Chapter 13
I stood there for way too long as my eyes darted back and forth between David in the bathroom doorway and my mother in the bed. I wouldn’t have been any more shocked if I’d walked in on Mom in bed with George Clooney.
“I…uh…excuse me.” Reaching for the knob, I pulled the door shut and backed away from the scene slowly.
It was as if all of my muscles slowed down, making the walk down the hallway and down the stairs slow and heavy.
I could hear Maddock call after me as I moved away from the scene, but I kept walking until I reached the castle’s main floor and turned down the staircase leading to the castle’s kitchens.
All I could think was that I needed coffee.
Now. It was the only thing that might help my brain recover from the trauma it had experienced.
“Kate, lass, are ye all right?”
Maddock was just a few steps behind me, and I shook my head no as I walked into the kitchen.
“I just walked in on my mother and David naked together. I’m not sure if I’ll be all right ever again.”
Appearing out of the cupboard to the right of the kitchen, Sydney gasped as she looked at my ashen expression and then laughed softly.
“Eeek. Yeah, it doesn’t get much worse than that, does it?” She studied my expression a moment longer before adding. “Wait. Did you not know they were together?”
I shook my head as Maddock appeared beside me in my peripheral vision.
“Did you know?”
Sydney gave me a sympathetic nod as she reached behind me to flip on the coffee maker as if she’d read my mind. “Honestly, I assumed they were. He touched her arm at least five times over dinner last night. And the knowing glances that seemed to pass between the two of them were frequent.”
So many little instances flashed through my mind. Mom’s early morning trips to the gym, her reaction when I’d mentioned eating dinner with David, her offer to call him about said dinner, and even her reaction at the dinner should’ve clued me in, but it obviously never crossed my mind.
Shrugging as acceptance washed through me, I smiled for the first time since opening that bedroom door. “Actually…I guess it makes sense, but I really didn’t have a clue.”
“Ye look as if ye might be cold, lass.” Maddock spoke for the first time since we’d entered the kitchen and surprised me by moving to my back, where he reached up and placed both hands on either side of my arms as he gently rubbed them up and down to warm me.
Normally, I was touchy about letting people near the site of the amputation, mostly because everyone always acted so weird about it, but Maddock didn’t hesitate as he ran his palm all the way down to where my arm now ended at the elbow.
The fact that he didn’t hesitate made it impossible for me to feel self-conscious about it.
It felt nice, and as the chill in my body subsided, I took a deep breath and relaxed into him.
Sydney clenched her teeth nervously as she watched me. I immediately grew tense again.
“Don’t relax too much just yet. I’m afraid something else happened this morning that is bound to be a shock.”
Maddock’s hands stilled on my shoulders at Sydney’s words.
I stepped away from him so I could steady myself on the island countertop.
“What is it? What happened?”
“More like who happened, really. I woke this morning and—as I do every morning—made my way through the magical stairwell that connects the Cagair of this time to the Cagair of the seventeenth century so that I could cook breakfast. When I came out of the stairwell and made my way around to the front door of the castle, there was a car running outside. As I approached, a man exited and came over to greet me. He said his name was Dillon. He claims to be your boyfriend.”