Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Flinging her pillows across the room wasn’t making Jenna feel any better.
Damn it! How could I have fallen in love?
That was definitely not in the plan. She curled up in a tight ball on the bed, pillow clutched to her chest and let the tears she had been holding back fall.
Damn! Damn! Damn! She was being such a baby.
This was not the way to treat the man who had done nothing more than want her enough to ask her to go home with him.
She couldn’t go. She needed to stay in San Francisco.
Tears and pouting were not something she did.
At least not until Cormac MacBayne made an appearance in her life.
She’d cried angry tears plenty of times with Jonathan, but sad tears were a rarity in her world.
She didn’t allow herself the luxury of feeling sorry for herself, but that was exactly how she was feeling.
Her emotions fluctuated between sadness, hopelessness and irritation that this should happen to her.
If Cormac hadn’t arrived out of the fog that morning, she wouldn’t be facing a future of wondering what if.
What if she went with him? Would she regret her choice?
Would they both wake up one morning and realize they made a terrible mistake?
Jenna wanted to run down the hall to Cormac’s room and throw herself into his arms, but that wouldn’t solve anything.
It would just muddle things even more. She needed a clear head to deal with his departure.
She’d stay in her room tonight and instead of thinking with her heart, she’d think with her head.
Jenna took a deep breath and decided that in the morning she’d let Cormac come with her.
She lied about having things to do. At that moment she hadn’t wanted to be around him.
She knew that if she was, she’d never be able to deal with what was inevitably going to happen.
Tomorrow would be tough, but she was tough and she could handle it.
It would definitely be the hardest thing she’d ever have to do in her life, but she would spend the day with him and then the next morning she would take him to the Marina and say goodbye.
What was she thinking? If he wasn’t going to the airport and getting on a plane, he wasn’t going anywhere.
She let herself get all worked up, when in actual fact, he wasn’t leaving.
Maybe tomorrow she could get him to tell her the truth.
Maybe it was all a practical joke, just like she thought from the beginning.
If it was, it was the cruelest joke anyone had ever played on her.
With that thought in her head, Jenna fell into a fitfull sleep.
“Jenna are ye alright? May I come in?” Cormac sounded concerned.
“I’m okay, Cormac. I just had a nightmare. You can go back to bed.”
“I heard ye calling me. Are ye sure ye dinna need me?”
“I’m sure. I was calling to you in my dream, but I guess I was talking in my sleep. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“Dinna fash, lass. I’m here if ye need me.”
She didn’t answer him and the silence stretched on until finally she heard him retreat down the hallway.
What kind of crazy dream was that? Jenna lay back onto the pillows and tried in vain to fall back to sleep.
She checked her clock and saw it was only four a.m. She tried closing her eyes, but kept seeing that wolf, his teeth dripping with saliva, his hot breath fanning over her skin and his eyes boring holes through her.
Jenna was glad she awoke when she did. She couldn’t imagine what would have happened next in her dream, but it surely wouldn’t have been good.
She shuddered just thinking about it. It felt so real.
Turning on the light, Jenna searched the room with her eyes.
Something didn’t feel right. She got up and padded to the bathroom, where she switched on another light.
That nightmare had really spooked her. You look like hell, Jenna.
She leaned on the sink and gazed into the mirror noting the dark circles under her eyes.
Nothing a little makeup won’t fix. “I might as well get up ‘cause there’s no way I’m falling back to sleep.
” She threw on her robe, grabbed a blanket and headed for the living room.
Watching reruns of old sitcoms always helped when she couldn’t sleep and she hoped it would do the trick this time as well.
Jenna curled her legs under her and covered herself with the blanket, pulling it up tight around her ears.
“Jenna, may I sit with ye?” Cormac appeared in the room, bare chested and wearing a pair of Dylan’s sweatpants. “Ye canna sleep,” he stated.
Jenna scooted over to make room for him and he sat, pulling her into his arms. She rested her head on his chest, deeply breathing in his scent—pine and musk - and the uneasiness that had been following her since the nightmare, vanished.
He didn’t say a word, just held her, kissing the top of her head.
The warmth of his body reassured her and made her feel safe.
Nothing could harm her when she was in his arms. What would she do when he was gone?
That thought had her wrapping her arms around his waist, anchoring him to her.
She didn’t want to let go. A tear slid down her cheek and landed on Cormac’s chest.
“Jenna, are ye crying?” he asked. Her answer was a sniffle. “I’m here, lass. I’ll watch over ye. Sleep.”
***
He held her close as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
He would protect her while he was still in San Francisco, but he couldn’t help but wonder how she would fare after he was gone.
Would she be alright without him here? Would Jonathan continue to harass her?
He didn’t want to think about those things, so instead he thought about the soft, sweet woman in his arms and he too drifted off to sleep.
***
“Good morning, sleepy heads,” Dylan greeted them with Chester by his side. “And just why are we sleeping on the sofa? Rumor has it that a bed is much more comfortable.”
Jenna yawned and stretched, accidentally hitting Cormac’s chin. “Good morning,” she managed as she blinked the sleep from her eyes. Reaching out she gently massaged Cormac’s chin. “I’m sorry, Cormac, I didn’t mean to pop you.”
“Dinna fear, love, it would take more than that to hurt me,” Cormac reassured her. He released his hold on Jenna and she sat up.
“I hope you two made up,” Dylan said with a teasing look in his eyes.
“We weren’t fighting, Dylan,” Jenna said.
“Or, I guess I should say, Cormac wasn’t fighting.
” She repositioned herself on the sofa and wrapped the blanket closer around her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, Cormac. It seems like I’m always saying that and before you tell me that it’s okay, I’m going to tell you that it’s not.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I don’t seem to have any control over my emotions lately. ”
“I willnae tell ye it’s okay, instead I’ll accept yer apology, if ye promise me that today ye will not be angry with me.”
“I think I can do that. I promise,” she smiled shyly at him. “Okay. We’ve got one more day together and we should enjoy it. How about if we just spend time together. I don’t have any specific plans. Let’s just see where the day takes us.”
“I believe that will be fine. I just want to spend the day with ye.” Jenna could see the love in his eyes and her heart ached at the thought of not seeing him after tomorrow.
“I just have one question for you and I want you to be honest with me,” she stated. “I’ve been lied to enough lately.”
“What is it, love?” Cormac asked.
“I need you to tell me the truth. Have you and Dylan been playing a practical joke on me?”
“Jenna, I ken yer not able to believe what I’ve told ye, but ye can believe that I am not trying to fool ye about anything.”
“He’s telling the truth, Jenna. There’s no practical joke,” Dylan added.
He was looking rather serious, which Jenna knew was not typical for Dylan.
If he was joking around, he surely wouldn’t have been able to keep it going for a whole week.
But that left her with an even bigger question mark.
Time travel? Witches? She might not believe it, but both Cormac and Dylan did.
She’d try to keep an open mind about it and let this play out. What else could she do?
“Okay. I believe you,” she said, even though she was still struggling with all of it. “I’m not going to give it another thought. Let’s make today a day that neither one of us will forget.”
“A day to remember, aye?”
Chester padded into the room, looking sleepy-eyed. “Chester, where have ye been?” Cormac fluffed his ears and ruffled the fur on the dog’s back. Chester responded by licking Cormac’s face and wriggling from head to toe.
“I’m going to take Chester for his morning walk. I’ll be back a bit later. You two have fun,” Dylan winked in their direction as he leashed Chester and headed for the door. “Should we all have dinner together tonight, or would you rather be alone.”
“Together,” Cormac said, much to Jenna’s disappointment. “But only for dinner. After that I’d like to spend my final evening here with only Jenna.”
“No problem, Bro. I’ll leave you alone after we eat,” Dylan continued, opening the door.
“I’ll cook,” Jenna said. “We’ll go shopping for groceries while we’re out.”
“Okay. See you later then.” And with that Dylan and Chester were gone, leaving Jenna alone with Cormac.
“We should get dressed,” Jenna said as she headed for her room. “Let’s go get some coffee.”
“And food?” Cormac hopefully asked.
“Of course,” Jenna answered. Cormac appeared very happy with that answer. He must be starving. “I’ll meet you back out here.”
***