Love Beyond Compare (Book 5 of Morna’s Legacy Series) (23 page)

“What about the car, Jane?” Adwen spoke at my side, his thumb resuming its delicious trail down the side of my leg. From the way we sat, Cooper and Orick couldn’t see it, and I could tell he delighted in silently torturing me. “I willna be leaving until we’ve seen it back to the lassies we took it from.”

“Damnit.” I’d forgotten all about the car. “Look, I know it was wrong of us to take it, and we will get it back to them eventually, but we won’t possibly have time to do it before we leave for New York. Cagair Castle isn’t anywhere near Edinburgh, and our flight leaves before noon. We will all only be getting a nap for our night’s sleep as it is.”

“No, Jane.” Adwen remained firm in his resolve. “We will take the car back tonight if we must.”

I shook my head, standing in frustration. “Then how will we get back here? Morna’s keys are here, but neither one of you can drive. Sorry, but it’s not happening.”

Adwen stood, grabbed Morna’s keys from the table and made his way to the door. “Aye, ’tis. I watched ye drive the whole way here. I can learn if ye show me.”

We all stood and followed Adwen to the front door. As he flung it open, we looked out into the empty driveway.
 

The car we borrowed was gone.

CHAPTER 31

Until I was twelve, there were two people who did much more of my raising than my parents ever did. The first was Cooper’s grandfather, Bebop. The second was Beatrice, the stern but remarkably patient nanny who’d spent more time with me and my sisters than she had with her own children. I never really liked her but, as I worked to ready Cooper, Adwen, and Orick for the drive to the airport the following morning, my sympathy for her grew. She’d had one hell of a hard job.
 

 
“Ye mean we are to wear these, Jane? They look far too tight. I doona think I can manage it. ’Tis no room for what hangs between my legs.”

Cooper snickered while I watched Adwen and Orick regard the outfits skeptically. They looked as if I’d just told them to squeeze into a pair of biker shorts and a tube top and parade around in public.
 

“It’s just a pair of jeans, a sweater, and some boots. Neither you nor Orick will be damaged by donning them, I promise. You can’t go to the airport in what you’re wearing now. I’m going to go take a shower. Cooper will help you guys get ready—help you with the sink and everything.”

“What is a shower, Jane?”
 

Orick’s head twisted to the side as he asked the question, and I flashed back to a theatrical version of Frankenstein I’d seen in New York once. It was a little bit what I felt like—seeing both men so out of their element, so naïve and unfamiliar with everything around them—I was Dr. Frankenstein, and they were the creatures I had to introduce the world to. God willing, this adventure would turn out better than that.
 

“A shower is something I don’t have the patience to show you guys this morning. You’ll both love it so much, I won’t be able to get you out of it, and we’re in a hurry. I’ll show you in New York. It’ll give you something to look forward to.”

I moved toward the doorway but was stopped by Adwen as he stepped over to block it.
 

“And what will ye be wearing, lass? Has the witch left ye a dreadful garment as well?”

“Oh, you’ll see. I’ll be wearing something far more comfortable. The witch left me a little piece of heaven.”

*
   
*
   
*

The shower felt even better than brushing my teeth, and it took Cooper knocking on the door of the bathroom to get me to reluctantly turn off the water.
 

“Aunt Jane, you said we need to leave by seven, right? Well, that’s only in an hour so you better hurry.”

“Okay, thank you, Cooper.”

I dried myself off quickly, wrapping myself in a towel before peeking out into the hallway to make sure Orick wasn’t about to get another peep show—the poor guy had already seen more than enough of me.
 

Finding it clear, I ran to the room and quickly slipped into the outfit Morna had left for me—a pair of yoga pants and a fitted but incredibly comfortable sweater, along with a pair of tennis shoes. I would look like a slob, especially in the Business Class section where our seats were located, but I didn’t care one bit. She left me other clothes as well, clothes I would pack and wear while in New York that were much more suitable for the public. For now during our long day of travel, I would enjoy the comfort.
 

I finished getting ready quickly, drying my hair and leaving it down so that it lay loosely around my shoulders. I didn’t put on any makeup and truthfully, after a year spent without it, I didn’t feel like I needed any. There was something truly wonderful about the lack of vanity in the seventeenth century that made me feel more confident and beautiful than I ever had under heaps of makeup in the twenty-first.
 

After straightening up the room, I shifted through the other clothes left for me and rolled my eyes as I zipped the suitcase closed. I knew what Morna meant to do. She somehow knew how I felt about her and was trying to change that. New York, the clothes, taking care of the car—all of it was just her way to get in my good graces. There was only one thing that would do that, and I wouldn’t know if helping Isobel was within her power until we met her in New York.
 

I gave the room one last look-over before stepping out into the hallway. I could hear Orick in the living room, marveling over the wonders of the television, and started to make my way toward the stairs to join him but paused as I walked by one of the guest bedrooms, catching a glimpse of Cooper sitting on the bed.
 

Cooper held his small suitcase in his lap. As he struggled with the zipper, Adwen came to sit down beside him, taking the case off his lap and swiftly zipping it shut.
 

“Adwen, can I ask you something?”

I smiled and held my place just around the doorway hoping I could continue to watch their conversation unseen. I very much wanted to hear whatever he meant to ask. It was bound to be entertaining.
 

“Aye, ye can.”

“Do you like Aunt Jane?”

“Aye, I do. I like ye as well, Cooper. Ye two and the rest of the McMillan clan are fine people.”

“Hmm…” Cooper crossed his arms and looked up at Adwen knowingly. “Well, that’s not really what I meant.”

Adwen smiled and clasped Cooper on the shoulder. “What did ye mean, lad? Ye can ask me anything, and I shall answer ye as the wee man that ye are.”
 

“I mean, do you like her? Like Orick likes that red-haired lady he kept thinking was a ghost.”

Adwen laughed and then answered. “Aye, I do.”

“Oh, good.” Cooper smiled and stood, turning so that he faced Adwen while he spoke. “Then it doesn’t really matter why I asked.”

“Would ye tell me anyway?”

“Sure. I was just going to say that if you didn’t like her that you should try to ’cause she needs somebody, I think. Everybody does, really. And…” he trailed off, bending to lift his suitcase.
 

“And what, lad? Ye canna leave me in suspense.” Adwen stuck a foot out to keep Cooper’s suitcase on the ground.
 

“Okay, so, please don’t tell Aunt Jane because I know what she will say. She will say I’m too young to talk about it, and I am, and I don’t really want to know any more than what I do. It’s only that I’m smarter than most kids. I know that, and when one thing happens and then another thing happens after that, and it happens more than once, I know that the one thing makes the other thing. Plus, my Grandmother really likes these things called Soaps so I’ve probably seen more things than I should have.”

I snickered under my breath, feeling rather sorry for Adwen as I watched him. Cooper was rambling, as he always did when he was nervous, and I could tell by the crease in Adwen’s brows, he hadn’t the slightest idea what Cooper meant to say. Truthfully, I didn’t either.
 

“Ach, lad, I dinna understand a word ye just said. I willna tell yer Aunt Jane a word ye say nor anyone else. So ye needn’t worry about that. Just say what ’tis ye mean to, or I believe ye will make us late.”

“Okay.” Cooper straightened his back and exhaled as if pushing away his nerves.
 

“I don’t want you to make any more noises like you did with Aunt Jane the other day unless you really, really like her.”

I swallowed, shutting my eyes in mortification.

“Ach, ye werena meant to hear that. Ye dinna see anything, did ye?”
 

“No, but while Orick and I were playing hide-and-seek, I heard some things that sounded a lot like the things I heard coming from my Mom and E-o’s room once. After that is when her belly started to grow with the baby. Maybe makes me think that storks don’t really have anything to do with babies.”
 

“A stork, lad?”

“You know, people always say that storks bring babies.”

“No, I havena ever heard that.”
 

Cooper waved a dismissive hand. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is this…”

My eyes widened as Cooper stepped up to Adwen and placed two of his fingers right in the center of his chest.
 

“If you spend more time like that with my Aunt Jane and you don’t like her, I don’t really think that’s okay. It’s like those kids at school who would pretend to be your friend just so they could blame something on you. It’s not nice, and it will make her sad. If you make Aunt Jane sad, I might just have to hurt you.”

“I willna make her sad, lad. I care for her verra much.”

“Good. Then let’s go to New York.”

 
Cooper spun, yanking his suitcase out from under Adwen’s feet and marched over to the doorway so quickly I didn’t have time to move. He opened the door and stared up at me, completely unbothered.

“Oh hey, Aunt Jane. I think everybody is ready to go now. Are you?”

“Uh, yes.” I stood blinking, still trying to regain my composure. “When we get back will you remind me to tell your mother something?”

He rolled his bag out into the hallway. “Yeah, sure. What?”

“Remind me to tell her that we need to move your bedroom somewhere else.”

One corner of Cooper’s mouth pulled up in agreement as he nodded. “Yes, please. I would like that very much.”
 

CHAPTER 32

It surprised Adwen to see Jane so bothered by Cooper’s words. Of all the things that came out of the lad’s mouth, his observation and warning seemed no less out of place than the rest of the bold things he said. To Adwen, it made him admire the ornery boy even more.
 

“Jane, I remember my own parents tupping no farther than the toss of a stone from me and my brothers. We were all aware of what men and women do together well before Cooper’s age.”

“What?”
 

She stirred from gazing out the window, exhaling in a way that caused her lower lip to tremble as the air blew over it. Adwen wanted to pull it deep into his mouth.
 

He leaned across the armrest to grab onto her hand, rubbing his thumb back and forth across the smooth skin. He’d never touched a lass whose flesh was so soft, pale, and unmarked by neither the sun nor hard labor. She’d led a life of privilege much like he had, yet somehow she’d turned out so much better, so much kinder, so much more deserving than he; he only hoped he could be the man she deserved. “Even before my mother died, we took many a journey together. We often camped in close quarters or shared a room at an inn. Ye are worried about Cooper, I can tell it. There’s no need, lass.”

She twisted at his words, looking back to make sure Cooper wasn’t listening. He laughed as he pulled her close, whispering in her ear.

“They’re asleep, lass.”

“Good. I’m not worried. Just rather shocked and embarrassed.”
 

“I doona think Cooper is bothered by it, Jane.” He kissed her ear as he spoke, smiling against her as she sighed and leaned into him.
 

“You’re right. If he is damaged, I suppose it’s Grace’s job to deal with him. Not mine. Although, I feel like he’s part mine—a lot of people feel that way, I think. Why aren’t you sleeping? You have to be just as tired as they are.”

“No, I canna sleep.” Sleep was the last thing on his mind. All he could think of was how badly he wanted to see her blush. “I dinna stay up half the night seeing that the rest of us were ready for today’s journey, and I dinna have to do all that ye did this morning. ’Tis ye that should be sleeping.”

She shrugged and nodded in the direction of the cup that sat on the tray in front of her.

“I’ve shoved five cups of coffee into a body that has grown accustomed to running on none. I probably won’t sleep for a week.”

He liked that idea very much, though he didn’t understand how the lass could drink five cups of the muddy poison. He’d had but a sip and had nearly choked to death on the filth.
 

“I’d rather drink my own blood, lass, than have another glass of that. I’ve seen a great many strange things here, none as strange as that. And so many drink it like ’tis ale or water. ’Tis astonishing.”