The whole room went quiet. Penelope sniffled and took a fresh tissue. Colin’s eyes shone. Lachlan’s heart ached twice over — from his own grief, and from Holly’s.
Finally, Holly turned, facing those gathered for the first time. Her eyes glistened with tears, and she didn’t seem to take in the scene.
But Lachlan’s heart leaped at all the familiar details. She had the same sun-bronzed skin, the same sky-blue eyes, and the same field of freckles covering her country-girl face. Her fair hair wound around in the same barely tamed ringlets that had always fascinated him. Everything he’d fallen in love with, so long ago.
Everything that still visited him in his dreams.
He gripped the edge of his seat as his dragon roared her name. All he allowed out, though, was one croaky whisper. “Holly…”
When she spotted him, her eyes went wide, and her cheeks turned red.
Holly, he murmured into her mind. Did they still share a mental connection?
Of course we do, his dragon muttered. We’re mates, destined for each other.
Her throat bobbed, and her voice sounded clearly in his mind. Lachlan.
But she seemed as intent on ignoring destiny as he was, because she snapped her eyes away and hurried for the door.
“Wait. Miss Jennings!” the solicitor called.
Yes, wait, Lachlan nearly yelled.
Stop her! This may be our last chance, his dragon roared.
He was on the verge of jumping up and following her, unable to hold back, no matter how much he knew he should. But the solicitor stopped Holly first.
“Miss Jennings, please wait. You’re part of this, too.”
She spun around while everyone stared. As clearly as her eyes protested, How can I be part of this? I don’t belong.
Everyone else’s agreed, You certainly don’t.
“Trevor requested your presence,” the solicitor explained.
Holly bit her lip and slowly, haltingly sank into the seat closest to the door. Even then, her feet twitched as if ready to take flight.
“Well, then,” the solicitor announced. “Now that everyone is here, we can proceed with the reading of the will. Any objections?”
Natasha glared, warning anyone against causing further delay. When no one did, Lachlan took a deep breath. Something told him Holly’s arrival wasn’t the only surprise fate had up its sleeve.
Chapter Two
Holly’s heart hammered as the lawyer slowly sliced through the wax seal on a thick envelope. But it wasn’t the will she was worried about. It was Lachlan. Dammit, what was he doing there?
Looking good enough to lick, I’d say. Her inner dragon whipped its tail.
She clenched her teeth. No, he didn’t. Not in the least.
Keep trying, her dragon purred. The man looks better than ever.
He did, dammit. Not that she would let that have any effect on her. Not after how they’d parted a decade ago after that one-night stand.
You mean, after the most amazing night of your life? her dragon asked.
She made a face. It was a fling. A blindingly passionate, out-of-control fling. Two heady weeks of flirting that led up to one night of unleashed desire. But nothing more.
So why does it still hurt? her dragon demanded.
Holly frowned. At the time, she’d been so sure she’d found her destined mate. But the next morning, Lachlan had left without so much as a word. She’d hated him ever since.
Hated, she reminded her dragon. Despised. With a passion.
Her dragon gave a sultry hum. With a passion, indeed.
The lawyer pulled out a sheet of paper and began to read. “‘On this day, the second of November, being in full hold of my faculties…’”
Holly raised her eyes to heaven. Trevor, how could you do this to me?
Okay, okay. Trevor couldn’t have known Lachlan would be in Scotland when he penned that will. She doubted Trevor even knew she and Lachlan had slept together. But, still. The last thing she needed was to face her erstwhile crush again.
Not a crush. Our destined mate, her dragon insisted.
Ten days earlier, life had been great. The start of a beautiful summer in Wyoming, with Trevor paying his annual visit. Three days before he was scheduled to depart, Trevor had joined Holly’s family for a barbecue, looking fit as a fiddle despite his advanced age. But sometime in the following night, he’d peacefully passed away, leaving Holly to read into every comment he’d made the previous evening.
So quiet here. So beautiful. He’d looked over the mountains and sighed in satisfaction.
True satisfaction, she realized in hindsight. An old man ready to go out on his own terms.
You could have held on a little longer, she chided him in her mind. Why make me bring your ashes all the way to Scotland when you could have come on your own?
She didn’t mean it, of course. Trevor had loved that kind of banter. If there was a heaven, Trevor was up there now, chuckling at her.
You, lass, are the only person who speaks her mind around me.
She allowed herself a bittersweet smile. Trevor had always been so kind to her. If he wanted her to witness the reading of his will, so be it. She just hoped he hadn’t left her anything, because he’d already done more than enough.
Can’t go spoiling me rotten, she used to joke to the man who’d become her mentor.
You, my dear, don’t know the meaning of the word, he’d assured her.
The lawyer went on in his lilting Scottish accent, making it easy to imagine Trevor speaking. “‘I, Trevor David Stuart of Creag Aerden, Scotland, hereby declare this to be my last will…’”
Holly tried concentrating, but it was a losing battle, what with all her senses drifting to Lachlan. Every inhale brought her a whiff of his scent — the scent of the Highlands. His broad shoulders reminded her of the Highlands, too — all those rounded, misty peaks towering above deep glens. Her fingers twitched with the memory of running her hands through that thick brown hair. It was a good thing she couldn’t see his eyes, because the steel-gray, clouds-reflected-in-a-lake color had always mesmerized her.
Lachlan had been away for the past ten years. Why was he back now, dammit? His absence had made her visits to Scotland much, much easier.
And much, much duller, her dragon murmured, lashing its tail with desire.
She tapped her foot faster. The sooner the will was read, the sooner she could go back to pretending they’d never met.
“‘I appoint my esteemed friend, Fergus McGregor, as sole executor of this will…’” the lawyer went on.
The balding man beside the lawyer nodded morosely. He looked truly sad, as did most of the others, including the stunning redhead at Lachlan’s side. It figured Lachlan had landed a beauty like her. The young woman had chic and elegant nailed to a T, from her pearl necklace to the fine silk of her dress.
Still, the purple scarf tied around her neck was twisted and limp, and strands of hair escaped her ruby-studded hair clip, as if she’d been too submerged in grief to care about her appearance. Too bad, because it made her harder to hate.
The raven-haired beauty in the front row, on the other hand, was dressed for success, as if this were a business meeting and not a solemn occasion. Natasha. Holly made a face. She’d met the she-dragon a few times over the years. Enough to know to steer clear.
“Now, as for the disposition of the will…” the lawyer went on.