Page 67 of The Magical Bed & Breakfast

Rory shook his head. He was no one’s champion. He was a wanderer. He wasn’t one to build a town, to build a legacy to last. But he still needed to see Kate. He still needed to let her know how he felt. After that, the decision was hers.

The wind shoved at him as if driving him to a destination. He moved with it. It was, after all taking him in the direction he wanted to go. He found the inn locked, but knew Kate was inside. He didn’t have a key with him. He rang the bell and waited.

No answer.

For all he knew she was upstairs changing out of her fancy clothes or soaking in a tub of hot water. He let that image settle in his mind. He cleared his throat. Picturing Kate in the tub with her hair up, surrounded by bubbles, steam rising off hot water, was not productive. He hurried around to the courtyard, wind hustling him toward the back entrance. It was quite a determined breeze, even altering direction to guide him.

With no time to ponder that anomaly, he reached the back door and found it locked as well. Through the glass he saw someone in the inn. But it wasn’t Kate. He peered through the window and froze. Just for an instant, his eyes met the wild gaze of Sunny Briscoe, framed in flickering lantern light. He realized he was cloaked in shadow. She couldn’t seehim. Sunny swung back around and vanished into the basement. She’d been gone but a moment when he heard a scream.

That sounded like Kate.

Without second-guessing his instincts, Rory stepped back, took aim, and with one solid-booted kick, busted the lock on the back door. He shoved it wide, striding down the corridor and leaping down the basement stairs into pitch black.

“Kate!”

Where was she? What had Sunny done?

Certainly, the scream had come from here. He sought to control his rising panic. He’d been here before as a teen, in the thick, suffocating dark of the inn’s belly. Stuffy air churned as if alive, obscurity smothering, keen on drawing him in, pressing him down. But this time he wasn’t trapped. Voices hovered on the edge of his senses, shouts, metal on metal, sounds of combat ringing loud in his head.“Not now,” he moaned. “Please.” He couldn’t let the past overtake the present.

Compelling forces pulled him through the darkness, the hold overpowering. He recognized that strength. More than that, he knew Kate was in danger.

With every cell of his being, he ached to find her and get her away from his crazy stalker. This was all his fault. He had involved Kate in his drama. He had endangered her.

Breathing hard, Rory stopped to listen. Over his own gasps, he heard voices, real voices in real time, back near the wine cellar, close to the secret room. But the historic cries swirled about him, rising in intensity. He didn’t have time for that. This wasn’t some parlor game. This was not the time for the past to converge on the present.

But did the basement know or care? Could it even tell the difference?

He needed to get to Kate and get her away from Sunny. Rory took a breath. He paused, his eyes adapting to the faint light.

Would Kate use the tunnels to escape? Would she risk leading Sunny to them? He knew how intent she was on keeping them a secret. He eased his way forward through the gloom.

Suddenly, all went still.

Then he heard Sunny’s strident tones. “You can’t have him. He’s mine. I was told I could keep him.”

“Well, you can’t.” Kate’s voice was muffled but calm. “That isn’t how it works. Rory doesn’t wantyou.”

Ah, Kate had never spoken a truer word.

“He doesn’t want anyone. He wants to be free to travel and perform his music. He won’t be hampered byyou.”

“I don’t hamper.” Sunny stomped her foot and let out a wail. “Shut up. Just shut up.”

Ever the voice of reason, Kate continued. “Why are you even here? What do you plan to accomplish?”

“I did the interview like Nolan said. I shared my adoration with the world. Why can’t you just leave him alone?”

“Fine. I’ll do that. I’ll leave him alone to do whatever he wants to do. See, done. Now get out. Rory isn’t going to stay in Hazard anyway.Youcan go now.”

Silence rang loud for just an instant.

“Except, he’ll come back to you.” Sunny’s tones were ominous. “We can’t have that.”

“We? You meanyou. Do you have any idea what you plan to do?”

“I…well, I’ll figure it out. Nolan will help. He’ll know what I should do.”

Rory crept closer. He needed to keep Sunny away from Kate, keep Sunny from forming a plan of action, because the woman was a wild card. If she had a plan, she might just carry it out without considering any consequences.

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