Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Orla

A pparently, I was in a relationship now.

Or so Finlay kept reminding me.

Every time he snuck a kiss at work.

Every time he woke me, nuzzling into the back of my neck, his hard length pressing against me as he spooned me.

Every time he asked me a seemingly unrelated question, it pried a little bit more out of me about my past.

The man was unraveling me, a piece at a time, and if I wasn't so besotted with him, I'd be rebuilding the walls he kept tearing down. The man was nothing if not persistent.

It had been three weeks since the night at his house when I'd fallen for him, though I hadn't told him the depths of my emotions for him. Yet. The Green Lady kept reprimanding me to do so, but I couldn't quite bring myself to tell Finlay that I loved him .

Which wasn't fair.

He'd told me that he loved me, hadn't he?

It had been in the simplest of moments—a sunny morning enjoying a quick cup of coffee at my small bistro table in my back garden. And he'd just said it.

Out loud.

And waited patiently, an understanding look in his eyes, when I'd fumbled my response, spilling coffee on myself instead of responding the same way. Since then, he repeated it to me often, and still I hadn't worked the courage up to tell him how I truly felt. Finlay didn't seem to mind, though I had to think it must bother him a bit. What man wouldn't want his love reciprocated? Instead, I clammed up every time he said it, even though the words made my heart sing every time I heard them.

I'd never told anyone that I'd loved them before.

Ever.

Even sweet Jacob, my best pal in the world, and Grandpa Lou, had never heard those words from me. We'd all seemed to understand our shared mutual feelings. Knowing that Finlay would be the first to hear them from me terrified me, because what would happen when he left?

Because everyone always did.

Even if he didn't plan to.

Even if he promised me over and over that he saw a future in Loren Brae.

Even when he consulted me on decorating choices for his house, which he had casually started referring to as our place. Like I had anything to do with the purchase of such a grand cottage.

People leaving me was the only truth that I'd ever known, and I was scared that the minute I told Finlay how I felt about him, he'd do just that. If I didn't give him that last piece of myself, well, when he did finally leave, I'd be able to lie and tell myself that it hadn't really been love. It would make the inevitable a touch easier, or so I was trying to delude myself into thinking. The reality was that when he left, he'd leave a huge gaping Finlay-sized hole in my heart, and I was certain it would be almost impossible to recover from that loss.

"Orla?"

"Yes?" I turned to find a statuesque woman with muscular arms, a curvy body, and a riot of dark curls standing before me in jeans and a tank top, a leather crossbody satchel at her waist. I was on-site at the distillery, working through my to-do list for the day, and my thoughts scattered as I tried to place the woman.

"I'm Kaia Bisset, the metalsmith? Your assistant pointed me in your direction."

"Och, right. Of course. Sorry, I'm a touch behind today so I'd forgotten about our meeting."

With Finlay's help, I'd finally hired an assistant, Stacey, and I had to admit, it had made a world of difference in my business. Not only was she scarily efficient, but I was no longer bogged down with handling admin when I was exhausted at the end of a long day. In turn, it had left me more time to be on-site with clients, as well as more time with Fin. An ulterior motive he likely had in mind all along when he'd insisted I hire someone, but I couldn't complain. I really enjoyed our time after work. At first I thought I'd be annoyed at having someone in my space, but Fin enjoyed quiet time as much as I did, both of us putting on headphones as we listened to our various podcasts, and he'd often work at his computer late while I worked on my next crochet project.

It was scary how easily we'd fallen into a routine.

Me, someone who'd never had a person to go home to before, now had a partner.

Honestly? It kind of blew my mind.

"No biggie. I'm pretty flexible with my schedule." Kaia looked around, interest in her eyes, and I paused as the Green Lady drifted behind her shoulders, giving the newcomer a nod. When Kaia turned sharply, looking directly at the Green Lady, my eyebrows winged up.

My my, what do we have here?

"Everything all right then?" I asked, wondering if she would tell me that she'd seen the Green Lady.

"Yup, just thought I heard something." Kaia rubbed one arm over the back of her neck, likely against the chill that the presence of a ghost would bring, and I studied her a bit more closely. Her accent was American, and she stood confidently, her blue eyes seeming to miss nothing as they surveyed the room behind me. "Pretty site."

"It is at that. I've had great fun working on it."

"I can't say I run into many women on the job, so I am beyond delighted to learn you're the master builder."

"No, I suspect you probably run into the same problem I do." We sized each other up, mutual grins of understanding on our faces, and both nodded.

"Everyone assumes we should be men."

"Exactly," I agreed. Turning, I motioned for her to follow me. We were hoping to build some custom wrought iron gates for the entrance to the distillery, and Kaia's name had come recommended from someone that Hilda and Archie knew. Apparently, she was new to town, but not to the industry. At the very least, I was willing to give her a chance. "Particularly because my company is named Clarke Construction after my last name. It reads more manly than feminine, but I wasn't feeling particularly creative when I came up with the name."

"It's a good name. And why shouldn't you have your last name on the business? It's yours, isn't it?"

It was, even though I never gave much weight to my name. It was attached to a family line that I'd long disregarded, so what did it really matter? Lia had even searched for a Clarke in her spells book but had found no mention of an ancestor of mine. Which was fine, I was told, since not all women were written into her book.

But still. I'd been hopeful for a wee moment. Nevertheless, circumstances liked to remind me that I was on my own in this world.

"I agree. Plus, I enjoy putting men in their place when they make assumptions."

"You and me both, girl." Kaia laughed, a booming sound that had more than one man on my crew turning to check her out. I couldn't blame them. This was a woman who took up space and demanded attention. "So, it's gates you're thinking of, right?"

"Yup, out here."

We stepped outside the building to where the entrance was, and my heart did a little spin in my chest as Finlay waved at me from where he walked with two of my electricians.

"Whooo boy. Hottie alert. "

"Taken," I said mildly, even though her words made me more annoyed than I wanted to admit.

"Noted." Kaia smiled. "Well done on that."

I couldn't hide my smile.

"I've brought a portfolio specific to gates that I've worked on in the past, but I also work with other elements, should you need something more specific." Kaia switched into work mode, digging a folder out of her satchel, and I opened it, flipping through glossy pages of gorgeous gates.

"Och, Kaia. This one. It's stunning." I tapped my finger on a gate made to look like thorns and leaves, with gold etching on the petals of the roses.

"Yeah, that was a fun one to do. I love when a client is willing to think outside the box."

"I was hoping to do something with the name or the logo, but maybe we could incorporate a thistle design too?" I stepped back, framing the entrance with my hands, noting how the creamy stone walls worked nicely against the backdrop of green forest and rolling hills behind the distillery. Adding an element of nature into the gates would make it go more seamlessly with the gardens and forest surrounding it.

"Could do that. What about swords?" Kaia turned and nodded to the castle. "Or something armor like?"

"Also interesting. Would it be a big deal to mock-up a few designs?"

"No problem at all. I love this kind of stuff. Particularly with a building like this." Kaia pursed her lips and shook her head. "It's why I came over here. You just don't get to work on spaces like this in the States."

"No, I don't imagine you have quite the history we do. "

"Orla, hi!" I turned as Willow came out of the castle, her cat sauntering after her, and I waved.

"Willow, this is Kaia, a fellow American. She's just moved to town and is a metalworker. We're discussing designs for a custom gate."

Willow's eyes narrowed as she looked Kaia up and down before she brightened.

"What kind of metalwork? Is it industrial only? Have you considered chain mail? Or jewelry?"

"I do both, actually. Depends on my mood really." Kaia and Willow beamed at each other, fast friends, and I had to admire the woman. Where it took me ages to warm up to people, Kaia seemed to do so effortlessly.

"Even better. I'm a designer and I've been playing with some ideas for kind of a chain mail crop top of sorts? That you could wear alone or throw on over a band T-shirt, you know?"

"Totally. I can work on it, though chain mail takes time. It's an exacting work, hooking all those links together, and then soldering them closed as well."

"I can imagine. That's why we charge the premium price, don't we?" Willow grinned.

Calvin, her cat, brushed against her legs and Willow shot him a look before angling her head at Kaia. I wondered if the cat was communicating with her like she'd told me he was capable of doing. He was cute, I'd give him that, and I crouched to give his ears a wee scratch.

"You're a handsome wee lad, aren't you?"

"Brrap." Calvin bumped his head against my hand, and I gave him a good pet while the two women chattered about chain mail and fashion. Finally, I stood, knowing I needed to get back to work.

"Kaia, send me those designs when you can. I have to run."

"So great to meet you, Orla. I'll follow up soon with a few ideas." Kaia shook my hand, her grip authoritative, and I nodded my thanks.

"Say, Kaia. Got a moment? I'd like to introduce you to Sophie, the woman who owns this castle." Over Kaia's shoulder, Willow shot me a look.

One of those looks that seemed to say she wanted me to pay attention to something.

Or someone that was.

With a jerk of her chin toward Kaia, I understood what she was trying to tell me.

This woman might be the next in the Order.

Pursing my lips, I gave Willow a quick nod of understanding. If so, I was quite pleased. Having another woman who worked in the trades like I did, and with a personality like Kaia's, would be a benefit to the group. I still wasn't entirely sure what I brought to the table, but Sophie continued to assure me that I was doing just fine.

I'd passed my second challenge.

The night when I'd helped the little girl cross over, leaving Fin's house behind and reuniting her with her family. Or so the Green Lady had promised me that Elspeth was just fine. The next day, a new vine of gold leaves had appeared in the handle of my hammer, and I'd blown out a breath of acceptance.

Whatever was happening, well, I was doing something right. And if an ancient stone of truth deemed me worthy of my magick, then I just had to carry on and keep helping where I could, right?

The Kelpies had awoken us last night.

It was the first time in a long time that I'd heard the screams and I'd rushed outside, half-naked with my hammer in hand. Finlay had drawn me back, arms wrapped around my waist, and we watched from the window as the shadow of something had raced across the surface of Loch Mirren. It had humbled me, their sheer power, and Fin had cursed long and low at my ear, his muscular arms banding me to his body. He'd refused to let me budge an inch, furious with me for running outside, and I'd been powerless to tell him why I'd done so.

It was my job to help.

Except Fin didn't know that and I hadn't been able to bring myself to tell him, not when he'd whispered words of fear in my ear before the Kelpies had finally dissolved in a wicked splash of water.

Neither of us had spoken of it this morning. It still niggled at me, unsettled thoughts bouncing around my brain, and I knew I'd have to tell Fin what I was soon. He'd been pretty upset by the Kelpies, though, so I wasn't sure just how much to spring on him. Couldn't say I blamed the guy either. The shriek of the Kelpies was enough to make anyone cower in fright.

"Boss. Got a sec?" Derrick motioned to me from the entryway, and I nodded, striding forward.

Movement had me glancing toward the outbuilding—the one where Fin had first gotten himself into trouble—and I saw something flicker behind the windows. Damn it. I'd kept meaning to sort that out, as construction would begin on that space soon, but one thing after another had pulled me away. Remembering that Fin had an after-work meeting with Munroe later, I decided I'd deal with whatever ghost was haunting the wee cottage. The Green Lady had warned me it was tough magick there, but after my two recent successes I was feeling emboldened.

Surely I could help. It was what we did in the Order of Caledonia, and I needed to continue to prove my worth as a team player. Resigning myself to a difficult evening ahead, I bent myself to work, hoping I was making the right decision to tackle this on my own.