Page 64 of Priceless
“Aye. Once ye’ve learned the truth about the ghosts of Culloden…ye cannae be allowed to leave the country.”
Laira finally looked for Jacob who stood frozen in fear near the door. She was looking for confirmation, he realized—not that he was Jocko, but that Wallace was a ghost. He didn’t dare move. He didn’t dare hope. Had he escaped the inevitable yet again?
Finally, Banner laughed. Loudly and heartily, letting her know it was all a joke. The man knew nothing about Jocko, so he hadn’t any idea how close he’d come to exposing his friend.
Jess’s laugh was loud as well, but Jacob knew she was amused for a wholly different reason. Thankfully, Laira didn’t seem to hear the difference.
After lunch, Jess took Laira upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms so she could lie down and rest in peace for a bit. As soon as the women had left the room, Banner turned to Jacob, sober as death.
“Ye owe me a boon, ye ken.”
“I do?”
“I planted the seed. I suggested she should never leave Scotland. The rest is up to ye.”
“Then ye’re right. I do owe ye a boon.”
“I’ll have it now, then.”
“Whatever ye want.”
Banner nodded and pulled the blade from his sock, then flipped it and caught it a few times before pinning Jacob with a stare. “I want ye to tell me what secrets ye’re keeping with my wife.”
There wasn’ta corner of Jessica and Banner’s house that wasn’t charming and cozy and looking like it could have come out ofanother century. Maybe that was why it was so easy to believe, even if only for a minute, that Banner Wallace had come from another century too.
The blue bedroom I’d been given had more thick curtains for blocking out the sun. The bed was large with plenty of quilts piled on, so when I stretched out on it, I sank deep in a downy hug. With a final quilt pulled over me, napping would be easy…if I could just get rid of that image I’d been working on in my head—the one of Jacob MacKinney in a kilt like Banner’s.
I was spiraling, but in a pleasant way this time. Falling for Jacob, deeper and deeper, hour by hour. And if I wasn’t careful, I would never be able to climb out and go home.
But I had to. I had to make that flight. I had to go back and pick up my life. I just had to make sure that Jacob understood that. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. I knew it was already too late for me. This new but intense relationship was going to leave a mark.
Knowing that, one would think I could slow it down.
One would think…
I rolled over and caught sight of my bag on the dresser. It was a good thing Jocko wasn’t sitting around waiting for me. I’d barely thought of him all day. But my first priority was getting rid of this brain fog.
I couldn’t believeI’d agreed to go fishing again. But Banner insisted that we start the contest over. I don’t remember what he needed the money for, but he wanted it pretty badly.
Just like the first time, we threw our lines out on opposite sides of the boat. Only this time, the boat was much wider, and Jacob was so far away he looked small. I waved my hand in the air, but he didn’t notice.
I just prayed each of us could catch a fish quickly, weigh them, and go home. Too bad I didn’t think of it before we left the dock, but I would have rather just given Banner my hundred dollars so we didn’t have to do this again.
He caught a cod this time, and we were all relieved. At least he had a shot at winning. When he reeled it in, though, it was covered with blood, and he was forced to go lie on the seats so he could faint without hitting his head.
Jessica was next. She caught a haddock. Nice and small. No use even weighing it.
Soon after, Jacob struggled to pull out a giant whisky barrel that had the stamp of that distillery on the side, along with the name Jocko in giant letters. No matter how big it was, it didn’t count either. All I had to do was catch something small and light, and Banner would win. We could all go home and get in the hot tub.
I just hoped it wasn’t big enough for killer whales…
Right on time, my pole bent over. It was hard to hold on with the two fully inflated life jackets Jacob had strapped to me. No matter how big a fish I caught, at least there was no chance of drowning.
It was that shark again. That long tail cut circles in the water like a giant knife. But I knew what he was thinking. He knew that those killer whales were coming to eat him—unless he could get them to eat me instead. So, it reared back, yanked hard, and pulled me over.
But we were on the Mad Molly, and the drop was a hundred feet! I prayed I would die before I hit the water, but my heart wouldn’t stop beating!
Two giant black mouths, lined with a thousand teeth, gaped open and waited for me! And all I could do was scream.
