Dawns Everlastin' (former title: Dusk Before Dawn) Book 2 by Mickee Madden

get back. I'll probably return in the morn to
use the phone." Digging into his right pocket, he extracted some
coins, picked through them, and flipped a pound on the counter. "If
Taylor, Borgie or Archie come in, ask them to come to Kist House.
At the least, I need to know if there's a coach goin' to Edinburgh
anytime soon."
    "No' likely you'll see the
white o' their eyes up there."
    "Just ask."
    "Aye," Silas grinned, and
winked suggestively. "But I'll tell them no' to bother you too long
efter dark. Lest you be warmin' yer bones—"
    "Yer dentures are too
large," Roan clipped, retrieving his gloves into one hand. "They
make yer head look all shrunk up."
    Silas heartily laughed and
offered Roan a jaunty salute. "I'll be damned! Roan Ingliss is
smitten wi' a Yank!"
    The pub fell silent once
again. Roan was conscious that all eyes were on him. Shrugging
deeper into his coat, he turned on a heel and beelined for the
door. Shouts from a few of the customers made a bid to stall him,
but inwardly seething that perhaps the old man's words held some
truth, he exited the pub. Icy wind claimed him again. Leaning into
its bite, he plowed across the small parking lot, toward
Crossmichael's main road. More than half the day had been wasted
trying to locate a working telephone. He knew Laura Bennett
wouldn't appreciate his efforts. If she was even still at the
house.
    His threat had been rash,
and if there was one thing he knew about Laura, it was that she
didn't like to feel out of control. But what was a man to do when a
woman's stubbornness exceeded the bounds of tolerance? He did care
what happened to them. He wasn't about to subject himself to
sleepless nights wondering if they'd arrived safe in
Edinburgh.
    Lannie's energies had to
replenish soon. If not....
    Roan didn't want to dwell
any longer on the volatile emotions the woman's presence provoked.
It wasn't her fault that she resembled Adaina, or that Adaina and
Jamey had so tragically died. And it wasn't her fault that he found
her so maddeningly attractive.
    Dusk was settling in over
the land when he trudged up the driveway to Kist House. Ice
particles weighing down his thick lashes, he gazed over the facade
of the Victorian mansion as he approached the massive, double front
doors. Every part of him ached from the cold, especially his feet,
which felt as if embedded with fiery needles. He entered the small
greenhouse, stomped his boots to shake off the snow caked onto
them, and reached for the left knob on the second set of double
doors.
    The door swung open. Laura
Bennett's small frame stood in the opening.
    Their eye contact was brief.
Brushing past her, he entered the hall, shucked out of his coat and
hung it on a rack to his left and began to rub his bare arms with
his palms.
    "I thought you might need
this," Laura said demurely, lifting a blanket she'd earlier placed
by the rack.
    Without looking into her
face, he eagerly shook the blue and purple plaid blanket open and
swung it over his bare shoulders.
    "I couldn't figure out how
to work the stove, so I didn't put on any water for tea. You
look...."
    Roan met her nervous gaze
and frowned.
    "Frozen," she completed in a
small voice.
    "Where are the
laddies?"
    "Sleeping. Did you.... Were
you able to get to a telephone?"
    Roan drew the blanket
tighter about him. "Aye, but the lines are down. I'll try again in
the morn."
    She stared into his eyes for
what seemed a long time before lowering her gaze to the floor
between them. "I was worried you wouldn't come back."
    Her words took him aback.
When she looked up again, he closed one eye and leaned
closer.
    "All right, hit me wi' the
punch line and get it over wi'."
    Laura gave a bewildered
shake of her head. "I was worried. The wind picked up shortly after
you left— What happened to your car?"
    He started walking toward
the secondary hall, Laura falling into step alongside him. "I slid
into a dyke. Helluva mess."
    "A dyke?"
    He stopped just past the
barroom and looked down at her.