Page 110 of Only a Breath Away

Magnus said, “Wait, why inna our ship name Magnaoch?”

We all laughed.

Fraoch looked at Magnus, “But ye ken this is crazy right, Og Maggy? There is a large chance that we winna find him. The odds are stacked against ye, ye hae tae ken it.”

Magnus nodded and swallowed. “I appreciate that ye would accompany me.”

“I need tae ken though, how long are we tae look for him? When James was loopin’, Hayley and I had tae leave, it got too dangerous. I left him, which I now regret—”

Quentin said, “Me too.”

“But I tell ye, Og Maggy, if ye take it too far, if ye risk too much, or put us in too much danger, I winna stand for it.”

Magnus joked, “What would ye do?”

“Kick yer arse back here.”

Magnus joked, “Like tae see ye try.”

Lochinvar laughed. “Now this is what I want tae see. Can I come tae see the elders fight?”

James said, “You don’t have to go anywhere to see it, they argue all the time.”

Magnus said, “But hae ye ever seen us come tae blows? Nae, because he is afraid tae do it—”

Fraoch chuckled. “Afraid tae hurt ye.”

Quentin gestured toward them. “See?”

Magnus said, “Ye are needed here, Lochinvar, if Fraoch and I go tae the past, we need as many men as possible here. Ye will take orders from Quentin, he is yer boss.”

James said, “What am I, burnt toast?”

Quentin said, “I have the word Colonel in front of my name, asshole. When shit goes down, I’m the boss.”

Magnus gestured toward them. “See, tis nae only us, they are also often arguin’ and this close tae coming tae blows.”

Hayley said, “All you men are always arguing about—”

I joked, “All you men? I don’t know about that, you argue with me all the time.”

The men gestured toward us and we laughed.

Magnus said, “All right, thank ye, Fraoch, ye will come. Kaitlyn will stay here with the bairns, as we were gone long enough, and everyone can continue their vacation plans. Lochinvar, I will set ye up with a task on the morrow afore we go.”

Hayley said, “I was promised fishing and wait…” She teased, “I can still go fishing, my nephews can paddle me around the lake!”

I said, “How about, instead of fishing, you and I take the kids on an exploration of the south end. It’s shallow there, there’s lots to find, I used to go all the time with my grandfather.”

Chef Zach joked, “I have half the mouths to feed tomorrow, my day got a lot more relaxing.”

Emma said, “If there’s room Zoe and I will go with you in the canoe. We’d love an adventure.”

CHAPTER 73 - KAITLYN

We deposited the kids in the bunkhouse to sleep and then went out to the lawn to sit in chairs, just me and Magnus, everyone else headed to bed. The night was still and dark and cool. He said, “Och, I hae missed this place, ye ken. It has a feel tae it, verra different from Florida, where it is hot and sticky and the air is thick and heavy. Here tis crisp and light, cool and fresh. I did miss it much.” His gaze looked up and down the lake shore. “It reminds me of Scotland, from the castle walls I could see a long way. I loved guard duty because of that long view, but here we are on the side of the bank, down low, nestled in the trees, a low house, with nae stairs, too small for all of us, but I like it verra much. The dock there with the canoes. I do like it verra verra much. I just miss yer grandparents here.”

“Me too.” My eyes swept the darkness, the lake beyond in the light of the moon. “Remember when we were out on the dock and the bear came?”

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