CHAPTER 4
SAM
“I’M SAD TO LEAVE. You made the place even cuter with all the lights, and now I’m supposed to spend two weeks away? Can we leave them on after Christmas? So we can enjoy them a little longer?”
“We can do whatever we want,” my husband said with a reassuring smile as he loaded our bags in the trunk of the car.
“Until Easter?” I asked, cocking one eyebrow.
“Easter? Really? We’ll see.”
“I’ll tell you what we should do—we should have a huge party when season two wraps up. The weather should be nice enough by then, and then we have New York.”
“Are you sure you want to come with me? Would you rather go somewhere else, spend some time with your mother?”
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll make a trip to LA, but don’t worry about me—I can find plenty of things to do in New York. I promise I won’t be in your way,” I teased, and he made a face.
“That’s now what I meant.”
“I know,” I replied with a smile.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned down to kiss me, but all of a sudden, something was off.
I broke into a cold sweat, and the same queasy, familiar feeling from the day before made an appearance once again. I pressed my lips against his, hoping I wasn’t getting sick. I didn’t want to spend our only time off in bed, and I didn’t want to get him sick, either. We’d been looking forward to our vacation time for so long.
“Ready to go?” he asked, looking at me like I was the best thing he’d ever seen.
I gave his hand a squeeze and nodded.
“Let’s go see the MacLeods.”
I was excited to see Fiona and Angus along with my rowdy brothers-in-law, yet I grimaced when we passed the Scottish border. I felt uneasy as we left “home”.
Scotland had always been Hugh’s home, and I had grown incredibly attached to it, moody weather and all.
Scotland was one of those places you inexplicably felt connected to after spending some time there. There was something in the breathtaking beauty of the landscapes that called out to you, urged you to come home, even when it wasn’t your place of birth.
How unbelievable that this magical land and the people who inhabited were once called “barbarians” by the British. If there was anything barbaric about Scotland, it was the violent, unapologetic way it got under your skin.
Even though I would probably struggle with the climate for the rest of my life, there was no other place that had such a calming effect on my soul.
I’d realized it even more after Amira had visited us a few months before and had mentioned it herself. My sister was right; there was no other place in the world that made me feel this way, not even the city I’d called home my entire life.
Was it just because it was where my husband was from? Was I so attached to it just because of him? For some reason, I didn’t believe that was the case.
The queasy feeling in my stomach was back again as we left the Highlands, as if part of me was already homesick. I laughed to myself, thinking how just the year before, I’d been homesick for sunny LA.
How quickly things change.
“What’s funny?” Hugh asked with a curious, amused look.
I smiled, a bit embarrassed.
“This might sound strange, especially coming from me, but . . .we’ve been out of Scotland all of thirty minutes and I already feel homesick.”
His grin was small at first, and then it stretched big and bright across his face, a proud, unabashed smile. He took my hand and brought it up to his mouth, the touch of his lips on my skin making me shiver. Yes, a simple touch from him could still affect me the same way it had when we were flirting and my yearning for him was just beginning to grow.
He noticed and gave me a glance full of mischief. He held my hand in his as he put his eyes back on the road.
“I ken what ye mean. It’s the same for me. I wish my parents were still in Edinburgh. I’m ready for my father to retire so they can move back and we can spend the holidays in Scotland.”
“I’ve never felt this way about a place before. Even when I missed LA, it was my family and my routine I missed the most, but Scotland . . . it does a number on you. It’s like something that becomes part of you, and you can’t shake it.” My voice was low, and I felt like I was rambling. “I’m sorry, I’m probably not making any sense.”
Hugh shook his head and smiled. “I do understand ye, Sam. It’s the same for me, about Scotland, ye ken, and it’s the way I’ve always felt about you,” he said in a husky tone. He smiled wickedly at me, the corners of his lips curled up in the smile I loved.
I laced my fingers with his and kissed his hand.
THE SCENERY of the British countryside was quite different from what we were accustomed to, but if there was one thing both the UK and Scotland had in common, it was how green the fields were.
“I’ve never seen so many sheep in my life!” I said, looking out the window.
The previous year, when I was stranded in Heathrow and Hugh picked me up and took me home to meet his parents, I was too tired, nervous, and distracted by him to notice anything else. Plus, at the time, I had been in an airport for over a day, and my brain cells were fried.
“So, tomorrow you’re spending the day with your brothers and I’m going with Genny and the kids to the Harry Potter studios in London.” Declan’s ex-wife, Genevieve, was a beautiful blonde flight attendant. The two had been divorced for a couple of years and were now on friendly terms, but from what I’d heard from Hugh’s mother, Fiona, the kids were still struggling and adjusting to the dynamic of their new family life.
My heart ached for Claire and Rory, because I knew how it felt. My parents had divorced when I was eighteen, and it had hurt so much. I couldn’t imagine being their age and having to accept the fact that your mother and father didn’t love or even like each other anymore, and that your life was going to change drastically.
Declan and Genny seemed to be doing a good enough job of juggling the kids, or so I thought, but from time to time, I did hear things about Genny that weren’t so kind.
I decided to ignore things I heard in passing from Fiona or any of the other MacLeods, thinking they were taking Declan’s side and not being impartial.
I wanted to spend more time with Claire and Rory in the future, so I thought it would be wise to get acquainted with their mom.
“Are you sure about this?” Hugh asked, pulling me out of my daze. “Genny doesn’t have the greatest reputation when it comes to keeping a promise.”
“Come on, Hugh, they’re her kids—do you think she’d want to see them disappointed? I mean, what parent would do that?”
“You don’t know Genny.”
“And you might be biased, because she hurt your brother when she decided to divorce him. I get it, you’re being protective, but I still think you might be overreacting. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine and will have a great day.”
“Maybe I am, but then again, you don’t know her like I do.”
As if on cue, my phone started ringing and Genny’s name flashed across the screen.
“It’s Genny,” I said to Hugh.
“Speak of the devil,” he replied.
“Shhh,” I admonished him and took the call. “Hi, Genny. Hugh and I are about an hour away from Oxford. What time are we meeting tomorrow?”
“I HATE to say I told you so.” Hugh pressed his lips together and I shook my head.
“Yeah, yeah. You tried to warn me. I just don’t understand,” I grumbled.
“Some people can’t keep their word. She’s one of those.”
“I mean, they’re her children—how can she stand to disappoint them like that?”
“She doesn’t care enough about them, and she cares more about herself. I bet the children are already with my mum, aren’t they?”
“Yes. Claire and Rory are at your parents’. It’s the holidays, for crying out loud! How could she do this to them? I will never understand people like her.”
I didn’t have children of my own, but I couldn’t imagine letting my kids down that way. Then again, I thought maybe I was overreacting, but when we got to the MacLeods’ house, Claire and Rory looked just as blue as I’d thought they’d be.
“Who’s excited for tomorrow? You know we’re doing the VIP tour, right? We’re going to see all the things you guys love about the movies.”
“Can Dad come with us?” Rory asked.
“I’m not sure, but we can ask him. Where’s Declan, Fiona? Do you know when he’ll be home?”
“He had to fly out with a client. He should be back in time for Christmas Eve.”
“I want Daddy to come with us!” Claire cried stubbornly.
“Uncle Hugh can come with us! We’ll make him dress up so no one will recognize him.” Hugh shot me a look. “What? You don’t want to come?”
“It’s not that, Sam. We just got here, and I haven’t seen my brothers since the wedding.”
I couldn’t believe it. What was up with him acting so precious? We were going to spend two weeks there in Oxford. Sure, I had no idea how long each one of them was staying, but what about me? I wasn’t getting to spend my days off with my family, and now he was refusing to come with me after Genny flaked out? I opened my mouth to say something, but just then, Ewan, the youngest MacLeod, waltzed into the living room.
“Uncle Ewan!” the kids shouted. Ewan was the youngest and the brattiest, the one who always got the kids riled up. He was curious about the world, always asking me tons of questions about the US and how life had been for me before coming to Scotland.
He had charm in spades and was funny as hell, with just a bit of a dangerous edge. Each one of my husband’s brothers had a certain je-ne-sais-quoi about them, but I couldn’t deny that Ewan wasn’t just the kids’ favorite.
He was also mine.
“How are you, my favorite sister-in-law?” he asked me after he said hi to everyone else, pulling me into a hug.
“I’m your only sister-in-law, smartass.”
“Really? What about Declan?”
“What about him?” we all asked in unison, curious.
“Never mind. If you guys don’t know anything, it’s not my place to tell.”
“Is there something I should know about Daddy?” Claire asked. For a nine-year-old, she was extremely perceptive, at least whenever her father was concerned.
Ewan knelt in front of her.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about, love. Your Uncle Ewan was just mistaken about something. So, what are you all up to?”
“We are going with Aunt Sam to the Harry Potter studios tomorrow.”
“Is that so? Are you excited?” he asked her.
“Very much. I can’t wait to ride a broomstick! Aunt Sam told me we would do that and then visit Hogwarts.”
“That sounds terrific.”
“Do you want to go with us? I just so happen to have an extra ticket, and your brother is acting awfully precious about going.”
Ewan stood up and frowned at his brother just as Hugh opened his mouth to say something.
“What’s wrong with you?” Ewan asked him.
“Nothing is wrong with me, dunderhead,” Hugh replied, folding his arms in front of him. They were almost the same height, Ewan just an inch or two shorter than Hugh.
The two of them just glared at each other in a display of testosterone I’d never seen between them. It was even stranger because I knew Hugh had a soft spot for his little brother.
“Why don’t you come with us instead, Ewan?”
He turned around, his mouth stretching in a bright smile. His hair was a reddish brown and he kept it short, and lately he sported a neatly trimmed beard that made him look a bit more mature than his twenty-five years. He was wearing a leather jacket over a dark sweater, black jeans, and motorcycle boots—the epitome of a bad boy outfit.
That’s right, the youngest MacLeod was the daredevil of the family. If I remembered correctly, he had a Ducati, and supposedly, he was a player.
My brother-in-law placed an arm around my shoulders, shooting a defiant glare in the direction of his older brother. Ewan was a troublemaker in every sense of the word.
I knew what he was trying to do, and I went along with it.
“You know what, Sam? I think I will.”
“Perfect.”
“Thank you for the invitation.”
“You’re so welcome. We’ll have a blast.” Ewan squeezed me around my shoulder a bit tighter. Claire and Rory were watching Moana on their tablets and were not paying a lick of attention to us, but Fiona and Angus were drinking tea and looked quite amused by our exchange.
“Sam, I have an idea to make this even more fun: I’ll pretend to be your husband, since yours is not so inclined.”
“Sure, why not?” I quipped.
Hugh rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“You will do no such thing,” he said in a rather jealous tone. “Sam is too old to be your wife, anyway,” he teased.
“Excuse me?” I asked him, horrified.
“See? This is why I’m never getting married.” Ewan’s breath teased my cheek, but I shook my head.
“Your brother isn’t usually this bad, but he will pay for the age comment, I guarantee that. By the way, mister, maybe you’re the old one in this equation. Maybe that’s why you don’t want to come—because you’re too old for Harry Potter.”
“No one is ever too old for Harry Potter,” Fiona mused.
“I bet Hugh doesn’t want to come because he’s never read the books,” his father intervened, raising both eyebrows as he took a sip of his tea.
“Really, you two?” Hugh protested, arms open in frustration.
“You never read the books?” Ewan and I asked in unison.
“Claire has read The Philosopher’s Stone—on her own,” I teased.
“It’s true, Uncle Hugh,” Claire said without looking away from her tablet for even a nanosecond.
My poor husband was red in the face with embarrassment and seemed on the verge of storming out of the room, but I honestly didn’t understand what was up with him.
“Can we just stop this nonsense now?” he asked.
I pursed my lips, fighting to hold back a laugh.
“Well, it depends on you,” Ewan said, his arm still around my shoulder. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said my dear husband was a wee jealous of his little brother and how much we got along. Hugh wasn’t possessive and knew to give me space, but from time to time, he had been the jealous one. He’d been jealous of my coworker Jake the year before, and he had also been jealous of Fern before he discovered that he was our wedding planner.
“I want to go with you and the kids, Sam. I never said I didn’t want to, but I had been planning on spending some time with my brothers. Also, I don’t want to be recognized while we’re at the studios. Have you thought about that? If we go, I’d like to go as a regular person. Christmas doesn’t seem to be the best time to try to visit the place unnoticed.”
“Fame has gone to his head, hasn’t it?” Ewan joked in my direction. I laughed softly, but Hugh had a point. It wasn’t going to be easy to go completely unnoticed.
Abarath had made a splash over the summer, and with him being the lead, his face was on entertainment sites and magazines pretty much every week.
It also didn’t hurt that he was stupidly handsome.
Yes, the man was bound to get recognized.
I, however, had a solution.
“We will all dress up, me, you, and the kids. I already had something set aside for the three of us, so I’ll get you a disguise.”
“Your tickets are for tomorrow. Where are you going to find a disguise for me on such short notice?”
“Don’t worry, I know just who to call.”
I rang her up, and when she answered, she said, “See? I could have told you. I knew you were going to miss me, Sam.”
“Yes, you were right. I do miss you, Cecilia, but I’m also calling about something else.”
“What can I do for you?”
“Help me, Cecilia-wan-Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”