Page 93 of Wild Scottish Beauty

I looked around, but where it had been daytime, it was now night, and the room had changed enough for me to know I was smack dab in a vision.

A horrible one at that.

Heat singed my skin, and I jumped up, turning in a circle, panic clenching my gut as fire ravaged the shop.

A man’s voice cried for help. I turned to go, to see where it came from, and ran into something hard.

“Willow.” The voice was sharp, a command, and I came to with a start, realizing Ramsay was shaking me.

“Oh my God, oh no,” I cried, gripping his arms, panic still holding me in its clutches.

“Shhh, calm down. Tell me what happened.” Ramsay ran his hands up and down my arms, soothing me, and I swallowed, trying to find the words.

“I … I had another vision. I think. Oh my God, Ramsay. It’s the shop. The shop was on fire.”

At that Ramsay stiffened, his face going hard, his eyes darting around the room.

“Walk me through it.”

“It was…it was so fast. It was night. That’s how I knew Iwas in a vision and that the fireplace hadn’t suddenly erupted.” I wiped a hand across my brow where sweat had sprung, and Ramsay grabbed my hand.

“Look.”

A dark wash of soot coated the backs of my hands and I grimaced, long threads of worry unraveling inside me.

“I didn’t see much else. There were flames everywhere. I heard a man’s voice call for help, and I was running…that way I guess? I needed to find him.”

“Did you see anything else that might indicate a time? A date on your iPad? Was there a fire in the fireplace? Snow outside?” Ramsay ticked off the points, his face deadly serious.

“No, nothing that I can recall.” I shook my head, furious that I didn’t have more information to give him.

“Here, sit. Let me get you a glass of water.” He nudged me back into the chair, pressed a kiss against the top of my hair.

“Incredible. Your hair even smells like smoke.”

“I’m scared,” I whispered, tracing a finger against the soot on my skin.

“One sec.” Ramsay hurried away and then returned, depositing Calvin in my lap, and handing me a cup of water. Then he crouched at my feet. Calvin, sensing my distress, butted his head against my chin, and I stroked his soft fur. “Listen, I know this place looks cozy and rustic, but I’ve got all the modern things here. I have Nest alarms set up, ring cameras, all the bells and whistles. If you burn a piece of toast, the alarm will go off.”

“Okay.” I blew out a breath and then tooka very long, slow inhale. “I mean, we can’t know that all of my visions come true, right?”

“We don’t. But even if it’s true, we can’t just live on edge, you ken? We have to leave the shop. And I’ve done all the precautions I can to protect the space. There’s nothing that can be done unless you can think about anything else that might help. Do you think you can drop back into the vision?”

“I have no idea. I can try.”

“What do you need from me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, just, go back into the other room again? I’ll try to replicate what I was doing?”

“Good luck. I’ll be right here.”

I waited until he’d walked into the other room, and then picked up my iPad. Led Zeppelin played in the background as I continued to sketch. But even when I tried to put myself back into the vision, nothing happened. I emptied my brain, forcing myself to just focus on the sketch, but still no dice. Frustrated, I put the iPad down, cupped Calvin in my arms, and stood. Striding across the room to the window, I looked out across Loch Mirren. The sky was moody today, as it was most days, and I found myself transfixed on the island far out in the water. The wind was high enough today that tinges of white capped the waves, and the grey clouds moved at a fast clip across the sky. The sun filtered through the clouds, an occasional ray spearing the loch, and I stroked Calvin’s coat as I tried to push down the worry.

Intellectually, I understood that Ramsay was right. There wasn’t much I could do about protecting the shop, and I hadn’t been able to give him any helpful details.Heavy footfalls sounded, and I sighed as Ramsay’s arms came around my waist, pulling my back to his chest.

“Anything?”

“Nope.”

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