Page 61 of The Highlander's Alluring Spy
The two men separated. “An’ Magnolia?” William asked.
“She’s always right, an’ all,” Nathair grinned.
William laughed loudly. “Smart man. But that isnae what I mean. What’s this gonnae be?”
Nathair looked him straight in the face. “I love her,” he said, surprised how easily the words slipped from his lips. They were true, truer than he’d even known before he spoke. “I love her, William. It doesnae mean I love Catrina less.”
William seemed to consider this for a long moment. “I dinnae ken what I’d dae if I lost me Abbie. Dae ye think o’ them differently, Magnolia and Cat?”
Did he? Of course he did. Neither was less than the other, it wasn’t like that at all. They were both essential to him, both parts of who he was, complementing each other and him in how they affected his life.
“Cat…she was the waters o’ the sea, deep an’ wild an’ unpredictable. She could be calm as a bay or stormy as a tempest at a moment’s notice. Still, if ye were kind to her and held yer sail true, ye’d reap the rewards the like o’ which few men on Earth are lucky enough to ever even dream.” Nathair smiled. “Just like ye with yer devilishly handsome features that ye’re always tellin’ me about, William. I guess the eyes an’ the storm both run in the family.”
The Commander chuckled, giving his green-eyed friend a little shove on the arm. “Flatterer,” he said. “Correct, but still a flatterer.” Nathair snorted, glancing up at the sky.
The clouds were gathering, dark and thick. It would be a heavy rain, though perhaps a brief one. The green of life in the Highlands came at a cost, but he would never be the one to complain about the life-giving water the sky offered to them.
“What abou’ Magnolia, then? If Catrina was the sea, what’s our wee English rose?” William asked.
“Cat was the sea, and Magnolia is the sky,” Nathair told him, without even having to pause to think. “She’s the lightness o’ the breeze in springtime, the warmth o’ the sun on yer face, the cycle o’ heat and rain and storm and snow that brings life anew to the world every year.”
The two men stood quietly as the first raindrops began to fall. Nathair watched as they dripped on Catrina’s headstone, highlighting her name, reminding the world that she’d existed and that she’d always, in some ways, be here.
“Ye love her,” William said with a surprised smile. “Ye really love her.”
“Aye,” Nathair agreed. “Aye. Now let’s get us out o’ the rain. I should pay the bairns a visit, it’s been a while.”
“Sounds good. Abbie’s makin’ chicken soup,” William told him. He clapped him on the back again as the rain started to fall more heavily.
And the two friends left the kirkyard, side by side, and said goodbye to the loved one who had finally found peace.
Perhaps, now, at last, Nathair could find peace too.
17
The Conversation
Between Nathair’s visit to William and Abbie’s home and Magnolia’s time with her friends in the village, it was almost evening before she saw him again. Supper was fast approaching, as Elaine’s grumbling stomach informed them all when Nathair found his way to the nursery.
Magnolia’s heart melted as soon as she saw his face and the warm smile that spread over it when he glanced at her face. “Good to see you, Me Laird,” she said, a little teasingly.
“Dadaidh!” Elaine chirped. She ran to jump into his arms in a tight hug, as she always did. “Have ye had a good day? We were about to go get our supper, will ye come with us?”
“Aye,” he said, tapping her nose. “Though, actually, I had a wee idea that ye ladies might like. I was thinkin’, if ye wanted, ye and me and Magnolia could take our supper out on the grass wi’ a wee blanket.”
Magnolia felt the shiver of a pleasant surprise. It was such a simple idea, and yet it made her feel so happy that he’d think of it. She knew the days were passing quickly, and she’d have to make a tough choice and very soon, but was it so wrong to love him?
Because I do. I am sure of it.
And if it was love that she was truly feeling, then what crime was there in an outside supper? Even if the future was murky, hadn’t she earned a night eating dinner with this family?
Not your family. Your family waits at home.
But they could be. Lord, how she wished they could be.
But does that mean giving up everything else I hold dear?
“I think that sounds extremely pleasant,” Magnolia said with a smile. “I’d love to eat in the gardens. The air is so fresh and clean here, it makes such a pleasant experience.”
