Everlastin' Book 1 (42 page)

“I've got to get Kevin,”
Roan insisted, finally beginning to feel like himself again,
despite the pain racking his body.

“Lachlan's searching for
him.”

Blinking hard, Roan looked
deeply into Beth's troubled eyes. “Can he help him?”

“If it's within his power,
he will,” Beth said, her voicing cracking with emotion.

“Kevin,” Laura whimpered,
rising to her feet with a boy sitting on each of her
hips.

With his right arm, Roan
reached out and urged Alby to come to him. Surprisingly, the boy
clung to Roan's broad neck.

Laura, who had not realized
that Beth had actually materialized from thin air, turned in the
direction of the house and uttered, “Please, God. Give me a second
chance to do right by them.”

Roan stepped to her side.
“Lannie will find him. Have faith, Laura. We must have
faith.”

Sobbing, Laura laid one side
of her face to Roan's chest. “It all happened so fast!”

“Aye, lass. I know,” Roan
soothed, absently planting a kiss on the crown of her head. “Thank
God you two made it ou' okay. Kahl? Ye're no' hurt, are
you?”

“Where's Kevin?” the
five-year-old bitterly demanded.

Roan cast a fearful look in
the direction of the house. “Comin', laddie. Lannie will save him.
I feel it in ma bones.”
Dear God, make it
true. For us all, make it true!

Tongues of fire lapped at
the night through the ravaged portals of what had been the windows.
A chimney on the west side of the house began to crumble. Flames
reached high into the midnight sky from several of the
rooftops.

“Lannie,” Roan said in a
prayerlike whisper. “I'll promise you anythin' if you just bring
Kevin to us, alive and unharmed.”

Fed by the broken gas lines,
the flames grew until the manor's stonework exterior could barely
be seen. Not a murmur stirred among the spectators. All eyes were
riveted on the destructive element consuming the region's most
famous house.

Amidst the blaze, an image
was spied slowly emerging.

“Lachlan!” Beth cried
joyously, her diaphanous form approaching him as he lumbered toward
Roan and Laura. They, as well as everyone else, remained frozen in
shock when Lachlan and Beth came to stand in front of the anxious
couple. In Lachlan's arms was a wide-eyed Kevin, who, for the first
time in his life, was absolutely speechless.

“The saints be wi' us,” Ben
muttered, hastily blessing himself as he stared wondrously into
Lachlan's taut face.

Joy overcoming him, Roan
released a sob and sank to his knees. He hugged Alby tightly with
his good arm, then with a kiss to the boy's cheek, set him on his
feet. Lachlan placed Kevin down, his gaze never wavering from
Roan's ravaged features. Kevin endured hugs and kisses from his
aunt then turned to stare for a long moment into Roan's tear-filled
eyes.

Although Roan suspected
Kevin had started the fire, he reached out with his left arm and
drew the boy against him. “Thank God,” he repeated, over and over,
until Kevin stepped back and pointed up to Lachlan.

The crowd inched closer. No
longer was the manor the center of their attention. It was the man
who'd walked through the flames, unscathed, carrying a boy in his
arms who also appeared untouched by the wrath of the blazing
inferno.

Beth proudly peered at
Lachlan's profile. She could feel the pull of the grayness tugging
on her, but she clung to this world, relishing the rise of emotions
emanating from Lachlan.

A portly woman came through
the crowd and beelined for the children, gathering them into her
arms and holding them to her sagging bosom. “The bairns are cold.
I'll take them to ma car to warm them up.”

Laura was too rattled to
object. She'd seen the master of Baird House walk through the
flames with Kevin, but her mind refused to accept it as reality. In
an absent gesture, she helped Roan to his feet, and stood close to
his side as he and the laird stared intensely into each other's
faces.

“Thank you,” Roan said in a
barely audible voice to Lachlan, and made a helpless gesture with
his good arm. In the next second, Lachlan was embracing
him.

Another hush fell over the
crowd.

Lachlan held Roan out at
arm's length and looked deeply into his eyes. The laird was
beginning to lose his physical integrity, fluctuating between the
two worlds.

“Dusk before dawn, laddie,”
he said with a crooked smile. Then stepping back, he drew Beth's
fading form into his arms, and together they vanished into the
night.

Laura fainted.

* * *

It was a week later before
Roan returned to the remains of the manor. The seven days which had
passed were but a blur to him. His casted arm rested in a sling
about his neck. He'd lost weight. His rugged features bespoke of
the trials he'd endured that terrible night of the fire. He'd grown
quiet and remote, a man existing under a cloud of hopelessness,
especially since Laura and the boys had left for Edinburgh three
days prior.

He stood at the front of the
cottage, staring at the blackened exterior of the main house. Very
little life was visible in his usually expressive eyes.

“Lannie? Beth?”

He didn't expect them to
answer. Since that night seven days ago, he hadn't seen or heard
from them. The manor was destroyed, and its lord and mistress had
completely vanished. Not too long ago, he'd plotted to rid his clan
of the laird. And yet, the idea now of never seeing Lachlan or Beth
again left him a void that was almost unbearable.

“Laura and the boys have
returned to the States.” He sighed, ignoring the ache that remained
in his lungs. “Tha' promise has been carried through, you old
corbie.”

Emotional pain became deeply
etched in his features. “It shouldn’t have ended like this. Yer
home, mon.” Tears welled in his eyes. “Aggie says good riddance.
She doesn't understand. You and yer damn grandfaither's scotch,
aye? We bonded all right. You took a piece o' me wi' you, you
bloody pain-in-the-arse.”

Jabbing at the air with his
left index finger, he went on bitterly, “It was simpler when I
hated you, Lannie. Damn you, mon, you filled ma head wi' dreams no
mon like me has a right to hold dear to his heart!”

Picking up a rock, he walked
to within five yards of the front of the house. Angrily, he flung
it at the wall, and from his effort to release his anguish, his
feet slid out from under him. He slammed onto the icy, graveled
yard, and released a stream of Scottish invectives.

“Breakin' yer arse winna
accomplish a thing,” said a grave voice, as hands hooked beneath
Roan's coated armpits and hauled him up onto his feet.

Astonished, Roan turned to
find himself staring into Lachlan's brooding eyes. Just beyond the
laird's shoulder, Beth tipped her head and smiled at
Roan.

“Where the hell have you two
been?” Roan said in an inordinately high-pitched tone.

“Gatherin' up our energy,”
the laird said matter-of-factly.

Beth stepped to Lachlan's
side. “How's your arm?”

“Fine,” Roan
grumbled.

“Laura and the laddies have
left, aye?”

Roan gave a negligent shrug.
“She couldn't get away fast enough.”

“I'm sorry,” Beth said
gently.

“For me?” Roan released a
scoffing laugh. “She was an impossible womon. I'll miss the
boys.”

Lachlan and Beth exchanged a
dubious glance.

“You'll miss her, too,” the
laird said gruffly. “Ye're a fool to have let her go.”

“Don't stick yer nose into
ma love life, Baird.”

“Would if you had one,”
Lachlan grinned, then his gaze shifted and he soberly scanned what
remained of his house. “Tis so bleak.”

Roan couldn't bring himself
to look upon it again. “Aye. I'm sorry. I know how much this damn
place meant to you.”

“Aye,” Lachlan
sighed.

Beth silently observed the
two men, a slim eyebrow arched. Lachlan had surprisingly accepted
the destruction of his treasures, his home, although Beth had been
aware of a void within him that he did his best to camouflage. And
Roan. He was so easy to read. He was lost and bewildered. For too
short a time, Laura and the boys, and the responsibility of
becoming laird to the manor, had given him renewed purpose. He
believed it all lost to him now, as it had been when he'd lost his
wife, son, and home to a fire three years prior.

These two men, who Beth
loved so very dearly in different ways, seemed incapable at the
moment of realizing just what the future held for them. So it was
upon her, she felt, to enlighten them. But to succeed, she knew she
was going to have to resort to something stronger than a mere
suggestion.

“You promised Lachlan
anything if he saved Kevin, didn't you?” she presented to Roan, who
arched a questioning brow at her.

“Aye, but—”

“You’re a man who keeps his
promises,” she added in an airy, cheerful manner, ignoring
Lachlan's frown at her.

“Aye, but—”

“Roan, you're wasting
valuable time wallowing in self-pity,” she sighed.

“Wha's goin' through yer
mind, darlin'?” Lachlan asked suspiciously.

Beth's sparkling eyes
scanned Roan's features. “You're a carpenter. Right?”

Aghast, Roan shot a look at
the house behind him. “I'm no' a miracle worker!”

Dawning lit upon Lachlan's
face. “Ah.” He smiled broadly then kissed Beth briefly on the lips.
“Wha' a devilish mind you have, lass.”

“You can't be serious,” Roan
said shakily. “Restore Baird House? I'd need life
times—”

Sounds drew their gazes to
the private road. Shortly, four cars and two large trucks parked on
the graveled area in front of the carriage house. As people began
to emerge from the vehicles, Roan recognized Ben and several other
men from the pub. Then to his amazement, Agnes stepped from one of
the cars and led the small group to the waiting trio.

To Roan's further
astonishment, his aunt beamed a smile at the laird, and gave a bob
of her head in greeting to Beth.

“So, you didn’t high-tail
off,” she cackled to Lachlan, her high spirits taking years off her
age. “Ma worst luck, aye?”

Lachlan smiled then bowed
graciously to her. “Good to see you too, you old
corbie.”

“Nice way to talk to the
lady plannin' to see yer grand house restored,” she huffed
humorously.

“Aunt Aggie, wha's goin'
on?”

Ben, his gaze remaining
riveted on Lachlan, spoke up. “Aggie's come up with a plan.
Crossmichael and Castle Douglas are joinin' together to rebuild
this place.”

Color returned to Roan's
face, and he laughed unsteadily. “Ye're serious?”

“Never mair serious,” Agnes
chided.

“The power of the people,”
Beth murmured, her eyes misting with tears. When Lachlan's arm went
about her shoulders, she pressed closer to him. “Thank you,
Agnes.”

The old woman proudly thrust
back her shoulders. “Merchants are willin' to supply everythin' we
need. Baird House is a landmark. And we Scots are no' 'fraid o'
hard work, are we, Roan?”

“Aye,” Roan grinned. “We're
strong o' back and spirit.”

“Tis a debt I'll never
forget,” Lachlan said to Agnes, his tone thick with
emotion.

“It’s one I won’t let you
forget!” she exclaimed.

Roan unexpectedly walked
away. When he stopped, his back was to the group. With a gesture
for the others to remain where they were, Beth went to him and
placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Tha' dress does make you
look like a spook,” he said unsteadily, unable to look her in the
eye.

“She'll be back.”

“Who?”

Beth slapped him on his
uninjured arm and stepped directly in front of him. This time he
looked into her eyes, although it took all of his willpower to do
so.

“You may be able to fool
everyone else, but Lachlan and I know you're in love with Laura
Bennett. She will return, Roan. And with the boys.”

“Ye're sure o' tha', are
you?”

“As sure as I know I was
always meant to be here,” she replied softly. “Don't ever forsake
love, Roan.”

“She never said good
bye.”

“Maybe because she knows
she's going to return.”

Roan digested her words then
looked up at the charred ruins with an enigmatic light in his eyes.
Drawing in a fortifying breath through his nostrils, he searched
Beth's lovely face.

“I owe you ma
life.”

“Then live it to its
fullest.” Placing an arm about his middle, she urged him to walk
alongside her toward those waiting patiently for their return. She
retained her hold when they stopped, and smiled at Lachlan when he
stepped to Roan's other side and draped an arm over the man's
shoulders. The scene depicted the trio's strong bond of friendship,
and a single tear escaped down Agnes' weathered cheek.