Once Upon a Summer Night by Nancy Scanlon

Author:Nancy Scanlon
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Time travel
Published: 2017-04-10T18:00:00+00:00

• • •

From the second floor, Ellie listened to the cadence of her hosts’ conversation, which contained a dizzying, fast-paced combination of American English, British English, and Irish Gaelic. She couldn’t make out everything they were saying, but she enjoyed listening to the different accents and languages. Even Colin knew Gaelic, which Ellie found surprising—perhaps it was a requirement for working at Celtic Connections?

A massive crack of thunder shook the house and Ellie shivered, a feeling of unease settling over her. She ran a hand over the worn stair banister, its wood smooth and secure under her touch. She admired the craftsmanship; most everything in the house was rustic in a charming, eclectic way.

When she had been there last, she’d only seen the back of the house, and by the time she left, it was dark, so she wasn’t able to fully appreciate the quaint cottage. As they had driven up in the twilight yesterday, Ellie was struck by its fairy-tale quality. The thatched roof, whitewashed outer walls, and colorful garden gave her an immediate sense of stepping into a timeless space.

Her first impression of the interior of the cottage was that it was spacious, but that, she quickly realized, was due more to the decorating than to the size of the rooms. It certainly was bigger than it looked from the outside, with four bedrooms and at least two bathrooms, one on each floor. The room Reilly brought her to was a pale blue and overlooked the back garden. When she glanced out the window, she saw the two chairs pulled up to the fire pit, just as she remembered it from her night with Colin.

Despite her best efforts, it still gave her the shivers to think of it. Prior to that night, Ellie hadn’t known such chemistry existed—classic literature extolled the feelings of love and what it drove characters to do, but she had always chalked that up to creative license.

She’d been so, so wrong.

Not that I’m in love with Colin, she quickly amended. I just like him. A lot.

And how cruel was it that now, because she’d made a promise to her aunt, she had to suffer through the attentions of men she knew she didn’t want, because the one she did was off-limits?

She heard her name mentioned, and she strained to hear the next words, though they were in Gaelic. But then, Colin exclaimed angrily, and decidedly not in Gaelic:

“For the last time, she is not my soul mate!”

Ellie sucked in a sharp breath. Blindly, she groped for something to hold on to as the embarrassment and heartache collided in her chest. Mortified, frozen, unable to do anything except attempt to breathe, Ellie stood there for long minutes, fighting the prick of tears. A painful stab of disappointment lanced through her as she realized what she’d done. She’d gone and romanticized a man who had no desire to be romanticized. He didn’t want a relationship, and he especially didn’t want one with her.

“Woolgathering?” Reilly teased gently, appearing suddenly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.