HIGHLAND SONG BWWM

Chapter Thirty-nine

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Chapter Thirty-nine

Walking out of the room, Ericka shut the door behind her and Ralph, who wore a complicated expression on his face.

Seeing this, Ericka decided to speak up. "He's not going to hurt her, you know?"

"And how do you know?" Ralph demanded, glaring at her. "He's some backwoods Highlander with the ability to do whatever he wants with her once they're alone in the past."

"Yes, he could kidnap her and toss her into the hands of some psychopath out for revenge!" Her tone was mocked surprised. She widened her eyes and batted her lashes at Ralph before dropping her mock shocked expression and scoffing. "Pfft, I think she'll be safer with him than here with you and Dad."

Ralph's eyes darkened at her words, his fist tightening at his side. "I was only trying to save her."

"Save it," Ericka said sharply, her eyes snapping with anger. "They whipped her like she was an animal, and she nearly died because of it. Nothing you say or do will change the fact that you were the reason she ended up in the condition she is now. I don't want to hear your excuses, or your self-glorified reasoning."

Reaching into the back pocket of her skirt, she checked her phone for the message she'd been waiting for. Seeing it, she lowered it and turned her attention back to her brother. "Our father has enough dogs; he doesn't need his son to become just like the rest. Maybe you should think about whether he actually prizes you, or if he sees you as another person who fetches for him."

With that, she turned on her heel and marched away, leaving Ralph with deep thoughts and a heavy burden on his shoulders.

Lyla, who'd been escorted back to her room, frowned as she ignored the twinge in her back. There would be a lot of things she would have to do before she could simply return with Gavin. It wasn't a leap to wish to take back a few things that would make her stay comfortable... and healthier.

Hearing a knock on the door behind her, she glanced over her shoulder, only to feel her eyes widen at the elegant woman who stood in the door. Smooth, oak-colored skin and light brown eyes looked at her with annoyance.

"It took half a year for me to drag out of your father where you were," her mother said as she entered, her heeled boots clicking against the linoleum floor as she approached the hospital bed. "I might have worked as an interrogator in the past, but dragging things from your father is harder than pulling teeth from a terrorist."

She glanced at the chair that'd been placed near Lyla's bed. Taking a seat, she casually dropped her wallet on the side table. "So... how was it traipsing through time?" She raised a singular brow, her lips pursed. "I heard from Ericka you've manage to hook yourself a husband, is this true?"

She was pulled from her mild shock at seeing her mother, the mother she'd thought her father wouldn't contact. In fact, she'd thought she would have to go through hours of convincing her that she wasn't crazy.

"H-how?"

"How?" her mother repeated before she sent Lyla a pitying look. "It's amazing how you two think of me. Just because your father loves to declare me some 'stupid bimbo', it's only in comparison to his sick mind." She turned her face aside and muttered, "Someday, he'll pay, dearly."

Blinking, Lyla shook her head before staring at her mother in wonder. "So, you haven't been wondering where we've been for two years?"

"Nope," her mother said immediately, but then she conceded. "Well, for half the year I was worried, but pulling some strings on my end, I finally forced your father to fess up." She shook her head. "That man... I had to threaten his entire operation just to get him to send Ralph after you."

"You're the reason Ralph came?!" Lyla exclaimed. If her mother had known what Ralph had done, she wouldn't be sitting so relaxed. "Mom!"

Taken aback by her eldest sudden shout, her mother leaned back. "What? If I hadn't, you would still be there. How was I supposed to know you'd shacked up with the first man who showed his muscles?!"

"I didn't fall for him for that," Lyla snapped, now glaring at her mother. "I didn't just fall in his bed, no matter what people think. I actually put up a fight..." She trailed off when her mother sent her a look of skepticism. She felt heat in her cheeks. "I did."

"Honey, if having a brawny, Scottish Lad in your bed does it for you, you could do worse," her mother said, before adding with a smirk, "You could have married your father."

"Ugh, don't even joke," Lyla groaned, wincing once again.

Her mother, seeing this, stood. "All right, enough. It's time for you to rest some more before we start planning your return to good ol' Scotland."

With her mother's help, Lyla slowly situated herself in the bed, laughing. "Aren't you worried at all over my choice to live in 1274?"

Her mother's hands lifted the covers and pulled them higher, a dark look coming to her eyes. "Lyla, I'm your mother. For all my bravado, I was terrified when I realized my babies had been shot off by some beam of light." She brushed a hand over Lyla's forehead, suddenly looking all her years of age. "I don't ever want to experience that feeling again. I've only experienced it twice: the first time when I received the call that you were in the hospital." She took in a shaky breath, brushing the tears that were leaking from Lyla's eyes. "This time, I was willing to fight, and," she smiled down at Lyla, "you weren't here to stop your 'crazy', retired agent mother from causing havoc. Your uncle didn't bother to either, so... this time, I got you back."

Drawing her hands away, she walked over to the side table and grabbed up her purse. "Now, if you've chosen to go with this man and make a life with him," she turned around and sent Lyla a teary-eyed smile, "why would I even try to stop you? Happiness is the only thing I've ever wanted for you. If this one thing, this one person, does it for you, as your mother, could I, should I, stop you?"

She shook her head. "No." Her smile changed into a smirk, as she raised a brow. "Plus, it isn't like I won't be visiting. After all... I think it's time I got back in the game."

With that, she wished Lyla sweet dreams and left the room.

Lyla drifted off into a peaceful slumber.