Page 29 of Joanna's Highlander (Highland Protector 2)

“I canna tell ye here,” Grant said. He looked at her with such sadness, she wanted to gather him up in her arms and promise him everything would be okay, but how could she when she didn’t know what was wrong?

Grant nodded toward the direction of the caves. “I have t’show ye. And attempt to explain.”

Suspicion and dread fought for supremacy in Joanna’s gut, digging in their claws and twisting as though scratching out their territory. This couldn’t be good. She’d always sensed some sort of weird mystery surrounding the MacDara family. No one in town ever really talked about it because the quirky Scottish family had done so much to help the community. Everyone loved the MacDaras and their canny business sense with the theme park. They had done more to ensure the survival of Brady, North Carolina, than any taxes or federal grants had ever hoped to accomplish. But there was something about the Scots that no one ever spoke of—something secret. Joanna had tried to dig deeper but had come up empty-handed.

What the hell could it be?

Joanna chewed the corner of her bottom lip and slid her thumbs up under the straps of her backpack. The whispers of the waves across the rocks began to grate on her nerves. She looked back where they’d just come from, at the Jeep waiting at the end of the trail. She could go back to the bed-and-breakfast and be done with this right now. She’d had enough drama in her life to last her until she died. She didn’t need any more. She turned and looked at Grant.Like hell I can. He owns me. Heart and soul.She stood immobilized by indecision. She needed to find out what lay ahead but was terrified to do so. “Grant…please. Talk to me.”

Grant stared down at the ground, hands knotted into fists. “I canna tell ye here,” he repeated, then turned to look out across the river as though the help he sought could be found somewhere atop the rippling water or the tree-lined banks beyond.

“All I can do…” He paused for a long, strained moment, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed, staring at the horizon. He finally turned to her and looked her in the eye. The emotions she saw flickering in the intensity of his gaze made Joanna shudder and wish they could rewind the hours and return to yesterday.This is so bad that I’m gonna lose him.The dark thought knotted in her throat and nearly choked her.

“All I can do is ask ye to give me this chance. Please trust me, Joanna.” Taking her hand in his, he closed his eyes and pressed her fingers to his lips. “Please come with me and hear me out. I swear t’ye, I’d ne’er hurt ye or put ye in harm’s way.”

“I know you won’t hurt me.” Joanna squeezed his hand and edged closer. “But you sure as hell haven’t made me feel any better about…whatever this is.”

“Aye, well…if it’s any solace t’ye, I feel damn poor about it m’self.”

There was that. Grant was obviously suffering. He didn’t want to do whatever it was he’d decided to do. She could see it plain as day. Joanna took in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. What was it Lucia always said?“In for a penny, in for a pound.”That was it. And now Joanna finally understood what it meant. This was definitely love she felt for Grant—bona fide I want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-waking-up-beside-this-man love. There was no escaping it. The deadly emotion owned her. If she heard him out and it was something awful, she’d suffer. If she denied him this chance and went back to town right now, she’d mourn his loss the rest of her life and wonder what might have been. She was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t.

“Son of a bitch,” she said under her breath.

“Beg pardon?”

“I said, ‘son of a bitch’!” Her shout echoed out across the river.

Joanna shoved past him, scrambling over the steep mound of an uprooted tree stump wedged in the hillside with mud and rocks. She looked back.

Grant hadn’t moved. He was just standing there staring up at her.

“Well? Are you coming or not?” She was tempted to lob a rock at him. “I can’t lead the way since I have no idea where the hell we’re going.”

Grant set his jaw, tucked his chin, and forged past her.

Silent and brooding, they climbed up then down the rough, river-eaten landscape.Geez. Are we climbing to the next state?Joanna adjusted the backpack across her shoulders. It was getting heavier by the minute. It had been a long time since she’d hiked, and now she remembered why she’d switched to running. She hated climbing and carting all her crap on her back like a pack animal. She bit her tongue to keep from sounding like the kid in the backseat whining,Are we there yet?

She stared at Grant’s broad back. He was wound so tight a feather could touch him and he’d explode. His wide shoulders were tensed under the bleached linen of his shirt, stretching the material and straining the seams. He kept his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists as he stomped his way higher. At least while they were following the rough upward trail, she was still oblivious to whatever ominous news lay ahead. She blew out a heavy sigh and raked a forearm across her sweating forehead. Climbing and hiking sucked, but getting your heart broken sucked harder, and she had the sinking feeling that’s what was about to happen.

“There.” Grant pointed downward at a calm inlet, cut off from the river by a shoal stretching across the small bay formed by a curve in the river. The water in the bay shimmered smooth and still as a mirror, shielded from the wind by the sandy shoal and unaffected by the river’s currents. The beach, a swath of pebbles and sand, abutted a high rock embankment covered with a thick curtain of tangled kudzu. The invasive vines of broad green leaves draped down across the embankment, completely covering the wall of stone.

“There?” Joanna repeated, studying the secluded shoreline. She turned and looked across the river.Therewas completely hidden from unknowing eyes by the overgrowth of vines and the narrow shoal walling it off from the river. “And what exactly is it that I’m looking at?” she asked. “Other than a great place to hide a body.”

Chapter 14

If he turned back this verra minute…Temptation stung and burned like embers popping out of a fire.Nay. I canna turn back. Not now. There was no escaping the damned Heartstone and the goddesses with their heartless druthers. If Dwyn said the goddesses were already aware of Joanna—had even blessed her, in fact—he’d best face them. He’d learned that cruel lesson sixteen years ago when he’d been fool enough t’leave it to the elders.

He’d battle the powers head-on this time. Challenge them face t’face. And if he lost Joanna? Grant ripped the vines of kudzu to one side of the cave’s hidden opening. He shoved away the disturbing possibility just as he shoved the dense greenery out of the way. He wouldna lose her. Not the way he’d lost Leannan. If Joanna couldna believe what he shared and she sent him away, then he’d…

Grant drew a blank, a blank as dank and empty as the cave in front of him. He didna ken what he’d do if Joanna sent him away. He sucked in a deep breath.Aye. I ken what I’ll do. I’ll no’ go away. I’ll follow her to the ends of the earth until she sees m’love for her is true.He turned and held out his hand, newfound determination tensing every fiber within him. “This cave leads to what I wish t’show ye.”

Joanna looked at him, one brow arched, her thumbs looped through the backpack straps around her shoulders. She didn’t speak, but Grant heard her thoughts just as clearly as if she’d shouted. Leeriness shone in her eyes, chipping away at his resolve.

“Joanna…please.” He willed her to trust him, yet even more, he willed her to believe and accept what she was about to see.

Joanna stared at Grant’s outstretched hand a long moment. Eyes narrowed. Her look pensive. Finally, she slid her backpack off her shoulders, plopped it to the ground between her feet, and searched through it until she finally straightened with some sort of black strapping attached to a round object in one hand. She unwound the strap, placed the circle of black and clear plastic in the center of her forehead, then smoothed and tightened the dark elastic banding around her head and looped her ponytail through the end of it. She squeezed the sides of the circle and a blinding blue-white light burst forth like a shining beacon powered by her mind. She returned the backpack to her shoulders and nodded toward the rear of the cave. The light beam shining from her forehead bounced up and down the shadowy stone walls. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

Grant decided not to tell her that once they reached the entrance to the secret tunnels there would be no need for her wee light. ’Twould only befuddle her and make winning her complete trust even more difficult. He held out his hand. “Aye. This way then.”

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