Chapter 32
MARY
Tea and Truth
(Or How Maggie Finally Comes Clean)
Maggie’s private library is exactly the way I remember it: dark, warm, lined with old books that smell like leather and time itself. A porcelain teapot already sits on the small table near the window beside two cups.
Maggie is seated in her favorite chair, the deep burgundy velvet one that makes her look like a queen sitting on a throne. She’s wearing an elegant gray dress and her usual tartan shawl.
She doesn’t smile when I walk in.
She just watches me with that expression I know far too well—the one that says she can see straight through every defense I have.
“Sit down, Mary.”
Not a request.
I lower myself into the chair across from her. She pours tea with slow, precise movements, like it’s some sacred ritual.
“Milk? Sugar?” she asks.
“Both, please.”
She fixes my tea exactly the way I like it, which honestly shouldn’t surprise me.
Maggie remembers everything.
She hands me the cup.
Our fingers don’t touch.
“How did the interview go?” she asks quietly.
“Really well.”
“They offered you the job?”
“Yes.”
“But you still asked for forty-eight hours to think about it.”
Of course she already knows.
I tilt my head slightly.
“Cameron or Connor?” I ask.
“Both. They’re very worried about you.”
I take a sip of tea.
It’s perfect.
Warm. Comforting. Exactly what I need.
“I’m guessing you want to know whether I’m going to accept,” I say eventually.
Maggie sets her cup down carefully and looks directly at me.
“No. I want you to know something before you make your decision.”
My stomach tightens.
“What?”
“The truth.”
She pauses like she’s weighing every word carefully.
“I manipulated you, Mary. From the very beginning. The flooding in your house, the castle supposedly being full because of the Highland Games, Finn getting pushed out of the inn at the exact same time… none of that was an accident.”
I stare at her.
My brain struggles to process the words even though somewhere deep down, I already suspected.
“You arranged the flooding?”
“Not directly. But I may have mentioned to Fergus that your plumbing needed to be ‘inspected.’ And Fergus is… extremely enthusiastic about his work and absolutely terrible with pipes.”
Of course.
“And Finn?”
“I may have suggested to Moira MacTavish that I required an in-house doctor. She was very cooperative.”
My jaw tightens.
“You trapped us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maggie rises gracefully and walks toward the window overlooking the Highlands stretching endlessly beyond the castle grounds.
“Because I watched both of you dying of loneliness from opposite sides of the village, and I couldn’t bear it anymore.”
Her voice softens.
“Finn arrived in Glenfield looking like a man who’d already given up. And you… you smiled all the time, but your smile was empty. The two of you were lost.”
“So you decided to play with our lives?”
She turns toward me.
“No. I decided to give you a chance neither of you would’ve given yourselves.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make.”
“You’re right.”
I blink in surprise.
Did Maggie McGregor just admit she was wrong?
She returns to her chair and folds her hands neatly in her lap.
“You deserve an apology, Mary. A real one. What I did was invasive. Manipulative. Certainly not what a grandmother should do.”
Her voice cracks slightly on the last word.
“But I did it out of love. Not cruelty. Because I know exactly what people lose when fear keeps them from reaching for happiness.”
I sink farther into the chair completely thrown off balance now.
“What do you mean?”
Maggie draws a deep breath like the next words cost her something.
“When I was your age, I almost made the biggest mistake of my life.”
She pauses, her gaze drifting somewhere far away.
“Your grandfather… Charles. When we met, I was exactly like you. Independent. Stubborn. Convinced I didn’t need anyone.”
I’ve almost never heard Maggie speak about Grandpa Charles like this.
Honestly, she rarely talks about him at all.
“He was… different from what I expected. Softer. More patient. He looked at me like I was something precious, and it terrified me. I was afraid of falling in love with him and ending up tied to Glenfield forever raising a family.”
A sad smile touches her mouth.
“So I decided to leave. I’d been offered a position in Edinburgh. It was an incredible opportunity. A completely different life. Far away from Glenfield. Far away from everything I was feeling and didn’t want to feel.”
My heartbeat quickens.
“What happened?”
“I got on the train. I had my luggage, my ticket, my whole new life planned out. I sat there in the compartment staring out the window repeating to myself that I was making the right decision.”
She looks at me now, her eyes shining with restrained tears.
“And then the train started moving. And I saw Charles on the platform. He was running after the train like a madman, shouting my name.”
I stop breathing.
“The train was already pulling away. He should’ve given up. But he kept running. Kept shouting, ‘Maggie! Stay! Please stay!’”
A tear slips down her cheek.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Maggie cry before.
“I pulled the emergency brake. The train stopped farther down the tracks. I grabbed my luggage and ran all the way back to the platform. Charles was still there bent over trying to catch his breath. And when he saw me…”
She wipes her eyes carefully with an embroidered handkerchief.
“He looked at me and said, ‘I can’t force you to stay, but I needed you to know I would’ve fought for us. And I’ll keep fighting for as long as it takes.’”
My throat tightens painfully.
“What did you do?”
“I stayed. And we had years of happiness together. Years I would’ve lost if I’d let pride make my choices for me.”
She leans toward me.
“That’s why I interfere in people’s lives sometimes.
Why I arrange meetings and meddle and scheme.
Not because I enjoy manipulation. Not because I’m cruel.
But because I saw that train leaving once.
I felt that terror in my chest. And if Charles hadn’t run after me…
if I hadn’t pulled that emergency brake… ”
Her voice breaks completely.
“I would’ve missed everything. Him. My children. My grandchildren. This entire life. All because I was afraid.”
She takes my hand.
Her grip is steady.
“Don’t make the mistake I almost made, Mary. Don’t let fear drive that train. Don’t leave because you’re hurting. Leave only if it’s truly what you want—not because it’s easier.”
Tears slide down my cheeks now too.
“But Finn… he doesn’t want me.”
“He thinks he doesn’t deserve you. That’s different.”
“How do you know?”
A knowing smile touches her lips.
“I know many things. But more importantly, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. The exact same way Charles used to look at me. Like you’re the only thing in the world that matters and he’s terrified to touch you in case you disappear.”
She squeezes my hand tighter.
“You can leave if you want. You can accept that job and build a beautiful life somewhere else. But do it fully aware of what you’re leaving behind. Do it with your eyes open. Not because you’re running.”
I pull my hand free and wipe at my face.
“That’s easy for you to say. Charles chased after you. He fought for you. Finn… Finn is saying goodbye without even trying.”
“Because he’s too afraid to ask you to stay. He honestly believes letting you go is the best thing he can do for you.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Men usually are when they’re in love.”
She rises and smooths her dress.
“I’ve told you everything I needed to tell you. The rest is up to you now, Mary. You have to make your choice.”
She reaches the doorway before turning back one last time.
“Whether you stay or leave, I will always be on your side. Always.”
Then she walks out, leaving me alone with my tea and a heart beating far too fast.
I sit there for what feels like forever.
Maggie’s words echo endlessly through my mind.
Don’t leave because you’re hurting. Leave only if it’s truly what you want.
Do I want to leave?
Really?
I stare at my phone.
I could call Dr. Paine right now and accept the position.
Leaving would be easier.
Safer too.
But is it what I actually want?
I think about Finn.
His rare smile that lights up his entire face.
The way he’s gentle with patients even when he pretends to be grumpy.
The way he carried Courage so carefully.
His shaking hands when he told me about his past.
I think about Ragnar resting his head against my leg.
Hamish acting like some wool-covered matchmaker.
Two sworn enemies making peace just to tell me something I refused to hear.
I think about what Callum said:
You don’t always get back what you walk away from.
I think about all the years of happiness Maggie almost lost because she was afraid.
I close my eyes.
Pull the emergency brake, Mary.
I rise and walk toward the window.
The Highlands stretch endlessly before me.
Familiar.
Comforting.
Home.
And suddenly I realize something:
I don’t want to leave.
More than that—
I want to build a life here.
With Finn.
I just pulled my emergency brake.
Now I need to run after the train.