Pepper, the Highlander & the Dead Guy

“My dad has worried about me since I was born, the burden of being an only daughter. And it isn’t only me involved in this somehow, so are you. The one thing that connects us is—”

“Our property,” Ian finished.

Ian placed his empty bowl in the sink, and we took what was left of the cheese and crackers and the wine, half a bottle, to the living room and sat on the couch.

My curiosity had the best of me, or was it that I was just plain nosey? I had to ask, “I have a question for you. It’s about the lake. Are you going to open it to locals, residents of Willow Lake for recreation, like your uncle did?”

Ian took a sip of wine before answering, “That’s easier said than done, Pep.”

“How so?”

“I have to consider liabilities that could affect my business. I intend to look into it, but right now, ah dinnae have an answer for you.”

“I never thought of that, but you are right and at least you’re looking into it,” I said, pleased that he hadn’t dismissed the idea completely and loving the lyrical sound of his brogue.

“I also have to consider that I won’t be here all the time. I plan to share my time between here and Scotland.”

“Oh, of course, your family is in Scotland,” I said as if it made perfect sense, which it did, not that it made me happy to know he’d be gone for who knew how long?

“My mum and da would be upset if I left Scotland all together. When I told them of inheriting this place, they encouraged me to sell it, fearing I would move here permanently. They made me promise I would no’ do such a thing, an easy enough promise for sure since I couldn’t leave Scotland forever. I would miss it too much.”

“Of course, I would miss here and my family,” I agreed, and so it was over before it even got started. Ian living between here and Scotland and me living here.

I tilted my head, a muscle in my neck tightening probably from sleeping on the couch or it could be from the dive I took in the lake.

“Neck muscle?” Ian asked.

I nodded, rubbing at the offending pain.

“Scoot over and turn around. I know my way with muscles.”

Of course, he did. The heart was a muscle, and he probably broke quite a few of them. But I scooted over anyway. After all, ours was just a friendship. No possible relationship here.

I groaned and moaned like I was having an orgasm, no, much better than one since mine had never been great. His hands were magic, and I never wanted him to stop.

I was sounding more and more like Amy’s romance novels, but at the moment I didn’t care. Ian’s hands felt too good.

Ian and I both jumped when a horrific growl sounded, and we both looked up at the television.

“I forgot about Mo’s program,” I said, seeing the lion roaring on the screen. He loves to watch the Animal Channel.”

“Mo turned on the telly?” Ian asked, easing me back against him to look me in the eyes as if he did not quite believe me.

“Another talent of his.” And before he could ask, I explained, “I always leave the Animal Channel station on when I finish watching the TV so it’s there for him if he wants to watch it.”

Ian chuckled. “You surprise me at every turn, Pep.”

I wasn’t sure if that was good or not, but we both settled in to watch the Animal Channel with Mo.

“What the hell?”

I bolted up halfway on the couch, knocking something off that had been wrapped around me and looked to see it had been Ian, now on the floor, and he pointed behind me. I turned to see my dad standing over the couch, giving me that look that warned I had done something wrong, and he expected an explanation. My dad and I were going to have to have a serious talk, and as for Mo?

I looked around for him and sure enough, he was chewing on a new, big bone—the traitor.

12

Ian got to his feet and held his hand out to me. The man did steal my heart with such courteous gestures. But when he went to offer an explanation to my dad, I stopped him.

“How old do you think I am, Dad?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter to me how old you are, you’re still my daughter.”

“It does matter, Dad. I’m not a little girl anymore nor am I a damsel in distress. I am a grown woman who can and has taken care of herself. Thanks mostly to her father who taught her how to defend herself. And this grown daughter needs not only her privacy, but her dad’s trust.”

“You need to teach Mo not to open the door to anyone who shows a bone to him,” my dad said.