Chapter 2
Lachlan and Enrick had removed Robert’s wet clothes, and he was in bed shivering in one of the guest chambers, buried under a ton of blankets, before Edeen arrived. She had brought him some hot tea.
Lachlan was watching him, his arms folded across his chest. “You know you shouldn’t be swimming out there unless you’re wearing the proper clothes for it.”
Enrick agreed.
Robert gave his brothers-in-law a half smile. He loved that the brothers ribbed him about things, which made him feel as though he was one of them. His relationship with his sister was so different. They were close, but it wasn’t the same as being one of the guys.
“I know what I’ll be getting you for Christmas,” Edeen said.
“Oh?” Robert couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say. He swore she was picking up some of the MacQuarrie brothers’ habits.
“A dry suit.”
Robert smiled. “I already have one. I just never thought I would wind up swimming while I was fishing.”
“We can hold off on training you to sword fight tomorrow,” Lachlan said, frowning, sounding serious.
“I’ll be fine for that. As long as I don’t get heatstroke during the practice.”
Lachlan laughed. “We’ll have plenty of water to drink, and it’s supposed to be overcast tomorrow, so it won’t be too hot while we’re getting a good workout. This is our regular time to spar, and we want you to join us, but seriously, if you don’t feel up to it, you can bow out and everyone will understand.”
“I’ll be there.”
“We’re having lunch first,” Lachlan said.
“All right.”
“Edeen’s coming too. She said she doesn’t trust us to go easy on you the first time.” Lachlan smiled.
“You’re right about that,” Edeen said.
Robert chuckled.
“But we wouldn’t do that to you. We don’t want you to avoid other practices,” Lachlan said. Footfalls headed toward the guest chamber. “Sounds like you have some more visitors.”
***
Colleen and Maisie headed down the long hallway after climbing the circular stairs—Maisie swore she didn’t want to look at one more stair today—and reached a chamber. The door was open, and Colleen knocked on it. A pretty redheaded woman with beautiful green eyes was in the room standing beside the bed where Robert was buried under blankets. Lachlan and Enrick were there too.
“Hey, is it okay if we check on Robert?” Colleen asked.
“I’m fine.” Robert rubbed his forehead, his dark-brown hair dry now. The color had returned to his lips and face, and he gave Maisie a small smile, his blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight streaming through the window.
Maisie was glad to see he was looking better.
The red-haired woman eyed Maisie, measuring her up. Was she interested in dating Robert? Or was she his mate? Maisie shouldn’t have cared one way or another, but it bothered her just the same.
She was a sucker for beautiful blue eyes and a wolf who was apologetic—especially as she wasn’t used to an alpha male apologizing to her for anything.
“Do you have a first aid kit?” Maisie said.
“Yeah, sure,” Colleen said.
“I’ll go get it,” Lachlan said.
“And wire cutters and a pair of pliers,” Robert said.
Lachlan frowned at him, then said, “Okay,” in a drawn-out fashion.
“I’m Robert’s sister and Lachlan’s mate, Edeen. And you are?” Edeen asked.
Colleen jumped right in with introductions. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought you had already met each other, Edeen. This is Maisie MacTavish, proud owner of one of our Irish wolfhounds from the same litter that your Ruby came from. Maisie and her sister, Anne, own the MacTavish Inn down the coast. Maisie also does photography for magazines. Edeen creates faux vintage gowns and other beautiful clothes out of her and Lachlan’s home.”
“Oh, how wonderful. I would be happy to do a portrait of Ruby for you, Edeen,” Maisie said. “I take a lot of animal photographs.” She loved doing them, and she wanted to do one of Conan too, though he wouldn’t sit still for her yet.
“That’s right,” Colleen said. “She took the Christmas pictures of the litter to help us sell them on our breeder’s website. Of course, then she fell in love with all the pups and picked out one of them for her own.”
“Aye, the unruliest one, so it seems. I had to bring Conan back here for obedience training for three weeks,” Maisie said to Edeen.
“Oh, Conan, sure. I’ve seen him in training,” Edeen said. “He’s a beautiful brindle and doing a great job.”
“That’s wonderful to hear.” Maisie was truly pleased, as she’d thought the dog would be hopeless to train, but then that made her wonder if his owners were the ones who were not very good at making him mind.
“I would love to commission you for some animal portraits for our fox terriers, Ruby, our Scottish fold cat, and Highland calves too,” Edeen said.
“That’s great.” Maisie wondered if Edeen was trying to set her up with her brother, which she thought was cute.
Carrying the first aid kit and the other items they’d asked for, Lachlan walked back into the chamber.
“Um, could Robert and I have some privacy for a few minutes?” Maisie hated to propose such a thing in front of the others, but she preferred doing this without a big audience.
Edeen, Lachlan, and Enrick looked surprised, but Colleen smiled. “Yeah, sure. Come on, everyone.” Then they walked out of the guest chamber.
Once Colleen shut the door, Maisie said, “Okay, take it out.”
Robert pulled the covers aside.
He was totally naked! And he looked perfectly alpha in that moment. Then she remembered he’d been hypothermic and they’d had to remove his wet clothes. “Sorry, I don’t have anything to wear.” He really didn’t sound apologetic, just like he wanted to take care of her as quickly as possible. He was the perfect specimen of a male wolf in human form. “Luckily, I don’t have to traumatize the area any further; the barb went all the way through the skin on your arm. I’ll just cut it here.”
She had totally forgotten about the fishhook and was still thinking of his beautiful physique.
He snipped off the barb, then laid it on the bedside table. “And pull this out this way.”
After he removed the hook, she pulled her suit off so he could sterilize the wound and apply a bandage. At least the fishhook appeared to be brand-new, not rusty.
“How are you feeling now?” He began to clean the wound.
That stung like crazy. “Much better, but I’m glad I’m not swimming in seawater anytime soon.”
“I’ll say.”
He applied the bandage with such finesse and caring, she looked back up at his beautiful blue eyes framed by the most luscious black eyelashes. To her surprise, he began to examine her head. “Where does it hurt?”
She felt the top of her head, and he put his hand gently on it.
“You have a contusion. I recommend an ice pack and a day in bed.”
With him? She was ready. What was wrong with her that she was thinking of such a thing right now when he was still recovering from hypothermia and she had a head injury? Well, maybe the latter was the reason.
“Have you had a tetanus shot recently?” he asked.
“I have, aye.”
“Good. If you have any trouble with either the head injury—nausea, dizziness, blurring vision—or a fever or sign of infection on your arm, you let me know right away.”
“You’ll make a house call?”
He smiled, a bit of the devil in his expression.
“Thanks for saving me, by the way,” she said. “Anyone could have had a boat capsize out there. I’m just glad the boat didn’t knock you out too, or we might not be here talking to each other right now.”
“You’re welcome and so right about that, but you saved me too. So thanks for that. I’m sorry for the fishhook. I’ll buy you a new suit.”
“We’re all good. There’s no need. Sometime I might tell you about my mishaps with fishing.” She hoped that would make him feel better.
Someone knocked lightly on the door, and Robert quickly climbed under the sheets. Maisie wrapped the pieces of fishhook in several tissues and stuffed them in her pocket. “For show-and-tell,” she explained. “I have to let my sister know what took me so long while taking marine life pictures today.”
He smiled again. “Come in.”
Edeen opened the door. “I’m sorry for the interruption, but I brought you some clothes to wear, Robert.”
“Thanks.”
Eden turned to Maisie. “If you’re feeling alright, I’ll take you home, but Colleen asked if you would both like some hot tea first in the sitting room.”
“Sure, that would be nice. After we have some tea, I’ll need a ride to the car park.”
“I’ll take you.” Edeen smiled and then left them alone.
“Oh, I’ll come with you,” Maisie said as an afterthought. She really didn’t need to see the hunky Scotsman dress. She grabbed her wet suit and left the room in a hurry to catch up to Edeen.
Edeen smiled at her. “I’m glad to meet another female wolf. There’s always so much testosterone in the place that it’s good to see some more she-wolves.”
“Oh, I agree,” Maisie said.
They reached the sitting room, which was filled with books. Large windows showed off views of the gardens of green hedges and red, white, and pink roses. Lachlan and Robert soon joined them, and Colleen brought in their tea.
“So you were swimming near my brother’s boat when it capsized and you swam in together?” Edeen asked.
“Aye. Robert said that the MacQuarries’ beach was closest to where we were. He wasn’t dressed for the cold water.”
“Thank you for saving my brother’s life,” Edeen said.
“We were really there for each other,” Maisie said.
They drank some of their tea, and Maisie knew Robert’s sister was dying to know just why they had to have privacy and a first aid kit and other tools in the room.
“When you’re ready to go home, I can drive you,” Lachlan said to Maisie.
“Oh, thanks, Lachlan, but Edeen is taking Robert home and she said she’ll drop me off too. I would like to peek in on Conan before I leave if it doesn’t disturb his training too much.” Maisie sipped some more of her tea.
“Sure, I’ll take you to see him,” Lachlan said.
When they finished their tea and Maisie, Lachlan, Robert, and Edeen got ready to leave, everyone thanked Colleen. She was thrilled that they had dropped in to see her, as if this was just a totally unexpected, pleasurable visit and not a crazy misadventure in the ocean.
Lachlan walked Maisie to the dog kennels while Robert and Edeen grabbed Maisie’s dive gear and put it in Edeen’s car. Maisie peeked into the room where Conan was staying, and he was sound asleep on a big dog bed. She smiled. She was glad he wasn’t pacing the floor, looking bored or unhappy.
When they left the kennel, she asked Lachlan, “Did someone get Robert’s boat out of the water?”
“They’re working on it as we speak. The water’s still rough, but they’ll get it done.”
“Good. It seemed like a nice little boat. Um, I thought Edeen was Robert’s mate or girlfriend when I first met her. When she first saw me, she appeared a bit…suspicious.”
Lachlan laughed. “She’s worried about a she-wolf breaking her brother’s heart. But she seemed relaxed and happy to be with you when we were having tea.”
“Oh, sure. Once she learned I had one of your dogs from the same litter as hers, we hit it off.”
“When they were first born and until everyone picked up their pups and took them home, Edeen loved on all of them. So she remembers Conan. Plus, she has been teaching her terriers to mind her, so she comes to watch Conan’s training to get some more tips. If you’re free tomorrow, why don’t you come over and have lunch with us and Edeen can show you some of the training we’re doing with Conan and begin the transition with you?”
“Yes, I would love that.”
“Come at eleven, then.”
She was glad she would be able to see Conan and hug him and get some honest-to-goodness training in with him. She’d been having nightmares that she would undo all the good training he’d gone through as soon as she and her sister took him home.
Lachlan escorted Maisie to Edeen’s car and kissed his mate. “I’ll see you later. I’ve got to take care of some business.”
As Edeen drove, she asked, “How was Conan?”
“Oh”—Maisie laughed—“he was sound asleep in his comfortable little room.”
“They train them on and off all day and everyone takes turns so they get used to different people giving them the same commands,” Edeen said. “I’m sure the dogs that are in training are worn out by day’s end. I’ve been there watching how they do it and have been training Ruby too. My fox terriers are finally really listening to me when we’re outside. When I lived in Edinburgh, they had a fenced-in yard, but here, they can run all over, so it took me a while to train them to stay home and not run off.”
“Oh, I bet. Everyone at the inn adores Conan. He has really been an added feature at the lodging,” Maisie said.
“That’s great. Have you eaten at Ye Olde Highland Pie Shoppe?”
“Heather’s shop? I picked up takeout from there for my sister and me when we were just moving in. Heather has the best pies. We always recommend her shop to guests for the afternoon and evening meals. We only serve breakfast. Then everyone’s off exploring to their heart’s content.” Maisie snapped her fingers. “I bet you designed some of the gowns for her and her workers since they’re wolves too. They were wearing these beautiful new ancient-style tartan gowns, and I told them how much I admired them. They were so busy that Heather and the other ladies didn’t have a chance to tell me who created them.”
“Aye, it was me. I’ve been having a lot of fun making them for the locals, and I get orders from all over the world.”
“That’s terrific. On special occasions at the inn, we dress up,” Maisie said. “My sister and I will have to check out your website.”
“I’ll give you my business card when we drop Robert off at the manor house.”
“I would go with the two of you, but I want to check on the installation of all the appliances,” Robert said.
“I’ll drop by after I leave Maisie at her car. I want to see how they look,” Edeen said as she pulled up at Robert’s house. It was a beautiful home covered in ancient-looking stone, and right next door, a vet clinic had been built that had the same period look with large windows, a door with a sign overhead that said, “Cat Entrance,” and on the other side of the building, “Dog Entrance.” She thought that was cute, though maybe also necessary.
“It was nice meeting you, Maisie, though it would have been nicer if we’d met under better circumstances,” Robert said.
“Oh, our meeting that way was remarkable and memorable.”
He smiled at her, looking appreciative that she didn’t think being around him had been a complete disaster. Then he frowned. “Remember what I said about you having any trouble at all from the boat hitting you in the head.”
“Right. I’ll call you.” But of course Maisie didn’t have his number.
“I’ll write his number down for you on my business card so you can put it on your phone, but since he lost his phone in the ocean, you can call me if you need to see him,” Edeen said.
“He says he makes house calls,” Maisie said.
Edeen looked at her brother, and from Edeen’s expression, Maisie assumed that he was making an exception in Maisie’s case. Though she figured in cases of livestock, Robert would have to visit the farms.
Robert smiled, then said goodbye to Maisie and headed into his house.
As soon as they drove off the property, Edeen asked Maisie, “So what really happened between the two of you on the water? I know you said you were swimming and his boat capsized, but—”
When Maisie just smiled at her, Edeen laughed. “Okay, you don’t have to tell on my brother, but I can guess: he hooked you with his fishhook. That’s why he needed the first aid kit and other tools. Then the rogue wave hit, the boat flipped, and your fate and his were sealed. You were doomed to make the trip together, swimming to the shore around the cliffs.”
“I didn’t tell you any of this.” Maisie was surprised at how his sister had guessed exactly what had happened.
“You didn’t need to. My brother won’t care if anyone knows the truth, but I’m sure he didn’t want to say anything about it in case you were bothered by what had happened and didn’t want to tell the whole story. Don’t worry. I won’t be telling anyone, though I’m sure I’ll say something to my brother about it.”
Maisie laughed. “All right. Yes. That’s what happened. I just didn’t want him to feel any more guilty about it than he already did. The thing of it is, anyone, someone who has been fishing for years even, can hook themselves or someone else. I, um, caught my sister once. She wasn’t happy about it. I had to take her to the doctor because I didn’t have a clue how to proceed at the time.”
“Och, I bet she was upset.”
“Aye, but we’re still best of friends.”
They finally reached Maisie’s car, and she loaded her diving gear into it. Edeen fished out a business card from her purse and handed it to Maisie. Then they said goodbye.
Maisie got into her car and immediately put Robert’s and Edeen’s phone number in her phone and drove home to the inn.
“Hey, you’re home. That took you a while.” Anne started making some tea for her as Maisie headed to the bedroom to change her clothes.
“Yeah, you don’t know the half of it.”
Anne set the mugs on the table. “Everyone who was staying at the inn has left to explore the area. So you can sit and tell me just what happened.”
“Sitting down is a very good idea.”
Then Maisie and her sister had tea at the dining table, and Maisie proceeded to tell her sister just what had happened.