The Wellspring (Kaitlyn and the Highlander #12) - Diana Knightley Page 0,1
it cold?”
“Ba Ba!”
I waded to the shallow end so I could hold her out of the water. Together we watched Magnus toss Archie from his shoulders, and clasp hands to bounce Archie back up into the air. They competed to make the biggest splashes and Isla and I cheered them on.
Isla said, “Da! Da!” And when Magnus waded over she jumped into his arms and it was beautiful, wonderful, dream-come-true-full. And when I met Magnus’s eyes—
Yes.
aye.
He felt it too.
Finally, we were cold, even Magnus admitted it. We wrapped Archie and Isla up in towels and Beaty offered to take them to get dressed. I wrapped a towel around my shoulders. Magnus wrapped one around his waist, shook out his hair, and slumped into a chair. “Och, twas a big moment this playin’ in our new pool. Twould seem simple if ye dinna ken our hearts.” He hooked a foot around a chair leg and dragged it in front of him for me to sit, with our knees touching.
He leaned forward and took my hand in his and we bowed our heads right beside each other. He quietly said, “God, thank ye for yer divine wisdom and for keepin’ our family strong and our bairn safe. Thank ye for deliverin’ us tae safety and intae the welcomin’ warmth of our home. Amen.”
I nodded. “Amen.”
He said, “I ken we hae regret, mo reul-iuil, but we also hae a new day upon us. The smiles of our bairn beamin’ up at us. It has been a trial, but I am the luckiest man in the world tae hae ye beside me.”
I pressed my cheek to his, his words settling past my ear, down to my heart, warming me. “I feel the same way.”
“Tis verra much like being reborn tae come from that century tae the present, tae hae been so hungry and tae hae a full stomach now, tae hae a loch for swimmin’ in Florida with nae alligators tae be seen. And tae hae m’son jump intae m’arms. And then m’daughter. I feel it in my soul.”
“Me too, my love.” I wrapped tighter around his hand. We kissed, but were interrupted when Hayley barged in and flounced into a chair. “God, you slept forever. I went to work and came home, and look at you, you’re not even dressed yet.”
“Hayley, we had to sleep. In a bed. With softness. With climate control. With pleasant scents. Then we had to eat, four or five courses — you can’t rush that. Then we had to come see the pool. Where’s Fraoch?”
“He’s off in the boat. He said he’ll take you this afternoon, Mags.” She sighed, looked at her watch, and said, “He’ll be back in a half hour.” She waggled a finger between us. “You and me, we, probably all four of us, need to sit down and talk about some stuff.”
“Big stuff?”
“Of course, it’s always big stuff. We need to talk about it.”
“Big enough that I need to be dressed?”
“Well, let’s think about that: we need to have a big conversation, want to have it in a bikini?”
I groaned. “Hayley, is this awful? Is this death defying? Is this something I won’t recover from? Because Magnus and I were just this moment talking about how we were going to start fresh and how happy we were and how good it was to be home and…”
She sat quietly. “I just need to talk to you about some stuff. You and Mags. Please, just let me talk to you.”
“Okay, of course, definitely.”
Magnus and I went to change into big conversation clothes.
Two - Kaitlyn
Day One still
First we ate lunch: early, and a lot.
We piled our plates high with roast beef sandwiches, mixed fruit salad, sweet potato chips, ranch dip, and a spinach salad with berries, walnuts, and blue cheese. I, after arguing with Zach whether it was a good idea, put a six pack of Cokes in front of us so I wouldn’t have to ask for another. The point was unlimited. Of course it got warm pretty quick and I had to admit it had been a dumb idea. I wanted unlimited, ice-cold sodas.
Zach joked, “It’s not like you even have to get up to get it, just ask for it.”
“It was a year, Zach, a whole year. I want Cokes without having to ask.” I ate a handful of chips.
Quentin talked to Magnus about security guards and shifts. I picked blueberries from the salad and finished off my sandwich.