Page 27 of Her Scot of Bygones (MacLeod Dragons #2)
–Hazel–
NOTHING HAD EVER felt so magical as when Lucas carried me out to our hazel tree at the edge of the forest beside my sister’s aspen. It seemed like something straight out of the very best fairytale. Although blustery and cold, it felt wonderful as he set me down beneath our tree amid big, fluffy snowflakes mixed with rays of sunshine, and those we loved watched as our wrists were bound with the MacLeod plaid and we exchanged vows.
If that weren’t perfect enough, when Lucas pulled me into his arms and kissed me with all the love he felt, the sun sat low enough in the sky that, when mixed with the scattered storm clouds, everything seemed to catch fire in pure blazing violet.
“Oh, wow,”
I whispered, awestruck, taking it all in as we started back toward the castle and a night of celebration. We didn't get far, though, before sunlight cut across the horizon in such a way that everyone who had wandered down to witness us exchange vows seemed to vanish, leaving only us and our immediate family.
“Look,”
Aspen gasped, gazing back at the hazel tree.
“Do you see them?”
“I do,”
I said, my voice thick with emotion, as a memory unfolded behind us near the base of the tree.
“It’s me and our father.”
As if caught in a time loop, my dad and I came and went from the tree at various ages, sometimes together, sometimes apart, with no angst between us. We went our separate ways at some point, so I didn't know what he did when he was here, but that was okay. He knew I was safe, and I knew I would see him again.
“Of course, he always knew I came here because he led me here,”
I said softly, blinking back tears.
“I couldn’t tell anyone for Lucas and Evan’s sake, but I always knew someday I could share my secret. He promised me, and I believed him because he was there for me and Mom so much more than I realized.”
I shook my head.
“So much more than he ever let on.”
“But how without you and your mom remembering?”
Aspen murmured.
Yet again, as if her words invoked it, time became less fragmented, slowing down until one last memory appeared, and it all came flooding back as we watched me after I’d lost my virginity, standing at the tree, this time not wanting to go back. The sun had been setting in that magnificent way it did every so often, splashing the twilight forest in purple.
“Every time I returned to the future, it grew more and more difficult to leave you, Lucas, but that time.”
A tear rolled down my cheek.
“That time I almost didn’t do it. That time I almost stayed because I loved you so much, and it broke my heart to be apart from you, yet I knew my mom needed me.”
“So you were going to try to bring her back with you,”
Aspen realized, catching my thoughts.
“I was,”
I said. “But…”
I trailed off as my father stepped from the tree and looked at my younger self with adoration. He was dressed appropriately for the era, still wearing Sutherland colors despite being banished, handsome as ever with his ebony hair and swarthy features.
“Nay, lass,”
he said softly, his brogue thick and his voice rough with emotion. He rested a hand on my shoulder, and his dragon eyes flared along with an aura that spoke to just how powerful he was.
“Yer mother and sisters need ye. Sisters who will lead ye back to yer mate and a bright future if all goes as I hope.”
“Sisters?”
“Aye,”
he said, with a faraway look in his eyes.
“Sisters ye have yet to meet, but will soon be an important part of yer life.”
“But why does it sound like I won’t be coming back again when you’re here?”
I had said softly, fear in my eyes, not just at the feeling I might never see him again, but that I could no longer come here as I had been.
“Because ye willnae.”
He cupped my cheek, and his voice grew gentle, full of magic, and he cast a spell I could detect now that I had embraced my dragon.
“’Twill all soon be bygones and ye will be as strong for yer mother as ye ever were, helping and guiding her to find the strength and consistency that comes so naturally to ye. He will come for ye eventually and help ye find yer way back to the wee girl who boldly followed me hundreds of years into the past.”
Casting me under his spell, my father looked deeper into my eyes and made me a promise that I now know he had kept.
“Whatever happens, somewhere deep inside, ye will know the great love I have for ye,”
he swore.
“Might one day ye help yer sisters know I love them just as much and though it may seem otherwise, everything I have done is for ye and for them.”
I couldn’t help noticing Aspen wiping away tears as my father faded from the memory right before a younger Lucas came out of nowhere, pleading with me not to go. To stay with him. We would figure things out.
Yet it was too late.
My father’s spell was already taking me away, along with all our memories of each other. Even those with Evan.
“’Twas what I saw in the tunnel,”
Lucas exclaimed as he raced toward me, roaring with grief and shifting into his dragon, only for me to be swept away along with any memory we had of each other.
“And it’s why the purple forest seemed so sinister to you,”
I said, noting the trees appeared the same right now, yet brighter somehow.
“Because ‘tis all behind us now,”
Evan said softly, following my thoughts. He was about to say more when the last of the sun’s rays hit the Y shape on the tree and shimmered before fading.
“What is it?”
Aspen wondered as I drifted that way.
“I don’t know,”
I murmured, until I spied a small scroll tucked away, barely holding on in the wind, and I knew.
“It’s one last message from Storm.”
I unrolled it and read, hoping to meet her someday.
Here’s to rediscovering love once more. Might bygones truly be bygones and the future be bright for all three of you.
Your Friend Always,
Storm
There was no need to wonder what she meant because I knew, and I think Aspen did too. It was time to start forgiving our father and embrace what lay ahead.
“And I couldnae agree more,”
Lucas said softly as the letter caught on the wind and drifted up into our tree until it vanished in a ray of dwindling sunlight.
“Nor I,”
Evan said, thankful that in the end, we all found each other again and could make new memories.
So it was, as the sun sank into the sparkling ocean, and we spent the evening celebrating my marriage to Lucas, that we began anew.
A sinister witchy dragon still ruled over her kingdom, and her evil son still thought he was at the helm of an ancient prophecy, but the good guys were gaining ground, so there was much hope to be had.
After all, what started as my very Cautious Turned Whirlwind Fairytale when my Scot of Bygones stole me away in the dead of the night, became the beginning of a new journey with good friends and, most definitely, a Happily Ever After with the love of my life.
Will Willow be lured by Sloan to Sutherland Castle and become the witch destined for a Sutherland? Or does Sloan have something up his sleeve, and nothing will go like Elspet and Dugal think it will? Find out as the journey continues in Her Scot of the Morrow.
Just Curious
First off, I’d like to thank all of you who have kept reading my books and followed my characters over the years. As I always say, without you, they’d be voiceless, their stories forever untold. I’d also like to thank those of you who just found me. I hope you’ve enjoyed spending time with all my various characters. Enough so that you might share your experience.
To that point, if you enjoyed Her Scot of Bygones, would you consider leaving a rating or review? Just a line or two. It would mean the world and make such a difference in reaching more readers and continuing the craft I love. If you’re up for it, thank you in advance. I appreciate it more than you know, as do my characters.
Hugs!
Sky
Turn Back the Clock?
Meet Broderick before he comes together with Aspen. Follow Storm and her cousins as they come together with their fated mates in Wolves of Ossary.
Wolves of Ossary Boxed Set
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Coming Soon
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Follow Sloan MacLeod’s love story in Her Scot of the Morrow, Book Three in my MacLeod Dragons series.