Laird’s Curse (Highlander of the Isles #1)

Chapter One

Jenna MacFinnan rolled up the jeans and stuffed them into the bin bag with more force than was strictly necessary. The Spider-Man T-shirt went next. Then the socks. Then the boots. Then every other tiny scrap or reminder she could get her hands on. It didn’t take long to fill.

When she was done, she tied it off, dragged it to the door, then picked it up and flung it with all her strength. The black bag sailed through the air and landed with the others by the gate with a satisfying thump.

With a huff, she whirled and scanned the room, looking for what else she could throw.

Her eyes alighted on the pile of vinyl records stacked on the sideboard.

She stomped over and picked up the nearest one.

The Who. Seventies music had been one of his things.

Along with dirt-bike racing and rock climbing.

Oh, and cheating on her, of course.

Grinding her teeth, Jenna cocked her arm to hurl the record out with the rest, then hesitated. It would be a shame to ruin such collector’s items. They might actually be worth something and, let’s face it, she needed all the money she could get right now.

An image flashed through her mind. Getting home from work early. Pushing the door open. Pausing at the strange sounds coming from inside. Creak, creak, creak. A woman’s cry. A man’s grunt. And then… and then…

With a bellow of rage, she picked up the stack of records, carried them to the door, and flung them out into the pile of garbage that had once been her life. Far from the satisfaction she hoped it would bring, the action only made her feel hollow.

So much gone. So much ruined.

She kicked the door closed, crossed the living room, and slumped onto the sofa. Drawing her knees in, she wrapped her arms around them and stared at nothing. Why did this hurt so much? Why did it feel as though somebody had taken a rusty knife and carved her insides out?

She felt tears coming again and dashed them away angrily. She would not cry over him. He didn’t deserve her tears. Yet, try as she might, they fell anyway, running down her cheeks no matter what she did to try and stop them.

“Here,” said a voice suddenly. “You’ve got snot coming out of your nose.”

Jenna looked up to see two women standing over her.

She’d been so engrossed in her misery she hadn’t even heard them come in.

They both had the same dark hair and green eyes she did—all the MacFinnan women had the same coloring—but one was older with her hair tied back into a severe braid while the other was only a few years older than Jenna herself with pink highlights running through her hair.

It was the younger one who’d spoken, and she was holding out a handkerchief.

Jenna snatched it and blew her nose. “Don’t you two know how to knock?”

The woman shrugged. “The door was open.”

Jenna scowled. “What do you want?”

The older of the two sighed. “What do you think we want, Jenna? We’ve come to check you’re okay. And by the looks of it, you most definitely aren’t.”

“I’m fine.” Jenna said, waving them away. “Just fine. Go away and leave me alone.”

They ignored her and sat down on the couch on either side. Her aunts, Rose and Elise, were not very good at abiding by her wishes, and she should have known they’d be over the moment they found out what had happened.

And, despite her protestations, she was glad they were here.

Rose, her eldest aunt, put her arms around her and drew her close. “It’s all right, Jenna,” she said soothingly. “It’s going to be all right.”

Jenna put her arms around Rose and cried. Elise, her younger aunt, patted her awkwardly on the back. “Is there anything we can do?”

Yeah, you can turn back time, so I never meet that bastard called Alex Carter, she thought. How about that?

She cried until her eyes were puffy and her face blotchy and all the while Rose and Elise waited patiently, neither saying a word, both just comforting her by their presence.

But eventually, Jenna’s tears ran dry. She drew a deep breath and pushed herself out of Rose’s embrace.

Her aunts watched her warily, as though wondering if she was going to have another outburst. Jenna wasn’t entirely sure herself.

Rose patted her knee. “He wasn’t good enough for you anyway. We always said that, didn’t we, Elise? You deserve someone who’s going to love you for who you are. Someone who respects you. Someone who doesn’t spend all his money on his dirt-bikes or stupid records.”

“Sure,” Jenna murmured. “Where am I going to meet someone like that?”

Rose pursed her lips. Instead of answering Jenna’s question, she growled, “Alex Carter had better watch out. If I run into him, he won’t know what’s hit him! Tell you what, shall I put a hex on him? Make him come out in boils? Shrivel his manhood to the size of a peanut?”

Jenna snorted. “If only! But we all know you can’t do that. Our powers can only be used for good, remember?” How often had she heard that growing up? She’d had so many lectures on the fact it was a wonder she didn’t repeat it in her sleep.

“Who needs a hex?” said Elise with a shrug. “Just kick him in the balls and be done with it. Get him in just the right spot and his manhood will shrivel to the size of a peanut.”

Despite herself, Jenna laughed. Her aunts always seemed to know what to say to make her feel better.

Rose, the sensible one, and Elise, the wild-child, they balanced each other out and gave some much-needed stability to Jenna’s life.

Since her mother died, they’d been her rock, and she didn’t know what she would have done without them.

She smiled and took each of their hands in hers. “Thanks, guys.”

Rose smiled and Elise ruffled Jenna’s hair like she’d done ever since she was a kid. “What’s family for if not for times like this? And I will put a hex on him if you like, rules be damned. Or kick him in the balls. It’s your choice.”

Jenna shook her head. If anyone was going to put a hex on Alex Bloody Carter, it would be her. Shrivel his manhood to the size of a peanut? That would serve him right!

But Jenna knew she wouldn’t. She didn’t use her powers anymore, and she wouldn’t break her promise now—not even for Alex Cheating Bastard Carter.

The MacFinnan women had always been witches, wielding abilities that had been passed down from mother to daughter. When she’d been younger, Jenna had used her powers to help her mother with small things: finding lost pets, predicting the weather, doing little healing spells, and so on.

But none of her powers—or that of her aunts—had been enough when it really mattered—when her mother had been diagnosed with cancer.

Alongside the surgery and grueling chemo her mother had undergone, Jenna and her aunts had tried everything in their power to help, using every spell and incantation they knew.

Nothing had worked. Her mother had slowly wasted away before Jenna’s eyes, and when she went, the last of Jenna’s faith in the MacFinnan magic went with her.

After that, she’d vowed never to use her powers again.

No longer would she rely on something that had failed her so utterly.

What use was it really, anyway? There were drones and GPS for finding lost pets.

There were apps for predicting the weather.

And as for healing? Well, they’d all seen how that worked out.

So, although Rose and Elise thought her mad for giving up her gifts, Jenna had not touched her power for the last five years, and her life had been all the better for it. Until now. Until Alex Cheating Bastard Carter had torn it in half.

“What are you going to do about the house?” Rose asked suddenly. “Doesn’t he pay half the mortgage?”

Jenna nodded tightly. She really didn’t need reminding of that. “I’ll be fine. I’ll pick up more shifts at work.”

“And you’ve got the money your mom left you. That should help,” Rose added.

Jenna said nothing. She did not have the money her mom left her.

That had gone into the deposit for buying this place and then fixing the myriad of things that had been wrong with it, but her aunts didn’t need to know that.

The truth was, without Alex’s wages she was up a certain creek without a paddle, but she’d be damned if she was going to admit that.

She would find a way out of the mess he’d landed her in, no matter what it took.

“Tell you what,” said Elise, rising to her feet and pointing to the pile of Alex’s things on the path and waggling her fingers theatrically.

“How about we have a little bonfire? It’s the least he deserves.

When I split with Gary, I burned everything he’d left in my apartment.

Made me feel a lot better, I can tell you. ”

“Don’t go telling her things like that, Elise!” Rose said. “You’ll have the police around here and Jenna being prosecuted for arson!”

Elise shrugged. “So?”

Rose frowned at her sister and then looked at Jenna. “I’ll take Alex’s things down to the second-hand store. If he really wants them, he can buy them back from there, can’t he?”

Jenna nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Rose.”

“Why don’t you come and spend the day at my place?” Rose continued. “I’m making chutney. I’ve even roped Elise in to help.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “Blackmailed is more like. Yeah, come, Jenna, and save me from a day of tedium.”

Jenna smiled at their efforts to cheer her up. “Thanks, but I can’t. I’ve got work later, and I promised Mrs. Turner I’d walk Bunny before my shift starts.”

“All right,” said Rose, patting Jenna’s shoulder before climbing to her feet. “But you know where we are if you need us.”

“Sure.”

Her aunts walked to the door, and Elise turned at the threshold and waggled her fingers again. “And if you change your mind about that hex on Alex The Bastard, be sure to let me know.”

Jenna gave a soft laugh. “You better get out of here before I decide to take you up on that offer.”

They left and Jenna sighed at the sudden empty silence that filled her home.

She felt a little better, a little more determined, after their visit.

After all, she was Jenna MacFinnan, wasn’t she?

She was from a long line of strong women who’d never let a man ruin their lives. She was not about to be the first.

She grabbed her laptop and opened it, balancing it on her lap.

Logging into the coffee shop’s timetabling system, she scrolled through, looking for overtime.

She’d already booked as many extra shifts as she could, but was hopeful there might be more available.

If she was going to keep the house, she needed every extra penny she could get.

But there was nothing. All the extra shifts had already been taken.

She fired off a quick email to Brenda, her boss, practically begging her to let her know if anything came up.

Sickness. Home emergencies. Anything that might give her a few extra hours.

She didn’t hold out much hope, and even if she did get extra shifts, she knew it wouldn’t be enough to stave off the bank that was already on her back over the mortgage arrears.

She felt that hot well of despair rising up inside her again. Damn it! She chewed on her lip, staring unseeing at the screen. What could she do? There must be something.

She clicked on a file on her laptop, then stared at the document she’d been putting off completing. She’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this. Now she realized she had no choice.

Taking a deep breath, she began typing into the document, trying to ignore the two words printed across the top.

Words that read, Loan application.