Page 86 of Wild Scottish Rose

I had to figure out a way to stop him. If only to stop his dumb arse from doing something so irrevocably stupid like getting himself killed.

Fury mixed with worry as I fumed.

How can I stop him? He’s a grown man who can do what he wants to do.

The depth of my feelings for him shook me, and I balled up my fists at my stomach, wanting to scream. In an instant, I could have lost him. And now he wanted to go tothe damn island? Briefly I considered breaking his camera equipment, but then pushed that thought aside. There were certain lines I couldn’t cross, and sabotaging his project was one of them. But…

I walked over to the front window of the cottage and looked out at Loch Mirren. I could just make out the island from here, and though I couldn’t see the beach that Owen was talking about, I knew it was there.

What if he couldn’t get on the island?

Tapping my finger on my lips, I whirled, crossing the room to pull out Gran’s notebook she’d left for me. I paged through until I found the information I was looking for.

Not that I really needed the spell.

I was a garden witch, wasn’t I?

This was in my blood, after all.

It was time to make things grow.

I took my time getting ready, having a leisurely shower, enjoying a relaxed breakfast, while I waited for the boat rental to open. Now that I had a plan, much of my anxiety had abated. My eyes landed on the first bunch of roses that Owen had brought me weeks ago. I hadn’t had the heart to throw them out, and I watched as another petal drifted to the floor. I hoped that wasn’t a sign. Steeling myself, I went over to the vase and picked the dried flowers up. I should really bin these.

My hand hovered over the rubbish bin, but I couldn’t do it. I sighed. They were the first flowers he’d ever given me. Maybe that made me sentimental, or maybe I was just in a mood this morning, but I toweled off the stems and clipped them to a clothing line in my mudroom so that I could properly dry them.

By the time I arrived at the boat rental, I’d had a fairly productive morning. I’d answered emails, responded to inquiries for the cottage rental, and had booked a new supplier account with a local coffee shop. Did I sneak out the front door so Owen didn’t see me leave the cottage and walk to town? Absolutely I did. Did that make me selfish or uncaring? It did not. Owen wasn’t listening to reason, so the only way that I could stop him from going to the island was to physically bar him from landing on it.

I’d brought with me a few of my magickal seeds, along with my magickal gardening staff. A trickle of nerves slipped through my stomach as I smiled at the lad behind the counter.

“Hi ya, John. I’ll be needing a boat for an hour.”

“Canoe or kayak suit you? Or are you wanting a Zodiac?”

A Zodiac was an inflatable style boat with a wee motor, but I’d never driven one before. I wasn’t sure that today needed to be my learning curve when it came to piloting an entirely new type of boat.

“No, kayak is fine. Thanks, mate.”

I waited while he rung up my payment and then pointed to the row of kayaks pulled up on the rocky beach across the road.

“Pick any one you like. Need help getting it in the water?”

“Nae, lad. I’ve been kayaking for years.” You couldn’t grow up on the water and not learn a few basics. Clipping the life vest on over my waterproofs, I grabbed my bag and trudged across the beach, nudging my kayak into the water.While I didn’t particularly want to step in the water, it was hard to launch a kayak while keeping your feet dry, and I’d worn water shoes because of it. Even so, the shock of the cold water against my skin was enough to send shivers through my body. Steadying the kayak, I hauled myself in and settled myself, reaching for the oar to paddle a few strokes out into the calm water. There, I paused while I gathered my courage.

Upon further reflection, this potentially could be deeply, fundamentally stupid, as well. I’d just screamed at Owen for trying to get photos of the Kelpies, and here I was possibly putting myself in the same danger.

But this was different.

I was one of the Order of Caledonia, sent to protect the Stone of Truth, one of the chosen. Surely the Kelpies wouldn’t come after the very person they needed to shore up their line of defenses?

Maybe that would have been information you should have shared with Owen.

Pushing that thought aside, I took a deep breath, and then dipped my paddle into the water. It was too late now. I just needed to get in, get out, and secure the island so nobody else tried to walk on shore. Easy peasy.

It was one of those late autumn days that made you think that winter was still ages away. The sun had shooed the morning fog away, and a gentle breeze tickled my cheeks as I paddled across the loch. I wasn’t making a direct line for the island, because anyone watching from the shore would be able to see what I was doing. Instead, I gave it a wide berth by paddling almost to the other side, away from it, and then I planned to circle the island, hoping that anglewould conceal my actions from anyone standing on the shore.

I used to love paddling.

It had been ages since I’d been out in a boat, likely because of that whole Kelpie thing, and I had to wonder how the boat guys were even staying in business. Frankly, the presence of the Kelpies had hit the town of Loren Brae hard, and though Sophie was working diligently on her marketing campaign, and Lia was drawing people in with her new restaurant, tourism was still stuttering along like a car running out of petrol.

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