Once the weather improved, Abby and I found plenty to keep us busy. The only contact I’d had with Hayley and McKenzie was a text from Hayley the night of the flooding telling us she was okay. I hoped they were having as much fun as I was. The only fly in the ointment was the continued distance between Bryce and me. I’d had two goals for this trip: to learn to relax and to indulge in a romance with a Scotsman. I felt good about my initial challenge. Some days I barely thought about my salon at all. Atlanta felt very far away. Bit by bit, I realized there were aspects of me that might bloom if I spent more time on my personal life. Though I had never thought of myself as any kind of scholar, I found moments to slip away to the castle’s sumptuous library, searching for books on Scottish history and customs. The old, leather-bound volumes had a smell that conjured up another century. Late in the evenings when everyone had retired for the night, I curled up in bed and read for an hour or more.
