Chapter Two Rabbie Barclay
Bloody hell, but she’d felt amazing.
Her scent was just as I remembered, a heady mix of citrus and vanilla, and it had taken everything in my power not to drag Lyra behind a tree and kiss her until our painful memories were eradicated and only tomorrow mattered.
Sighing, I slammed my laptop closed and whirled in my chair, leaning my head back against the smooth leather as I rubbed my eyes, replaying the scene like I had a thousand times before.
Thunder sounded in the distance, a low rumble shaking the thin panes of glass in my bedroom window. A warning.
A tapping sound caught my ear, and at first I ignored it, head bent over my books, focused on studying for my upcoming finals. When the sound grew louder, I whirled, a smile springing to my lips. Lyra stood at the window, bundled into a rain slicker, impossibly beautiful.
And crying.
Racing over, I slid the window open and reached for her, but she ducked back. Tears streamed, and her lavender-blue eyes were wild in her face. She reminded me of a mouse, cornered and scared, and I swung one leg out of the window to go to her.
“No, Rab. Just stay.”
“Tell me what’s wrong.” My heart hammered in my chest. I’d never seen this expression on her face before, and I’d do anything in my power to erase it.
“It’s my mum. She… I heard them fighting. Again. This time she means it. She’s having us pack. We’re leaving in the morning.”
I’d never really understood the expression “my heart stopped” before, because logically it didn’t make sense, but in this moment, I swear mine did. It was like time stood still, and all I could see was the world of pain in Lyra’s endless eyes.
“She can’t mean it. Surely she’s just taking the piss out of him?”
“No, Rab. She’s serious this time. Dad’s gone. Mum’s packed up. She’s never packed up before. Not like this.”
I swung my other leg through the window and slid to the ground, reaching for her. This time, she didn’t step back, instead leaning into my arms, her shoulders shaking against my chest.
Lyra was my world. My everything.
I didn’t care that everyone thought this was just “puppy love.”
I knew, in every fiber of my being, that Lyra MacGregor was meant for me.
“They can’t just make you leave, Lyra. Screw them. Listen to me…” I pulled her back, my hand clutching her chin, forcing her eyes to meet mine. “We can do this. Without them. You just have to stay.”
“How, Rab?” Lyra’s voice rasped, and thunder boomed, the threat closer now. “I can’t just… stay. Where would I stay? What would I do?”
“I’ve been saving money—”
“Rab, no. It won’t work. I’m too young.”
“So what? I’m almost old enough to leave school.” I held her when she tried to pull back, needing her to see. “Old enough to get a job. To get insurance. I’ve been saving money for years now.”
“For a car, Rab. Not to take care of me.”
“I’d walk the rest of my life if it meant I got to have you by my side.” I pressed my lips to hers, my conviction burning through me.
“It’s too—”
“It’s not.” I grabbed her hands when she pulled back, willing her to see. I could make this work. “It’s not too hard. I can do this. What I can’t do is lose you.”
“Rab.” Lyra’s eyes were glossy with tears. She’d been hauntingly beautiful. And so, so, desperately sad.
“You have to believe, Lyra. I can’t do that for you. I’ll do everything else for you. I’ll find you a home, make sure you finish school, help you get work as a chef. Anything you want. But I can’t make you believe in us.”
“I believe in us.” Lyra pushed out her lower lip, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to stop crying.
“Then meet me. First thing tomorrow. I’ll be packed and have a place for us.” Already my mind scrambled for ideas, but it didn’t matter. By tomorrow, I’d have a plan. I wouldn’t fail her.
“But—”
“Rabbie!” my mum called from just outside the room. “Rain’s coming. Come help with getting the washing in.”
“Aye, Mum. Coming.”
“Rab—”
“Shhh.” I placed my lips ever so softly over Lyra’s, silencing her.
When I pulled back, she gave me a watery smile.
But for the first time since she’d come, hope stole across her face.
“Tomorrow. First thing. Meet me at the barn.” An old barn just outside of town was our favorite place to escape from the world.
“Aye, Rab. I promise.”
“Rab!” Mum’s voice was closer now, and I jumped back through the window. Glancing over my shoulder to make sure Lyra was out of sight, I pasted a bland expression on my face when both my parents stepped into my room.
“I was just closing the window,” I explained. I gestured to the desk. “Sorry, was studying.”
“Rab.” Something in my dad’s face caused my stomach to twist.
“Rabbie.” My mum walked forward and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “We heard. We didn’t mean to, but we were taking the washing in.”
“I—”
“You can’t do this, son. You’re too young.
” My dad, as usual, cut to the thick of it, his tone stern.
“You think you’re in love, but it’s just…
hormones. Everyone thinks they’re in love at your age.
I know it feels all big and real right now, but it will pass.
And you can’t throw away your future for some lass. ”
“She’s not just some lass! I love her,” I said, my voice trembling with the vehemence of youth and certainty.
“Aye, so you think you do. But it’s impossible, what you’re suggesting.
Lyra isn’t old enough to leave her family.
To come live with… you? Where? Here? We wouldn’t agree to that.
Nor are we even sure it’s legal.” My mum’s brow furrowed when she smoothed a lock of my hair, and I pushed her hand away.
“You’re about to sit exams, Rab. You’ve got an incredible future ahead of you.
Promise me you won’t throw it away. Not for just a bonnie lass.
Not for… a MacGregor. Of all people. You could do better for your future than to saddle yourself to a family riddled with curses.
They’re a blight on this community.” My father’s eyes bored into mine, and for the first time in my life, I lied outright to my parents.
“I suppose it was foolish, wasn’t it? To think we’d have a future. I guess… I just got caught up. You’re right. Lyra’s nothing special. She’s just a pretty face.” I shrugged one shoulder, pretending like I was agreeing with my parents when everything inside me wanted to scream.
“That’s a good lad. I knew you’d see it our way. It’s hard, I know. But in a year, this won’t matter at all.” With a curt nod, my father left, the matter decided as far as he was concerned.
“Rab, honey.” My mum pulled me in for a hug, and I let her, staying ramrod straight, fury working its way through me.
She leaned back and looked at me, concern on her pretty face.
“I know you care for her. I’m proud of you for offering to help her, I am.
It means I’ve raised a good son. But, honey, it’s time for the MacGregors to move on.
It’s become too hard to keep their curse at bay.
In the long run, even though I’m sure this hurts now, it’s what is best for you and for Briarhaven as a whole.
Sometimes we have to sacrifice for the greater good. You ken?”
“Aye,” I said, my nails digging so hard into my palms that they sliced the skin. “I need to get back to my studying.”
“Don’t stay up too late.” Mum squeezed my shoulder and left, closing the door behind her.
The skies opened, the wind sounding like a woman wailing, and I shut the window.
My pulse picked up, and I gulped several deep breaths before I could even think straight.
Glancing once more at the closed door, I dug out a small duffel bag and packed.
And in the wee hours of the morning, I slid from my window, like I’d done so many times before, and raced through the wet fields to wait for the love of my life at our special place.
And I waited.
And waited.
Far past the time when the bells rang for school.
Far past the time when I would be at lunch.
And finally, as the light drew long over the hills, and hunger clawed at my stomach, I hoisted my bag over my shoulder and left the barn, defeated. Taking the long way home, I walked past Lyra’s house, but I already knew.
She was gone.
It had been years since Lyra MacGregor had torn my heart out of my chest and stomped on it, proving my father right that our relationship was no more than puppy love. At times I couldn’t tell what I’d hated more—Lyra leaving or her proving my parents right—but either way I’d been heartbroken.
And now she was back—had been back, in fact, for a while now—and living in Briarhaven suddenly felt like trying to navigate a minefield.
Still, out of some sort of asinine need to punish myself, I took her grandmother, Broca, for walks every week.
Sometimes Lyra was there, stomping up the stairs and studiously ignoring me, and other times she was nowhere to be seen.
Yet still, I hung on to every glimpse of her that I could get, like a dying man desperate for a drop of water.
Not that I’d ever admit it to her.
It had taken me years to be rid of the seething disappointment and then anger that she hadn’t stayed with me.
In my early twenties, I’d finally seen how ridiculous my offer had been.
How could I have tried to take care of her at such an age?
Logically, my parents’ “advice” had eventually made sense.
But I’d been grounded for a month for attempting to run away with her, and throughout that time, my father had told me repeatedly why to never trust a MacGregor.
And somehow, his words had eventually turned my heart bitter.
Toward Lyra. She’d proven it—hadn’t she?
Not only had she left me without another word, but she’d never once tried to contact me since.
Her return to Briarhaven had unleashed every feeling I’d been convinced I’d long since buried, and I was still mad about it. I’d even briefly entertained the possibility of a friendship with her when she’d returned, but she’d immediately rebuffed me on first sight.
There was no other way around it.
No way to gloss over the truth.
Lyra MacGregor made me blindly, searingly angry, and as far as I was concerned, she was a menace to this town.
It certainly didn’t help that she’d grown into a blazingly beautiful woman, the kind who made men and women alike stop in their tracks when she walked by.
Nor did it help that I was told her YouTube followers increased in multitudes by the day, simply because it was impossible not to look at her.
And still, much to my deep frustration, I found a part of myself rooting for her, even when she’d carelessly thrown our love away.
But I would do so… from afar. I didn’t wish her harm. Or have a deep need to seek any vengeance for breaking my heart, never once contacting me again, and teaching me that women could never be trusted.
I only wanted peace.
Which was a word that was not synonymous with the MacGregors, that much I knew. Instead, I was stuck in this purgatory of knowing Lyra was close by, but understanding that being with her only led to a broken heart.
And yet.
The feel of her body against mine had triggered some core memory in me, and I’d been an absolute mess since—even now, hours later. I couldn’t think straight, and all I could do was lose myself in the promise of a future that had never come to be.
My phone rang, a welcome distraction, and I swiped the screen to see Knox’s name.
“Hey, mate, how’s it going, then?”
“Yeah, well enough. Business is good, but things will slow a bit as we head toward the end of the year.” I was an accountant for most of the small businesses in town, and I loved my job. I loved numbers, the way they just made sense, all neat and orderly in tidy little rows.
“That’s actually great to hear. Because I’ve got a favor to ask you.”
Knox and I had been best friends since high school, and our relationship had only grown stronger through the years. He rarely asked for anything, and he’d done nothing but help Briarhaven, so I was inclined to say yes before I even knew what he was going to ask for.
“So there’s this reality show coming to film in Briarhaven—”
“Nope,” I said, standing up, amused that he thought he’d even have a chance of convincing me. “No. Full stop. Not me.”
“Mate, please? It’s going to be a huge promotional opportunity for Briarhaven, and you’re the prettiest one of my friends.”
“Don’t tell Liam that.” I snorted. Liam owned the pub in town and arguably was equally as handsome as me. Not that I much noticed, but the ladies certainly noticed him. “Speaking of… He’d love this shite. Ask him.”
“Can’t. This is a busy time of year for him. And you already admitted you weren’t busy.”
“Bloody hell, Knox. No.”
I ended the call, because I was not going to sit there and listen to all the reasons he thought I should go on a reality show.
I liked my life quiet. Predictable.
Even my magick, though incredibly strong, was predictable. My family had strengths in transmutation and activation spells, both areas that made life significantly easier—when I chose to use it.
Like now. When my phone rang again, Knox’s name flashing on the screen, I pointed a finger at it and muttered a spell under my breath. In seconds, it had morphed from a ringing phone to the latest crime thriller, and I smiled, pleased with myself.
A wee dram and a quiet night with my new book were exactly what I needed to forget all about my disconcerting run-in with Lyra.
Or so I hoped.