Free Reunited (Book 2 of Lost Highlander series) by Cassidy Cayman

away. He would never let anything happen to her, not as long as he was alive.
    The only thing that was bothering her, and it was like a dreadful buzzing in the back of her mind, was the fact that at any moment she could cease to exist. She had no idea what date her great-great etcetera grandparents were supposed to get married.
     If they failed to do so on the proper day, would her ancestor who was next in line not be conceived, causing a rift of such proportions that possibly the entire Glen line would fail? Would the estate still be here? It made her dizzy, and she had to grab the paddock fence to keep from taking a nosedive into a water trough.
    “Are ye well, Piper?” Pietro came out of the side door and hurried over to her.
    He looked distracted, a deep crease in his brow. It made him seem older, more serious, not his usual boyish, laughing self.
    Feeling guilty for shirking her duties and leaving it all up to him, she nodded and waved off his concern. She pointed to the pale sun trying desperately to shine through the cloud layer.
    “Blinded by all the sun,” she said and was rewarded for her cleverness by one of his charming smiles. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I haven’t been out sooner. There’s a lot of new business that came up.”
    “It’s all worked out, got the insurance claim filed, and the police report filled out.”
    He started walking around to the other side of the stable and she followed him. They stopped at the scorched stone wall. The shrubbery that was planted nearby was completely burned to stumps. She still couldn’t believe someone had snuck onto her property and tried to light her barn on fire. The fact that the horses might have been killed made her shake with impotent fury.
    “Do you have any idea who it might have been?” she asked, looking up at him.
    He was kicking at the exposed roots of the burnt bushes and shook his head.
    “No. The police think it was just kids, but I’m none too sure. Ye’ve some very valuable horses.” He nodded to the barn. “I feel I was remiss in not hiring security before, but if it’s all right with ye, I’ll have someone out here ‘round the clock.”
    Piper walked over to the fence and leaned against it. Why hadn’t she thought of security before now? She shouldn’t have left it up to her stable manager. A property this size, horses worth hundreds of thousands. She was a fool.
    “I’m so sorry, Pietro,” she said, lightly touching his arm. “I can’t believe I never … Thank you for thinking of it. Hire as many people as you need.” She laughed weakly. “I think I should give you a promotion. You’ve done so much more than handle the horses.”
    “Well, I can see ye’ve got your hands full.” He looked at her a little longer than was comfortable and she cleared her throat and moved away.
    “And now I have to go,” she sighed. “I mean, I’ll be gone for a few days, maybe longer. I know it’s a terrible time, but there’s a problem in Saudi that I have to take care of.”
    She pushed out the lie as quickly as she could. She had sold off all her properties in Saudi Arabia except for one, an apartment she thought she might one day like to use for vacations, but he wouldn’t know that.
    She looked at him again and tried not to think what his piercing gaze meant. With her awkward salute wave, she turned and went back up the hill to the house.
    Evelyn was nowhere to be seen, and Mellie was busy packing a cooler full of food. Lachlan was wearing his kilt again, which Mellie had done her best to wash. It still had a few dark stains on it but at least it smelled April fresh. She peered into Mellie’s cooler to see Mel had packed them enough food for a week, and it was all wrapped up in aluminum foil and reusable plastic containers.
    Evelyn staggered back into the kitchen, looking weak and irritable. Sam jumped up to help her to a seat but she shook her head and inspected Mellie’s food haul.
    “I don’t think you should