Glasgow Grace Read Online Free Page B

How often they’d spoken of building a life and a family together.
    Cheers interrupted her reverie, one person’s voice louder than the rest. Tavish. “Aye, that’s whit ah’m talkin’ aboot.” He clapped his hands. “Let’s hear it fur Callum and Skye. Whit a voice she’s goat furra chantin’, man.”
    Skye shook her head, unable to stop her grin. Would she ever understand him?
    “More. More. More,” came the response.
    Callum changed key. The mournful tune of “Danny Boy” flowed from the instrument.
    She and Callum sang in perfect harmony as they had when they were teens. Would he walk or drive her home as he had in their youth? Would he kiss her good night before he left?
    Feeling the heat rise from her neck, she pushed the thought aside. She shouldn’t get involved with Callum. She’d only be in Glasgow for a few months. Then their ways would part once more, and she’d have to deal with the hurt all over again.
    But it would be nice to feel loved—even if just for a little while.
    ~*~
    “’Twa Bonnie Maidens.’”
    The song request threw Callum for a moment. His mind swung like a pendulum. Skye. Katie.
    If Skye’s father hadn’t died, and her mother hadn’t taken her away to the other side of the world, Callum and Skye would have lived the dreams they’d made for years. They’d have married and had a couple of kids by now. He likely wouldn’t have become a doctor, and she an opera star. But would that have mattered? They would still have made beautiful music together right there in McGuire’s as they were now. And they would’ve been happy.
    Callum had loved Skye his whole life. They deserved this second chance.
    Katie…his heart ached at the pain he had caused her. Not long ago, she had been his future. Finally, after fifteen long and lonely years, he’d tried to move on, to be happy with someone else. He couldn’t. Katie only knew his affections a scant few months. The moment he realized that although he loved Katie, he wasn’t in love with her, he’d broken things off. She took it far worse than he’d expected. I won’t give up on you, Callum. I’ll win back your love. And for the past three months she’d tried. Relentlessly. Phone calls, gifts, unexpected visits to his work, his home, McGuire’s. At every try, Callum gave her no encouragement, no hope of reconciliation. In time, she’d have to accept and respect that his decision was best for them both.
    He released a soft sigh, thankful that Katie was away in Edinburgh, helping her mother care for her ailing father. The last thing he needed was Skye getting the impression he was involved with someone else. If he’d only known that Skye would be coming back to Glasgow the very same year he’d started dating Katie, he would never have become involved to begin with.
    “Callum?” Skye interrupted his thoughts. “Where did you disappear to?”
    He shook his head. “Uh…nowhere.”
    “Will we do ‘Two Bonnie Maidens’? Or should I rather say ‘twa’?” Her lips parted into a smile.
    Setting down his guitar, Callum took her hand. “I think we’ve entertained enough for one evening.”
    “But…we’ve only done two songs.”
    “What do you say we get out of here?”
    Skye encased his hand between hers, like a mother hen folding her wings over her chicks. Was she trying to protect what might be?
    “I’d like that very much. I am really tired.” She released his hands. “I hadn’t planned on being out tonight.”
    “I’m glad you came.”
    “So am I.” Skye flicked her hair over her shoulders and blinked several times. “But I guess I really do need to get some sleep. I just came off an international flight from the other side of the world and a sleep-deprived afternoon today.”
    Callum pushed away his disappointment. There’d be more chances for him to be alone with her. There had to be. “How did you get here tonight?”
    “I caught a taxi.”
    “Where are you staying?”
    “The Crowne Plaza, beside