McCormicks Prayer
McCormick's Prayer
“Wait,” Mary Beth said.  “One last thing.”  She moved to stand between them and looked up at Drake with a most winsome smile on her face.  “I have to know, or I’ll go crazy with curiosity and I won’t get another chance.”
He cocked his head at her.  “Know what?”
“This.”  She popped up on her toes, cupped his face between her hands, and pressed her lips firmly against his.
Drake hesitated for a moment, so shocked he dare not move, then quickly wrapped his arms around her and explored her mouth with the utmost detail.  With Collie watching, however, he dare not let his hands do the same, but he could feel her—all of her—pressed against him.  She moaned, low and sweet, barely a whisper of a breath, but he heard her and vowed to take that sound, the taste and feel of her into eternity with him, for there had never been a more curvaceous, delectable woman in his arms before.
Slowly, painfully, the kiss came to an end, and she stepped back, a pleasing blush upon her beautiful face.
She looked away and cleared her throat as she adjusted her clothing, although nothing was out of sorts.
“Well, now I know,” she said.
“Aye, and so do I.”  He loved her, solely and completely, but would never again look upon her face, nor would they share in the many pleasures between a man and a woman.
McCormick's Prayer

 

 
McCormick’s Prayer
 
by
 
Jo Barrett
McCormick's Prayer
This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
 
McCormick’s Prayer
 
COPYRIGHT 
   Ó
    2010 by Jo Barrett
 
All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com
 
Cover Art by
   
     RJMorris
 
The Wild Rose Press
PO Box 708
Adams Basin, NY 14410-0706
Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com
 
Publishing History
First Faery Edition, 2010

Published in the United States of America
 
McCormick's Prayer

 

 
 
McCormicksPrayer_w5898
McCormicksPrayer_w5898

Chapter One

Mary Beth couldn’t shake the feeling she was being watched.  Odd, since she knew for a fact she was alone.  There wasn’t a soul for miles, and she could see for miles too, all over the Scottish Highlands, but it was still there, raising the hairs on the back of her neck.
Glancing back over her shoulder, she studied the shadows amid the castle ruins.  Either her eyes were playing tricks on her or there was someone—or something—there.
“Hello?”
Hmm, no response
    
    .
She moved closer, carefully crossing what would’ve once been a threshold, her hand flat against the rough stone wall to balance her.  Mr.  McFadden warned her to be very careful around the ruins.  The fire that had claimed the small castle centuries before had left little behind but decaying stone, none of it fit for a tourist to tromp upon.
She glanced at the warning sign, noted the roped off areas, and eased through the main hall.  The ground seemed stable enough, but she couldn’t be sure that some greenery wasn’t covering up a pit of some kind.  Still, something continued to pull her inside.
Her foot caught on a vine and she stumbled, and a startled scream escaped her lips.
“Stupid, stupid,” she groused.  Did she have a death wish or something?
With a huff, she glared at the shadowy area she’d been headed toward.  It was stupid, ridiculous, absolutely insane, there was no one there.  And yet the sensation of being watched hadn’t wavered one iota.  Although realizing she was behaving like a lunatic as it was, she decided she may as well go the rest of the way and speak to the nothing.
“You do know this is private property,” she said flatly, placing her hands on her hips.
Mr.  McFadden only leased the little cottage at the base of the hill below the castle to special clients.  A perspective renter had to go through several interviews through the mail and by phone, and if he didn’t like you on sight, it was a no-go.  The entire area was off limits to tourists.  It had taken her a year to get the cottage and she wasn’t about to share it.
“Look, whoever you are,” she said, determined to complete her nosedive into idiocy since there couldn’t possibly be anyone there, “I planned this trip for too long to have some gatecrasher spoil it for me.  So get lost or I’ll call the authorities.”  With that she spun on her heels and trod across the main hall back to the gaping hole of a door.
As she stepped over the threshold, a breeze tickled the back of her neck, and on it was the faint sound of deep male laughter.  She paused and looked over her shoulder with a frown.
“I really am losing it,” she mumbled, then hurried down the hill to the cottage, unable to shake the odd sensation of not being alone.
****
“The lass has spirit,” Drake said, more to himself than to his ghostly companion, Collie.
“Aye, and she be pretty,” the lad said with a crooked grin.
Centuries of wandering the keep had not aged his small friend.  He remained all of ten years old, still innocent of life—and death.  But there were times, Drake noticed, that the lad was not so naive.
When a child came with whomever old McFadden allowed on the land, the lad’s eyes would lift to his with such sorrow and regret.  He could not run and play with others his age, nor would he ever grow up.  They could not even leave the castle, lest they be lost forever.  Drake hoped, prayed the lad would ascend to Heaven, while he had no doubt of the direction he would take, but the boy refused to leave him.  Perhaps it was best that the lad stayed, not knowing if the boy would suffer the same fate as he for eternity.
Drake clenched his jaw and turned away from the bonny lass strolling down the hill toward the cottage.
’Twas his fault and none other the lad had died.  The foolish scamp had tried to save his selfish, greedy, bloody hide.  He’d returned to the burning keep for his damned gold and the lad refused to let him go alone.  The boy died in his arms shortly before he took his own last breath.
Now they were both doomed to walk the earth as shadows, whispers on the breeze, mists in the night.  Their only salvation lay in the chance that Drake would learn to love another more than he loved his gold, and to have that love returned.  The words had been whispered in his ear upon his death, although no one but the lad’s lifeless body lying in his burned arms was present.  An angel, a demon, he knew not which, but he had no doubts as to the truth of it.
“’Tis an impossible task,” he groused, gazing at the churning waters of the loch.
Love was nothing but a myth, a fantasy, and even if he were wrong about such a thing, who could love him as he was? A ghost, a specter, nothing but a forgotten laird from a forgotten time, as transparent as the mist upon the loch.  Nay, he would not pray for such a thing as love, only sleep, eternal rest.
“Do ye think she’ll come back?”  Collie asked, leaning against the fallen wall.  “Do ye think she’ll search the keep for the gold like the others once she hears the tale?”
He would never forgive himself for bringing about Collie’s death, and as to his gold, he cared not a whit about it any longer.  What use was gold to him now? When alive, it had brought him nothing but pain and death, but he would not let the woman or any other living person touch the vile box he had hidden away in his crumbling hall.  It reminded him of all the things he’d done wrong in his life, of all the things he would never be able to change.  He alone would bear the burden.
“I doona know.  Let us hope she has some sense,” Drake said.
“Aye, the box be hidden in the most dangerous of places.”  The lad cocked his head and looked up at him.  “Why do ye suppose she’s here? She doesn’t seem like the others.”
The lad had a point.  She didn’t wander the grounds chanting like a madwoman, or stick odd blinking machines in the dark corners of his hall.  This one seemed content to merely look out o’er the loch and paint her pretty pictures.
Drake leaned his shoulder against the wall and crossed his arms as he looked down at the cottage.  A lantern came to life in the window.
“I doona know, lad, but we shall keep an eye on her.”  That he would definitely do, for she was indeed different from the others.
Her golden hair, shorn at her shoulders, caught the late summer sun.  He wondered what color her eyes were, then shoved the thought aside.  What did it matter? She would not, could not see him or Collie, although she was aware of their presence.  It wasn’t the first time someone felt them watching.  Even the odd ones with their strange tools sometimes sensed them.  And yet none had ever admonished them for being there.
He grinned at the memory of her standing in her modern clothes, her hands on her hips, glaring at him, with just a hint of unease.  He’d taken her in from top to bottom, her delicious curves tempted him, teased him, and reminded him of the things he could never have again.
Ah, but the sight was well worth the pain.
****
Mary Beth puttered around the cottage that afternoon, enjoying the freedom to be lazy and do whatever she wanted, although her intention had been to paint.  And she would, but a little bit of laziness never hurt anyone.  Still, her time was limited.  She would only make it to September at the latest before she’d have to move into town and get a job or, if luck was with her, she’d actually sell some of her work.  She’d already started scoping out the area for a place to live, but she loved the cottage so much, she was going to hate to leave when the time came.
She saved for two years to move to the Highlands.  For some reason it was the only place she’d ever wanted to live, although she’d never visited before.  It called to her, and now she was here.  Painting, reading, dozing...pure heaven.
She hugged herself and smiled as she stepped to the window and looked out over the loch.  This was her dream.  It was a shame she had to move into town in a few months, but for now, she’d indulge herself with the best view on the planet.
Her gaze strayed up the hill to the ruins, where a tiny ray of sunlight still touched the uppermost floor leaving the rest in dark shadow.
“What a shame,” she whispered, trying to see it as it might have been.  A small but grand castle.  She wondered about the inhabitants, what they did, how they lived.  She didn’t dwell on the fire that had consumed the structure so many centuries ago, determined to believe that everyone had gotten out safely.  Perhaps she’d paint it as she imagined it was in its day.
Something moved past a window in the main hall and she frowned.  Her interlopers were still around, apparently.  With a determined growl, she jerked on her jacket, grabbed her flashlight, and stomped up the hill.  It never occurred to her that it could be dangerous to confront strangers in the dark ruin.  At least not until she’d reached the entrance to the keep.
“I am an idiot,” she grumbled softly.  But she was here, and they had to know it, she hadn’t been quiet tromping up the hill with a megawatt flashlight in her hand.
She chewed her lip a moment then decided to get it over with.  “Okay look, whoever you are, I really don’t want to call the authorities.  I understand that the castle is interesting and all, that the entire area is difficult to resist it’s so beautiful here, but this is private property.  You have to leave.”
There was no response.  She waved her light around the inside of the keep, but saw no one.  And yet she hadn’t imagined that movement.  Maybe, she thought, it was nothing but an animal of some kind.
She lifted her foot over the threshold, her gaze down for just a moment to watch her step.  Once inside she lifted her head and a soft gasp slipped from her throat as her flashlight fell to the ground.
Everything had changed.
It was as if the castle was intact, and not a single day had passed.  She blinked, then rubbed her eyes, then blinked some more.
“This can’t be happening.”
Flaming torches lit the large hall, the ground, no longer weeds, but wood and stone.  The massive hearth held a bright crackling fire, and above it weapons were hung with honor.  She crossed the room toward the steps to the upper floor, her mouth agape.
“Stop!  Doona move!”
She froze with a startled shriek, her eyes wide and searching, but felt certain whoever had yelled was right behind her.  “O-okay.  Stopped.  Not moving.”
Drake sucked in a breath.  He’d yelled out a warning on instinct.  The lass was about to step through one of the gaping maws in the floor that led to what once would have been his dungeons.  It was one of many holes about the castle, but no one had ever heard him before.
“Step back, slowly,” he said, forcing a calm to his voice he did not feel.
“Um, why?”
“Ye are about ta step inta a pit.  Can ye no’ see it?”
The lass looked down and shook her head faintly.  “Actually, I’m seeing nothing like I’ve ever seen before,” she said, and swallowed hard.
“Trust me, lass.  Ye need ta step back, away from the edge,” he said.
She took a breath and did as he said.  “Can I turn around?”
“Aye, ye are safe for the moment.”
The lass slowly pivoted on her heels, and her eyes widened with a small whimper.  “Who are you?”
Drake’s mouth fell agape.  “Ye see me?”
Her eyes shot to the left then to the right then pinned him in place.  A most brilliant blue, they were.
“I see you, like I see everything else,” she said, waving her arms around.  “Is this a dream? I’ve had dillies before, but this one takes the cake.”
“Nay, no’ a dream.”
“Uh-huh.  No dream.  How about practical joke? Or bad beef at dinner, or—hell I don’t know!  This can—not—be—happening!” She spun around, her arms waving, and moved once again too close to danger.
Without a thought, he reached out and grabbed her around the waist.
“Hey!”
He ignored her protests and hauled her to the safer side of the hall.  Once there, his brain caught up with his actions.
By the saints, I touched her!
“Let me go,” she fussed, trying to pry his arm from around her waist.
He swallowed hard and took a deep breath.  Her scent, sweet and soft, teased his nostrils.  He’d not smelled anything more delicious in hundreds of years.
But alas, he could not hold her forever, although the thought was tempting.  “I’ll no’ let ye go until ye promise ta stand still.”
She turned her face, her nose nearly touching his.  “I—um—you—”
Her lips were damp and luscious and ready, but he could not taste her.  Whatever this heavenly gift that had been given him, to touch, to be seen, to be heard, he would not ruin it with his sinful desires.
“Promise me, ye’ll no’ move.  ’Tis for yer safety, lass.”
She swallowed and seemed to regain her composure.  “I promise.”
He gently let her go, hating the aching absence of her warmth.
“Now, how about answering my question? Who are you?”  she demanded.
“Drake McCormick.”
She cocked her head to the side and flatly said, “You’re trespassing, Mr.  McCormick.”
He threw back his head and laughed harder than he had in an age.
“This isn’t funny,” she fussed.
“Och, lass, but it ’tis.  It ’tis indeed.”
“Drake, what’er ye laughin’...at...”  young Collie asked, bounding around the corner, his voice trailing off at the sight of the woman before him.
“And just who are you?”  she asked, but Drake noticed her softer tone as she addressed Collie.
“Ye see me?”  he squeaked.
“There’s a broken record in here,” she muttered.
“Aye, she sees and hears ye lad.  I canna understand how or why, but I’ll no’ question it.”
“Look, fellas.  You’ve had your fun, but—” She fell silent as her gaze searched the main hall again.  “But someone needs to tell me why I’m seeing all this and just what is going on.”
“What is it ye see, lass?”
“You mean you don’t see—this?”  she asked, her lips pinched as she waved about the hall.
“I see my hall in ruins as I’ve seen it for many a year.”
“Your hall.”
He grinned, unable to contain the sheer pleasure of speaking with another soul other than Collie for so many years.  “Aye, my hall.”
She folded her arms beneath her breasts and gave him such a look, he wanted to pull her back into his arms and kiss her senseless.
“We’ll get back to the ownership thing later,” she said with a smirk.  “But you’re telling me you don’t see this hall, this castle in perfect condition, wall torches, weapons, and all?”
Drake looked at Collie who only shrugged.  “Ye mean ta say—ye are saying that above yon hearth hangs a claymore and a tartan?”
“Yep,” she said with a nod.  “So, like I said, bad joke, dream, or am I ready for the funny farm?”
Drake scowled, and she took a cautious step back.  “I’ll no’ hurt ye, lass.  But I canna understand what’s going on anymore than ye do.”
“Then how do you know there’s a tartan over the hearth?”  she asked.
“Because ’tis my hall, as I said.”
“We be ghosts, ye see,” Collie added.
She took a long deep breath.  “Oh, right.  Sure.  I get it.  I’m dreaming, definitely,” she muttered.  “Well, it’s been fun, guys.”
She turned and made her way across the hall to the door, thankfully far away from the holes in the floor, snatching up her fancy torch as she walked.  She paused at the door and looked back at Drake and Collie, then the rest of the keep, before stepping over the threshold.
As she took that last step, Drake felt a strange sense of loss, as if someone had stolen the warmth from his body, a body he no longer had.
“Did ye feel that?”  Collie asked, rubbing his chest.
“Aye.”
They both looked to the woman, who stood outside the castle, her face awash with wonder.  She cast her light into the ruins, searching from side to side.
“Hey, where’d you go?”
Drake called to her, but she did not hear.  Collie and he looked at one another, utterly confused.
“I knew I was dreaming,” she said, and went down the hill to the cottage shaking her head.
****
Mary Beth thought about her dream.  Actually, she thought about it as she climbed into bed, still not sure what had happened.  How could she be dreaming if she was just now getting into bed? But then the stuff she’d seen and those two Scots were pretty odd.
Forcing the event from her mind, taking long deep breaths, she finally fell asleep, only to have the entire thing replay in her thoughts the following morning.
“This is crazy,” she grumbled.  She yanked on her jeans and sweater, shoved her feet into her tennis shoes, and trod back up the hill in the bright light of day, determined to see if she could find any evidence of the previous night.
Out of breath after jogging up the hill, she warily eyed the threshold before stepping across.  Slowly, she moved into the hall then paused, waiting for something to happen.
“I knew it, nothing,” she said with a firm nod.  “I was dreaming last night, or maybe sleep walking.  Yeah,” she said, crossing the hall.  “Dreaming about what this place would’ve looked like in its prime, the people that would’ve lived here.”
Her brow furrowed with that thought.  If she’d been dreaming, imagining how it would look with people and all, then why only the gorgeous Scot and a little boy? Why not a full entourage of people from the past?
Easing toward the edge of the large hole in the center of the room, she peered into the dark depths.
“Maybe the Scot was my subconscious’ way of self-preservation?”  After all, if he hadn’t told her to stop, she would’ve fallen into the hole.  In her dream, that is.
She moved to the side near the wall where she’d stood last night talking with the ghosts.  Nothing was there, no sign of anyone, but once again she felt watched, just as she had the day before.
“Ghosts,” she murmured.  Could it be possible?  “Nah, I’m just letting the surroundings, the mystery of the land and lore get to me.  That’s all.”
But as she made her way back to the cottage, she couldn’t help feeling she was lying to herself.
****
“She didna see us, that time,” Collie said.
“Nay, she didna.”
“Do ye think it has something ta do with the night? I canna recall ever having someone here at night afore.  No’ someone like her.  She—feels us here more than the others, I’m thinkin’.”
Drake grinned down at the boy and laid his hand on his shoulder.
“Collie, yer a bright lad.  I think ye may have hit on just the answer.  But the question remains,” he said, removing his hand to stroke his chin, “will the lass come again this eve and see for herself?”
He hoped she would.  Remembering how she felt, smelled, the sense of being alive once again ached deeply in his chest.  The fact she was such a comely woman didn’t hurt matters any either.
“Mayhap we can get her ta come again,” Collie said.
“What did ye have in mind?”
“Well,”—he moved to sit on the remains of a wall overlooking the cottage—“she came ta see who was aboot the keep last eve, ye said.  She must have seen something, and came ta scare it off with her fancy torch.  Just like yesterday when she told us ta leave.”
“Aye, that she did.”  He smiled down at the boy.  “Then let us hope she’s as curious and brave tonight when we make a showing in this window.”
The lad grinned then looked to the cottage.  “Why do ye suppose she sees things as they were?”
Drake stroked his chin and leaned his back against the wall.  “’Tis a strange thing, that.  She has the sight unlike any I’ve ever known.”
“Mayhap ’tis so she wouldna’ be afraid of us.”
“Perhaps.”  Turning, he looked back down the hill to the little cottage.  With her unique gift of sight, dare he hope that through her eyes he could be a man once more? Could she be the one to end his torment?
****
Pacing, glancing at the moonlight shining on the ruins, Mary Beth sucked in a deep calming breath, but knew it was useless.  She had to go back and see for herself.  She was wide awake, definitely not dreaming, and not sleepwalking.  Grabbing the flashlight, she cast one last glance at the clock.  It was only nine-thirty.  Did ghosts come out this early?
Shaking off the ridiculous question but still determined to investigate, she closed the cottage door behind her and climbed the hill.  Minutes later she was at the threshold to the main hall.  Everything looked as it should, she noted amid the quivering beam of light.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she told herself.  Except for the dangerous gaps in the floor.  She mentally marked out the safe areas to walk just in case they disappeared after she entered.
“Well, here goes,” she said and took a deep breath and a pair of steps.
And her surroundings completely changed.
“Oh—my—God.”
“Do ye see things as before?”  the boy asked, appearing beside her, hopping on his toes.  “Can ye see me?”
Mary Beth swallowed and nodded.  “I see you and all this.”
His bright smile had her smiling in return.  Then his face became serious as he eased his hand out toward her.  “Can I—can I touch ye?”
Why this seemed so important to him, she couldn’t guess, but shrugged and held out her hand.
“Sure.”
His bottom lip pulled tight between his teeth, he gently placed his dirt-smudged hand atop hers.
“Ye’er warm,” he said, his eyes wide.
“And you’re cold.”
He snatched his hand back.  “I’m sorry.  ’Tis because of me being a ghost, I suppose.”
“If you’re a ghost, then why can I see you, hear you, and touch you?”
“We figure ’tis the night and yer gift.”
“Gift?”
“Aye, lass,” the big Scot said strolling toward her.  “Ye have the gift of sight—in a way.  Ye sensed us here during the day, did ye no’?”
“Gift of sight.  Uh-huh.”
The big handsome man let out a rich laugh.  “Tell me ye’ve ne’er had feelings aboot things, places, or people.  Ye said yerself, sitting on yonder wall, that this placed called ta ye.”
“You heard me talking to myself?”
“Aye, lass.  And although yer singing is a bit off-key, sad ta say, yer a bonny lass, ta be sure.”  His gaze raked her from top to bottom, heating every inch of her.  “I enjoy watching ye.”
“I think I need to sit down,” she said shakily.
The little boy took one arm and the Scot the other, together they guided her safely across the treacherous hall to a window ledge.  Perched on the edge she looked at both of them then at her surroundings.
“This is a lot to take in.”
“’Tis a lot for young Collie and I too.”
She smiled down at the boy.  “Collie? Is that your name?”
His dark head bobbed.  “Colin, aye, but everyone—” His face fell.  “Drake calls me Collie.”
“There aren’t any others, are there?”  she asked, knowing it was true by the lonely lost look on the boy’s face.
“Nay.  ’Tis only us,” Drake bit out and turned his attention out the window.
Loneliness.  It clouded around them like a smothering fog.  A man and a boy, lost and alone for what had to be centuries.  The man, she wasn’t so sure she could help, but the boy was a possibility.  Strange that she thought that, and yet somehow it seemed right, it seemed…the reason she had come here.  Maybe she did have a gift, or maybe she was just meant to find them, but whatever the catalyst, she would do what she could.
She smiled down at Collie’s sweet sullen face and patted a spot beside her.  “Well, Collie, you can call me Mary Beth.  Now, why don’t you hop up here and tell me your story?”
His eyes widened and a grin eased over his lips as he scrambled up beside her.  She eased her arm around him, realizing now that the touch of another human being, someone alive, warm, and maybe female, motherly perhaps, was something he craved, and she gladly gave it to him.
“Does the cold no’ bother ye?”  he asked.
“Of course not.”  She gave him a squeeze.  “Now, tell me all about yourself.”
She felt Drake’s gaze on her and glanced at him from the corner of her eye.  He gave a grateful nod, then returned his attention to the loch.
Collie went on for quite a spell about his life then his afterlife.  She learned more about history than she ever wanted to know and from a bird’s-eye view at that.
“That’s quite a bit of information, sweetie,” she said, pushing his hair from his eyes.
“Aye, well, we’ve been here a while,” Drake said.
Her gaze traveled across the room and she shook her head.  “I wish I could understand why I’m seeing how you lived, what it looked like then.”
“I think ’tis so ye won’t be afraid,” Collie said.
“I suppose, but it still seems odd to me.  I mean, it’s never happened before when I’ve been other places.  So why here and why now?”
Drake withheld his opinion on the matter, hoping beyond hope that perhaps it did indeed have to do with his penance.
He watched as the lass stifled a yawn.  “’Tis late.  Ye need yer rest.”
The boy’s face fell.  “Aye.  I forgot we doona need sleep like ye do.”  He reluctantly pulled from her touch and hopped down off the stone.  With a backward glance, he paused.  “Will ye be comin’ again, Mary Beth?”
“Of course I will.”
With a small but true smile, the lad went off, leaving Drake alone with the woman.  A woman who’s scent had tormented his senses from the moment she arrived.  He’d spent much of the night trying not to stare at her plump lips as she smiled and spoke to Collie.
She turned to look at him, a frown on her face as she climbed down from her perch.  “I’m seeing all this because of you, aren’t I?”
Perceptive, she was, but he didn’t wish to frighten her by revealing his thoughts that they were connected in some way.  It was as if the powers-that-be wanted her to see him in his true surroundings, to know what and who he’d been before, but he merely gave her a faint nod in response.  He didn’t wish to voice his suspicions that she was the one to free him from his hell.
“Closemouthed, I see,” she said with a huff, and folded her arms beneath her full breasts.  “Okay then, how about this one? Why are you here? Collie was a bit vague on that subject.”
He cast a glance to the loch before returning her steady gaze.  “We are cursed ta roam the keep for eternity.”
Her lips parted with a soft gasp.  “Why would anyone curse that sweet little boy?”
He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath then told her of his and Collie’s death.  Of how his lust for gold brought them to this never-ending limbo.
“But that still doesn’t explain why Collie’s here,” she said.  “If anything, he should’ve been rewarded for trying to save you.”
“He got his reward for being foolish enough ta follow me,” he ground out.
She planted her slim hands upon her hips and glared at him.  “You know darn well that kid worships the ground you walk on.  He was there because he wanted to help you.  And yes, save you, if need be,” she said, poking her finger into his chest.
He snatched her wrist with a jerk, and she fell against him, their faces—their lips—mere inches apart.  The feel of her racing pulse beneath his fingers sang in harmony with the beating of his ghostly heart.  Lord, how he wanted to taste her.
“I was beyond saving, lass.”
“And now?”  Her voice but a whisper, her soft breath fanned his lips.
He had to resist temptation, for her visits were a blessing and he would not foul them with his sinful yearnings, for no one could ever truly love him.
Easing her from his grasp, he took a determined step back.  “Now, I think ’tis past time for ye ta return ta yon cottage and rest.”
Her brow furrowed as she studied him.  Then she gave a slight nod and turned away.  “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“And we will be here,” he said to her retreating form, hating that he could not follow her beyond the walls of the keep to see the world as it was now.
Or perhaps he would stroll no further than the little cottage at the base of the hill, he thought several minutes later as the light in the window winked out.
McCormick's Prayer

 

 
McCormicksPrayer_w5898
McCormicksPrayer_w5898

Chapter Two

The sweet lass made many visits to the castle, day and night for nearly a month.  Drake watched her with young Collie and was more than pleased in her mothering.  The lad had not had such for more years than he could recall, even when they were alive, as he’d come to the castle after his mother’s death when he was barely six.
Mary Beth often brought the lad toys of a sort that he could play with while she visited at night, since it was the only time in which they were corporeal enough to interact with their surroundings.  And what a joy it was to hear laughter ring through his hall again, but he knew her stay was only temporary, that she would leave come the autumn.  It would break the lad’s heart to see her go, nor would it do his own much good as she had become—important to him.
Aye, he still wanted to taste her sweetest most secret places, to bury himself in the depth of her heat, but there was more to it—more to her—than that.  She brought light into his world where there had been only darkness.
He would watch her on clear, crisp days when she settled along the edge of the loch and painted.  He marveled at how she saw the world around her.  The colors, the textures, her art took his breath away—she took his breath away and if he were a deserving man, one not full of so many sins, he would have her as his own.  Aye, even his heart yearned for her.
He suspected she knew of his thoughts, at least on some level, for he caught her watching him many times, a secretive look upon her lovely face.  But it was Collie who needed her most.  The lad had meant to save him, however misguided the notion.  He didn’t deserve this non-existence, and Drake would do all that he could to ease the boy’s unjust penance.
He strolled to their side where they sat playing a game of cards, Collie’s face bright with joy.
“Mary Beth, a word with ye, if ye please,” Drake said.
Her delicate brows furrowed briefly then disappeared as she looked to the lad.  “You shuffle while the old folks have a chat.  I want a rematch,” she said, and mussed the boy’s hair as she rose.
She followed Drake to the far side of the hall and shared his view of the loch.
“I’ve watched the lad with ye for many nights and canna allow it ta continue.”
Her head snapped to the side, her glare a portent of her fire about to be released.
He held up his hand to forestall it.  “Hear me out.  I doona find fault in yer visits or how ye treat the lad, but ye will leave soon and he will once again be left with only me.”  He looked to the loch and knew his decision was what would be best for all of them.  “We must leave the castle.”
She pressed against his side and clutched his arm.  “Drake, no.  You can’t,” she whispered on a hoarse breath.
He grit his teeth against the seductive feel of her body against his.  “’Tis best for all, lass.”
“But you said—”
“Aye,” he said, stopping her from saying what they both knew.  He’d told her weeks ago while Collie played with one of the toys she’d brought, happily distracted, what would happen if they left the castle.
Pressing his hand over hers where she still held fast to his arm, he looked into her upturned face, so sweet and filled with such tenderness it nearly brought him to his knees.  “’Tis what’s right, lass.  He should na’ suffer, as I have allowed him ta these many years.  ’Tis my sins that keep him here.”
A tear slid from the corner of her eye.  “But you’ll—” She sniffled and closed her eyes.
He brushed the tear from her cheek, reveling in its softness while cursing the reason for her tears.  He didn’t deserve such friendship, such kindness.
She looked up at him and forced a smile to her trembling lips.  Taking his hand in hers, she linked her fingers with his.  “Then we’ll step over the threshold together.”
With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and pressed a kiss to her hand, lingering against her skin.  “Ye are ta good, lass.  Ta good at heart, and I thank the Heavens for bringing ye ta us.”
“We be leavin’ then?”  Collie asked, his voice heavy with sadness.
Drake looked into her eyes one last time before turning to the lad.  “Aye.  ’Tis time.”
Collie’s lower lip trembled, but he kept his tears from falling.  His gaze shifted to Mary Beth, and she released Drake to open her arms to the boy.  Collie ran into them and stayed there for several long moments.
“I’ll miss you so much,” she said, tears trickling down her cheeks.
Slowly, Collie pulled from her grasp and looked to Drake.  “I be ready.”
He clasped the lad on the shoulder and gave a nod.  “Ye be a brave lad, and I’ve been blessed ta have ye as my companion these long years.”
The boy’s chest puffed out even as a tear managed to slip from the corner of his eye.
Together, the three of them moved to the threshold.
“Wait,” Mary Beth said.  “One last thing.”  She moved to stand between them and looked up at Drake with a most winsome smile on her face.  “I have to know, or I’ll go crazy with curiosity and I won’t get another chance.”
He cocked his head at her.  “Know what?”
“This.”  She popped up on her toes, cupped his face between her hands, and pressed her lips firmly against his.
Drake hesitated for a moment, so shocked he dare not move, then quickly wrapped his arms around her and explored her mouth with the utmost detail.  With Collie watching, however, he dare not let his hands do the same, but he could feel her—all of her—pressed against him.  She moaned, low and sweet, barely a whisper of a breath, but he heard her and vowed to take that sound, the taste and feel of her into eternity with him, for there had never been a more curvaceous, delectable woman in his arms before.
Slowly, painfully, the kiss came to an end, and she stepped back, a pleasing blush upon her beautiful face.
She looked away and cleared her throat as she adjusted her clothing, although nothing was out of sorts.
“Well, now I know,” she said.
“Aye, and so do I.”  He loved her, solely and completely, but would never again look upon her face, nor would they share in the many pleasures between a man and a woman.
She glanced at him, a heartbreaking smile upon her face, then held out her hand.  He took it, and savored her warmth, then watched as Collie clasped her other.  Together they took a deep breath, then stepped from the great hall into the cool night air floating in from the loch.
A swirling vortex of colors and shapes, not all good, if Mary Beth was any judge, surrounded them, but she refused to let go of Collie or Drake’s hand.  A flash of fear that she would go with them to Heaven or Hell, raced through her thoughts, but she only held tighter to them.  If that was how it would end, then so be it.  She wouldn’t abandon her friends, not now, it was why she was here, why she’d always known that Scotland was where she was supposed to be.
“Let go, lass!”
She barely heard Drake’s shout above the din.
“No!” she shouted, although she knew she couldn’t hold on much longer, her vision was blurring and the dizziness was growing worse, but she had to try.  For them and for her.
“You have ta, Mary Beth!  ’Tis the only way, ’tis what has ta be!”
“No, I won’t let you go,” she said, her voice a strangled plea, realizing there was more to her need to hold on to him, to both of them, than just friendship.
But her mind whirled and spun and her strength was failing.  She silently said a prayer for her friends, a prayer from her heart, as darkness swept around her and she lost consciousness.
****
Drake opened his eyes to mere slits, the light was so bright.  Where was he? Surely he couldn’t be in Heaven.  ’Twould be the last place he would go.  He took a mental inventory, noting that all seemed to still be intact although he had a mighty pain in his head.  He moved to feel for a lump, but discovered his hand wasn’t empty.  Mary Beth’s fingers were still linked with his.
Ignoring the pain and the light, he turned his head to the side and looked at her sweet face lying next to his upon dew-kissed grass.
“Drake?”
He looked over her still form to Collie, who was gingerly sitting up and rubbing his head.
“What happened?”  the lad asked.
Drake eased up onto his elbow, never letting go of Mary Beth’s hand while he took in their surroundings.
The sun was up.  ’Twas a late summer morn, and as he looked to the side, he spied the small cottage just below.  Nothing had changed, only they were lying on the hill overlooking the loch outside of the castle walls and during the day.
“We’re...are we alive?”  Collie asked.
“Could be we are as before,” he said, unable to accept the idea that they could very well be alive.  And yet, he looked at his hand still encasing Mary Beth’s.  “Or...”  His voice failed him a moment.  “We are alive.”
With a shout of glee, Collie jumped to his feet and bounded around him where he and Mary Beth lay, his hands thrown to the air.
Drake chuckled at the lad’s display, then rolled to his side.  He brushed the hair from Mary Beth’s cheek, but she made not a move.
“Is she—”
“Nay, lad, she’s alive, but I fear the event has no’ been easy for her.”
As he traced the contours of her cheek, he said, “Wake, lass.  ’Tis time ta open yer eyes.”  Still, there was no movement other than the faint sign of her breathing.
Collie fell to his knees beside him, his face contorted with worry.  “Will she be all right, do ye think?”
“We’ll see ta her care, and she will be fine.”
Drake gently lifted her into his arms then started down the hill toward the cottage.
She had been the bridge between their worlds.  It was why she saw his hall as it once was and was able to take him and Collie by the hand and guide them over the threshold into the new world, into a new life.  He would not fail her.  She would wake and she would be well, even if he had to barter with the demons of Hell themselves, he would not let her die because of him.
****
“What do ye suppose this is?”
The question came from far away, but Mary Beth recognized Collie’s voice.
“I doona know, lad, but best ye be leavin’ her things be.  We’ve no’ experience with much in this time, so we’d best be careful.”
Things? In this time? Where was she, where were they? And what was that wonderful warm feeling along her side? It was like a heated blanket only better.
“Mayhap it goes on her head?”  Collie asked, his voice a bit clearer and closer.
The blanket chuckled and sent a shaft of pure heat over her aching body.
Drake.
“I doona think so, lad.  My guess would be for under her clothes, ’tis shaped in a special way.”
“Under? Ya mean—oh,” Collie drawled, and her blanket chuckled harder.
So many things, so many pieces of the shattered puzzled that was her brain fell into place with a click.  She was in her bed, in the cottage, and Collie and Drake were with her—not in Heaven or Hell, but freed from the castle.
Forcing her eyes to open, she looked up at the strong chiseled jaw of the man who lay beside her, cradling her in his arms as if she were precious.  Men had been a part of her life before, but no one seemed to touch her—inside—quite the way Drake did.  And that was before their goodbye kiss.
He was chuckling at Collie’s questions, unaware that she watched him.  She’d never seen him like this, with the weight he’d carried for centuries lifted from his shoulders, almost carefree, and yet there was still an air of regret about him.  Oh, how she’d love to be the woman to take away his pain, ease his mind, and hold his heart, but he was a ghost and...warm.
“My God, you’re—” she rasped.
His gaze jerked to hers.  “Aye, lass.  Alive and well and ’tis all thanks ta ye.”
She reached up and felt the stubble along his jaw and the warmth of his skin.  His chest rose and fell with steady breaths, and she heard his heart beating where her head lay against his chest.
Collie let out a whoop.  “She be all right!”
She grinned beneath her happy tears and held out her hand to Collie where he’d landed on the bed.  He was warm as well.
“I’m fine, we’re all fine,” she said, choked with tears.
“Collie, lad, go fetch Mary Beth a cup of water,” Drake said.
He darted out of the room like a shot.
“Tell me true, lass.  How do ye? Ye’ve been asleep for hours.”
She snuggled in tighter against him, savoring the minutes she had in his arms, because she doubted there would be many more once he got a look at the rest of the world.  Especially the women of the day.  He was going to draw them like flies to honey, and sadly, she didn’t have the stamina for the types that would zero in on him kamikaze-style.
But she had him now, for the moment, and they were friends, so what was the harm in a little innocent snuggling?
“Mary Beth?”
“Mmm, I’m fine.”
He chuckled softly.  “Ye sound like a contended cat.”
She cast him a teasing grin.  “Well, you’re a very comfortable pillow.”
“A pillow, am I? ’Tis the thanks I get for carrying ye down the hill.”
“Sorry,” she said, and started to pull away.  “I didn’t mean to—”
He snatched her back into his arms and held her tight as he tilted her chin up.  “I’m teasing ye, lass.  I doona mind bein’ yer pillow.  But have a care.  I’ve no’ had a maid in my arms for many a year, and can only take so much.”
His eyes were like a predator’s, ready and waiting to snap up its meal, and oh how she wanted to be that meal.
“Yer water, Mary Beth,” Collie said, appearing beside the bed.
She took the cup and downed it all, anything to cool the heat sizzling through her blood.
“Mary Beth, do ye think—can ye—” Collie stammered and shuffled his feet.
She sat up the rest of the way, breaking the connection she had with Drake, knowing it needed to be done, but hating it just the same.
“What is it, sweetie?”
Drake chuckled and rose from the bed.  “The lad has some questions for ye about yer clothes.”
“No, it isn’t that,” Collie said.  “I was wondering if, maybe, ye knew how ta cook.”  He rubbed his stomach with a grimace.  “I think I’m hungry, but ’tis been so long, I’m no’ really sure.”
With a laugh, she climbed from the bed only slightly dizzy.
Drake was by her side in a moment, steadying her.  “No’ so fast.”
She patted his hand where he held her arm.  “I’ll be fine.  I think maybe we all could use something to eat.”
His eyes shone, but no longer with the same sort of heat.  This one was pure joy with the expectation of eating again, it was beyond obvious.
They made their way to the little kitchen and she motioned for them to take a seat at the table.  Their expectant faces had her grinning.
“I’ll start you off with something simple first.”
She made a few large meat-and-cheese sandwiches, then poured them both some soda.  They managed the sandwiches in seconds, but the drinks were a different story.  They sniffed at their glasses then hesitantly took a taste.  It wasn’t long before Collie started guzzling it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she warned.  “It has a tendency to make you—”
The boy let out the loudest most horrendous burp.
“Burp,” she said with a giggle.  “But that isn’t done in polite company.  Twenty-first century rule.”
As they slowed down on the soda, she turned to making a large batch of spaghetti, it was fairly quick, something she didn’t think either would have ever had, and she knew Collie would have fun slurping noodles.
They talked as she cooked, and she answered the million and one questions they had about the kitchen and the appliances, and just about everything.  Once the meal was ready, they bravely dug in, and she was glad to see she’d chosen well.  They thoroughly enjoyed the meal, although Collie seemed to be wearing a good bit of it on his face, but it was a happy, well-satisfied face.
McCormick's Prayer

 

 
McCormicksPrayer_w5898
McCormicksPrayer_w5898

Chapter Three

They spent the day talking, exploring the cottage, looking at books, television, her car—that one was the hardest.  Drake had seen them and was dying to get behind the wheel.  But she managed to hold him off on that one, at least for now.
“What say we go for a swim, lad?”  he asked Collie.
“But that water is freezing, I know, I tried it myself,” she said with a shiver.
Drake cast her a leering grin.  “Aye, that ye did, lass.  That ye did.”
She let out a pathetic squeak.  “You watched me!”
“Ye were bathing outside for all ta see.”
“But that was before I knew you were there,” she said, playfully pushing against his broad chest.
“Ye weren’t exactly naked, Mary Beth.  Weel, no’ entirely.”
She felt the heat of her blush race up her throat.  “I was wearing a perfectly respectable bathing suit, I’ll have you know.”
He tweaked the tip of her nose.  “Respectable isna’ the word I’d use, lass.”
With a grin she couldn’t hide, she strolled away and went to the cottage to start a stew for dinner.  “Enjoy your swim,” she called back over her shoulder.
In a matter of minutes she heard them splashing in the water, laughing and having a grand time.  She peered out the window from the kitchen and smiled, then nearly dropped the bowl in her hands.
They were naked!
She clamped her lids closed and spun away from the window.
“Well, of course they are, you idiot.  What did you expect them to do? Break out a pair of swim trunks?”  she grumbled at herself.
She stole another glance at Drake’s body and nearly swallowed her tongue.  The man was beyond gorgeous, all that claymore wielding and stuff kept him fit—fit enough to...
Shaking off her attraction, sort of, she finished her work in the kitchen then snatched up some towels and took them outside to the boys.
Naturally, Drake strode right out of the water, not a care in the world, and she had to keep her eyes pinned on his face.  The last thing she needed to do was ogle the man’s surprising stamina in such frigid water.
Oh boy.
She handed over the towels, and with some effort, managed to avoid all that yummy skin.
“Dinner will be ready in an hour or so,” she said.
As they squiggled back into their clothes, she muttered a curse.
“What ails ye?”  Drake asked.
Mr.  McFadden had appeared from behind the cottage.  He often walked over from his house on the other side of the hill, nearly a two mile trek, to check on her.  But the strange look on his face the minute he spied Collie and Drake, didn’t sit well with her.
“How do I explain you two? And your clothes, I’d forgotten about your clothes,” she said lowly, as the old man moved closer.
“What’s wrong with our clothes? I’ve seen a kilt or two in this day.”
“Yes, but not quite as authentic.  And they’re dirty, I should’ve washed them while you swam, but then you wouldn’t have had anything dry and up-to-date to wear anyway.”
He slid his arm around her waist and squeezed.  “No’ ta worry, lass.  I’ve seen the man aboot for many a year.  He’s a good sort, so quit yer frettin’.  We be friends that have come ta visit ye, ’tis all.  “
“Somehow I don’t think he’s going to buy that line,” she muttered.
The old man stepped up before them and cast a quick glance over at Collie before looking dead-on at Drake.  “Who be yer friends, Mary Beth?”
“Um, well—this is—um—”
Drake took his arm from around her waist and held his hand out to Mr.  McFadden.  “Drake McCormick.  ’Tis happy I am ta meet ye, McFadden.”
He looked at Drake’s hand a moment, an unusual gleam in his eye, then took hold of his forearm and gave a firm shake.  “Glad I am ta meet ye, finally,” he added, but so softly Mary Beth wasn’t sure she heard him right.
But it had been a bit of a day, and she was feeling a little war weary from everything that had happened.  First she sees ghosts, then she gets to know said ghosts, then those same ghosts come to life.  Okay, so not all her adventure had happened in one day, but still she was feeling a bit beat-up by it all.
“This is Collie,” Drake said, motioning to him to come meet Mr.  McFadden.
The man’s eyes became a little glassy as he grinned down at the boy, Mary Beth noticed it instantly.  And the way he greeted Drake, she realized, was the old way, by clasping his arm, not his hand, as Drake had attempted to do.
Her gaze narrowed on the man.  “What did you mean by finally?”  she asked.
The old man’s bushy brows rose as he feigned and innocent smile.  “Did I say that? Surely no’.”
Drake let out a chortle.  “Ye know who we are, ye old Scot.  Ye bloody well know!”
Mr.  McFadden threw back his head and joined in Drake’s laughter, while Mary Beth crossed her arms and watched, her temper simmering.
“You set me up, didn’t you?”  she accused.
“In a way, aye,” he said, and wiped a happy tear from his eye.  “I’ve tried for years ta find the right one ta set them free.  I had a feeling aboot ye, Mary Beth.  ’Twas somethin’ in yer letter, I can’t say, but ’tis glad I am that whatever it was it had me of a mind ta bring ye ta the cottage.”
Drake pulled her in tight against his side.  “And I am sorely grateful that ye did.”  He pecked a kiss against her temple.
“You could’ve said something, you know,” she groused.  She wasn’t really angry, but she felt sort of used.  And yet the way Drake had pulled her into his side and kissed her, as if he’d done it every day of his life, had a distinct calming effect on her temper.
“And would ye have been comin’ all this way if I told ye yon castle was haunted?”  He shook his head.  “No, lass, ye’d have made other plans and no’ come ta my cottage at all.”
“But ye weren’t scared, were ye, Mary Beth?”  Collie asked, then looked to Mr.  McFadden.  “She told us ta leave, she did.  Said we was—was—”
“Trespassing,” Drake offered.
“Aye, and she even came lookin’ for us at night!  No one’s e’er done that before like she did.  They be all afraid of the castle at night.”
“A brave lass,” McFadden said with a nod.  “I knew it was only a matter of time before the right one came ta the cottage.”
She settled her hand on Collie’s shoulder as he stepped up beside her.  “But how did you know about them? And why didn’t they know that you knew?”
“My granda’ told me of what he’d seen one night as he searched for a lost sheep.  Spirits walked the castle at night, he said, but he was afraid, ya see.  He had the gift, but never used it.  I tried, many times ta see these two, but never could.  I could feel them though, always there, always watching—and waiting.”
“But how did you know who they were?”
“I did a great deal of research on the castle, on the McCormick clan.  I learned most through tales handed down through the families in the area.  I wasna certain how many spirits were trapped, but the tale told of the laird and a boy who’d perished in the fire.”
“’Twas only us,” Drake said.
Mr.  McFadden nodded.  “Glad I am ta hear it.  Although a bit lonely over the years, I’d wager.”
“Aye, but ’tis done now,” Drake said, but there was a hesitance in his voice.
She glanced at his face and saw worry lacing his smile.
Collie shivered beneath her hand, and as she looked at him she found the same worry shadowing his eyes.
“I think ye best be gettin’ inside now, boyo,” Mr.  McFadden said.  “We canna have ye takin’ a chill now, can we?”
“Off with ye, lad,” Drake said, with a wave, and the three of them followed him inside.
But Mary Beth didn’t think the shiver was from the cold.
They settled in around the table with hot tea.
“So what will ye be doin’ now?”  Mr.  McFadden asked.  “The world isna’ the same place it once was.”
Drake pondered his tea, wishing for something stronger, but made no mention of it.  At the old man’s arrival, and after the story he’d told, stacks of guilt piled higher around him.  ’Twas his fault Mary Beth was here, far away from her homeland, burdened with two souls who were as lost as newborn babes.  He was once laird of his clan, but the old ways were no more.
Mary Beth put her hand on his arm.  “You’ll stay here until you figure things out.”
The corner of his mouth tilted up with her kind gesture, and yet added more guilt to the lot.  “I doona know what we’ll do, but I’ll no’ be a burden ta ye, lass.”
“You’re not a burden, where’d you ever get a silly idea like that? You’re my friends, and friends help one another.”
She squeezed his arm and he settled his hand over hers.
“McFadden chose well when he chose ye, lass,” he said, and lifted her hand to his lips.
“You’ll be needin’ clothes, and more food.  I could maybe find a cot for ye,” Mr.  McFadden suggested, and Mary Beth’s sweet smile fell.
She looked to the old man.  “Oh, right, clothes.”
She chewed her bottom lip, and he wanted nothing more than to taste the very spot she nibbled.  Then he understood the problem.  She’d told him of how she’d saved for very long time to come to the Highlands, her pockets were not flush.
He brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek.  “I’ve plenty of gold ta pay for things, sweeting.”
Her brow furrowed.  “But how? I don’t understand, you’ve been—well, dead.”
He chuckled with a nod.  “Aye, and ’tis the gold that brought me ta that end, but ’tis hidden well, and no one has e’er found it.  They stopped lookin’ many years ago.”
“Aye,” Mr.  McFadden said.  “’Tis far too dangerous ta mill about the castle.  ’Tis one of the reasons I kept it closed off.”
“Ye knew I’d need it one day, aye?”
“That I did.”  He rose from his chair and made his way to the door.  “I’ll be leavin’ ye ta tend ta things, but if ye have a need ye know where I am.”
Drake followed him to the door.  “Thank you, McFadden.  I canna say it enough.”
The old man gripped his shoulder and squeezed.  “Glad I am ta help ya find yer way.  And mind ye have a care with that,” he said with a wink aimed in the direction of Mary Beth.
He clenched his jaw and gave the old man a nod.
Satisfied with his silent agreement, McFadden slipped out the door.
Drake turned and took in the view around him, a happy lad playing with a bag of marbles at his feet, a woman puttering about the kitchen, the mouthwatering smell of stew simmering on the stove.  His chest ached.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” he said, and tore out of the cottage before the homey scene brought tears to his eyes.  All the things he’d craved these centuries were within his grasp, if only he could have them, if only he was worthy of them.
“Now where do you suppose he’s gone?”  Mary Beth muttered.
Collie popped up his head, and looked to the castle through the window.  “Likely ta get the gold.”
He rose to leave, and she stopped him.  “You’re not going anywhere.  He can get it himself.  I heard what Mr.  McFadden said, and you’ve got no business traipsing around those crumbling walls.”
“But—”
“No, sir.  Huh-uh, no way.  You’re alive now, you aren’t invincible or invisible anymore.”
With a grumble, he dropped back to the floor to play with his marbles, but she had the feeling he sort of liked that she’d put her motherly foot down.  Although boys at his age thought they could do anything and that nothing could ever hurt them, he’d learned how wrong that was centuries ago, and he knew she was right.  It wasn’t safe up there.  Not for him, and not for Drake.
Collie caught her looking out the window and grinned.  “He knows where ’tis safe and where ’tis no’.  Doona worry, Mary Beth.”
“I’m not worried.  I was just wondering if he would be back in time for dinner.”
The little stinker giggled, and she swatted him with her dishrag, then went back to the stew.
But hours later, dinner long over, Drake hadn’t returned and a storm had moved in off the loch.
“I should go look for him,” Collie said.  “He could be—”
“No.  No he’s fine.  You stay here.  I’ll get the flashlight and go up to the castle.”
“I canna let ye go alone, Mary Beth.  Drake would na’ like it.”
She pulled on her coat and grabbed her flashlight.  “He’ll have to get over it,” she muttered, and moved to the door just as it swung open.
Soaked and splattered with mud, Drake stepped inside with a small iron chest beneath his arm.  “Where do ye think ye be goin’? ’Tis a devil of a storm outside.”  He threw the door closed behind him and trod to the kitchen where he placed the chest atop the table.
“I was going to find you,” she snarled, and jerked off her coat.  “You had me worried sick.”
She grabbed one of the towels they’d used earlier that day from where she hung it by the fire, and followed him to the kitchen.  The minute she got close enough to get a good look at him, she sucked in a breath at the cuts and scrapes on his arms and beneath a large tear in his shirt.
“Drake, what—”
“’Tis nothing, lass.  The chest was hidden well, it took a bit of work ta get ta it.”
“Aye, ye have ta be half mountain goat ta reach it,” Collie said with a laugh.
“You could’ve been killed!”
“Ye carry on overmuch.”
“Overmuch,” she snarled.  “You risked your life for what, money? If I recall, that is what got you into this mess in the first place!”
He snatched the towel from her hands.  “I’ll do what I like, when I like, and ye can mind yer own bloody business!” With that, he stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door.
“Stupid Scot.  Hasn’t got a lick of sense.”  Growling, she spun around and marched into the bedroom and slammed the door.
****
After he’d washed off the mud and soothed his anger, he came out of the bath to find her already abed, so his apology would have to wait ’til morning.  Although he’d not cared to have his past thrown in his face like that, she’d only been worried about him.  It was a new experience having someone around who cared.  He glanced at Collie snuggled deep beneath a blanket on a pallet by the fire, and realized there had been one other, and he grinned at the lad.
“I take it, the lass is a mite peeved at me,” he said.
“Aye,” he said with a large yawn.  “She was comin’ ta find ye when ye showed up.”
He nodded as his stomach clenched for the way he’d treated her.  He owed her his very life, and he’d repaid her by telling her to mind her own bloody business.
“I’ll apologize in the morn.”
He stretched out atop the couch and let his mind wander and remember as Collie’s soft snores echoed through the small cottage.  The look of Mary Beth’s lovely face when she smiled, how she’d tried not to look at his manhood as he rose from the loch, her gentle ways, her caring nature...she was a woman who should be treasured, and he wondered how she’d managed to stay alone for so long.  Why did she not have a man in her life when she had so much to offer? Where the men of the day blind to what truly mattered where women were concerned or had his years of purgatory taught him such things? Had he been as blind as others to women the likes of Mary Beth?
The bedroom door opened and as silently as a cat the object of his thoughts stole across the room to the kitchen.  He watched her quietly rummage through the cupboards until she found what she was seeking.
Ah, so the lass has a taste for scotch.
He grinned as she took a long sip of the dram she’d poured, and quietly stole up behind her.
“Care ta share?”  he whispered in her ear.
She nearly jumped out of her skin, but he quickly stifled her shriek with a hand over her mouth.
With a soft growl, she sat the glass on the table and peeled his fingers away.
“That wasn’t funny,” she whispered, and turned her head to glare at him.
He was mesmerized.  The moonlight kissed her alabaster skin and sparkled in her eyes.  His gaze dropped to her dewy lips, and he could resist no more.  He spun her around and feasted on her sweet lips like a man dying of hunger.  She sighed and he slipped unbidden into her mouth and tasted not only the scotch she’d sipped, but oh-so-much more.  He worshiped her mouth, savoring every second, then slowly moved to her cheek, then to her ear.
“Let me come ta yer bed, lass.”
“I—I—”
“I’ll beg ye, if that’s yer wish.”
Mary Beth’s head spun, she wanted him, but she knew he was only in this for the moment.  Not forever.  He’d said it himself, he’d not had a maid in his arms for years, centuries!  But what if this was her only chance?
She took his head in her hands and looked into his coal-black eyes.  “Make love to me, Drake,” she rasped.
He grinned and swept her up into his arms then carried her to the bedroom, and quietly kicked the door closed behind them.
Together they fell to the soft bedding and began a journey of sweet exploration.  But slow was not a part of Drake’s vocabulary at the moment.
“I canna wait ta feel ye, lass,” he said, stripping them both in seconds.  He’d been without female companionship for too long, and this was his woman, the one who held his heart, he had to have her.
She laughed as he struggled with her bra clasp.  “I don’t won’t to wait either, but I think you’d better let me handle the modern stuff for now.”
He moved lower and kissed her thighs as she divested herself of the pink contraption.  Slipping his fingers beneath the edge of her underclothes and pulling them down, he revealed the rest of her and gloried in the sight.
He lay between her soft thighs and wrapped his arms around her waist as he laid his head against her belly, wanting to hold onto the moment, to the warmth, to this woman for as long as possible, afraid that he would wake from this dream.  Her fingers sifted through his hair, and he felt emotion so great he could barely breathe.
“Drake,” she whispered, her voice raw with need.
He gathered his senses and began a slow journey, worshiping her body as he made his way up to her lips.
“My sweet Mary Beth,” he said with a kiss, then entered her warm depths with one fluid stroke.
The suppleness of her womanhood embraced him, welcomed him, and nearly brought tears to his eyes.  She arched her back, driving the pebbled peaks of her breasts into his chest.  Such sweet pain, such joyous torment, he suckled one tip then moved to the other, all while keeping pace with the storm outside, building on their pleasure with every thrust as the thunder rumbled over head.
She cried out his name on a hoarse whisper, and within moments they crested the edge of their desire.
****
Drake awoke early the next morn, sated and happy from having loved Mary Beth several times during the night.  His hand sought her warmth, thinking he would lose himself in her once more before they rose from the bed, but found her place beside him cold.  Before he could lift his lids, something sweet and tantalizing drifted into the room, and he smiled without opening his eyes.  She’d come back.
Hearing her move about the room, he opened his eyes and spied her fumbling for her clothes as she held a wee bit of toweling around her fair skin now glistening with drops of water from her bath.  The sight drove his hunger over the edge.
He lunged and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back to the bed.  She fussed at him, but with a smile on her face.
“It’s late, we need to get up before Collie does.  I don’t want him to think—”
He silenced her with a kiss.  He didn’t care what the lad thought, all he cared about was how quickly he could divest her of the towel she refused to release so he could make love to her again.
“Ye taste like the sweetest nectar,” he murmured as he moved his mouth along her cheek, to her neck, and along her shoulders.
“Mmm, but I have to get up.  I need to make breakfast.”
“Ye doona have ta do anything but let me taste ye—everywhere.”
On a moan, she melted in his arms, and he did indeed taste every inch of her luscious body.  It was another hour at least before they left the bedroom.
Collie, having been up for some time watching television, cast them a cheeky grin.
The blush that stole across his sweet love’s face as she hurried to the kitchen with an overly bright greeting to the lad, had Drake laughing like he hadn’t laughed in an age.
Mary Beth shot him a glare, one he well deserved, although she had pretty much capitulated.  The man was just too damn sexy and far too talented to resist.  She just hoped that Collie was wise enough to leave it alone, and not take their poor example as a lesson.  Of course, she imagined his life in centuries past was filled with all sorts of things she’d rather not think about.
With a shake of her head, she pulled out the eggs and started cracking them open while pushing all the horrible ideas of what that little boy’s life had really been like from her mind.  He was loved now, and cared for, safe in this time.  She and Drake would just have to be more discreet.
Her hand stilled, eggshells dripping over the bowl.  But after today there wouldn’t be any more moments like last night or this morning, she realized.  That morning, they’d agreed to go into town and begin getting Drake’s affairs in order.  Once the women saw him, the really pretty ones, she’d be forgotten.  He didn’t know that she was just—ordinary.
“’Tis a faraway look ye have, sweetness,” Drake whispered in her ear as he stole up behind her.  “Dare I think ’tis me ye be thinkin’ of?”
She swallowed her regret, there was plenty of time for that later, and relished the feel of his arms around her as he nuzzled her neck.
“Someone’s got a swelled head,” she teased.
On a chuckle, he pressed against her and she felt his arousal.
“That’s not what I meant,” she whispered, stifling her giggle.  “Now get out of here so I can fix breakfast.”
He nipped her ear with his teeth.  “I canna help what ye do ta me.  But I’ll leave ye ta yer cooking, for although I’m hungry for ye, my stomach is just as hungry for food.”  He kissed her cheek then slipped out the door into the chilly morning.
She watched him through the window as the sun touched his skin and the wind whipped his hair around his face.  She knew how he loved the simple pleasure of feeling the elements around him, having been without them for so long, she only wished he could love her as well.
 
McCormick's Prayer

 

McCormicksPrayer_w5898
McCormicksPrayer_w5898

Chapter Four

Drake’s head was spinning as they walked the city streets.  So much had changed, so many new rules to learn, so many new ways to live.
“Stop tugging at your collar, sweetie,” Mary Beth said to Collie.  “We’ll get you a shirt that fits in a little while, I promise.”
Old McFadden had stopped by the cottage before they left and gave him and Collie some proper clothes to wear until they could get some of their own.  The lad’s shirt and trews, however, were a bit small and Drake wasn’t too sure he cared for the newfangled way the borrowed kilt was made, but they both agreed that it was better than their old dirty clothes for the moment.
“First, we have to put Drake’s money where it will be safe, and easy to get,” Mary Beth said, cutting her eyes at him.
He opened his mouth to argue the point, but decided to wait and see what she had in mind.  There was so much he didn’t know about this time, he had to tread carefully and with an open mind.
Once inside the bank, as she called it, he was shown how his gold would be protected, and even he had to marvel at the thick steel door to the vault.  And the banker-man seemed a good sort, looked him in the eye when he spoke, and had a firm handshake.  Although it took some convincing, it was the best thing to do with his gold.
“Now you can stop worrying about it,” she said, as they made their way down the street to visit a man who dealt in rare coins.
“Aye, I’ll no’ worry overmuch, but what was that paper the people were handing out?”
“Paper money.  It represents the value of gold so you don’t have to carry it around, but in your case it’s a little more complicated.”
“Why so?”
“Your gold is old, which is why we’re going in here to trade instead of at the bank.”
He opened the door to the shop and followed her and Collie inside.  After the funny little man looked at one of his coins through a glass, he offered him some of that paper money in exchange.  Mary Beth convinced Drake it was a good trade and so he handed over a few of his coins in exchange.
As they left the shop, he quickly realized how much simpler it was to carry in his sporan.  He also began to understand, as he glanced in the windows and shops along the street, the value of his gold in this time, and for the first time in centuries, he was grateful for his avarice.
“What are you grinning at?”  she asked.
He slipped his hand in hers and squeezed.  “’Tis a day for grins, I’m thinkin’.”
“I suppose it is,” she said with a giggle.
Although the gold had cost him his life, in this time he was a very wealthy man, one who could provide for his woman with little effort.  That had worried him somewhat on their ride into town.  He wanted to give her everything she ever wanted, and that took money.
As they made down the street, he did his best not to gape overmuch at the sights and sounds around them, but young Collie was alight with joy and wonder.
They entered a large store that sold clothing.  He stopped to touch some of the luscious fabrics, but Mary Beth promptly pulled him deeper into the racks of garments.
“These will be perfect for you for now.  You can do suits or whatever later,” she said, and pulled a pair of blue trews from a shelf and held them to his waist.  “Close enough.  Take these and go through there and try them on,” she said, pointing to a small room in the back.
With a nod he did as she bade, and found he rather liked the feel of the finely woven cloth against his skin.
He stepped out of the room to find another pair, as he was of a mind to buy more.
“Hookay,” Mary Beth said, her voice quivering.
He looked to her, afraid something was amiss then caught a familiar glint in her eye, and quickly closed the space between them.
“Doona be lookin’ at me like that, sweeting,” he whispered in her ear.  “Or these bloody trews will no’ fit for long.”
She choked back a giggle.  “Maybe you should go up a size.”
He turned and grabbed a few more then piled them in her arms.  “We’ll take these.  Give me a minute ta fetch my kilt.  I’ve a mind ta be home as soon as can be,” he said with a wink.
A wistful, almost sad look passed over her eyes then was gone as fast as it came.
She cleared her throat and put the trews into a cart.  “We still need to get Collie’s clothes.”
He lifted his head and looked for the lad, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.  “Where is he? Has he been missin’ long? Why did ye no’ tell me he’d gotten himself lost?”
“Hey,” she said, her hand settling on his arm as he continued to search over the tops of the racks.  “He’s okay.”  She cupped his cheek, brining his gaze back to her.  “There’s a saleslady in children’s wear helping him.”
Clasping her wrist, he closed his eyes on an unsteady breath and pressed his lips to her palm.  “I’m sorry, lass.  I’ve brought the lad so much pain, I dare no’ make another mistake now.”
“Everything will be fine, you’ll see.  Now, you go get your kilt, and then we’ll go see how he’s doing.”
With a nod, he went back into the changing room and collected his things.
As they went to find Collie, he lifted one of the packages she’d placed in the cart, struggling to understand the words.  “What are these?”
“You, um, need something to go under your jeans.”
“Why?”
“Well, I guess so they don’t, you know, rub you wrong.”
He chuckled at her bright red face, and tossed the undergarments back into the basket.
They met an excited Collie in the aisle, his arms laden with clothes.  The sinking feeling had receded now that he’d laid eyes on the boy, but it was a feeling Drake didn’t care to repeat.  It wasn’t like him to be so attached, but ever since Mary Beth had stepped into his castle, nothing had been the same.  And after all, he and Collie had shared the crumbling keep for centuries, it was only natural to feel uncomfortable without the boy around.
Their next stop was for shoes and socks and shirts, all well within his means to purchase.  He even found a few things he wanted Mary Beth to have, but she refused him, saying she didn’t want anything.  He let her have her way—this time—but she would have nice things even if he had to come back to town and buy them for her himself.
Clad in their new clothes, they found a small pub and settled in for a late afternoon lunch.  A young maid appeared beside their table and smiled at him in that welcoming way he’d known long ago, but he paid her little notice.  The menu was his current problem, having no idea what was on the bleedin’ thing.  The names of some of the foods made little sense to him.
“Why do you no’ choose for us, Mary Beth?”
She glanced at the menus, quickly realizing the problem.  She knew he could read, but the dishes were nothing like the fare in his day and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself.
Mary Beth looked at the waitress and nearly bit the tip of her tongue.  She couldn’t take her eyes—her beady little eyes off of Drake.
“We’ll have the special.  All of us,” she said.
“The special, aye,” the woman replied, still not looking at her, but at Drake.  “And ta drink?”
Drake smiled up at the woman, and Mary Beth’s heart dove to the floor.  “I’ll have ale, lass.  A very large tankard of ale.”
“I know just the thing ta quench your thirst,” she said with a not-so-subtle wink.
She knew it would be this way, the clothing store hadn’t been much better, every saleslady in the place stopped to stare at him, not to mention the women on the street.  But she hoped there would be a slight reprieve from the drooling throng that wanted to get their claws in him in the little pub.
“I’ll have tea and Collie will have a soda,” she said, slapping the menus to the table.
“Is there anything else?”  the waitress asked, standing as close to Drake as she could possibly get without it being illegal.
“No, thank you,” Mary Beth hissed.
The woman finally went away, but with the slowest, most disgusting sway of her hips she’d ever seen.
“Mary Beth, will ye—” Collie dropped his voice to a whisper and leaned close.  “Will ye teach me ta read?”
Her throat clamped closed and she slid her arm around him where he sat beside her in the booth.  “Of course I will, sweetie.”
Drake cast her a warm grin.  “I’m of a mind that I might be needin’ a bit of a lesson as well.”
Was that a sexual innuendo? She wasn’t exactly sure, so she decided it would be safer at the moment to play dumb or she might just say something she’d regret.
“You both probably need some pointers on the language of the day.  We’ll get some books after we eat,” she said.
Their food arrived and it was pretty good, but the waitress was starting to really make a pest of herself.  Every time she looked up, there she was.  And Drake, she couldn’t ignore how he took in every soul in the pub as they ate.  Was he looking for a type of woman in particular? She shook off the question, since it didn’t do anything but tick her off more.
The guys having cleaned their plates, she said, “I think we’re done here.  We should get going.”
“Are ye no’ well?”  Drake asked, taking her arm as they left the pub.
“I’m fine, just fine and dandy.”
He knew her smile to be false, and had sensed her unease for some time now, but if she wouldn’t tell him what ailed her, then he couldn’t help her.
Hours later, after more shopping, and more of her unusual behavior, they finally made their way home after having a very nice meal in yet another of the eateries in town.  He did love food that was prepared well and with a good stout drink beside, but Mary Beth’s silence on their drive back to the cottage began to nag at him.
The moment they arrived at the cottage, she dropped the many bags they’d carried inside by the couch, then marched into the bedroom and closed the door, not allowing him a single moment alone with her to find out what was wrong.
“Did I do somethin’ wrong?”  Collie asked.
“Nay, ’tis no’ you, lad.  Women are fickle creatures.  There’s ne’er a reason ta their fits.  Yer best plan is ta avoid them when they’re like this.”
Drake turned out the light, banked the fire and shed his new shoes, then stretched out on the couch.  “Ta bed, lad.  She’ll be more herself come the morn.”
With a shrug the boy turned down the covers on the cot Mr.  McFadden had arrived with that morning, then removed his new clothes as if they were made of something precious.  Once settled beneath the woolen blanket, he murmured goodnight.
Drake grinned at the boy, glad he was that he’d been given a second chance at life, but guilt surged to the surface.  He knew he could never make it up to him, but he prayed that in this new life, he would be happy.  If they could stay.  He obviously wasn’t welcome in Mary Beth’s bed at the moment, but it was her heart that mattered.  Without her love, they would be lost.
He fell asleep with worry heavy on his chest.
****
For days, Mary Beth’s odd behavior continued.  She avoided Drake at every turn, and he was beginning to fear that she did not care for him as he’d hoped.
“I need ta speak with ye,” he said, catching her by the arm as she started toward the bedroom.
She’d finished teaching Collie his letters for the night and was going to bed as had been her way since they’d returned from town.
She refused to meet his gaze.  “I’m tired, can’t it wait?”
“Ye said that last eve and the one before.”  He gripped her by the arms and pulled her close.  “Tell me what ails ye?”
“Nothing ails me, I’m fine.  I’m just—”
He tilted up her chin with the tip of his finger.  She was close, so very close, their lips almost touching.  He couldn’t tear his gaze from her mouth, and gave in to temptation.  He pulled her into his arms and feasted on her lips.  But the moment was too short.  She bolted from his embrace and wrapped her arms around herself.
“No, I can’t do this,” she said, her voice tight.
He reached out and brushed his knuckles down her cheek then dropped his hand with a sigh, his fears having come to true.  She wanted nothing more to do with him, and he couldn’t blame her, for his sins were many.
“I doona deserve ta look upon ye, much less touch ye.”  He turned his back and stepped toward the door.
“Drake,” she choked out.
“’Tis all right, Mary Beth.  I understand.”  With that he left, but his heart stayed behind.
****
The next morning, Mary Beth looked in the mirror at her puffy eyes, and made a decision.
She had to leave.
She’d thought things would be okay, after a day or two she thought she’d start to feel comfortable again, that Drake was all hers after all, but then she’d overheard him and Mr.  McFadden talking.  He had plans, lots of plans.  Plans to send Collie to school, to build a big house and fill it with children, so many things, but not once had he mentioned her name.
It was stupid, she knew that.  A person never learned anything good from eavesdropping, but it was just as well.  She was his temporary bedmate, someone to pass the time with.  Any woman could’ve filled the bill.  And anyway, she was almost out of money.  If she left now, she could get back to the states and start over.
After breakfast, Drake went to walk along the loch as was his way while she worked with Collie on his reading.  He was such a bright little boy, he learned so quickly.  Even he didn’t really need her any longer.
“Can I go outside now, Mary Beth?”  he asked, after an hour of study.
She rose from the table and pulled her suitcase from the closet.  “Sure, you go ahead, I’ve got some stuff to do.”
He stopped at the door, frowning.  “What is that?”
“My suitcase.  It’s time for me to leave.”
She hauled it into the bedroom and opened it up on the bed.
“But you canna go,” he said, rushing up beside her.
“I have to.  You and Drake will be fine now.  You don’t need me anymore.”  She opened a drawer and lifted a stack of shirts and placed them in the suitcase, wishing with all her might that Collie would leave her to her task.  She wanted to cry so badly, her throat was on fire, but she couldn’t do it in front of him.
“’Tis because of Drake.”
“Don’t be silly, it’s just—time,” she said with a sigh.
“No.  ’Tis the curse’s doin’.  He doesna’ believe ’tis o’er, and he’s drivin’ ye away.”
She looked at his solemn face.  “What do you mean? Of course it’s over, you’re both alive and well.  Although I’ll admit it wasn’t the outcome we expected.”
“Nay, there is more.  He thinks I doona know, but he has ta find his true love afore the day of the fire or he’ll go—we’ll be sent below.”
Her gaze jerked to the window where she spied Drake standing on the hill overlooking the loch.
“All the more reason for me to leave.  He can’t find her if I stay,” she choked out.  She couldn’t bear to see him in the arms of another woman, his one true love, it would kill her.
Collie rushed to her and threw his arms around her waist.  “But I doona want ye ta go,” he cried.
She hugged him to her.  She loved the boy as if he were her own.  “We’ll see each other again someday.”
“Nay, without ye we’ll be sent away.”
“Without—Collie, you can’t think that—it just isn’t possible.  I’m not—I’m not his true love.”
He lifted his tear-stained face and looked at her.  “He doesna show his feelins, but he does love ye.  I know he does.”
She shook her head as she brushed his bangs from his eyes.  “Oh, Collie.”
“All the years I was with him, I could tell he cared about me.  He treated me differently.  He treats ye differently.”
“Oh, sweetheart.”  She kissed his brow and held him close.  “He treats me differently because we’re friends.  Because I helped him.  That’s all.”
“Nay,” he said, and backed away, swiping his nose with his sleeve.  “Ye be the one, I know it,” he cried and ran out the bedroom door.
She sank to the edge of the bed trying to get that tear-stained face out of her mind.
“Hello, the house,” Mr.  McFadden called from the front of the cottage.  “I thought I’d drop by and see how ye were doing,” the old man said as she stepped into the main room.
“Oh we’re fine.”  She moved into the living room.
“Hmm, now that doesna look like a happy face ta me.”
“I’m fine.  Really.  I was, well, I was packing, actually.”
The old man scratched his craggy chin.  “Packing? Are you leaving us, Mary Beth?”
“I—I can’t afford to stay any longer.  I’m—well, frankly, Mr.  McFaden, I’m broke.  I’ve got just enough to get me back to the states and start over again.”
“I thought ye wanted to start here, lass.”
“I do, but—” She went to look out the window at the castle ruins.  “It would hurt too much to stay now,” she said softly.
Collie quietly eased through the room from the kitchen and took off like a shot out of the door.
“Now what’s that boy up ta?”  the old man asked.
“He’s pretty upset that I’m leaving.”
****
“Drake!  Drake!”
He heard the lad’s voice calling to him, and reluctantly stepped out from the deep shade of the castle wall overlooking the loch.
“Drake, ye have ta stop her,” Collie said, huffing and puffing.  “She be leavin’!”
He swallowed hard at the news, but wasn’t overly surprised by it.  “I canna stop her.  ’Tis what she wants.  ’Tis what’s best.”
“But she doesna’ want ta go,” he said between deep breaths.
“’Tis ye who be wantin’ her ta stay lad.”  And me, he thought grimly.
The boy shook his head.  “Nay, I heard her tell Mr.  McFadden she didna’ wish ta go.”
Drake’s brow furrowed.  “Then what reason did she give for leavin’?”
“She has no money.  And she said ’twould hurt ta much ta stay.”  Collie tilted his pleading eyes up to him.  “She be the one, Drake.  I know it.”
“What do ye mean, the one?”  he asked, his gaze narrowed on the lad.
“I know you have ta find yer love.  And I know that—that we’re here because I prayed for it,” he said, his head bowed.
Drake grabbed the boy’s shoulders and shook him.  “Do ye know what you’ve done? You’ve condemned us both!”
He lifted his head, tears spilling from his eyes.  “I had ta do it.  I couldn’t let ye go ta Hell alone, Da.  I couldn’t!”
Drake’s mouth fell lax.  “Da,” he said roughly.  He’d wondered for a long time, long before the fire if Collin was a by-blow of his younger years.  He looked so much like him.  “Why do ye call me that?”
He sniffled and looked to the ground.  “Me mother told me afore she died.  She sent me ta the keep, but she made me promise not ta tell anyone.”  He lifted his worried face.  “Not even ye.”
He nodded, taking it in, acknowledging what he’d known all along.  “Yer mother was right ta tell ye ta keep quiet.  She was a wise woman, a good woman,” he said solemnly.
He’d cared for the lad’s mother, but left her without a thought when his time came to be laird.  But she’d been right to keep Colin a secret.  He had many enemies who would’ve not thought twice about using the boy against him in some way.
My boy
   
   .
Drake looked to his son standing before him.  “There be no need ta keep the promise any longer,” he said roughly and patted the lad on the shoulder.
Collie nearly knocked him over as he threw his little arms around his waist and buried his cries against Drake’s stomach.  His own eyes burned as he wrapped his arms around his son.  They stood there for several minutes, holding one another, then Collie lifted his head with a sniffle.
“Da? Are ye gonna stop her? She be the one, I know it.  We’ll be a family just like I prayed we’d be.”
As a tear threatened to escape his eye, he cupped the boy’s damp cheek and nodded.  “Aye, son.  We will be if I have ta bar the doors ta keep her here.”
He squeezed the lad’s shoulder and spun away with a glimmer of hope sparking to life in his chest.  She was the one.  She was the woman who held his heart, and his son’s.
His step faltered.
But if she was the one, then why did she pull away from his kiss? Was it possible that his true penance was to love her and not be loved in return?
Nay
   
   .  He cast that thought aside, but it still didn’t answer the question as to why she was leaving.  He had money, she didn’t need to leave because of that, and if she didn’t want his touch, then he would do his best to abide by her wishes.
He steadied his stride and stormed toward the cottage.  He would get answers, by God.  Another minute would not pass with him wondering.  He’d not chance eternity alone if it ’twas no more than a silly female whim of hers to leave.
Flinging open the door, he shouted, “Mary Beth!”
She jumped and spun around from the window.  He marched toward her and stopped mere inches away, aching to take her into his arms, but not until he knew the truth.
“Why are ye leavin? The truth, woman, all of it.”
“I—I can’t afford to stay,” she said shakily.
“Ye’ll have all the money ye need.  I’ll see ta it.  I’ll buy this bleedin’ cottage fer ye if that’s what ye be wantin’.”  He looked to McFadden standing to the side, and the old man nodded with a silly grin on his face.
“I don’t want your money,” she hissed.
He clenched his hands at his sides and stared down at her reddening cheeks.  Lord how he wanted to touch her, kiss her.  “’Tis money ye need so ye can stay, then ’tis money ye shall have.”
“I—I can’t—you can’t—”
He cocked his head at her stammering.  “’Tis no’ the money, is it? The truth, Mary Beth.”
She dropped her chin to her chest.  “No.”
“Why are ye leavin’, lass?”
“Collie told me—he told me that you have to find your true love.  You can’t do that with me around.  I’d just be in the way.”
Gently, he slipped a finger beneath her chin and tilted up her beautiful face.  “I have already found her, love,” he said softly.
Her bright blue eyes widened.  “N-no.  That’s not possible,” she rasped.
“Aye, ’tis the truth.  But I’ll no’ ask for ye ta love a man such as me’self, I doona deserve it.”  He released her and stepped back.  “But I ask—I beg ye ta stay even if we’re ta be no more than friends.  I canna face eternity without ye, love.”
She blinked several times, and Drake’s heart sank low in his chest as tears filled her eyes.  He dropped his head with a sigh.  Perhaps the angels would at least find some pity in their hearts and grant his son a boon, and see him to his mother’s side in Heaven.  Perhaps they—“Oomph!”
Warm supple female suddenly filled his arms.  A wet cheek met his while slender arms wrapped around his neck.  The rapid beat of a heart, not his own, pounded against his chest.  He pulled back slightly and looked down into bright blue eyes glowing up at him.
“Ye be staying?”  he asked, hating the boyish hopeful tone of his voice.
She smiled at him and slipped her fingers into his hair and pulled him down for a kiss.  He hesitated, afraid to assume anything.  It could be nothing more than a friendly kiss, but as her tongue teased the edge of his lips, he had no doubt that friendship wasn’t on the woman’s mind.
With a silent thankful prayer, he opened to her gentle probing and fell into sweet oblivion before moving his lips to a favored spot behind her ear.
“Are you sure, Drake?”  she whispered against his neck.  “Are you sure I’m the one you want? I’m not—I’m not pretty like that girl in the restaurant.”
He pulled back and looked at her worried face.  “Woman, ye’ve no idea how beautiful ye are.  I love ye, Mary Beth.  And as ta wantin’, I’ve ne’er wanted anything or anyone as much as I be wantin’ ye.”
Her bottom lip trembled as she smiled.  “I love you, too.”
Emotion choked him as he pulled her tighter against him, lifting her off the floor.  They were saved, his son and he could live out their lives and all thanks to this wonderful woman.  She laughed as he twirled her around the room, and he couldn’t remember a more beautiful sound.
“Collie, me lad.  I think I’d best be goin’ for a priest,” Mr.  McFadden said.
They lifted their heads smiling.  “I think that ’twould be a fine idea, McFadden.  I fine idea, indeed,” Drake said.
Collie ran across the room and they parted just far enough to include him in their embrace.
“We be a family, Da!”
“Da?”  She laughed.  “I should’ve known, you’re both too much alike.”
“Aye, both ta stubborn ta let ye go, love.  For we are a family,” he said, looking at the two of them in wonder.
He had the one thing he thought he did not need, the one thing he dare not whisper the slightest prayer for…love.  An now that he had it, he would never take a single breath for granted for as long as he lived.

 

McCormick's Prayer
About the author…
 
Jo currently resides in North Carolina with her patient and supportive family while she juggles her writing career and her position as a programmer analyst.  In her early years, she wrote folk songs, poetry, and an occasional short story or two, but never dreamed of writing a book.  She didn't even like to read!  But one fateful day, she picked up a romance novel and found herself hooked.  Not only did she discover the joy of reading, but the joy of writing books.  These days, if she isn't tapping away at her computer on a story of her own, she has her nose buried in the latest romance novel hot off the presses, and is enjoying every minute of it.

Visit Jo’s website at www.jobarrett.net
McCormick's Prayer

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