

  “No, it’s no problem,” I said, and looked at my feet.

  “Good.” Aidan turned to Li. “Frau Markwitz, you’ll be surprised at what else awaits you there besides an excellent cup of tea. Finola O’Farrell is famous for her Scottish cuisine. And she exemplifies hospitality.”

  Li clapped her hands. “What are we waiting for?”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Bri grumbled, before getting into the truck on the passenger side.

  Feeling a little queasy, I climbed in next to Li. The back seat was covered with stains and dog hair.

  Just as Aidan started the truck, the first heavy drops of rain splashed on the road. Trying to ignore the strong smell of wet dog, I stared at the back of Aidan’s neck. The pale skin below his hairline looked soft and incredibly vulnerable, and I had to fight the urge to stroke it. I firmly folded my hands on my lap and watched the rain streaking across the window.

  It was difficult for me to focus on the imminent meeting with Charlie. Maybe thinking about Justus would help. But I realised that I could hardly remember my fiancé’s face.

  I woke up with a jolt. Li’s head had fallen on my shoulder and she was snoring, her mouth hanging open. Bri and Aidan were talking quietly up front. The amusement showing around my aunt’s mouth told me that they had buried the hatchet. Careful not to wake Li, I sat up straight—and was surprised by what I saw.

  We had left the motorway and were on a one-lane road from which vehicle passing places jutted out every fifty yards. Aidan deftly weaved in and out of them to let oncoming traffic pass.

  He had apparently succeeded in driving us through the fearful April storm. The clouds stood higher now and no longer glowed with colours that could convince even sworn atheists that the last judgement was afoot. A ray of sunshine courageously broke through. Soft, almost biblical light illuminated the hills, gilding the boulders scattered like primeval animals. We moved past the ruins of a castle, and I felt my chest swell in awe. No wonder people were enthralled by this strange country.

  Even Bri fell silent and watched a fishing boat rolling gently on the waves. Above the distant shore rose a snow-covered mountain range. The panorama was almost too surreal—as if a cheesy graphic artist had applied every known Photoshop trick to one single landscape image.

  Aidan caught my eyes in the rear-view mirror.

  “Welcome to the Cairngorms,” he said softly, his voice husky.

  I was moved by the thought that Aidan Murray was homesick. I wondered what kind of child he had been—wild, no doubt, with torn trousers and dirty knees. I stared at the back of his head so intently he could probably feel it.

  Stop it! I admonished myself, and looked out again at the moss-green moorland that, I was sure, didn’t smell of dog and subtle masculine musk.

  Very soon, I would be able to wring Charlie’s swan-like neck. Stammering apologies, embarrassed, she would hand over the bride’s ring—and my job would be done. Maybe I could even fly back tonight, resume a life as predictable as a Swiss clock—a life that moored me, gave me the stability I so desperately missed. Sure, a hasty departure would disappoint my aunts. But they were
welcome to continue this Scottish adventure on their own. I had had enough.

  “Are we there yet?” Li mumbled sleepily, sitting up. “Oh. It’s so beautiful here.”

  Aidan turned the truck towards the lake, following an old wooden fence lined by birch trees. My stomach tensed up in anticipation. He finally stopped in front of a Victorian brick building that sported zinc dormers and transom windows. It definitely was the house from Charlie’s postcard.

  “Oh! Just look at this enchanting garden—almost like in the south of England,” Li exclaimed.

  “Don’t say that to our Scottish hostess, or she might slam the door in our faces,” said Bri with a hoarse cackle.

  We heard a sudden sound like claws screeching over metal, and the head of a panting dog appeared at the rear window. It bore a striking resemblance to the one on my jumper.

  “Ooh.” Bri’s eyes were huge.

  “Yiff,” said the Border collie, seeming to smile at us.

  Aidan slid from his seat. “Hank! Down!”

  The dog disappeared from the window.

  “What kind of way is that to welcome guests, you bad boy?”

  Aidan’s voice was affectionate but also exasperated, reminding me of Mama with her poor whippet. Li grabbed my sleeve.

  “I’m sure he’s already had breakfast,” I told her.

  My grandmother and both of my aunts shared a strange fear of dogs. Li would actually cross the street to avoid dangerous-looking specimens. Pragmatic Bri, wont to ignore whatever bothered her, pushed the car door open.

  Aidan was crouched on the gravel path petting the dog, whose tail wagged adoringly. It seemed he had a male fan for a change. It was fascinating how this man appealed almost magically to everyone in his orbit. I was ashamed to admit that I was jealous. I could do so much good in the courtroom with such a gift.

  Smiling widely, I bent down to the dog—and quickly pulled my hand back when he growled a warning.

  “I guess Hank doesn’t want to be my friend,” I said, giggling to hide my shock.

  Aidan looked at each of us pensively. “Oh, he does. But he likes to be the one who determines when.”

  “Is that a Scottish thing?”