Page 44 of A Fine Scottish Spell (The Magical Matchmakers of Seven Cairns #2)

Lexi frowned. No guy appeared after she tapped on the link. Just a grayed-out silhouette with a big red question mark overlaid on top of it. She handed the phone back to Maggie. “What’s that supposed to mean? Did they run out of men or something?”

The girl frowned. “That’s weird. I’ve never seen that before.

” She shrugged. “Probably just a crappy app. I’ll uninstall it and stick to your Mammaw cards and regular dating apps.

” She tore off a chunk of chicken and popped it into her mouth.

“But that card you drew makes sense. You said you’d been all wound up lately…

kind of like you need to be talked off a ledge. Are you feeling any better?”

Lexi shoved a peach around on her plate, trying to decide whether to lie or be honest.

“I want the truth, Lex,” Maggie said, as if reading her mind.

“I need…something. Some kind of change. I feel like one shoe just dropped, and the other is still suspended in midair and about to fall at any minute.” She slowly shook her head.

“And I don’t think it’s got anything to do with Mammaw’s passing.

I was leaning toward anxiety-overload before she died. ”

“Any more dreams about her?” Maggie filled her plate with peach cobbler, frowning at the lack of crust left in the container. “You fished out the best bits.”

“Of course I did,” Lexi said with no shame. “I always do. You know that.”

Maggie rolled her eyes and settled back into her chair. “Any more dreams?”

Lexi shrugged. “Just the same one over and over. Mammaw and me standing in a shadowy room, and her telling me, “ Stop stalling and just do it. ”

“Just do what?”

“Good question.”

“And you keep getting the death card in your tarot readings?”

Lexi went to her desk, cut the cards, shuffled them, then drew one and showed it to Maggie: the death card.

“That is freakin’ eerie.”

“What’s freakin’ eerie is I know I need a change . I just don’t know how big or what to change.” Lexi tucked the card back into the deck and placed them in a drawer.

With her fork in her mouth, Maggie took on a thoughtful yet frowning expression. Then she pointed the fork at Lexi. “You need a sabbatical.”

“From what?”

Maggie rolled her eyes again. “From here. This place. Your practice. Kentucky. We both know if you take a break and stay here, you’ll just get sucked right back into things.

Lexington won’t leave you alone, and the Horsey Set won’t either.

You have a way with animals that no one else around here has. ”

“And just how could I leave for any amount of time?”

“No one is indispensable, Lexi. You know that. Mammaw felt the same as you about taking time off, and yet this part of your world hasn’t collapsed since she passed.

I know a very large part of your personal world came crashing down around your heart when she left you, but the business side of things maintained the status quo until you worked through your grief enough to take the reins.

She and your grandfather set this place up to run like a well-oiled piece of machinery.

” Maggie slowly nodded. “You could leave here for a while and get your head and heart together. I can cover the vet side of things, and everyone else, your board of directors included, can handle the business end of Vinemagic Horse Farms. It’ll be fine. ”

“I don’t know. I just wouldn’t feel right about leaving.

” The idea was tempting and definitely tugged at her heart, but her stubborn sense of duty and accountability kept rearing its ugly head and bashing the temptation back down.

There was so much to handle during this time of year. “It just wouldn’t be right.”

“What wouldn’t be right about it? Everyone needs some downtime. Take a break before life breaks you.”

Lexi continued fiddling with the slippery peach that was trying to slide off her paper plate. “Where would I go?”

“Wherever you want to go—just not here or close enough to here for anyone from this area to get in touch with you.”

“But they might need to in case there was an emergency.”

Maggie huffed with an exasperated groan as she rose to dump her leftovers into the covered trash can outside the open office door in the barn’s primary thoroughfare.

“I can be the point of contact and decide what is or is not an emergency. You know I won’t let anyone bother you unless it’s warranted—like one of the barns burning down or something. ”

“Don’t even say that.” Lexi shuddered. A barn fire with all the horses inside? That was the stuff of nightmares.

“Go to Scotland and search for unicorns. You always dreamed of doing that.”

“When I was five.” Lexi gathered up the rest of the trash and disposed of it in the garbage bin. “Unfortunately, that dream was dashed when reality told me unicorns weren’t real.”

“Scotland thinks they’re real. Isn’t the unicorn their national animal?” Maggie propped her feet on the corner of the chair beside her. “And weren’t you having another recurring dream about unicorns and dark forests that was narrated by some deep, sexy voice?”

A shiver raced across Lexi. She was still having that dream, too. She just hadn’t told Maggie. “How do you remember all this stuff I tell you?”

“You’re my friend. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me.

” Maggie made a show of yawning and rubbing her eyes.

“Wow. You were right about the dangers of a big lunch. If we don’t do something interesting, I’m going to be snoring soon.

” With a wicked gleam in her eye, she hopped out of her seat and hurried over to Lexi’s desk and started typing on her keyboard.

“I know. Let’s check out some travel agencies.

See if we can find you a good Airbnb overseas or something. ”

“Your acting hasn’t gotten any better than it was in the third-grade talent show.”

“Humor me.”

Lexi joined her friend at the computer, more amused than excited about any traveling plans. When Maggie got on a roll about something, it was better to let her burn herself out than try to stop her. “What are you going to search for? Unicorns?”

Maggie laughed. “Why not?” She typed, trying to find unicorns in the search bar, and hit enter.

“Well, will you look at that?” She nodded at the first item on the list that popped up on the screen, then clicked on it.

“Seven Cairns, Scotland. Recommended by the Scottish tourism board as the place most likely to spot a unicorn. Cottages available for daily, weekly, and monthly rental.”

Even though the scenic photographs of Seven Cairns pulled at Lexi, her dubious streak persisted. “Back up a page and see what else the search suggested.”

“Hmm…looks like a place to make a stuffed unicorn, a place to buy unicorn costumes, and according to AI, unicorns do not exist. How rude, dashing somebody’s dreams like that.”

“Yeah, well, there is always someone ready to dash your dreams if you are willing to let them.” Lexi chewed on the corner of her lip, ruminating about all that such a getaway would entail.

She had always dreamed of visiting Scotland.

According to Mammaw, her great-grandmother had been born there.

“So, you’d be willing to handle my practice and make this your home base while I was gone? ”

“Absolutely.”

Lexi fully trusted Maggie. They’d been best friends since preschool. “You know everyone on the board will help if you need them. Mammaw trained them well.”

Maggie nodded, already looking smug with victory. “I know.”

“How long do you think I should take off? I don’t want to be selfish.”

Maggie waggled her head back and forth as though weighing all the options.

“I’ve heard tell that unicorns can be very elusive creatures.

I would think you would need at least a month.

After all, you have to settle into their habitat and make them feel comfortable enough to trust you, especially since you’re not a virgin anymore.

If you were still a virgin, they wouldn’t be able to resist you. ”

“Yeah, well, we can’t exactly un-ring that bell now, can we?”

“Nope. That proverbial ship has definitely sailed.” Maggie tapped on the keyboard again, then hit enter with a flourish. “I sent Seven Cairns your name and email address. The rest is up to you.”

Another shiver rippled through Lexi, but this one was different. It was almost like the feeling she had always gotten whenever Mammaw praised her for a job well done. This must be the right thing to do. If Mammaw took the time to smile down from heaven, then it had to be the right decision.

“Here’s to Scotland and unicorns,” Lexi said.

“And finding the change the cards say you need.”

“Amen.”

* * *

June 1811

Sevenrest Manor

Highlands of Scotland - within the Fae world of the Seventh Realm

Queen Nyna, Prince Jeros’s mother, exploded into the conservatory as if charging into battle. “Ye canna stay here at Sevenrest forever. No son of mine cowers. My son knows his duty to the Realm and accepts it.”

A heavy sigh escaped Jeros as he turned from the window and faced the woman who had never cared about or understood him, nor ever been the least inclined to try. “Good day to ye as well, Mother, and how are ye this fine beautiful morning?”

“How do ye think I am? We arranged this marriage to appease the Fifth Kingdom, and ye failed to appear for the announcement. Failed to represent the Seventh Realm as it should be represented. How the devil do ye think I am? We are on the brink of revolution. Is that what ye wish?”