A McMillan Christmas - A Novella: Book 7.5 of Morna’s Legacy Series Read online

  A McMillan Christmas - A Novella

  Book 7.5 of Morna’s Legacy Series

  Bethany Claire

  Contents

  Copyright

  A McMillan Christmas - A Novella

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  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Sneak Peek of Love Beyond Reach (Book 8)

  Links to all Morna’s Legacy Books

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  Letter to Readers

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright 2016 by Bethany Claire

  All rights reserved.

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  License Notes

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  * * *

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  Editor: Dj Hendrickson

  Cover Designed by Damonza

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  Available In eBook & Paperback

  * * *

  eBook ISBN: 978-0-9978610-0-6

  Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9978610-1-3

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  http://www.bethanyclaire.com

  ~Book 7.5 of Morna’s Legacy Series~

  by Bethany Claire

  © 2016

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  * * *

  A Time For Second Chances

  When the worst snowstorm of the century hits the Scottish Highlands just in time for the Christmas holiday, Harper knows she must seek shelter from the storm. With her grandparents’ home still hours away and the roads growing more hazardous by the minute, she is left with no choice but to take refuge in the one place she swore to never return— McMillan Castle—the home of the only man to ever break her heart.

  Christmas only serves to remind Kamden McMillan of all that he’s lost. As he settles in for yet another holiday spent alone, he is stunned when his ex-girlfriend breaks into his home to escape the snow. With the storm projected to last for days, Kamden sees this time alone with her as a chance to make things right.

  Just as they begin to get reacquainted, Morna’s meddling magic sends them back in time, and both are forced to reconsider what they thought they knew about the other. Will returning to the year their relationship ended allow Kamden and Harper to mend the hurt between them? Or has history already sealed their fate?

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  Today when you sign up for my mailing list, I will send you a link where you can download A Conall Christmas - A Novella (Book 2.5 of Morna’s Legacy Series) for FREE!

  A Conall Christmas is not a Christmas tale as much as it is simply a love story. Adelle, Bri’s mother, gets a second chance at love in this fun, uplifting book.

  If you have already read it, I hope you will still choose to sign up for my mailing list just for the other benefits. I promise to never spam you. I will send out mailings only when I have news or special opportunities for you. And if you haven’t read A Conall Christmas yet, you get it FREE today when you sign up.

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  Dedication

  * * *

  For little Morgan,

  Welcome to the world, sweet girl.

  Happy 1st Christmas

  * * *

  Chapter 1

  On An Unknown Road In Scotland—December 18, 2016

  * * *

  I could barely see the road in front of me. Thick snowflakes the size of quarters fell so quickly that my windshield wipers couldn’t keep up. Just as soon as one layer of snow was brushed away by the blades, another fresh coating took its place. To make matters worse, not only did the cheap tires on my standard rental feel less than secure on the icy Scottish roads, I was also helplessly lost.

  The journey from the airport to my grandparent’s new home in the Highlands was—according to them—supposed to take me three hours, tops. It was now two in the afternoon, and I was already on hour five of my drive.

  The sudden vibration of the cell phone inside my coat pocket rattled me so much that I quickly pressed on the brakes and steered into the first pull-off I approached.

  Pulling the phone out of my pocket, I hurried to answer before it sent my grandmother to voicemail.

  “Hey, Gram. I know I’m late, but the weather is growing increasingly nasty as I continue north. In all honesty, it may be days before I get there. The visibility is very low and…” I trailed off as broken segments of my grandmother’s voice interrupted my speech.

  “Harper…Harper…I canna hear ye. Where are ye?”

  Of course the reception was bad. As soon as I reached the edge of Edinburgh on my way out of the city, my signal dropped. Her phone call was the first sign that any reception had returned. It was part of the reason I was lost. Not only was the rental car place out of GPS navigation systems, the cell service was so nonexistent that I couldn’t use the Maps app on my phone to get directions either.

  “Gram, I’m going to call you back. I’m in a hole. Let me drive to the top of this hill, and I’ll try to call you back.”

  I didn’t wait for her answer. Ending the call, I shifted the car into gear and slowly made my way to a point of higher elevation ahead. It took longer than expected. I was forced to pull over four times for oncoming traffic. On the long, winding, one-lane road, I appeared to be the only one headed north. It only confirmed what I already knew—coming to Scotland was a mistake.

  I suspected it the day I booked my ticket, knew it deep down when I boarded the plane, but watching all of northern Scotland fleeing south confirmed it completely. I was cold, frustrated, and near tears. I pulled over once again and returned my grandmother’s call.

  “Gram, is this any better? Can you hear me?”

  “Aye, I can hear ye just fine. Do ye know where ye are?”

  I didn’t have the slightest clue. Five years had passed since my last visit to Scotland, and I’d only ever been in this part of the country with Kamden. At the time—fool that I was—I’d been too wrapped up in him to take much notice of what was going on around me.

  “I really don’t. I had to wait two
hours at the rental car place, then all they had was a compact standard with no GPS. I’ve done my best to follow your instructions but, honest to God, I don’t know how any of you get around. Nothing is clearly marked, and the weather is so bad I’m not sure I would be able to see the proper signage even if it was there.”

  Now thoroughly worked up, I struggled to take a deep breath and forced my tone to soften before I spoke once again.

  “I’m sorry, Gram. I’m just ready to see you guys. Everything is fine. I’ll get there eventually. It just might be midnight. Keep the lights on for me. Did you know the weather was supposed to do this?”

  I should’ve checked it myself. I knew that Scotland had plenty of snow this time of year. Truthfully, too many memories had been playing through my head while packing for the weather to cross my mind.

  Gram’s long pause was answer enough. Eventually, when I said nothing, she relented.

  “Aye, I knew there was a chance, but they hardly ever get it right. I was worried that if I told ye, ye wouldna come. All of this is my fault. I canna tell ye how sorry I am. Yer grandfather told me I should tell ye, but I just wanted to see ye so badly. Now I’ve had ye fly all the way to Scotland and ’tis verra likely I willna be able to see ye anyway.”

  Gram’s voice trembled, and my heart squeezed uncomfortably. I hurried to reassure her.

  “Hey, it’s okay. You can’t take responsibility for the weather. Of course you’ll get to see me—it just may be tomorrow instead of tonight. It will be okay. We are still days away from Christmas, and I’m staying through the New Year.”

  “Oh, my sweet girl, ye doona understand. I tried to call ye as soon as I saw that yer plane had landed to tell ye to get a hotel at the airport where ye could stay until ye got another flight home, but it never went through.”

  “A flight home? Why would I book a flight home?”

  “Harper, we are completely snowed in. The road to our house is impassable, and I expect it to get far worse before it gets any better. Most of Scotland will be buried under snow come morning.”

  My grandmother continued to talk, but I no longer listened as her words replayed in my mind. Snowed in? Impassable? What was first an annoyance now presented itself as a real danger. At this time of year, it would be dark in only a handful of hours. If the vast empty land that lay behind me was any indication of what lay ahead, I doubted I would be able to find lodging anywhere close. If the road to my grandparent’s house was impassable, then surely many other roads would be, as well.

  “Harper, can ye hear me? Are ye listening?”

  The worry in my grandmother’s voice pulled me back into our conversation.

  “Yes, I’m sorry. I’m listening. I’m just…I’m not sure that I’m going to be able to find anything before I reach roads that are too covered in snow, and I don’t think I have enough gas to keep my car warm overnight.”

  The quick shuffle of the phone as it shifted hands told me just how frightened my grandmother must be for me. She’d never been one to handle any sort of crisis well, and my grandfather, God bless him, was always there to step in and save the day for her. If only all men were as wonderful as him.

  I smiled as his deep, calm, and reassuring voice came over the phone.

  “Ye and yer grandmother are cut of the same cloth. Both of ye lassies take a deep breath and calm down. Do neither of ye have any faith in me at all? I willna let ye freeze to death in the snow. If we can figure out just exactly where ’tis ye are, I’m certain I’ll be able to think of a place ye can go. I know this country as well as I know the moles on my arm. If ye truly are good and lost, why I’ll find myself a snowmobile and will go in search of ye.”

  I smiled at the confident humor in his voice. He must’ve been just as worried as Gram, but he hid it well. I would’ve given just about anything to see him zooming over the snow-laden countryside astride a snowmobile right then.

  “Okay, thank you for that. I’ve no doubt that you would come and find me if it truly did come to that, but let’s hope it doesn’t. I really have no idea where I am. How do you expect me to tell you?

  “Firstly, bundle yerself up real nice and leave yer car running. Ye have winter hiking boots on, aye?”

  “Yes.”

  “Brush the snow off the top of yer hood and climb atop so that ye may see better. Keep yer phone shielded in the hood of yer coat and tell me what ye see.”

  The prospect of stepping out into the freezing cold didn’t thrill me, but I knew that in order to pinpoint my location, I would have to get a better grasp of my surroundings. I touched on the speakerphone and lay my phone on the dash so that I could ready myself for the wintery air that awaited me outside.

  “All right, give me just a second. Can you hang on? Don’t hang up. I’ll let you know when I can see something.”

  “O’course, lass. I’ll not be going anywhere until we’ve seen ye safely settled somewhere this night.”

  With my coat zipped, head covered, and gloves on, I placed the phone in my pocket, reached in the backseat for the window scraper, and stepped outside. I’d only been parked for ten minutes, and several inches of snow were already accumulated on top of the car. It took some effort to brush the bulk of it off. Once I managed, I climbed up onto the vehicle and reached back into my pocket for my phone.

  “Okay, I’m here. Let’s see…” I stalled while taking in the landscape around me. I sat parked at the top of a hill with a deep valley to my left and high terrain to my right. Rolling, snow-covered hills lay ahead. “All right. I just drove up a pretty steep climb so if I look behind me, it’s a deep slope down. To my left is a large valley. There are no buildings or landmarks that I can see from that direction. Ahead is a winding road with three distinct dips and peaks. To the right, it’s pretty much just straight mountainous terrain. I hope the snow doesn’t cause any rocks to slip because I’m pretty certain I would be toast if any fell.”

  There was a brief period of silence. I could just imagine Gramps stroking his thick beard with his thumb and pointer finger as he tried to picture all that I told him.

  Eventually when he spoke, his tone was filled with even more humor than before.

  “Did ye say there are three distinct peaks in the road ahead?”

  I lifted my hand to my brow to block some of the snow and strained to make certain.

  “Yes.”

  “Turn yer head upward. Is there a rock at the top of the mountain that resembles a monkey?”

  The snow made it difficult to see, but if I concentrated, I could make out the hint of such a shape. A memory tugged at the edge of my consciousness.

  “Yes. The snow blurs it a bit but, yes, I do think I can see it.”

  “Lass, I know just where ye are. I believe ye know, as well.”

  The memory returned full force. I’d looked over this exact deep valley and stared up at the monkey rock once before.

  I knew exactly what lay ahead—McMillan Castle...and the man who broke my heart.

  Chapter 2

  McMillan Castle

  * * *

  Everyone would be surprised to see him—Alfred, the tour guide; Henderson, the ticket salesman; Margaret, the cook; even the castle dog, Sileas, would find his timing surprising. It would be the first time in a decade he’d come home before the end of the castle’s tourist season. If the weather predictions were correct, McMillan Castle was about to see the worst snowstorm of the past one hundred years, and he had no wish to make everyone that worked there spend Christmas trapped in the castle with him. Those with families should spend it with their loved ones. It wouldn’t be his first Christmas spent alone.

  As he pulled into the driveway of his old home, Kamden McMillan slowed his car to a stop, rolled down his window, and waited patiently for Henderson to recognize him as large, wet snowflakes floated into his car.

  “Hello. Welcome to McMillan Castle. ’Tis a mighty cold day, but in my humble opinion, ye are about to embark on a discovery of the most magnificent castle
in all of Scotland. Ye have come on a verra fine day, as well. Our head cook, Margaret, has prepared her special Christmastime bread pudding. Ye willna want to miss it. After yer…”

  Kamden watched as Henderson glanced up for the first time.

  “Wha—what are ye doing here, Kamden? Why dinna ye tell me it was ye? I wouldna have kept blabbering on so.”

  He laughed and reached through the window to shake his old friend’s hand. “I was enjoying yer sales pitch far too much. While I believe ye are over selling the experience, I appreciate yer efforts to bring people through the gates.”

  “Are ye staying through the holiday then?”

  He nodded and shifted the car back into gear as Henderson opened the gates.

  “Aye. What time does the next tour leave? I’ve got a mind to lead it myself.”

  “Oh, ye should. Everyone would love it. Ye’ve ten minutes to make yer way to the front doors. Best ye say hello to Margaret first, or she’ll be right angry with ye.”

  “Aye, she would. Not a one of us wants that, do we? I shall enter through the back so that I can see her first. It’s good to see ye. I’ll visit with ye more at close today. I wish to meet with everyone in the sitting room this evening. Today shall be the last day of the season.”

  He drove away quickly so that Henderson couldn’t question him. There were several cars already lined up behind him. If he got out of their way, perhaps they could make the tour he planned to lead.

  The road from the gates to the side of the castle stretched the length of the large pond that lay in front of the castle. So many stories of magic were associated with the freezing cold waters of McMillan Castle—not that he believed in magic. If he did, he would certainly be calling upon it now, pleading with it to give him one more chance to make things right.