Page 76 of Refuge for Ailsa

Newness. A new home, a new job, a new person in your life, perhaps by birth, perhaps not. Plans will work out, dreams will come true. It is always so with Berkano in the casting.

Tavish sat up straight and looked at the three of them together.Hagalazwas the past. What was lost would be found… Could that be Ailsa? He’d waited a long time for a woman to come along who did to him what she did, and he’d certainly never expected to find her when and where he did.Laguzwas the present, and there was no mistaking what that meant. They’d met because of water. Made love and slept on the water. She’d almost died in the water. If he hadn’t listened to his gut, she certainly might’ve died. AndBerkano, the future. It hit him like a sledgehammer. A new person in his life, a new home, plans that would work out. But the last sentence was the one that nailed him.

IfBerkanowas in the casting, that was a guarantee that it would come true. Tavish had only used the runes a few times. One time was when he took his job with KDFWR. He scrounged around in his bag and found a journal that he kept. It wasn’t really a journal, more like notes that were important to him. He found the date they’d offered him the position and he’d accepted. The third rune had beenBerkano. Then he paged forward and found the day he’d closed on the house. Sure enough,Berkanohad been the third rune in the casting.

Then he remembered another date. It was the day he’d called the breeder, hoping against hope that they wouldn’t want Starlight back because her original owner had left her with him, and that wish had been granted. He knew it was spring, and it had been a couple of years… He found the page and looked down, stunned at what he saw.

Berkano. It was right there, the third rune in the casting. He whipped out his phone, took a picture, and put it back. When he picked the stones up to put them back in the bag, a peace came over Tavish, and he knew everything was going to be fine. Some might call it stupid or ridiculous.

He’d just call it mountain granny magic, and it was good enough for him.

CHAPTER12

It wasquiet in the hallway of the hospital when he stepped off the elevator. Maureen had taken Starlight back to his apartment to stay with her and Donovan, so he was free to stay at the hospital for the night.

Someone was talking quietly, and Tavish stepped to the doorway and listened. There was some snoring going on and if he had to guess, he’d assume that was Magnus. The whispering was Maeve, and he strained to hear what she was saying, but he couldn’t understand. It was just too tempting, and he peeked around the door opening.

Maeve stood beside Ailsa’s bed, her left hand on her daughter’s forehead and her right one holding Ailsa’s hand. She was saying something in what he assumed was Gaelic, and his guess was that it was an incantation of some kind. When it got quiet, he spun around the door opening and Maeve let out a little, “Eeep! God, Tav, ye scared the holy bejabbers outta me.”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to. I was just waiting until you finished.”

“Surprised ye didn’t tell me how silly it t’was.”

“No, no. I’d never do that. Matter of fact, could we talk out in the hallway?”

Maeve chuckled softly. “Sure. Not like he’ll even notice we’re gone.”

He leaned against the wall and pulled out his phone. “Take a look at this and tell me what you think?”

Maeve squinted, then lifted her glasses from where they hung on a string around her neck and peered at the picture. “Who did this?”

“Me.”

“Ye did this? Yer jokin’, right?”

“No, ma’am. Those were my great-great-grandmother’s rune stones. I’ve had them for years. I’ve also got a little Bible that a Sunday school teacher gave me as a gift, and my grandmother sat in church one Sunday morning and wrote the meanings of the runes in the back. Uh, her understanding of them, I meant.”

“Well, can’t say runes are my thing, but I’ll sure give it a whirl.” She studied them for a few minutes, then pulled her glasses off and let them dangle as she rested her hands on her hips. “Well, from where I sit, the past was loneliness, the present is what happened this week, and the future looks happy. Was that yer estimate of ’em?”

“Exactly.”

“Tavish, son, she’s gonna be fine. There’s a thread between ye and it’s strong, as strong as any I’ve ever seen. Hang onto it and it’ll become a lifeline. Don’t let go.”

“I have no intention of it.”

She smiled and patted his cheek. “Good. Ye plannin’ to stay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then I s’pose I should gather Magnus up and take ’im home. Sounds like a chainsaw with water in the gas in there.”

Tavish laughed. “Perfect description.”

Ten minutes later, he was sitting in the fold-out chair, reading a magazine and watching Ailsa’s even breathing. From time to time, he’d look up from the magazine and take in the sight of her. She was so beautiful lying there, and he wanted desperately to hold her and tell her everything would be okay.

If those runes were right, it was only a matter of time.

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