Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
F inally. After weeks of putting it off, Ella was actually going to dinner at the MacGregor house. She pulled her car up the winding mountain road, heart thumping as the house came into view. The massive log cabin dominated the hilltop, golden light spilling from the windows. Celtic designs curled around the porch posts, looking as if they’d been carved by someone who truly understood their meaning.
What was she doing here? A family dinner with people who treated her like a long-lost relative after just six weeks in town. Her headlights swept across a familiar truck and her stomach did a funny little flip. Tom’s truck. Of course he’d be here. The MacGregors never did anything halfway.
He stood on the broad porch looking as startled as she felt, and something warm unfurled in her chest despite her nerves. She joined him and before either could speak, the front door burst open, releasing a flood of light, warmth, and one grinning Liam MacGregor.
“What a delightful coincidence!” His attempt at innocence wouldn’t have fooled her third graders. She’d seen better poker faces during their attempts to negotiate extra recess.
The interior took her breath away. The arch between the foyer and great room caught her eye, its woodwork telling stories she couldn’t quite read. A stone fireplace dominated one wall, flames dancing behind an ornate screen that looked like it belonged in a museum. The scent of roasting meat and herbs wrapped around her, accompanied by Lissa’s voice issuing commands from the kitchen with military precision.
“You didn’t mention Tom would be here,” she murmured to Zoey, watching the ethereal woman’s face closely.
“Didn’t I?” Zoey’s features arranged themselves into pure innocence, though her eyes sparkled with entirely too much knowledge. She glanced between Tom and Ella, and suddenly exclaimed, “Oooh!” before quickly composing herself.
The dining table could have seated a Highland army, though tonight it held just the immediate family. Ella found herself between Tom and Amber, hyperaware of Tom’s shoulder occasionally brushing hers. Every accidental touch sent warmth cascading through her body.
Gareth approached with a wine bottle, handling it with familiar reverence. “An excellent vintage from the old country,” he began proudly, then caught Lissa’s warning look. “One of my favorites from the Highland vineyards.”
The conversation flowed like the wine, punctuated by bursts of laughter and good-natured arguments. The brothers fell into familiar patterns of teasing - Liam defending his “perfectly reasonable” driving speeds in his Aston Martin while Aiden tried to explain his latest sculpture to increasingly skeptical siblings.
“It’s clearly a horse,” Gareth insisted, gesturing with his wine glass.
“It’s obviously an eagle,” Liam countered.
“It’s neither, ye great galoots,” Aiden muttered into his glass.
Their wives watched with the fond exasperation of women well-accustomed to Highland dramatics, occasionally landing verbal jabs of their own that had Ella hiding smiles in her wine. The whole scene felt surreal - like she’d stumbled into a family from another time entirely.
“Your family is rather loud,” Tom commented beside her, his deep voice carrying a hint of amusement.
“My family?” The words caught her off guard. She turned to find his blue eyes steady on hers.
“We MacGregors claimed you as family from day one,” Gareth jumped in smoothly, though she caught the sharp look he shot Tom’s way. “We’re good at recognizing our own.”
“But I’m not—” The wine must be making her slow. Something flickered across Gareth’s face, there and gone before she could catch it.
“Blood isn’t everything, lass,” Liam interrupted cheerfully. “Though sometimes it has a way of working out.”
The brothers exchanged loaded glances that set off every teacher instinct she possessed. There was something they weren’t saying, something beyond their usual meddling. She’d seen that exact look on her students’ faces right before discovering they’d hidden a stray kitten in the reading corner.
A touch against her hand made her jump. Tom had reached for the salt, his fingers brushing hers. “Sorry,” he murmured, but there was warmth in his voice that made her cheeks heat.
The evening softened as dishes were cleared and coffee served by the fire. The hearth threw dancing shadows across faces that seemed, in certain lights, to belong to another century entirely. Ella found herself on a comfortable couch, Tom’s solid presence beside her as she described her students’ latest science experiment. His shoulder pressed against hers, steady and warm, and she had to concentrate to keep her train of thought.
When she suddenly shivered, something soft and warm settled around her shoulders. Tom had draped his arm across the back of the couch, coincidentally dropping a plaid throw around her in the process. Their eyes met, and for a moment the rest of the room faded away.
“Ach, would ye look at that,” Liam stage-whispered, his Scottish burr thick with mischief. “They’re adorable.”
“Shut up, Liam,” everyone chorused, and the room dissolved into laughter.
Ella joined in, warmth blooming in her chest that had nothing to do with wine or fireplaces. She’d come to Harmony Falls looking for a fresh start, never expecting... this. A family that claimed her without question. Friends who felt like they’d known her forever.
And Tom.
She snuck a glance at him, catching the soft smile he usually kept hidden. Maybe the MacGregors were right. Maybe she did belong here after all.
Tom watched the exchange with growing confusion. He distinctly remembered Gareth telling him Ella was family - some distant connection they’d discovered. So why were they dancing around it now? The brothers were definitely up to something. He’d learned their tells over the years - the way Gareth’s accent thickened when he was plotting something, how Liam’s grin went sharp at the edges, Aiden’s too-careful silence.
But his suspicions scattered when Ella laughed at one of Liam’s outrageous stories, the sound doing dangerous things to his pulse rate. She fit here, among the chaos and warmth of the MacGregor clan, as if she’d always been meant to find her way to them. To him.
The brothers leaned forward whenever she mentioned her family, exchanging glances heavy with meaning. Gareth had been clear about her being related when he’d first mentioned it - so why all the secrecy now? He wondered what else they weren’t saying.
Gareth rose, lifting his wine glass. Firelight caught the crystal, scattering rainbows across the polished table. “To family,” he announced, “Those born to us, those who find us, and those who make our lives richer by being in them.”
His eyes rested meaningfully on Ella, then found Tom’s. That look held something he couldn’t quite read - as if Gareth was trying to tell him something without words. The Scotsman had an unnerving way of making simple moments feel weighted with significance.
“And to certain security experts,” Liam added cheerfully, “who always seem to be around when needed. Especially for car trouble.”
Heat crept up Tom’s neck as Ella ducked her head, smiling. That damn car repair had been the talk of Harmony Falls for days. Though he couldn’t bring himself to regret a moment of it.
The evening softened into coffee and dessert by the fire. Ella’s shoulder pressed against his as she described her students’ latest experiment, her hands painting pictures in the air. He found himself watching the graceful movements, the way firelight caught her hair, how her eyes sparked when she talked about her kids.
Something wasn’t adding up with the MacGregors. They were an odd bunch on the best of days - with their formal manners and old-world ways. But their behavior tonight went beyond eccentric. Still, watching Ella’s face in the firelight, bright with happiness and wine, he couldn’t bring himself to care about their strange behavior. Not when she felt so right beside him, her presence filling spaces in his life he hadn’t known were empty.
When she shivered slightly, he draped a nearby throw blanket around her shoulders without thinking. Their eyes met, and something electric passed between them, making his chest tight. She had no idea what she did to him, how she’d slipped past his defenses with her quiet strength and stubborn grace.
“Ach, would ye look at that,” Liam stage-whispered, his Scottish burr thick with satisfaction. “They’re adorable.”
“Shut up, Liam,” everyone said in unison, dissolving into laughter.
Tom watched Ella join in, her whole face lighting up, and realized with sudden clarity that he was in serious trouble. Because the MacGregors were right - she did belong here. With this strange family. With their peculiar ways and cryptic conversations.
With him.
And that excited and terrified him in equal measure.