Wolfish in Sheep’s Clothing #7
“You’re Kathy?”
“Yes, I’m Kathy. Does Janna know you’re here?”
“I suppose so.” He looked towards the doorway and called out, “Isobel, did you tell Janna I’m here?”
Kathy followed his glance and saw the beautiful blonde woman come in.
She was dressed in an elegant shell pink sweater and tight jeans tucked into boots.
The woman, Isobel, said to Calder, “Of course, I told her,” while gazing at Kathy.
Then the woman shrieked and cried to Calder, “That’s her! That’s the woman!”
Kathy felt sick with guilt and anger. She wanted to push Calder out the window. She wanted to scream. She wanted to disappear.
Calder looked confused. “Calm yourself, Isobel. This is Kat. I told you about her. Kat, or Kathy, is it?, Isobel.”
“You told her?” Kathy said with horror. To Isobel, she said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, or I never would have …”
“Kat is the woman I saw!” Isobel cried, looking at Calder.
He looked at the blonde as if she was mad. “Isobel, not now, please.” He turned to Kathy and said, “Ignore her. She’s crazy.”
“I am not!” Isobel pointed at Kathy and said to Calder, “She’s the one you slept with? The one in the blue coat?”
“Her coat is green, Isobel.”
Kathy thought that Isobel must have remembered her from the street. “I had a blue coat. He splattered it with mud when you were driving on Princes Street.”
Calder tilted his head and said, “You saw me before we met at dinner?”
Isobel glared at Calder and said, “I was right, you fool! I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away from her.”
Kathy took a breath and said, “He said he wasn’t married.”
Isobel’s expression softened. “Of course, he’s not married. He’s supposed to marry you. I’ve been telling him to find the girl in the blue coat, and when I saw you with the umbrella, I screamed at him to stop the car, but he never takes the MacNeil sight seriously.”
“But the wedding photo of you two …”
Calder laughed. “Isobel is my sister!”
“That was my wedding,” Isobel said. “It didn’t last and that’s the only photo from it I can bear to look at.” She smiled at her brother. “Humphrey, next time you’ll believe in my sight.”
Kathy said to her, “My friend Emma has the sight, too. She told me to get a blue coat.”
“I think you both have something to discuss,” Isobel said, and left the room.
Calder looked Kathy up and down, and she became self-conscious about her grimy jeans, dusty sweater, and the kerchief tied over her head. “You said your name was Calder.”
“So it is. Humphrey Calder MacNeil. When my father was alive, they all called me Calder, but since he passed, they insist on Humphrey.”
“Like the castle.”
“Aye, lass,” he said, with a sheepish grin. His expression became serious and he said, “I didn’t know why you left me.”
“I thought you were a wicked trow, deceiving me, with your drawer full of condoms and a wife.” She glanced down at her clothes and said, “I was the one deceiving you. I’m not a woman who dines alone in expensive restaurants. This is how I look most days. This is who I am really.”
“Who you are really is a lass who can tease me, a lass who can laugh while she dances in a crowded pub, a lass who can take as good as she can give, a lass who wears silk stockings.” He reached for her hands and held them.
“I knew these weren’t pampered hands, darlin’.
” He lifted them to his lips and kissed them.
“So you’re Humphrey, a loyal workaholic, who spends all of his time here.”
“The very one. When you talked about your retreat, I thought, that’s it. That’s what I need to do to create jobs here and to share the beauty.”
“But I lied,” she said. “All I have is a puny business. I love it, but it’s just me and a few classes.”
“Then I wouldn’t be asking you to give up everything if I asked you to stay, Kat. Would you stay here with me? Help me set up your retreat here?” He pulled the kerchief off her head and kissed her temple.
“Well, I don’t think I should leave before you replace my blue coat.”
His arms went around her, bringing her tight against his large firm body, and she sighed at the touch of him, the scent of him, and slipped her arms around his waist. He said, “The lambs won’t be born until next spring.
It will take some time before their wool is ready to sheer.
Then there’s the cleaning, dying, spinning and looming.
It will be best if you settle in for a long stay.
Since you’re a visitor, there may be problems, unless … ”
“Unless what?”
“Would you consider marrying a Scotsman, Kat? You said I could ask you later.”
“I did say that, and it was a very special coat, Calder. Besides, would it do us any good to fight the MacNeil vision?”
“I think not, darlin’. We may as well give in to fate, to long days of work and longer nights of making love. The trow in me especially enjoys the nights. If that’s what you want.”
“What I want, Calder, is to hear you beg me please, please, please.”
He lifted her up until they were face to face. “That’s what I hoped you’d say, my beautiful wild Kat.”