My Heart's in the Highlands by Angeline Fortin (best english novels for beginners .TXT) 📗

Turning the knob, she opened the doorand felt a rush of feeling. The sensation that she was home oncemore. With so many parts of the castle stripped bare, this chamberhad remained largely untouched. Of course the linens and most ofthe upholstery weren’t the same, but the furnishings were, and thecolors were similar to those she remembered.

Dropping her bag on the bed, Hero slowlyunwound her scarf and turned to the fireplace, studying the littlecarvings of flora and fauna that covered the elaborate mantel. Ifshe were truly Hero, that little compartment would still be there …and if it wasn’t, Mikah knew she would have to accept all overagain that it had all been nothing but a dream.

Running her hands over the flowers, Mikahshook her head, recalling her first sight of Ian. She rememberedthinking that it had to have been a dream because there wasn’t aman on earth who looked like that. There wasn’t a man on earth whocould make her feel like that just by looking at her.

Mikah’s hand dropped to her side. Which waywas worse? Only dreaming of a moment with a perfect man, or knowingthat you had had him and lost him forever? Looking back at the bed,Mikah imagined Ian there, his bronze skin contrasting with thewhite sheets, smiling at her as if the sun rose and set on her.Blinking away the burn behind her eyelids, Mikah pinched her nosebetween her fingers to ward off the tears she knew were comingagain.

Did it matter if he were real or only adream? Either way, Ian was lost to her. Either way, she hadexperienced a magical, intense love that was gone, either to thepast or to her dreams. Perhaps that was the worst part either way:now that she knew the story was over, now that she knew how itended, the dreams had stopped. She hadn’t dreamed of him again.

After a lifetime of seeing his face in hersleep, Mikah felt the loss of him even more. She had to know if ithad been real at some point. That the love of a lifetime had beenreal for someone, if not her.

“Nice room,” Kris said, unaware of herthoughts, wandering around to take a peek into the dressing room.“Nice bathroom. I can’t wait to use that tub.”

He came back into the room to find Mikah atthe fireplace. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“It won’t move.” Mikah twisted at the flowersin the combination with no success. “They must have been paintedover.”

“Well, this place is hundreds of yearsold.”

Rolling her eyes, she turned and retrievedthe room key and desperately began to scrape away at the edges, butKris stopped her. “Whoa, there! What are you doing?”

“There should be a compartment hidden in themantel,” Mikah said a little anxiously. “If it’s there, we’ll knowthat it was all real.”

“I thought we already knew that.” Kris said,grabbing her hand again as Mikah tried to dig the key under one ofthe flowers. “Let me do that before you hurt yourself.”

Mikah raised a brow. Kris was a bit tallerthan she, but he was wiry rather than muscular. Still, she bowedmockingly and stepped aside. “Please, do be a manly man and useyour bulging muscles to do what this frail woman could not.”

“Very funny,” Kris frowned and looked at thefireplace. “What am I doing?”

“You need to turn that,” Mikah pointed to thefirst flower. “And that, and then you need to press that.”

“Very Indiana Jones.” Kris tried to turn thefirst one. “There isn’t much to hold on to.”

“Well it wouldn’t be very secret if there wasa handle on it,” Mikah shot back.

Her friend shot her a frown. “Tell me why I’mhere again?”

“Because you love me.”

“Oh, right.” Kris turned back to the manteland worked at the flower until suddenly it gave with a crack androtated. He stepped back with a relieved smile. “Thank God, I wasbeginning to doubt your sanity. I hope they don’t fine us forthis.”

“Next one,” Mikah said.

“Slave driver.”

Ten minutes later, Kris finally depressed thelast button and the leafy door front unlatched with a smallcrack.

It had all been real! Mikah was elated by therealization, then immediately crushed by it. All that pain and lossbecause of the greed of one man. Ian and Hero had experiencedsomething that most people only dream of, and Mikah had shared itwith them. There was sorrow in her heart for their loss and shewondered if she had only made the whole situation worse forherself.

With a sad sigh, Mikah turned away, butKris’s curious “What’s this?” drew her back in time to see himpulling a dusty object from the compartment.

Hesitantly, she reached out and took thelittle velvet bag, which almost crumbled beneath her touch.Loosening the stiffened cord, she opened the bag and tilted it intoher palm. A ring slid into her hand, sparkling as if it had justbeen polished the night before.

Mikah gasped, recognizing it immediately. Thewarmth of love and dazed amazement she had felt when Ian hadslipped it on her finger almost 150 years before spread throughher. “I can’t believe it’s still here,” she whispered as thesapphire winked up at her in recognition.

“Wow,” Kris said, taking the ring from herunresisting hand. “That is really something.”

A tear slipped down Mikah’s cheek.“Damn.”

Kris turned at the tone of her voice. “Ahh,geez, Mikes! Come here!”

He opened his arms to her and Mikah went intothem with a sob. Where was she supposed to go after this? What onearth could possibly be out there waiting for her that couldcompare to that love?

“Ahh, Mikes,” Kris whispered, kissing the topof her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Would it be wrong to keep it?” she chokedout between sobs.

“Of course not,” he assured her. “It’s yours,isn’t it?”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“Showtime,” Kris whispered with a yawn intohis coffee cup early the next morning as they sat side by side inthe last row of folding chairs that had been set up for the auctionin the Round Drawing Room. The winter sun beamed weakly through theFrench doors, reminding Mikah that she still hadn’t gotten a lookat the firth. Neither had she had the courage to walk out on theramparts.

But it had