Chapter 10
Elodie tried to keep her breathing even.
She hadn’t been able to stand still since Filip and Scott had walked into the cottage.
She had thought it was just the idea of having two men inside with her.
Then Scott’s fingers had brushed hers. There hadn’t been an electric shock, just a warmth that slowly spread up her arm and then through her body.
It wasn’t at all uncomfortable. Quite the opposite, actually. And that in and of itself put her on edge. She was used to not feeling much of anything physically. If she were interested in a guy and he returned the interest, then she saw where it went—which was never anywhere.
Unfortunately, some of the men had been rather nice.
They had declared feelings for her, things that she could never return.
She used to try and explain that she was dead inside.
It had happened when her magic vanished.
Nothing she did brought it back. She had tried to fall in love.
She had said the words and done everything she had read in books or seen in movies, but she simply couldn’t do it.
Worse, she never felt the attraction everyone always talked about. One of her co-workers seemed to fall in love with a new guy every couple of months. It hadn’t taken Elodie long to realize that the woman was in love with the idea of falling in love.
“It’s such a rush!” her co-worker had explained. “First, it’s like an animal attraction. Eyes meeting across the room and all that. Then there is this need to be close to them. Oh, my God! It’s the most amazing experience.”
When Elodie pointed out that the experience never lasted past a few months, her co-worker had waved away her words as if they weren’t important.
Maybe Elodie wasn’t attracted to anyone because of what’d happened with her parents.
Maybe it was because of the marriages and families she’d destroyed before leaving Skye.
Maybe her magic had taken her ability to fall in love when it’d left.
Or maybe she’d just been born this way.
Whatever the reason, she accepted it. So why, then, did the warmth unfurling through her now from Scott’s touch make her so wary? And…excited? It was the briefest of touches. Could it even be classified as one? It was more like a brush or a graze.
But that didn’t explain the warmth.
She blinked and realized that Filip had been talking. Elodie glanced at Scott. His dark blue eyes watched her. She didn’t gaze too long at him. It felt as if he could see straight into the black pit of what remained of her soul—a place that never healed. But that was her fault. She hadn’t let it.
“What do you think?”
Elodie startled. She looked at Filip and forced a nervous smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
“He asked if you’d tell us about the repairs. And then we can go take a look,” Scott said.
Scott had a deep voice, but something about it had a calming effect. She wasn’t fooled, though. She had been around enough charmers to know that he was one.
“Sure,” she answered and began listing off everything.
Filip hurried to make a list on his mobile, but Scott simply stared.
It was unnerving to have that unwavering, deep blue gaze focused on her.
Then they were both walking through the house.
She didn’t follow them. She hadn’t followed any of the people who had come to give her quotes.
Mainly because she didn’t want to be one of those people.
But also because they went into her parents’ room, and she wasn’t ready for that yet.
It would look strange if she suddenly stopped outside the bedroom.
Which would then bring questions, and she really didn’t want that.
So, she stayed in the kitchen and drank her now-cold tea. She hated cold tea, but she didn’t want to waste it. The fact that she was penny-pinching tea bags should tell the universe how far she had sunk. Elodie popped her mug into the microwave and heated it enough to be drinkable.
She tried to sit at the kitchen table, but hearing Filip and Scott moving around the house made her nervous.
That was odd since none of the others had caused such feelings in her.
When the pair went into the room she slept in, she strained to hear what they said.
Then wondered why. It certainly couldn’t be because she might have felt a wee bit of something with Scott.
When had she ever gotten that lucky?
Suddenly, Scott walked into the kitchen.
He gave her a smile as they looked around the room.
She fidgeted, then got irritated with herself for being so nervous.
It felt like an eternity later before the two moved into the dining room and then the living area.
She stayed where she was when they found their way into the attic.
Elodie could determine where they were by the sound of their footfalls above her.
When they came back down, they lingered for a long time in her parents’ room.
Everyone who came to give a quote had. She imagined it was pretty bad in there.
She hadn’t asked Edie about it. Maybe she should, to prepare for whatever was within.
The truth was, she was a coward. She wouldn’t open the door to her parents’ bedroom, she wouldn’t talk to Edie about it, and she wouldn’t go see her mum.
If she did any of those things, she would have to face the past—something that had haunted her since it’d all happened.
It was also a past that she wanted to lay to rest.
The only way to do that was to face it. But she was too scared.
Hence the problem.
Elodie dropped her forehead to her hands on the table and sighed. She wanted to get her life on track. She had told herself that even before she came to Skye, and she knew the way to do it. Why then couldn’t she? What was she so afraid of?
“You’re no’ afraid of anything,” her dad used to say teasingly.
But it had been the truth. She’d never been afraid of the dark, the monsters under her bed, rejection from a guy, or going after her dreams. Nothing.
Until the incident.
And her magic leaving.
She at least needed to tell Edie about her magic. Hoping that she would get through her time on Skye without that coming up was delusional, and Elodie was anything but.
In an effort to stop thinking about the past and Scott, she turned her thoughts to dinner the night before.
She had met Trevor twice in the nine years he had been married to Edie.
Her sister’s husband wasn’t exactly handsome, but he had an air about him that made Elodie see why Edie had fallen for Trevor.
He adored her sister. That much was plain to see.
After what had happened with their mother, Elodie looked for anything that would indicate that Edie was in the same kind of relationship.
Her sister was so much like their mum that it caused Elodie concern.
But the way Edie and Trevor gazed at each other, both so full of love, warmed her heart. Edie had found love.
Trevor touched her sister often. His hands were always on her, whether it was walking past Edie or sitting at the table.
Between the looks and touches, Elodie knew that she didn’t have to worry about her sister anymore.
Plus, Trevor was aware of Edie’s magic and not only accepted it but welcomed it.
The children had stared at Elodie all night, which was a little unnerving.
They had spent the first thirty minutes quiet and then wouldn’t stop talking after that.
At eight and six, they were a handful, but much to Elodie’s surprise, they were also a delight.
She had no experience with children, but she had one on each side of her on the sofa by the end of the night.
Plans had already been made for another dinner next week.
It made her wonder how things might have been had she visited her sister.
She might have been there for baby showers and maybe even the kids’ births.
Christmases and birthdays. She had missed so very much by distancing herself from Skye.
Elodie’s head snapped up when Scott and Filip walked to the front door and then went outside.
She hadn’t heard them come out of her parents’ room.
Stifling a yawn, she couldn’t wait until she had a full night’s sleep again.
The previous night hadn’t just been plagued with dreams but an ominous feeling she couldn’t shake.
She rose from the table and rinsed her cup, hating that she ended up wasting the tea in the end, anyway. Elodie folded some laundry in her room while the men were outside. When she heard the knock and then the door open as Filip called out, she went to meet them in the kitchen.
“We’re in for a storm,” Filip said, his nose and cheeks red from the wind.
Scott nodded as he glanced out the window. “You can see it coming in.”
Elodie turned to look behind her and saw the dark clouds on the horizon.
“Here it is.”
She looked at Filip to see a piece of paper with the jobs and their cost written in pencil.
She scanned down to the bottom, taking in the total.
She blinked, wondering if she’d read it right.
It was almost half the price of any of the others she had gotten.
Elodie went back to the top of the list and read through each line.
Filip and Scott had caught everything except for two items the others had.
“What about the spot at the back—?” she began.
Filip shrugged. “It’s up to you. I left it off because it’s more cosmetic than anything. Plus, I’d include that if we’re doing work near there. It’s a small enough area no’ to charge more.”
She nodded, accepting his answer.
“As for the other,” he continued, “you’re talking about the area in the garage, right? I can cut that spot out and put in a new board. It doesna require extensive work.”
Elodie shook her head in amazement. She expected businesses to try and upsell, but those two items in all three bids had cost a lot. “Are you sure about this price?”
“If you’re worried that we’re making money, doona,” Scott said. “It includes labor.”
She would be a fool to turn this down. Unless they did a poor job. Elodie looked at Filip. She recalled that his father had been the one everyone called for odd jobs, and that Filip and Kevin were often with him.
“You can trust me,” Filip said as if reading her mind. “I’ll do a good job for you, Elodie.”
She folded the paper. “I need to talk to Edie.”
“Of course,” Filip replied.
Scott said, “We’d like to get the spot in the back corner of the house done free of charge. It wouldna be verra neighborly for us to see something and allow more damage to happen with the storm coming.”
“I can’t allow you to work for free.” She didn’t like the idea of anyone doing things for free. It was their time, energy, and materials. Since she counted each penny, she knew how important it was to get paid.
Filip winked at her. “Come have a drink with us sometime. That’ll be payment enough. We can talk about Kevin.”
How could she refuse now? “Thank you.”
“I should’ve done more a long time ago,” Filip said, suddenly serious. “I’m sorry I didna. I was a kid.”
“We all were,” she said before he could continue. “If anyone should apologize, it’s me.”
Filip shook his head. “I disagree.” He cleared his throat and glanced at Scott. “We’re going to get to work before the storm hits.”
“One more thing,” she said. “The carpet in the bedroom area. Can you replace that?”
Filip chuckled. “You knew my da. He did everything and taught us—including laying carpet. Want me to get you a quote on that, too?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“I’ll measure,” Scott said as he walked away.
Elodie found herself alone with Filip. She moved closer and lowered her voice. “How long have you known him?”
“A few years. He’s a good guy. He and Kevin were close. Scott decided to come with me to help me sort things. I’ll probably be selling Da’s cottage.”
“Your cottage,” she corrected.
Filip’s lips twisted. “Aye. It’s strange to think it, and even stranger to hear it. As for Scott, I wouldna bring someone into your home that I didna trust with my life. In case you’re wondering, he’s a Druid.”
She hadn’t been, but now that Filip had told her, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She missed her magic every day, but especially the times she happened upon a Druid who had no idea how precious—and precarious—their magic was.