Read Online Spellbound by Michelle M. Pillow - Free Book Online Page B

happened.
    “Raibeart!” Cait scolded as if such a thing had been an insult.
    “Wait a minute…” Raibeart demanded. “You’re the Jane? The one Iain is pining over?”
    Jane bit her lip at the revelation and glanced at the floor, trying not to smile too widely.
    “Uncle!” Iain scolded, looking shocked.
    “This is her?” Malina asked. “Euann?”
    “Yeah, she’s the one,” Euann answered, nodding and laughing at some secret joke.
    “Well ya do have a crush, laddie,” Raibeart said. “Rory told us all about it. He said ya chased her out of the house like an inept schoolboy.”
    Iain made a small noise.
    “And ya…” Raibeart turned his attention to Jane. “Shelly Jane, ya can’t very well be dating two of us. Why didn’t ya tell me before breaking my heart? Lord of the Manor knows I can’t take a lassie from Iain. Poor man is hardly pretty to look at. It wouldn’t be a fair contest tempting ya away with my charms.”
    Suddenly, all of then turned their attention upward and to the left in unison. Jane frowned, not hearing anything that warranted such a display. She swayed on her feet and took a deep breath as the fire liquor churned in her stomach.
    “Iain,” Cait said in hushed tones. She motioned that he should come toward the dining room.
    Iain nodded and took Jane by the elbow to usher her from the front hall. As she passed, Cait touched her cheek and whispered something. Before Jane could ask for a translation, Iain had pulled her from the foyer into the dining room. She heard talking behind them but couldn’t make out the foreign words.
    “What’s going on?” Jane whispered.
    “I’m trying to keep ya from running again.” Iain guided her toward a back door and out into the overgrown gardens.
    “Running or being chased off again for being a—what did she call me?”
    “It was rude of her. I’m sorry about that. My ma is a little ill right now. Her mind isn’t as it should be.” He didn’t repeat what his ma had said. “She’s normally a very lovely woman.”
    “I’m sorry, it can’t be easy having a parent with dementia. When I was younger, I spent some time in the hospital. There was a lady with Alzheimer’s who was convinced I was her granddaughter, Marcy. Every time I was wheeled past Betty’s ward, she’d knock on the window and wave at me. It was nice having someone that excited to see me even if it wasn’t real.” Why was she talking about being sick? She shouldn’t be dumping personal information on him. She should be trying to keep a professional distance and not get fired.
    “Who is to judge what’s real?”
    “Her real granddaughter, I suppose.” And yet she kept talking as if she couldn’t stem the flow of words. “After a couple weeks, I saw Marcy visit, and she wasn’t young like me. Betty screamed at her and called her names, not recognizing her for who she was but as some co-worker no one else remembered. That’s when I realized what I, in my naivety, thought was cute and harmless was someone else’s pain. I guess my point is, I can’t be offended by your mother’s behavior. For all I know, I’m her grown up Marcy.”
    “Thank ya for being so kind about it.” He caught a lock of her hair as it blew forward and caressed the strands before letting them go back into the breeze.
    “I should go. I have a new customer’s landscape to plan tomorrow.” Jane gave a small laugh before looking around the dark gardens.
    “I’m glad ya came back,” he said. “And that we had a chance to clear the air about my ma.”
    “I didn’t have much of a choice. Someone had to keep the naked parade from reaching downtown. Sheriff Johnson is a stickler for the law.” Jane glanced at Iain’s chest and couldn’t help but thinking it was too bad he’d not been part of the naked run. That was something she’d like to have seen. “So, what did that woman mean when she said someone cast a spell on your uncle?”
    “Oh, ah, Malina? She’s my sister.” He