Rushing Whispers

     I had been stewing for days. Cameron had been right; I needed the time to be mad at him and to calm down. I had entered the calming stage earlier in the day but kept putting off calling him to paint instead.      In the early evening, I made myself a quick meal and followed by a coffee and finally decided to call Cameron, when I received a call instead.      My boss was on the other end of the line, getting right down to business.      “Heard you got back from your trip. When are you going to take up your shifts again?”      “Hey, Bob, it’s nice to hear from you too,” I answered sarcastically.      “We’re doing niceties at this hour? Come on, Emily, we need you here. Could you come in for tomorrow’s night closing shift?”      I could tell Bob wanted me back at the general store, where my weekly paycheck regularly had over 45 hours logged and also where I had not shown my face in...

     We were in bed, beside each other, on the morning I was to leave Scotland. I couldn’t sleep, thinking about all kinds of things. The way Cameron made me feel, emotionally and physically. When he spoke to me, meaningful words of adoration, I felt like I was going to melt. And when he touched me, God, I felt like I was being shocked with electricity. Was I really going to go home and have to pretend like my life didn’t change completely?      Cameron hummed beside me and I snuggled into him. The necklace he’d given me was on the nightstand, and I felt compelled to hold it in my hands again. I didn’t move, though, wanting to be close to him more than anything.      The morning came quickly, and the alarm we’d set for five rang loudly in my ears. Cameron turned it off and I lay beside him, wondering what was to happen now.      “Good morning,” he said groggily.      “Morning,” I replied.      He k...

     I woke, feeling wide awake. A glance at the clock revealed it was just past one in the morning. I sighed and thought back on yesterday. After seeing Cameron off, I had gone to lay down and taken the envelope with me. I’d put it in my purse but not dared to look at it too long for fear of going back on my word and reading it.      Now, alone in my room in the middle of the night, the temptation was growing. I stood and walked barefoot to my purse on the dresser, rifling through it until I found the envelope. My name was written on the front in an elegant script, and in the bottom left corner was his name.      Cameron. What had this man done to me? I had come to Scotland to see what my grandmother missed about it so much, that she would dream about being back in the highlands. And here I was, leaving to go home too soon, my heart in the hands of a man I’d met after a shocking experience in the woods.      I shuddered and pu...

     I had spent the day with my sister and Lily, still making up for the night out with Cameron earlier in the week. Turns out it was very scandalous to Lily and she had to be reminded that I was a good girl. By the time night fell, we were all tired and went to bed; Lily in her room on the main floor and my sister and I in adjacent rooms upstairs.      I was having trouble sleeping, it must have been around ten o’clock. I’d drifted in and out of sleep, dreaming of water flowing and the star-filled sky. After waking up in a near-sweat for the third time, I put on slippers and went to the small sitting room across the hall.      I looked at the phone for a few minutes, debating if I should call. I hadn’t spoken with Cameron since he brought me home Friday morning, and it was Sunday night now. Pushing my fears aside, I picked up the receiver and dialed the number he had slipped into my jeans pocket.      “Hello?” Cameron answere...

     I adored Lily, but even I had to admit that she could be peculiar at times. This morning, she insisted on cooking breakfast for us and wanted to know our schedules for the day so she could align meals. A duet of “I don’t know” came from my sister and me when she asked about our plans for the day. The weather seemed okay, but it could turn at any moment in Scotland, so there was no guarantee of sun.      “You could go to the coast and watch the ocean,” Lily suggested, but Liliane decided on a strong refusal of that offer.      “I think I’m going to just walk around and look at the architecture. I can’t get enough of it,” I told them. “You can do whatever you want, Lil.”      “Sure, no problem. Do you want to have lunch somewhere at two?”      Before I could answer my sister, there was a loud knock on the door.      “Who could that be?” Lily asked rhetorically. She never answered the door betwee...