Ten Days With the Highlander

by Hayson Manning

  So, that was a little white lie. It was about to go to minus one when she left.

  She swallowed unexpected sadness.

  “Excellent presentation, Corporate.”

  She stiffened at the word and his clipped tone. “Thank you.”

  “I admire the staging. Instead of the four rooms available, you’ve made each room smaller, using clever camera angles, and there are now eight rooms?”

  “Yes.”

  He leaned in closer, and she inhaled his sexy whiskey scent.

  “In the fine print, the rooms will be completed within a year?”

  “Yes. Pending council approval, we generally find things move fast.”

  “A top-notch presentation.”

  “Thank you.” She beamed up at him. “With the modernization, you’ll be able to fix the plumbing and drag this baby into the twenty-first century.”

  Nothing moved on his face. “Would you be overseeing the renovations?”

  She folded her hands in her lap. “No. I’m acquisitions only. There’s another team that oversees the construction.” Regret leaked from her. He still stood with his arms crossed like a bouncer. “Do you have any questions?”

  “When did you learn the art of eavesdropping?”

  Heat crept into her cheeks. “Oh, um, well—”

  He cut her off. “I don’t appreciate people listening in on private conversations. I get that you’re all business, but I don’t like you using the townspeople for your own gain.”

  Her own gain? Really?

  She stood and planted her hands on her hips. “But it isn’t for my gain. It’s for you, Mavis, Ainsley… Everyone will benefit from this.”

  “Financially, sure. But it isn’t always about financial gain.” The lines on his face deepened. “It’s about protecting a way of life we love.”

  “Is it?” she countered. “Or is it keeping what makes you feel safe?” She pulled in a breath. Here goes. “I understand you want to protect your mom and Robert, but I’ve watched small towns like this die. There isn’t even internet so Mavis and Ainsley can sell online. You can’t protect the people you love by shutting them away.”

  His face darkened. “I’m not shutting them away.”

  “Aren’t you?” Why couldn’t he see this was a great opportunity, not just for him but for the whole town?

  He stared at her, hard. “What about you, Georgia? You’re here to make money, pure and simple. A plus sign against the profit and loss. We’ll be a forgotten memory when you’ve stormed your next town.”

  A flush of heat crept up her chest and settled in her cheeks.

  The storm in his eyes was now a hurricane and bearing down. “You don’t care about these people. We’re an acquisition, as you put it. You’re out of a town as soon as the ink’s dried on the contract.”

  She stood and leaned toward him. “I do care about these people, about this town.”

  About you.

  She couldn’t deny the truth, but damn if his words didn’t dig a little bit out of her soul.

  She stilled.

  Oh no.

  Her life had become all about not getting attached, and yet, here she was—fully, fatally attached to Callum.

  Her blood simmered. Yes, she loved this town, loved the people, and was falling for a bighearted, stubborn, gorgeous Scotsman who held her as if she was his, and she wasn’t. But what she was doing here, living in a bubble, was wrong. She’d get restless because she always did, and she’d move on because that’s who she was. She’d hurt him, and it would kill her to see his anguished face when she had to leave. And damnit, it would hurt her to leave.

  “What it boils down to is business over people’s lives.”

  A red haze formed on her vision. “Yes. No. It’s more than that. These people want this. You’re being stubborn when a lot of people would benefit.”

  “Jesus, I am done with people telling me how to run my life and business. Tired of people thinking they know what’s best for me. Tired of people telling me that the cure-all for this town is ripping out the heart and the soul of it. Tired of losing people.”

  “But that’s exactly what you’re doing to everyone in this town,” she shot back. “You’re dictating what you think is best, regardless of what the people here want. You’ve made this all about your insecurities about change and losing people, not their fears and concerns about the future.”

  He cut her a look that withered her insides, his rejection of her coming off him in waves, then stormed out and slammed the door.

  Wow, just…wow.

  She closed her laptop and stored it in her room. She glanced at Callum’s open bedroom door. Hours earlier, his arm had been around her waist while he’d nuzzled her hair. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Unsettled, she threw on her coat and grabbed Callum’s beanie, having a relatively good idea what the message, Give way and life will take you on an unexpected journey, that Mavis had sewn into the fine wool meant. The man didn’t give way. Not an inch. There’d be no unexpected journeys in his future.

  She was screwed.

  No. Fresh air and a new plan, that’s what I need.

  She hadn’t told her boss that the acquisition wasn’t going as planned, and Amanda, so confident that Georgia could bring in the deal, already had potential customers lined up. Yes, the lack of internet and communication had been of concern, but Georgia had explained that while it was frustrating initially, the technology situation fit the town. It had been refreshing to see people having conversations rather than being glued to their phones, but Georgia agreed it was something that needed to be fixed.

  The scent of fresh bread drew her into a bakery where she ordered scones straight out of the oven and chose blackcurrant jam.

  I should just attach them to my ass, ’cause that’s where they’re going and I don’t care.

  An eclectic group of women beamed when she entered. A woman she recognized from the pub waved her over. “Come and join us!”

  Georgia balanced her plate and squeezed in amongst a group of women, most she’d seen at the pub or walking around, who always raised their hands in greeting.

  A woman about her age bounced a smiling, cherubic boy on her knee. “We were just saying we’re ever so glad the wishing well worked its magic again.”

  Georgia was about to bite into the scone, but stopped. “Pardon?”

  An older woman continued, “The wishing well worked. You and Callum have a long life ahead of you.”

  She fought an eye roll. How many more times did she have to hear this? “We don’t. I mean, I’m not staying.”

  “Well, of course you are. It’s never failed before, and you are married.” Another woman patted her arm. “Made Mary MacGregor’s day when Callum took you to meet her. She said she knew right away you were the one for him.”

  Oh no.

  The woman with the toddler squeezed her hand. “You’ve brought such fun to the pub. I can’t wait to meet your three kids. Robert Bruce, Loch Nessie, and Hello Kitty, isn’t it?”

  She tried to smile at the mischief in the woman’s eyes but her lips were numb, her body starting to chill. She set her scone down and looked for the door. “I’m sorry, I’m going to have to—”

  “When you have the date for the wedding at The Grotto, let us know. We’ll need to go to Glasgow for frocks.”

  Georgia’s skin felt like it was shrinking tighter and tighter—it pulled across her bones until she couldn’t breathe. The smell of the fresh scones, the jam, and the clotted cream made her want to hurl. “Excuse me. I forgot I have an appointment.”

  She pushed back her chair and dashed outside, gulping mouthfuls of air. A cold wind had started to pick up, but she pulled the beanie from her head, suddenly hot, a cold sweat coating her body.

  She wasn’t what Callum needed. He needed someone who would stand by him through thick and thin, who’d marry him at The Grotto. A woman who wanted to wake up to him every morning until their faces were lined and they’d stil
l make love.

  Her breath hitched painfully as she walked back to the hotel, her head down.

  I messed up. I am going to hurt him.

  She fought the shaking in her fingers.

  I have a good job, a job I love. I have to make this right.

  She bounded up the stairs to her room, grabbed her phone and car key, thankful that Callum left enough room for her to park again.

  She found Delilah waiting by the passenger side.

  The goat must’ve been psychic.

  “I’ve got to fix this, Delilah.”

  She opened the door, and the goat made herself at home on the backseat. A plan was already forming in Georgia’s mind.

  “A backup plan, that’s what I need, in case Callum won’t come to his senses.”

  She threw the car into drive and eased the car out into the street as the clouds opened, her windscreen wipers working overtime.

  “I’ll just find another town as quaint and as gorgeous as this one.” She drove, hunched over the steering wheel, a map on the front seat. “Really, I’ll be glad to leave this place. Who can survive with no cell phone, no GPS, only a map Moses probably drew?”

  She passed through towns, doubled back, made a note on the map, and kept driving. The moody sun slipped from the sky, and the moon started its upward journey.

  A sudden ping startled her. Another ping. Her back pocket vibrated.

  Cell coverage!

  She grabbed her phone from her pocket. All the emails would be flying around the world. The brochure would be sitting in her boss’s inbox, but she didn’t care.

  She had no idea where she was, but she knew who to call. She could call her mom, but she’d tell her that her aura was off. Well, no amount of lemon thyme and humming would fix this. Indy believed in happy ever after, so she was out, too. Only her bestie, Grace, would give her the advice she needed to hear.

  To leave and never look back.

  Georgia pulled up Grace’s number, and lodged her cell phone between her shoulder and her ear. The small road twisted and turned, and if she stopped she’d no doubt cause an accident.

  A voice as familiar as her own squealed her name. “Georgia!”

  “It’s so good to hear your voice, Grace,” she choked out.

  Damn.

  “What’s happened? Are you okay?”

  She told her sad tale to Grace, leaving nothing out, and waited for Grace to agree that leaving was best for everyone.

  Seconds, minutes, or a century went by. “Grace, are you still there?”

  “Georgia… You lock people out of your life. God knows I bulldozed my way in even though you tried hard to evict me. You’re afraid of getting hurt.”

  This wasn’t what she was expecting to hear. She squeezed the steering wheel tighter. “But, Grace…I don’t stick around in one place. I tried so hard to stay in San Diego for you. I love you, and I still couldn’t do it. This wouldn’t be any different,” she choked out.

  “What if Callum is the one? The one that makes you want to stay? He sounds like a big deal to you.”

  He is.

  “Why not trust your instincts and go with what’s in your heart and not in your head?”

  “But what if I want to move on in six weeks?” She was battling for reasons, and she knew it.

  “What if you don’t?”

  Grace…as always, the calm voice of reason. It was freaking her the hell out.

  “You were supposed to tell me to get the hell out of Dodge, not stay!” Her voice rose with every word.

  Grace chuckled. “Trust your instincts. The heart knows what the heart knows.”

  Three beeps, then her cell coverage died.

  Frustrated, she dropped the phone onto the seat next to her and whipped the little car around a corner. Two huge spotlights headed her way, blinding her.

  Oh shit, I’m on the wrong side of the road!

  She jerked the wheel to the left and went careening off the tiny road into a ditch, her head hitting the steering wheel. The truck carrying bleating goats didn’t stop.

  Pain spiked through her forehead. Grimacing, she gingerly touched her head and wiped away blood.

  “Are you okay?” she asked Delilah, who nudged her neck. She checked the goat out, running her hands down the animal’s legs. Nothing felt broken. She opened the door and stepped out into icy water that came halfway up her calf. Great. The car was at an impossible angle—no way could she reverse out. She pulled her coat tighter around her, helped Delilah up onto the road, and started walking. Her coat barely kept out the freezing wind, so she pulled Callum’s beanie lower.

  “Those were your people who ran us off the road,” she said to Delilah, “and they didn’t even stop.”

  The goat pressed up against Georgia’s leg.

  She patted her head. “Stay close, girl.”

  Above them, another storm cloud opened.

  Georgia hunched her shoulders and burrowed into the coat. “I hope we make it.”

  …

  “She should have been back by now.” Callum stomped to the door of the pub again. “I’m going to wait back at the hotel for her.” If anything happened to her… He let the thought trail. His girl was out there somewhere, lost.

  His girl.

  Yeah, she was. He’d been denying his feelings about her when he knew exactly how he felt about her.

  I’m in love with a woman who wants to cut and run.

  When he found her, and he would find her, he’d lay his heart on the line and convince Georgia that she belonged here, with him.

  A pale-faced Ainsley nodded. “I’ve got things here.” She squeezed his hand. “If it gets much later, we’ll organize a search party. We’re all taken with your girl.”

  Yeah, so was he.

  Callum nodded, then sprinted back to the hotel. No sign of Georgia’s car or the woman herself. Damn it. Where had she gone? After he’d stormed out earlier, her words on instant replay in his head, he’d marched around the cellar doing a stock take that didn’t need doing. When he went to feed Delilah and the chickens, he found neither his goat nor Georgia. Her car was gone.

  Now, hours later, with a thunderstorm shaking the sky and lightning forking to the ground, he walked a tight circle in front of the fireplace, trying to figure out where she’d gone.

  I have no fucking clue.

  If I go left, she’d have gone right.

  Jesus.

  He pulled his hands through this hair. He’d phoned around, and no one had seen her or Delilah.

  The earlier conversation with Georgia sat in his brain like a grenade. Was he trying to save his town over the interests of the people who were as worried about Georgia as he was? Mavis had told him he didn’t need to be the white knight that came in and tried to save everyone. By keeping the town safe, was he protecting them or denying them?

  At close to ten he’d had enough. Just as he got to the phone, the door flew open. A shivering, bleating goat made her entrance, followed by Georgia.

  “Jesus, where the hell have you been?” He covered the distance between them, scanning Georgia for injuries, his heart beating out an urgent SOS.

  “Are you talking to me or Delilah?” Her teeth chattered so hard they must be chipping enamel.

  “You.” He squinted at the cut above her eyebrow. “You’re hurt.” He pulled one of the many throws Maud scattered around the sofas and chairs and wrapped it around her, then put one around his goat.

  She waved her hand. “It’s fine. It’s nothing.”

  Fine? Nothing about this was fine. “It isn’t fucking fine. Where the hell were you? You shouldn’t have gone off on your own.”

  Color flared in her cheeks. “Excuse me? I’m a big girl and I take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a while now.” She pulled the blanket tighter around her body. “You don’t own me, Callum. I make my own decisions. I always have and I always will.” She stared him down. “For your information, I was out looking at other towns, but a truck full of goats ra
n me off the road. If I’d had cell coverage, I could have called.”

  Red colored his vision. “So, you’re not content to ruin just this town, you’re out to ruin other towns, too, Corporate? Not stopping until we’re one big tourist attraction?”

  The color faded from her face, and she stepped back. “Is that what you think?”

  “What else would I think?”

  She blinked. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe I believe that this town and the people in it are unique, and I was trying to save it by finding another town with lovely people who cared about each other as much as the people do here?” She dropped the blanket. “But I didn’t, so I guess I’ll be moving along.”

  And there it was. She was leaving. His biggest fear was staring him straight in the face. Well, he wasn’t going to back down. People left, he got that, whether he wanted them to or not. His father had, Alistair hadn’t wanted to leave but did, and his mum would go eventually, but he had no control over her health. Ainsley would for a different chance at life, but Georgia was another story.

  He’d fallen for a complicated woman who made waking up a pleasure. Her laughter sank into his bones. He closed his eyes, and there stood Georgia. He breathed around her. Not short breaths that he hadn’t known he’d been taking, but deep, soul-cleansing breaths that filled him with her.

  “Are you happy here?” he asked, picking up the blanket and wrapping it around her again. He wanted to wrap himself around her, but he was doing this face to face.

  She nodded.

  “Do you want to leave?”

  Again, the nod.

  “Why?” He held the air in his chest.

  “Because that’s what I do.” Her voice twisted and strangled. “I’m not the girl for you.”

  “You are the girl for me.” The weighted words dropped from his mouth and landed in the room on a clang.

  Color bled from her face. “What?”

  “The reason you don’t want to stay is you’re scared. I bet you’ve never taken a chance on a relationship.”