Page 64 of Wild Scottish Rose

CHAPTER TWENTY

Shona

After a delicious takeaway dinner of fish and chips from the chippie and several soul-sizzling kisses that—that, much to my embarrassment, made me almost beg for Owen to join me in the bedroom—we’d gone our separate ways.

Apparently, he wanted to take his time with me on a night he hadn’t been drinking.

Those were his words.

Mine were a bit less polite.

The thought was enough to make me dizzy, and I was caught between frustration and arousal as he’d left me, my lips swollen from his kisses. The man either had mind-boggling self-control, or he enjoyed taking his time. If I went with the side of me that was frustrated, then I was half-convinced he was enjoying drawing out the wait,building up the tension. It felt like a “filmmaker move”, building us toward the big climax.

So to speak.

Annoyed with him, and myself, because as much as I wanted the man, I was still holding secrets back from him. Which meant I’d probably not be comfortable taking him to my bed until I was honest about who and what I was. Which was also annoying, in its own right, because all of a sudden this was all feeling so much bigger than just a flirtation with someone traveling through for a few weeks. I wanted to keep things light, and Owen kept doing things like leaving me notes, buying me flowers, and kissing me until I started to rearrange my future around him.

Entering the greenhouse the following morning, I chose some Bob Marley as background music, needing a bit of a lift today. A soft grunt caught my attention, and I bent my head below the table to see Eugene scuttle from his nest of blankets.

“Hey, buddy, how’s the job going?”

Eugene grinned up at me, which I took to mean he was on top of the pests in the greenhouse, and I picked him up to take him over to the tomatoes. Once we’d selected one that met his favor, I put him back so he could nestle into his towels with his treat. Freshening up his water, I returned to the closet where my gran’s carved box was. I still felt like there was more to discover, and I hadn’t had as much time as I wanted to really delve into what she’d left for me.

Humming along to the music, I struck gold when I dug to the bottom of the box and found a small leather-bound notebook beneath the stacks of seeds. Thumbing through it, tears sprung into my eyes at Gran’s careful handwriting.

I missed her.

But, at the very least, I had this. I had her flowers, her magick, and our memories. I would hold those to my heart every time I thought about her. My eyes caught on a note about the autumnal equinox, and I paused to read.

“‘The equinox is a special time of year to celebrate endings and new beginnings. Though the spring equinox is often considered the one of new birth and beginnings, I’ve always thought autumn to be so. Autumn is when we put our seeds in the ground to grow for the following year, after all. Now is the time of harvest, of growth, and new beginnings. To celebrate, do the following ritual under the full moon.’” My eyes widened when it suggested the ritual be done sky-clad. “Does she mean naked?”

“Aye lass, naked as a wee bairn.”

I dropped the notebook, clasping a hand over my heart.

“Damn it. We talked about this.”

“And yet, here we are. You keep forgetting that you live with a gnome.” Gnorman shrugged, walking over to look down at the notebook. “Yes, sky-clad is better.”

“It’s cold.”

“Deal with it.”

“What’s the point?”

“You should honor the change of seasons and connect with your magick. It will only make you more powerful.”

“Why?”

“The more you connect with nature’s power, the more in harmony you will be.”

I arched an eyebrow at the gnome, whose baseline ran more to disgruntled and grumpy than harmonious. I triedto imagine him, sitting cross-legged, meditating beneath a full moon, and the image was enough to cheer me up.

“Speaking of connecting with nature, I was wondering if you could come with me today.”

“Come with you? Are you getting rid of me?” Gnorman eyed me, suspicion written on his face.

“Yeah, I was going to tie you to a stone and dump you in the loch.” I laughed outright at the gnome’s horrified expression.

---