Read Legacy of the Highlands for Free Online Page B

carelessly dropped on
the floor. She dragged her body across the room, tossed off the
robe, and sank into the kind of dreamless sleep that had eluded her
without Will next to her, his warm, naked body spooned against
hers, the two of them slumbering as one. She’d always felt safe in
his arms, as if nothing bad could happen so long as he held
her.
    When she finally woke the following afternoon, she
tried to shake off the residual grogginess of too much sleep. She
shielded her eyes as she opened the drapes to let light fill the
room. One glimpse of the sun glinting off the ocean’s sparkling
blue water turned the decision of what to do for the rest of the
day into a no brainer. She considered each of the swimsuits in the
closet and finally pulled on a dark blue bikini that exposed more
flesh than she liked, especially with Diego around, but it would
have to do.
    She found the kitchen, introduced herself to
Isabel, the Navarros’ cook, and helped herself to coffee and a
sweet roll. “The house is so quiet. Is Diego still asleep?”
    “No, Señora . Señor Navarro left
the house early this morning. When I asked if he would return for
lunch, he said he had business to attend to and wasn’t sure when he
would be back.”
    For some reason Isabel’s news upset her,
until she realized that it would be easier without Diego around to
hover over her like some guard dog. She brushed a few crumbs from
her lap, thanked Isabel for breakfast and headed to the beach.
    Alex felt her body gradually unwind as she lay on
the warm sand, her tense muscles relaxing under the sun’s
relentless heat. Her creamy, freckled skin burned easily, so she
only allowed herself an hour in the sun before reluctantly trudging
away from the ocean toward the sheltering palms that formed a
natural border between the house and the beach.
    Alex felt a little better in this tropical
environment, far from Boston and all that happened there. But that
fragile peace shattered with the sudden ringing of her cell phone.
It was Detective O’Shea with yet another routine question about her
vacation in Scotland with Will.
    She ended the call as quickly as she could,
but it had rattled her. Despair, that was as difficult to control
as a riptide, pulled her under, gasping for breath, no matter how
hard she fought against it.
    She recognized the start of an anxiety attack
and reached into her bag for a small pillbox. Sometimes the little
orange pills prescribed after Will’s death smoothed out the bumps,
other times not. She popped one into her mouth and as she waited
for the drug to kick in, she closed her eyes and concentrated on
the feel of the sand as it trickled through her fingers and the
sound of palm fronds rattling gently in the breeze.
    She put her hand on her chest, relieved that
her heart’s anxious racing had resumed its normal rhythm. Relaxed,
she was able to capture an image of a happier time. As she drifted
into a drugged sleep, her last conscious thought was of her trip to
Scotland with Will.
     
     

Chapter 6
    “They were Highlanders!” Will had exclaimed with
boyish enthusiasm when he’d come across an impressive display on
Clan Cameron at a museum in Inverness. “Now I know why I like
single malt whiskey so much. It’s hereditary!” He burst out
laughing at the absurdity of this statement.
    His hazel eyes twinkled as he’d wrapped his
arms around Alex and pressed his lips to her temple. She loved the
ebullience and joy with which Will had always approached life. His
good-natured, boyish charm was a big part of his attraction, but it
was his unselfconscious masculinity that had sealed the deal for
her.
    They’d decided to visit Scotland on a whim
after spending a couple of weeks in London with a former partner of
Will and Diego’s. The three men had become wealthy enough to never
have to work again when they sold their interest in a Venezuelan
oil exploration company after Diego’s father got wind of President
Chavez’s plan to nationalize