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That was my Aunt Elle, always giving. “I love you, no, I don’t. The contract says they will provide me with airfare and I’ve still got a stash. It really is an outstanding offer.”
She smiled. “I know, I looked at the attached contract. Good, but I mean to find out more about this law firm and MacLeod. Take the job while I investigate the castle’s history and its lords, past and present. I’ll email you whatever I find. And you know, you can always come home to me. My door is always open to you if you find this isn’t right for you, or if you just want to hang with your old Aunt Elle.”
I laughed. “I told you already I won’t do that to you. I have no intention of cramping your very sexy style.”
She laughed. “You would be lighting up my home.”
“Okay, this is getting too soppy for me.” I paused and sighed. “So, you are sure, you want me to take the job?” I wanted the job. I wanted this to work out. I wanted Elle to push me in that direction. I sensed she wanted to push me in that direction.
“Take it, my dear. You are certainly up to the challenge and the adventure,” she answered softly.
“But…I will be so far away from you,” I wailed. Elle had been my rock. How could I break away and go across the Atlantic?
“Time you broke loose from childish tethers. Bobbie, you know I will be a phone call away,” she answered.
I wanted to hug her, so I did just that, and said, “Come on, I’ll take you out to dinner.”
“Ohh, starving,” she said, and went for her purse.
She stopped in front of the cage elevator and stared into space for a moment before hugging me fiercely.
“Er…Aunt Elle?” I croaked out. “You are crushing me.”
“Baby girl, take this job, but be cautious…avoid the darkest corners of MacLeod. Something unseen just fluttered in my head and I’m not sure what it is. I do know one thing, you are being pulled to Scotland for a reason. Make that reason your own. Don’t allow anything or anyone to use you beyond your own wishes,” she said, and tapped my nose.
I laughed and said, “Not your usual pep talk. Now, I’m going to use my credit card and splurge, Auntie Elle. We will go uptown for lunch.”
She shook out the dark amber colored silk scarf, yet another color to the many she already was wearing, and said, “How do I look?”
“Like a goddess,” I told her as I looked her up and down. “As always. And you would be exquisite in anything.”
Elle had to be a little over forty, but she looked twenty-five. When I asked her about her age, she would just wave it off and tell me no one needed to know that number.
I knew she would only be a phone call—perhaps with our joined magic only a touch away. But so far, my Shama could only transport me short distances. I had only tried using a portal twice before and the farthest it took me was from my apartment to Aunt Elle’s loft.
“Excellent,” she teased with an arched brow. “Never know who I might bump into.”
It was later that afternoon when I made it back to my apartment and plopped down to study the contract.
As I picked up my pen, I got a sudden sensation…a vision of a gray swirling cloud and a distant voice whispered my name.
What the hell was that?
Damn, just what was this all about? A strange vampire inquiring about my mother—a very oddly convenient job…in my grandmother’s old village?
Did I believe in so many coincidences? Not one bit. Was I up to this challenge—this new adventure—hell yeah! I had always wanted to know more about my grandmother and mother. Here was my chance.
I signed the contract and then hurried out of my apartment, down the block busy with pedestrians, crossed the street teaming with cars and taxis, and headed into the Office Supply store.
Did I hesitate before I put the signed contract into the fax machine? You betcha! But I sent it anyway.
~ Two ~
FLYING OVER SCOTLAND WAS an experience I will never forget. Yes, the view from my first class window was breathtaking, but it was more, so much more than that.
It was as though whispery clouds reached into me and melded with my soul. It was as though a clan song began humming its tune in my head. A clan? Had my grandmother been part of a clan?
Oh, I had so many questions.
