“None taken. All this is new to me. All you needed was a little light under your eyes which was simple. This…” he circled his face with his fingers. “This is a little harder for me to deal with.”
Satisfied, I pulled away and chunked the paper towel into the trash can. I glanced at my watch and quickly reached down to grab my bag. “Oh gracious, I’ve got to go. Almost time to board. Thanks again for your help, and good luck at your audition.”
“My pleasure. Try and get some sleep on the plane. You seem to be in need of it.” He surprised me by reaching behind me before I could leave, quickly grabbing the clip that held my hair into a messy bun at the base of my neck. His eyes widened as my long, red curls cascaded over my shoulders and down my back.
“That’s better. Why the hell would you pin all that up?”
I reached up fluffing the hair into place as I tucked it behind my ears. “It’s easier that way. I’m traveling, who’s going to see it?”
He shook his head in disbelief. “Everybody in the airport is going to notice you, sweetie, whether your hair is pulled up or not. Besides, that is some killer hair. I wish I’d been able to find a wig like that.” With that, he turned and left me in the bathroom.
After taking a second to laugh at the odd occurrence, I snatched up my bag and made haste to my gate. When I got there, they were already lining up to board. I was in the first group and, taking my place in the back of the line, I waited my turn for my ticket to be scanned. Smiling at the attendant as she tore my pass, I stepped out onto the walkway leading to the plane.
Amazing, the difference a few hours could make. This morning things seemed bleak, but now I felt more excited than I’d been in ages. This trip could be great and, for the first time in the five years since I’d met Brian, I was finally free.
Chapter 4
McMillan Castle, Scotland
1667
He should still been sleeping. A long journey lay ahead of him once he left with his mother for Cameron Castle, but he wanted to speak with Eoghanan alone before his mother woke.
Eoghanan would be awake. He wasn’t sure if his mysterious brother ever slept. He would be in his room, writing away by candlelight in his journals. What he wrote, Baodan was sure he would never know. Not that he cared. It took all his strength just to remain civil around him.
As expected, Baodan found his brother hunched over his writing desk, scribbling away, his shoulders stiff and uncomfortable looking. He didn’t look up as Baodan entered. Instead of announcing his presence, Baodan walked across the room, only stopping once he stood next to his brother’s desk. He glanced down at the secretive pages, but Eoghanan yanked them away, breaking his rigid stance by standing abruptly.
“These are not for ye to look at. If I wished ye to see them, I would have addressed them to ye, aye?” Eoghanan’s eyes green, gold, and cat-like challenged him as he widened his stance. His unruly red hair, like dancing flames atop his head.
Baodan stepped away, not wishing things to escalate. He only wanted to find out the truth behind their mother’s desire to leave, not to re-hash ill feelings. “I’m sorry, I dinna come here to spy on ye. I only wished to speak to ye before leaving.”
Eoghanan looked suspicious. Baodan knew he’d given him more than enough reason to be. He’d spent every year since his wife’s death trying to avoid speaking with his brother about anything.
“Why? Ye doona ever wish to speak to me.”
Baodan reached up to run both hands through his hair and over his face. Eoghanan had once been his closest friend in the world. It seemed odd to him that he should feel so uncomfortable speaking to him now. “’Tis about Mother. I need to know why ye have convinced her to leave. Whether Aunt Nairne wishes to see her or no, Mother wouldna have come to the decision to leave on her own. I canna figure out why ye see the need for her to leave here. Do ye no wish to help care for her? No even while she is ill?”
“Aye, o’ course I wish to care for her. Can ye no see ’tis for that reason that I insist she leave? I doona care what ye think of me. I love her just as much as ye do.”
Why did he feel the need to be so vague? Baodan had no reason to assume that the change would be in their mother’s best interest. “No, I canna see that her illness would be a reason for ye to make her leave here. I doona doubt that ye care for her, but ye are no telling the truth of what ye mean by all of this.”
“No, and I willna tell ye all there is to it either. ’Tis no me place to do so. No yet.”
Baodan moved across the room so that Eoghanan would not see his frustration, but the tone of his voice gave it away. “Is that so? I doona believe it was yer place to allow me wife to die, but ye did so any way. Why worry about what is and isna yer place now?”