Page 88 of Wild Scottish Fortune

People are allowed to be mad. That doesn’t mean they’ll leave you.

“Well, he did.”

Orla.

“What?” I looked up at her and stilled. The expression on her face. I knew it. My stomach twisted and I set my cup of tea down before I spilled it on myself.

This is goodbye.

“Why?” I whispered, my tears finally spilling over. “Why now?” How could she do this to me? After all these years of protecting me and guiding me? She was actually leaving me?

You don’t need me anymore.

“That’s…what?” I barked out a laugh. I was literally at my lowest point. How could I not need her? “How can you even say that? Look at me.”

I am. And I’ll say it again. You don’t need me anymore,Orla. You have everything you need. Right here.She tapped her chest, mirroring my unconscious movement that I was doing on my own, and then disappeared from the end of my bed.

This time, I didn’t try to stop the tears. Burying my face in my hands, I wept. The Green Lady believed I didn’t need her, but my heart ached.Shewas choosing to leave me, after I’d just deduced thatleaving mewasn’t always a choice. And somehow, losing the Green Lady caused a deep, deep chasm inside my heart.

I was now part of the Order of Caledonia, I had women who loved and respected me, but I just felt so utterly…alone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Orla

Iwanted to call in sick the next day.

I never took a sick day, well, I needed to be on death’s doorstep for me to call in. As much as I wanted to hide out, burying my face under my blankets, the reality was, I couldn’t walk away from this job. Seeing Fin would be unavoidable, so I just needed to deal with it. At the end of the day, I had a job to do, and I was a professional.

A professional whose eyes were still puffy from crying most of the night.

Once the emotions had busted through, it was like someone had shaken up a bottle of champagne, and I couldn’t seem to stop crying. I cried for it all. For those I’d lost, for the little girl I’d been who’d desperately wanted family, for hurting Fin.

Because Ihadhurt him. I understood that now. Keeping my abilities from him was likely similar to how his father had hidden his life from Finlay. Even I could see the parallels, even if I hadn’t hidden magick because I thought I was doing something bad. I just hadn’t been ready to share it with him. Or anyone, really.

But one thing about a long night of crying, is you learn some hard truths about yourself. And in the bright light of morning, because yes, the sun insisted on shining this morning much to my annoyance, you can either backpedal and go back to what you’ve known, or you can make a change.

It was time for change.

Or so I’d told myself, but when I pulled up and saw Fin’s truck in the car park, my stomach twisted. I’d even come early today, hoping to get immersed in work so I could take some time to get my bearings before I approached him. Because I couldn’t avoid him forever and even if he was done with me, at the very least I hoped he’d hear my explanation.

Slamming my door, I made my way toward the construction site, but then paused. Tilting my head, I looked at the site, and then back at the car park.

That was odd.

Even though I was early, Derrick was usually on-site long before me. He liked to cut off work earlier than most so he could have a leisurely dinner with his wife, and I didn’t mind in the slightest. Instead, the distillery was empty.

Nerves kicked up and I turned again, hands on my hips,and tried to sense if I was missing something. Was magick at play here? Much like yesterday when I’d walked into Marie’s cottage and found another world, had I just done the same? Pressing my lips together, I wandered closer, uncertain of what to do.

A happy bark sounded, and I turned to the gardens.

“Harris!”

I dropped to my knees as Harris ran to me, barely containing his excitement, and the tears started again as he slathered my face with his big sloppy, wet, tongue. Apparently, I was a crier now, much to my chagrin.

“Buddy…what are you doing here? Who sprung you?”

Harris rolled over on his back, wiggling in the grass, and I scratched his tummy, loving how enthusiastic he was when he was outside the shelter. It was like he was a different dog entirely with an extra spring to his step. When he turned over and buried his head in my stomach, his collar caught my attention.

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