She reached out toward the hair lying there on the ground, a braid she’d never done anything but brush for the entirety of her life, but her hands grasped at nothing. Oliver caught one of her hands and brought it to his mouth. She appreciated the gesture, but all she could do was look at him in shock.
“My crowning glory,” she said, wondering if the present moment might be the best one for bursting into tears.
She found herself gathered into strong arms and felt Oliver’s hand skimming over what was left of the one glory she’d possessed.
“It will grow,” he said quietly.
She was willing to concede he might be right, but that didn’t ease her overmuch. At least she had simply lost her hair and not her life. Oliver pulled back, kissed her quickly, then smiled.
“I hear Cameron’s helicopter coming. Let’s get out of the way and see what he and Jamie have planned.”
She nodded, but found she couldn’t move. All she could do was look at her hair and mourn. She’d only ever had three possessions in her life that were hers: her mother’s ring which was most definitely in the past, the first half of her book which she supposed she might have back once she’d picked it up from where Kenneth had dropped it, and her hair.
And now the man standing there, watching her with love in his eyes, something that was far more important than those other things. She took a deep breath, then nodded.
“I’ll fetch my hair if you’ll fetch Elizabeth’s book.”
He smiled, kissed her quickly, then did just that. She gathered up her braid, then moved with her husband out of the way of Cameron’s flying beastie. She very quickly found herself where she was happiest, which was in Oliver’s arms.
“Thank you for the rescue,” she said, looking at him gravely.
“Where did you go?”
“Outside to see if the loose stone in the wall was still there.” She paused. “I think it’s in the loo now.”
He laughed a little, then kissed her. “I have an idea.”
“What is it?”
“Why don’t you stay within arm’s reach of me for a while?”
“How long?”
He considered. “Five or six decades?”
She smiled and allowed him to gather her close again. “If you want.”
“I want.”
“At least my hair will be long again after all that time.”
He kissed the top of her head, then wrapped his arms around her. “It will be absolutely lovely either way.”
She looked over his shoulder at the helicopter that was descending from the sky, carrying what looked to be a large boulder under itself. She would have enjoyed that, but she found that all she could do was stand there and pray that she had seen the last of a particular trio of family members.
The helicopter landed and Cameron himself jumped out and walked over to them. He greeted Oliver and the lads, greeted her with especial kindness, then turned to Jamie.
“I got your text.” He looked at the gate, then at Jamie. “We can close it with a rock for now, but perhaps trees or something else would be useful?”
“A lovely addition to our border,” Jamie said pleasantly.
“Will it be missed?”
“Only by those who shouldn’t be using it,” Jamie said seriously, then he smiled. “There are, as you know, others.”
“I appreciate the continual updates to your map,” Cameron said dryly.
Mairead leaned closer to Oliver. “Map?”
