Love Beyond Belief (Book 7 of Morna’s Legacy Series) (17 page)

Cars, as much as he loved them, were no longer the most fascinating thing he’d seen during his time in the twenty-first century—not after seeing a hospital. They worked on Jerry so quickly, so urgently, that Callum could scarcely believe how things progressed once they arrived.
 

According to his doctors, Jerry was lucky. The heart attack was mild, and no surgery would be necessary, although he would have to take medication to keep it from happening again. While Jerry was determined to ignore the last piece of the doctor’s advice, Callum was determined to make sure he kept it. Lifestyle changes would be a necessity.
 

“Can ye hurry it along, Callum? I’m ready to be back at the castle. Three days in the hospital is long enough.”

Callum continued to drive at the same speed although he doubted there was any way that Jerry was more eager to arrive than he was. Jerry had been needlessly difficult the entire ride.

“I know ye’re ready, but ye’ll have to wait just a few minutes more.”

“I doona know why ye felt the need to stay and care for me. Ye’ve got yer own things that need tending to, I know. I would have been fine on me own.”

Callum wouldn’t dream of leaving his dear friend at the hospital to deal with Morna’s endless berating alone. As difficult as Jerry had been over the past days, Morna had been doubly so.
 

It didn’t take long after Callum left to look for Macaslan during the party for him to realize the lad who’d interrupted him and Sydney in the tower had lied. Rather than lead Callum straight to where he said men were holding their captor, he weaved strange patterns through the castle, pretending to be lost. His men had spent so much time in the castle over the past month, he knew not a one of them could ever get lost within the halls of Cagair Castle, no matter the century.
 

It took only a few questions for the boy to come clean to him. No one had seen Macaslan. There was no one held captive by his men. Instead, a woman the boy didn’t know offered him money to serve as a distraction.
 

Callum knew it had to be Grier. While on his way to search for the witch, he heard Sydney’s screams for help.
 

“I’ve nothing that needs attending to, save ye, Jerry. And unless ye are ready to return home, ye needed me there to combat Morna’s wishes that she take ye straight from the hospital back home. She is not pleased that we are returning ye to Cagair Castle.”

“Aye, I know she isn’t, but she canna care for me alone, not without her magic, and she’s already sworn that she willna use it on me. It will be better that I stay at Cagair until I am better. Her reasons for wanting me away from Cagair are not valid. Grier dinna do this to me. I know it, but she willna listen.”

Callum knew the truth of it too. Morna was just too stubborn and worried over Jerry to see it.
 

I knew Jerry was back from the hospital by the extra car parked out front, but I’d yet to gather the courage to check in on him. The last thing I wanted to do was intrude or be in the way. From everything I’d heard, he would be okay. I couldn’t be more thankful for that. If I was ever given the opportunity to see Grier again, I would make certain I hugged her neck.

Once Jerry left for the hospital, my nerves were so shot that I retired to bed straight away. While I heard the party continue on for hours into the night, I couldn’t believe how little evidence there was of it the next morning. Not only was every guest gone, but every other piece of evidence of the gathering was gone, as well. The food was put away, dishes cleaned, decorations gone, mess tidied. It astonished me.
 

When I went to ask Anne how they managed it all, she insisted she’d been unable to sleep a wink so she busied herself all night. I immediately felt guilty for not lending a hand, but she assured me that she didn’t mind in the slightest.
 

As I approached the kitchen the morning of Jerry’s return, I heard Morna’s voice inside and stepped in eager to hear news of Jerry’s health. Rather than speaking of her husband, she was lamenting with Anne over Jerry’s new diet and her lack of knowledge of healthy foods.
 

“I doona know what I shall do. The doctor gave me such little guidance but so much pressure to make changes for him that I fear I may cave under it. He made me feel responsible for it. Perhaps I am.”

Anne stood with one arm draped around Morna as she sniffled and looked down at the floor. I walked over to them both and pulled Morna into a hug.
 

“What’s this? I thought Jerry was doing better. Surely they wouldn’t let him leave if he wasn’t.”

She looked up at me and moved to wipe her hand across her nose as she took a shaky breath.
 

“Aye. He couldna be more fortunate. ’Tis not often that modern medicine can overcome the powers of a witch’s curse. I doona know why I’m so weepy.”

I wanted to speak up in defense of Grier, but I didn’t think it best with how upset Morna already was.
 

Anne reached over and squeezed my arm to get my attention, although when she spoke she directed it to Morna.
 

“I bet Sydney can help. She knows everything about cooking.”

Anne was absolutely right. I should’ve jumped right in and offered help myself.
 

“Yes, of course I will. What can I do?”

Morna stepped away to grab a piece of paper off the island and extended it toward me.
 

“Here are the doctor’s guidelines for Jerry’s new diet. No salt, no sugar, no dairy, no red meat, no sausage, no bread…the list goes on and on. How does the man expect me to cook anything at all, let alone something that Jerry will eat? Why the old man has lived off of salty cheese and sausage most of his life. He ran a farm, but he’s not a goat. He canna live by munching on grass alone.”

I could see how such restrictions would overwhelm Morna, especially when she was already so shaken by all that had happened over the past few days, but all of it was entirely possible. It was an opportunity to take charge of something. I was an expert at that.
 

“You don’t need to worry about any of this, Morna. I’ll cook everything for him myself until he’s much better. In fact, I’ll just make sure we are all eating that way. It will make it easier for Jerry and will be better for all of us. And, I’ll make sure to draw you up a manageable eating plan complete with recipes and shopping lists that you can use on your own once you and Jerry return home. You’re a good cook, so you won’t need help once you have the recipes. You just need some guidance.”

The woman’s lip trembled in what I could only assume was gratitude. Thankfully, she held it together as she spoke to me. Otherwise, I knew I would be blubbering right along with her.
 

“Aye, exactly. All I need is some guidance. I canna thank ye enough.”

“You don’t need to thank me at all. It’s my job.”

I pulled away from the group hug and went to open the refrigerator to look inside. There were so many leftovers after the party that everyone munched on that I’d not cooked in days, and there was very little in the pantry or fridge.

“May I borrow a car so that I can go get groceries? I don’t think there’s a thing here that Jerry should eat. It will take me a while to gather up a proper list though. What time is it, Morna?”

My own stomach was already growling, and I ate a hearty breakfast. If I was to guess, I doubted Jerry had eaten anything all day.

“’Tis near noon. Honestly, lass, I can bake him a piece of chicken if naught else for lunch. There’s no need to make Callum wait any longer.”

“Actually…” Anne’s face twisted up guiltily as she bobbed her head in the direction of the fridge. “I’m pretty sure we’re out. The party went through most of the food, then Orick and Aiden ate the rest of the meat this morning.”

Pizza was the very last thing Jerry needed, and it would take me the rest of the day by the time I came up with a proper meal plan and drove to get the groceries.
 

“Well, he’s not eating pizza, and he’ll need something before I’m able to get back from shopping. There’s a head of lettuce and a few tomatoes in here. I can prepare a salad, but that’s not enough to sustain him.” Thin as he was, from what I’d seen, Jerry was a healthy eater.
 

It only took me a moment to recall the small chicken coop I’d noticed next to the stables. It wouldn’t be pleasant, but as far out as Cagair was, I didn’t see any other option.
 

“Question—the chickens out back—is anyone overly fond of them?”

Anne’s face blanched as she widened her eyes and shook her head at me.
 

“No, I don’t think so. You’re not going to…to kill one are you?”

“I certainly am. How do you think the chicken you buy at the store gets there? Somebody has to kill it. I’ve never done it before, but I remember watching my grandmother do it. I’ll manage.”

I walked out of the kitchen rather determinedly, hoping that I would be able to finish the unpleasant task before I talked myself out of it.
 

CHAPTER 23

No one could say that I wasn’t the sort of person to do what I said I was going to. It may have caused me to retch twice, but I had a perfectly cooked, appropriately seasoned chicken breast delivered to Jerry’s room within the hour. The real casualty out of the whole ordeal seemed to be Anne. I didn’t know if I turned her into a vegetarian, or if she was just frightened I might ask her for help cooking one day, but she disappeared for hours.
 

Today, however, I really didn’t care either way. I pushed through it, but the act was just as traumatizing for me as it was for Anne. When I finished cooking, I escaped to my room to shower the icky feeling away.
 

It was midafternoon by the time I emerged from my room with the intent to check on Jerry and find Callum. It was silly, I knew, but three days away from him seemed very long. I hoped he was as anxious to see me as I was to see him.
 

I was still without groceries for the rest of the week, but thankfully, Aiden agreed he would go shopping first thing in the morning to spare me the trip today if I would give him a list at dinner.
 

I learned from Cooper that Callum spent the majority of the day at Jerry’s side, so as I crossed the hall over to Jerry’s room, I hoped to find them both inside. With that in mind, I stood outside his bedroom and knocked loudly, lifting my free palm up to my mouth to gently test out my breath. I’d brushed and swished mouthwash twice, but I wanted to be certain that all traces of vomit were now gone.
 

When no response came, I called out while knocking even more loudly a second time.
 

“Jerry, are you awake?”

I realized how thoughtless my question was the moment I asked it. If he wasn’t awake before, he certainly was now.

“Aye, I’m awake. Come and join us.”
 

I pushed open the door slightly and hesitantly stepped inside. Callum sat next to Jerry’s bed. He twisted and grinned at me as I entered.

Jerry continued to beckon me forward. “Come here, lass. I’ve missed ye.”

It seemed funny to me that he’d miss me after our few interactions together, but I felt much the same, and it lifted my mood greatly to see him so chipper.
 

“You look good, Jerry.”
 

I placed my hand on Callum’s shoulder in greeting before leaning in to kiss Jerry on the cheek. Just the touch of my hand on Callum’s shoulder made my stomach clench with need. I ignored the flutter and focused on Jerry.

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better than I was. It seems I need to thank ye twice over, first for not letting me die and second for cooking me such a delicious piece of chicken. I’ve never had poultry that tasted so fresh.”

At mention of his lunch, my stomach surged for an entirely different reason than it had just seconds before. “Well, yes, it definitely was fresh.”

“What does that mean, lass?”
 

Jerry chuckled slightly as he asked the question, and I knew by the ornery glint in his eye that he already knew the answer.

“Morna told you, didn’t she?”