Page 104 of Only a Breath Away

Beaty squealed and clapped her hands.

Archie said, “Really? Can we all go?”

Magnus said, “I daena ken, can we all go, Finch? I hae never been tae a concert afore.”

Finch laughed. “My brother hasna gone tae a concert? Well, that is goin’ tae be remedied. Aye, everyone can go.”

I whispered to Magnus. “This is going great, we seem totally normal.”

“Aye.”

Lochinvar right then took a big bite of lobster roll and moaned happily. “Tis m’favorite.” Then his eyes went wide. He grabbed a cookie, placed it on top of the lobster, and took a bite. He considered and then shook his head. “Och I might hae ruined it.”

Magnus laughed. “I will save ye trouble, Lochinvar, ye canna think because something tastes good twill taste good with yer other favorite thing. Ye hae tae listen to Chef Zach about what is good so ye winna ruin anything.”

Lochinvar grinned as he pulled the cookie off the lobster roll. Then he took another bite and then a sip of Coke with some ice, and asked, “What is this drink called?”

Tracy said, “A Coke? You don’t know what Coke is?”

“Tis verra good.” He swished his glass around. “I daena understand how tis kept cold. How is ice inside it?”

I glanced around at all the drawn faces. Isla said, “IknowUncle Lochie, they didn’t have ice at Kilchurn. I missed it very much.”

Finch said, “Where are ye from in Scotland that ye’ve never had a Coke afore?”

Arlo said, “Or ice.”

I forced a laugh. “Lochinvar and Isla are just pretending—”

The sky filled with deep black clouds, the kind that meant one of our storms. The wind whipped around the yard, everyone grabbed their plates and cups as lightning struck the water. Beaty screamed. Zach yelled, “Everyone in the house, in the house!”

We were all herded into the house, just in time, as rain and wind picked up and made it feel like there was a hurricane outside. The men behind us were running up the steps, closing the door, except Fraoch, who raced off in the rain after ushering us inside. Lochinvar was watching out the window up at the sky.

I saw Zach and Emma glance at the tracker up on the kitchen counter.

Joe Munro said, “That was an unexpected storm. Did you see a storm on the weather today, Lydia?”

“It sounded like it would be clear all week, but instead there have been daily storms around here.”

There was a howling wind, lightning crackling, and a thunderous boom. Arlo climbed onto Finch’s lap.

Joe asked, “With this much rain, any danger of the road being impassable?”

Magnus said, “It should be fine, looks like a great deal of rain, but I believe it will end quickly.”

Already it did seem like the storm was dissipating.

Joe said, “Man, that was a fluke summer storm, huh?”

The front door opened and Fraoch stuck his very wet head in. “Wanted ye tae ken that we hae company, James and Quentin were walkin’ over and got stuck in the downpour.”

I looked around at all our relieved faces. Sophie and Beaty rushed out to welcome their husbands.

Emma followed them with a stack of towels.

A moment later James wandered in, drying his hair, soaked through. “Finch Mac is here—?” He stopped dead in his tracks. “I didn’t believe Fraoch, atall, figured he had the name wrong.”

Quentin walked in behind him. “Hey, Finch Mac, big fan.”

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