Page 20 of An Allusive Love
Chapter Seven
Revelations and Romance
The sun warmedhis skin, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the heated rock against the bottom of his bare feet. Brodie pillowed his head with his hands and waited for Kirstine. He reflected on Calum and Brigid’s words and thought of what he would say. His shock, at his feelings toward her and the unexpected certainty that they were meant to be together, had not diminished. Nor had his desire.
He’d talked to his mother before he met with Kirsty and asked how she’d known she’d found love. He’d been surprised at his mother’s openness. His father had died when Brigid was only a toddler, thrown from a horse and suffered a broken neck. Brodie had known his parents were cousins. Step-cousins, to be precise. His paternal grandmother had married into the clan, bringing a young son with her.
“Yer father and I saw each other at family gatherings. We always got along well enough. I remember when I was sixteen, and they’d come for the Beltane celebration. He’d grown into a mon over the winter.” His mother had sighed, a wistful smile on her face. “He’d grown tall and broad and ever so handsome.”
“So ye kent right away he was the one?” Disappointment pricked Brodie’s chest.
“Och no, I liked the mon, but I was courting someone else. Yer da was relentless, though, and I enjoyed the attention. He pursued me all that summer and I grew verra fond of him.” She chuckled. “But I kent it was love with the first kiss.”
Brodie smiled. His mother’s words had given him confidence. He and Kirstine were friends who cared about one another and trusted each other. It was a good foundation. They’d been raised with similar philosophies and looked at life much the same way. A shout interrupted his rumination, and he looked up to see a shaggy hound and a bonny lass, tail and arms waving at him from above.
“I’ll meet ye up there,” he called back as he put his boots back on and jumped from the boulder.
Scaling the hill, he found Kirstine under their tree, the plaid already spread on the damp earth. She smiled, the same smile he’d known for fifteen years but with an added question in her eyes. He’d have to remove that. Charlie thumped his tail where he lay several feet away.
Brodie stepped onto the blanket and reached for her hand. She stared at the blanket, suddenly shy. He lifted her chin, but his smile faded when his eyes locked on her trembling lips. Brushing his mouth against hers, her sigh warmed his skin, and athrumstarted low in his belly.
He pulled her close, his arms around her waist, their bodies snug against each other. Her body molded to his as if they’d been two halves separated during another lifetime and finally found each other. He dipped his head again and pressed his lips to hers, his tongue sweeping the seam of her mouth. She tasted of heather tea and honey. His heart ached with the sweetness of her while his mind wondered why this had taken them so long. He pulled away reluctantly.
“As ye can see, I havena changed my mind,” he murmured against her hair. “But we need to talk.”
Kirstine nodded, her dark eyes bright. They sat down on the plaid, and he leaned back on his elbows with his ankles crossed. She did the same while they both studied the landscape. The waterfall gurgled and splashed. The sun peeked out from behind a cloud, and the spray glistened and sparkled as it hit the clear stream. The rays snaked between the dense cluster of branches and cast speckles of light across their bodies and the plaid. Birds chirped above them, and the earthy smell of pine and soil soothed his jumbled thoughts.
“What’s going through yer head right now?” He tried to remember the speech he’d planned.
“The truth?” she asked without her usual humor.
“Of course. When have ye given me anything else?” His stomach tightened a bit at her tone. It didn’t sound like a woman who’d just been thoroughly kissed.
“I see the same expression in yer eye now that I’ve seen a dozen times before. Each time ye find someone new, ye get that glazed look, like the stained glass of the church when the sun’s rays come through. All bright and hazy.”
“That’s no’ true, Kirsty.” He stopped when she held up a hand.
“I dinna want to be another one of yer cast-offs. So, I’m giving ye the chance to end this now before it ruins our friendship. We can forget this ever happened if I’m only to be yer next summer love.” Her words were harsh, but tears shimmered in her eyes. “I couldna bear it.”
Her words punched him in the gut. “So ye have the same opinion of me as my grandfather and sister?”
“I’m no’ sure what ye mean.” Her gaze was fixed ahead, watching a hawk perch on a spindly pine growing from the side of the cliff.
“That I’m inconstant, my affection wanders easily.” A small knot replaced the punch.
She shook her head. “I think ye love to fall in love. It’s the excitement of someone new that lures ye, the chase. And once it’s over, so are yer affections.”
Brodie mulled this over. She was right, of course. The first flutters of new love were like a good scotch whisky. A slow, intoxicating burn that spread through his limbs and down the body. How could he explain to her that this was different?
“If this doesna work out between us, we canna return to the way things were. Is that what ye’re saying?”
When she nodded, he swallowed the lump in his throat. Losing Kirstine’s friendship was not a possibility. She was a part of his life, in his daily thoughts, his support. He needed her like roots needed soil. He hadn’t made an important decision without her since he was ten years old.
“And if we stop now, we can continue as we have been?”
Kirstine hesitated, then gave him another nod.
“What will ye do then?” he asked, though he knew the answer.
