With his soft snores audible from the bottom of the stairway, I knew it was safe to ask my question.
“Morna, how do ye and Jerry know Malcolm and Rosalind?”
Extending a mug in my direction, Morna carried her own over to the small table and motioned for me to sit next to her.
“Well, we dinna know Rosalind until last night, and it has been many a year since we’ve seen Malcolm. As for how we know him, in truth, ’tis his brother, Kraig, that we knew first. We met Kraig at the hospital in Edinburgh when Jerry had his knee replaced over a decade ago. He was his surgeon, and despite Jerry being the most cantankerous patient the poor doctor ever had, the two of them took to each other. We’ve been friends with the young lad ever since. In fact, I introduced Kraig to his wife, Emilia. We met Malcolm at their wedding.”
Smiling, I shook my head.
“It shouldna surprise me to hear that, Morna, but for some reason, it does. Have ye ever met a singleton whose love life ye havena decided to meddle in?”
I knew the moment I saw her mischievous grin what I’d walked into.
“Ye are still single, Kenna. I’ve yet to meddle in yer life.”
“Cooper is none too sure of that. He told me this morning he believes Malcolm and Rosie’s appearance here is yer doing. And I’m not certain that being widowed is the same as being single.”
Morna laughed and reached over to pat my hand.
“Mayhap for the first few years after such a loss, such an answer is acceptable. While ye are widowed, ye are free to love again. It has been fifteen years, Kenna. Ye are verra, verra single.”
“So…” I took a sip of my coffee to listen for Malcolm’s snoring. It still reverberated through the hallway. “Is Cooper right, Morna? Have ye decided to meddle in my life next?”
Morna scooted her chair right next to mine and leaned in to whisper.
“Believe it or not, lass, my magic is not the only force in this world which conspires to bring those that are meant to be together, together. While I know Cooper dinna believe me, I had no hand in this. I canna begin to tell ye how surprised I was when I saw Jerry pull up with two extra guests.”
I leaned away from her. “Why are ye whispering, Morna?”
Grinning, she leaned in even closer and kept her voice low.
“Kenna, Mac has been feigning sleep since ye came down those stairs. There is no need for him to hear what I’m telling ye. Now, while I promise ye I had nothing to do with ye all finding Rosie yesterday, that doesna mean that there is no reason for his arrival. The two of ye would make a fair match, ’tis plain to see. And while I’ll not use magic in this instance, I would be lying if I said I had no intention of meddling. I intend to clear the path for the two of ye just a bit, just to allow ye to see where things might lead. I would advise ye not to get in my way.”
Before I could protest or even respond, Morna stood, winked at me, and then screamed out for everyone in the house to hear, “Breakfast is ready. All of ye best wake and come to the kitchen before it cools.”
Chapter 9
By mid-morning, Morna began to execute her “light meddling.” Over breakfast she all but begged Malcolm and Rosalind to stay one more day so they could help us decorate the inn for Christmas. With Rosie quite reluctant to return to Edinburgh, Malcolm agreed.
With Morna, Jerry, Cooper, and Rosie pulling down boxes from the attic, the nosy and insistent witch sent Malcolm and me out on a task to find the perfect Christmas tree from a farm a half hour away.
Knowing that Morna believed us to be a good match changed the dynamic between us. While Malcolm hadn’t been able to hear our conversation, it had shifted something in my own mind, which made me nervous and awkward in his presence. I couldn’t look at him without wondering “what if?”, without thinking through a thousand different scenarios, without questioning whether or not my feelings were a result of actually liking him or simply the result of being on my own for so many years. Back home, I’d quickly ended any possibility of a relationship with anyone else—I’d never been interested in the slightest. Now, for some reason completely beyond me, I was.
Was it the trip? Had being away from home and in a time so unfamiliar simply overexcited me so much that I was seeing possibility, that I was seeing attraction, where it wasn’t? I found this the most likely cause of my feelings and did my best to silence the endless chatter of thoughts in my mind as we pulled away from the inn.
“Don’t you find it odd that the kids didn’t want to come pick out a tree?”
Laughing, I remembered both children’s faces when they’d told us that they wanted to stay and help Morna and Jerry get the decorations down. It was evident in their glee that Morna had somehow offered them something that appealed to them even more.
“I suspect we will return to find both of them so sick from whatever sweet treats Morna has bribed them with that ’twill be clear why they wished to stay.”
“Why would she bribe them?” Malcolm’s tone was genuinely curious, and I realized once more that he truly hadn’t been able to hear Morna’s whisperings to me.
A younger woman would’ve lied—would’ve made some excuse that kept awkwardness at bay—but sometime during my forties, my worries over what others thought of me had blessedly diminished. Being relieved of that torture was entirely worth the cost of the wrinkles such a decade had brought me. If this man was meant to like me, he would. If not, he wouldn’t. Bringing up Morna’s thoughts on the matter wouldn’t change things one way or the other.
“Morna sent us on this errand so that we would be alone. She believes we would make a good couple.”
I expected him to make light of such a statement. He did anything but.
“Does she? Well, I don’t know you well enough yet to know if she’s right, but I’ll not go so far as to disagree with the old woman either. She said the same of my brother once, and she couldn’t have been more right.”
His use of the word yet warmed me from naval to nose. I could fool no one. While I might not care what the average stranger thought, I very much wanted this man to like me. For with each new thing he said, I found myself liking him just a little bit more.
*
Lord only knew how they would get the tree Kenna picked back to Morna and Jerry’s. The car was small, the tree large, but Malcolm couldn’t find it in himself to deny her. She was right anyway—the tree was perfect. It would fill the window in Morna and Jerry’s inn, and once it was lit and decorated, it would be visible from the road to all who passed by.
“I can tell by the way ye are staring at it, ye doona think we can get it back. ’Tis fine, Mac. While this one is beautiful, I doona mind if we find one a bit smaller. No one else will mind, either.”
“No, no.” He reached out and placed his hand on her back to reassure her. “They will help get it situated on top of the car. We have plenty of straps to get it secured. I just…you may have to help direct me when turning corners and such. I suspect it will hang down a bit over the windshield. It’s going to block part of my view.”
“Oh. Well, aye, I can certainly try to do so.”
“Great. Let’s go pay for it.”
They walked side by side to the station where they could pay for the tree and await some assistance. As they passed the car, Kenna stepped away and called back to him.
“I’ll meet ye there. I left the money Morna gave us in the car.”
“No need. The least I can do for her allowing Rosie and me to stay is buy them a tree. I’ll pay for it myself, and I’ll leave the extra money with Jerry, for I know Morna won’t take it back if I try to give it to her.”
Malcolm waited for Kenna to return to his side before approaching the young woman taking payment for the trees.
As he reached into his wallet for his credit card, Kenna leaned into him, her voice shy.
“What is that?”
He didn’t have any idea what she referred to.
“What is what?”
She pointed to the
card in his hand, and he struggled to keep confusion from etching his face.
“Oh, it’s my credit card. I spent the last of my pounds at the Conall Castle gift shop. I need to find another ATM once Rosie and I return to Edinburgh. I doubt there’s another one close.”
Kenna continued to look at the square piece of plastic quizzically.
“’Tis money?”
He nodded and slowly handed the card to the young woman in front of them who unabashedly looked at Kenna with the confusion he was trying so hard to hide.
“Yes. In a sense. Don’t you have one?”
Kenna shook her head. Malcolm had visited Scotland many, many times. The entire country was entirely modernized. Even isles that only had access to larger stores if they traveled by ferry had their own small shops that accepted credit cards. How did anyone in today’s society not know what a credit card was?
“Kenna, what part of Scotland did you say you were from?”
Malcolm watched as her face changed, shielding her curiosity as she righted herself and smiled at him.
“I dinna say. Doona worry. I can see well enough what it does. I believe I’ll wait in the car.”
He didn’t know if he’d ever been so baffled in his life. Clearly, while Kenna could see that the card had served its purpose to pay for the tree, she had no idea how it worked. And her quick dismissal of her curiosity once she realized he found it odd confused him even more.
Something was strange about this woman. He very much wanted to find out what it was.
Chapter 10
The ease with which I was able to speak with Malcolm had lowered my guard. I was accustomed to being around twenty-first century people who knew precisely from which time I came and had no problem explaining to me all the things I didn’t know. What had happened with Malcolm was exactly what I’d feared most when Mitsy had suggested such a trip. I looked like a fool, and I couldn’t begin to tell him why.
I said nothing on the ride back to Morna’s, save for the occasional direction I would give by leaning my head out of the car window to make sure that the road was clear. Thankfully, Malcolm said nothing of the incident at the Christmas tree farm. For the second time of me embarrassing myself in front of him, he proved himself to be a gentleman. There was at least some comfort in that.
When we returned to the inn, everyone was delighted at our choice of tree, as I knew they would be. The boxes of decorations were down, and everything was dusted and laid out for us to decorate.
We all had a wonderful time, and as the day went on and Malcolm didn’t treat me like a mad woman, my worry abated. We all visited, laughed, decorated, and drank more than our fair share of hot chocolate as we worked together to make Morna and Jerry’s home one of the most splendidly beautiful Christmas homes I’d ever seen.
By the time night fell, we were all exhausted and happy.
“It has been some years since Jerry and I had the energy to place so many lovely decorations out ourselves. Most years we just settle for a simple tree and a few strands of lights. This year’s display makes my heart happier than any of ye can know. Thank ye for yer help. Now, let us sit down and enjoy one last meal together before Mac and Rosie leave us for Edinburgh tomorrow.”
I’d known they were leaving. They weren’t even supposed to be here today, but somehow through the day’s festivities I’d forgotten, and the reminder that our new friends would be gone saddened me more than I wished to admit.
What would I do for the next two weeks without Malcolm here? While I’d never expected to meet him, suddenly the next days at the inn with only Cooper, Morna, and Jerry to occupy me, left me feeling rather empty.
It seemed that I wasn’t the only one with such emotion, for over dinner, few words were exchanged—not until dessert was being finished and a hesitant Rosie glanced over at Morna for courage before addressing her grandfather.
“Pops, I have a question for you.”
We all watched on as Malcolm lay his fork on his plate and looked over at Rosalind.
“You do? What is it?”
“Do we have to go back to Edinburgh? We always do the same things there. You visit with Uncle Kraig and Aunt Emilia, and I get stuck playing solitaire. Then you guys drag me around to fancy restaurants I don’t even like until the real fun begins on Christmas Eve. Can’t we stay here until then and then go back to Edinburgh in time for actual Christmas?”
If that was indeed what the young girl’s Christmases in Edinburgh looked like, I didn’t blame her at all for wanting to stay with Morna. Hope fluttered inside me as I watched Mac contemplate Rosie’s plea.
“There’s part of me that wishes we could, but I have tickets to the symphony tomorrow night. They were expensive and difficult to get. Plus, Kraig and Emilia would be very disappointed. I’m sorry, Rosie. We need to go back tomorrow.”
“I have an idea.”
Horrified, I looked over at Cooper and shook my head as I tried to stop him.
“No, Coop. We doona intrude on other people’s business. Malcolm has given his answer. Ye doona need to suggest any ideas.”
While not normally one to disobey, Cooper unabashedly argued with me.
“Why not? It’s a good idea. I think Malcolm would like to hear it.”
Just as I meant to speak more harshly to him, Malcolm stepped in to rescue Cooper.
“It’s okay, Kenna. What’s your idea, Cooper?”
Now that he was allowed to speak, Cooper hesitated.
“What…what if Rosie stayed here and you went to Edinburgh with Nana? I know she would like to see the city at Christmastime, and I doubt that we would make the trip there on our own. She’s more likely to enjoy the stuff that Rosie wouldn’t.”
Before I had a moment to object or Malcolm had a moment to answer, Morna smiled and stood from the table as she started to gather dishes.
“Why Cooper, ’tis a splendid idea. Malcolm, ye know we would take great care of Rosie. The lassie expressed a desire to learn how to bake this afternoon while ye and Kenna were away. If I had a few days with her, I could teach her much.”
Rosie quickly chimed in, her voice filled with anticipation.
“Oh, please let me, Pops. This school break has been rotten so far. If Mom’s not going to be here for Christmas, you could at least let me do something I want to do for a few days. Please let me stay. Go and do the things you have to do in Edinburgh and then come back and get me in a few days. Please. I would love you forever, Pops, if you’d let me.”
I saw the exact moment Malcolm surrendered. Smiling, he nodded.
“Okay, okay. Fine. If you want to stay here a few days, that’s fine, Rosie. I have no doubt you’d have more fun here with Cooper than you would in Edinburgh. But you’ve all made quite the assumption by assuming that Kenna would even want to accompany me.”
Speaking with as much enthusiasm as the children, I interrupted him as Grace’s insistence that I not concern myself with Cooper while here crossed my mind.
“I do want to. I really, really do.”
There was an excitement in Malcolm’s eyes as he looked at me that caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.
“I’m pleased to hear it. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
Chapter 11
The drive to Edinburgh the following morning in the car Morna had “delivered” for us during the night, was long, but nowhere near the length of time it would’ve taken me to travel there in my own time. I was in a constant state of amazement in this century, but I promised myself before leaving the inn with Malcolm that I would not make the same mistake I’d made the day before. If something confused or surprised me, I would keep my reaction to myself and make a special note to ask Cooper about whatever I saw once I returned to get him in three days’ time.
Pulling into the city required me to stifle all sorts of emotions. While Edinburgh’s grand castle still sat on top of the city center, so much else had changed. The lights, the cars, the noise—I wasn’t sure I w
as a good enough actress to hide my utter amazement.
“I called my brother last night after everything was decided. They’re expecting you. No need to be nervous.”
Perhaps that’s how my excitement looked to him with the way I was all but bouncing in my seat with my eyes peeled outside the window, but in truth, I wasn’t nervous at all. I was delighted at the opportunity to explore this time period. While I’d listened to everyone’s insistence that I enjoy this time and see as much as I could while here, I’d not really expected such an opportunity to arise.
The city was beautiful at Christmas—covered in snow, with garland and lights strung up over many buildings and doorways.
I didn’t realize I’d not replied to him until Malcolm spoke up again.
“Are you all right, Kenna? You’ve hardly said anything since we left Morna and Jerry’s.”
Reluctant to look away from the window on the chance that I might miss something wonderful, I turned my head and smiled at him. He was right—I’d been quite rude.
“Ach, I’m sorry, Malcolm. ’Tis only that I canna remember the last time I was so excited about anything. I’ve simply been enjoying the view.”
He smiled a crooked smile, and my heart sped up in response. The view outside was wonderful, but I couldn’t have been missing anything that looked better than looking at him.
“You don’t get to Edinburgh very often, then?”
I answered honestly. “The last time I was in Edinburgh, I was fifteen years old.”
He looked as if he didn’t believe me.
“Truly? Have you lived in Scotland all your life, or did you leave here for a while?”
“Aye, and all of my life.”
Malcolm slowed the car and turned the corner onto a street lined with tall, connected buildings with doorways lining the front and steps leading up to each one. They looked like homes, though I’d never known homes to be connected in such a way.
Morna’s Magic & Mistletoe Page 5
