Beyond A Highland Whisper by Maeve Greyson Read Free Book Online

clan aside. Enough of this senseless bickering. It was time to put on a little show.
    With a polite smile forced across her face, Trish elbowed Nessa in the ribs. Just as she opened her mouth and started to speak, Latharn jostled the witch’s ball across the shelf. If Brodie hadn’t caught it when it reached the edge, it would’ve vibrated off into the floor.
    Tiptoeing to get a better view across the polished counter, a look of wonder crossed Nessa’s face. “What made it rattle off the shelf like that? I didn’t feel a tremor or anything. Did you?”
    Nessa leaned closer and studied the crystal ball Brodie held between his hands. The lights from the sparkling orb pulsated and danced, reflecting up into her face. “Hello at last, my precious love,” Latharn whispered up into her eyes. He waved his hand across the sphere, increasing the rhythm of the lights to match the pulse of his heart.
    Brodie’s face paled. He swallowed hard as he risked a glance at his wide-eyed wife. His voice cracked as he coughed and slid the globe to a safer spot on the counter. “It must’ve been the vibration of the slamming door. I’ve needed to level that shelf and tighten it for some time now. The slightest movement always sets this thing to dancing. Ye never know when it’s going to come flying off the shelf and try to go crashing to the floor.”
    Fiona rapped her knuckles on the counter and raised the map to Nessa’s face.”Ye need to go back this way but a few kilometers. Here’s the turn ye must’ve missed.”
    Nessa poked Trish on the shoulder again and waggled a teasing brow. She held the marked map just inches beneath Trish’s upturned nose and goaded her with a know-it-all voice. “See? I told you! What good does it do for you to buy all these maps if you’re not going to listen to me when I’m telling you what they say?”
    Latharn chuckled, leaning harder against the infernal glass wall separating him from his love. If only he could touch her, she stood so close. The heat of her filled his senses.
    “Fine,” Trish muttered through clenched teeth. Nodding to the MacKays, she snatched the map from Nessa’s hands and stuffed it under her arm. “Thank you for all your help. Once you get your shop set up, we’ll stop back in and have a look around. If the rest of your items are as unusual as that crystal, your business should really do well.”
    Fiona cleared her throat and glanced at her speechless husband who stood with the globe clenched between his hands. “Why, thank ye for your kind words. That’ll just be grand.” Fiona twitched her head in gratitude as she spared a glance at the animated witch’s ball.
    “Nessa, no!” Latharn pounded his fists against the glass as Nessa moved away from him toward the door. Now that he had her so close, he couldn’t bear to see her go. The scent of her perfume wafted through the glass, a delicate orchid scent. Latharn grasped at the sweet essence as though he could pull her into the crystal by inhaling the fragrance that had once surrounded her body. By all that is holy, please don’t let her leave. He flattened his palms against the frigid walls, his heart falling the farther she moved away.
    When the two women had argued their way out of the shop, Fiona locked the door and pulled the blinds. “What was that about?” Fiona hissed, eying the dwindling light flickering from within the glass ball.
    With a puzzled look, Brodie handled the sphere with a ginger touch and eased it over onto the counter. “For some reason, Cousin Latharn seems verra interested with one or both of those foreign lasses.”
    Fiona pursed her lips, her brow creased as she studied the pulsating light.
    “Was it the fiery redhead with the well-endowed chest and the tiny upturned nose?” As she turned the ball, she leaned in closer, watching the globe as she named Trish’s most obvious attributes. “Well, that brought no reaction. Then it could only have been the tiny curly-haired lass