Page 129 of Some Like It Scot
“Aye.” His grin tipped. “He’s one to love, and that’s a fact.”
“And I adore your parents.” I pressed my fist into my chest as tears blurred Graeme’s face in my vision. “Especially your mom.”
His next step brought him within touching distance, those mesmerizing eyes of his searching mine. “I’m pretty sure they like you better than me right now.”
A quiet laugh shook from me, along with a few stray tears. I braced myself and took the maiden’s leap across the impossible space between reality and hope. “I’ve been wandering a long time, trying to find out where I belonged, but I’ve never felt so much at home as when I’m with you.”
Without another hesitation, Graeme pulled me into his arms, wrapping me in the warmth of his body and scent. “I’m sorry I fumbled through what I wanted to say to you during the ball, Katie.” He whispered the words near my ear. “I was an eejit.”
I drew back, looking up at him. “Do you want to try again?”
“Aye.” He ran a thumb over my cheek, catching a tear, his gaze never leaving mine. “I want you to belong with me. To rely on me to catch you.”
He caught my sob with his lips, cradling my face in his large, tenderly rough hands. And I kissed him back between laughs and sobs. Held him close. Breathed in his familiar nearness. The taste of his lips on mine, the strength and security in those arms only pinned my heart more tightly to him.
When he pulled back, he brushed my hair from my face, his look intent. Filled with love. “I want you to travel the world, Katie. Gather your stories. But let me be the home you always find your way back to.”
Have mercy, what a beautiful collection of words spoken directly to my heart. My palms slid from his neck down to rest on his chest, emotions strangling my voice into a whisper. “Strings attached then?”
“Double knotted.” He raised a brow, one corner of his delicious lips teasing northward. “And tied with a bow.”
I tugged him into another kiss, my heart filled to overflowing. Even in my wildest dreams, I’d never imagined the story of my own life could look this good—my X-ray vision kicked in—okay, this great.
Or that a man like Graeme MacKerrow waited on the other side of the globe to lead me to the place I belonged.
Home? Oh yes.
“Why don’t you bring the man inside before the neighbors start talking.”
I looked back toward the house to see my brother and his entire family standing on the front porch watching our little rom-com scene. Graeme looked from me to the porch and then took in the surrounding forest where nary another house could be seen.
“I think we’ll take our time, Brett.” I waved away my brother, and he chuckled as he walked back into the house.
Arm in arm, we eased our steps toward the porch, stopping to indulge in a few more kisses along the way. “When do you have to go back home?”
One teasing brow tipped upward. “I expected having to spend a week finding you in the middle of this massive country, so I have a little time.”
“You planned a whole week to find me.” I sighed. “Your chivalry knows no bounds.”
He sent me a mock frown, and I kissed him.
The frown softened considerably, so I kissed him again while we stood on the front porch of a farmhouse I loved with a man I loved even more.
Despite all my fumblings and mistakes, my adventures... and misadventures had led me home. And as Graeme kissed all my worries away, I welcomed the sweet beginnings of a new story for me. Aye, there was no place like home.
Epilogue
Katie
Ten months later
I turned toward the camera I’d poised on my tripod. “We are at the Fraser River today with expert fly fisherman Joe Lawrence, who will be teaching us the art of fly-fishing.” I held up the rod. “Already—much to his possible peril—Joe has given me a fly rod, which is different from spin fishing, mostly because of the line we use, right, Joe?”
“That’s right.” The man adjusted his ball cap and then reached out to tug at the line of my rod. “In fly-fishing, lines are weighted so that you don’t need to use a bobber or heavy bait. Lines can be any weight from one to twelve, one being the lightest. We’re using a six weight on your rod for small bass or trout you might catch in this river.”
“And this is the fly.” I raised the fake bait up so that I could edit it later into a closer shot. “As you can see, these flies look a lot like lures we see in spin fishing, but flies are practically weightless.”
“Which is why the line needs to be weighted—so your cast will reach its goal,” Joe added. “Now casting is a fluid motion where you try to bend the rod to create energy. That’s called ‘loaded.’ You want the rod to come to a stop twice.”
