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“No.”

“Why not?” Now she sounded disgruntled.

“If you’re dead you can’t sign the land over to them.”

“I realize that, but...”

“You get Glen MacKenna on your next birthday,” he began.

“Day after tomorrow.”

“What?”

“My birthday is Wednesday, day after tomorrow,” she repeated.

He nodded. “We’ll celebrate early on the plane.”

“I’m not going to be on a plane tomorrow.”

“You need to get back to Nathan’s Bay,” he insisted. “You’ll be safe there until the investigators find out who’s behind this kill order.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I’m going to do.”

And thus began a blistering argument that lasted a good twenty minutes. Unfortunately for Michael, Isabel made sense. There was also the fact that she was far more stubborn than he was, yet another trait he couldn’t help but admire.

“I’m going to drive north toward Dunross, stay off the highways, and talk to people along the way. Once I get up into the Highlands, someone will know something about Glen MacKenna. There’s a reason someone besides the Patterson Group wants the land, and I want to know what it is. I didn’t come to Scotland just to turn around and run back home because of a threat, especially if I don’t know who is making it or why. Besides, I know I told you I have to be present in the solicitor’s office to sign papers to receive the inheritance. You just forgot.”

“No, I did not forget. I know you have to wait until your birthday to sign papers and get the land. But does it have to happen on your birthday? I know it can’t happen before, but what about after? Could you schedule to meet the solicitor a month later?”

She skirted the question. “I’m going to sign the papers on Wednesday.”

Michael made one more attempt to reason with her but in the end reluctantly conceded. “Then I’m not letting you go alone.” He waited for her to object and when she remained silent, he said, “No argument? Okay, then.”

Isabel tried not to let her reaction show. Why was she so relieved he was going with her? She should be trying to get rid of him, shouldn’t she?

“Yes,” she said. “Whoever wants me gone will find out I’m here, but if we stay off the beaten path, and I don’t tell anyone who I am, we should be all right... for a while.”

God, she was naive. “You have millions of followers on the Internet,” he reminded.

“I won’t use my credit cards with my name—”

“You’re gonna be recognized.”

“Not if we only stop in small villages.”

“Sweetheart, the people living in these small villages know how to use the Internet.”

“Yes, of course they do. I’m still going to stop and talk to them. I’ll just have to be cautious.”

Cautious? He wasn’t sure she knew what the word meant. She had crazy faith in people, and it was going to get her into trouble one day.

Oh, hell yes, he was going with her.

He hated that they had to stay until Wednesday, but he vowed he would make it as safe as possible for Isabel. He didn’t care if the law was on his side or not, he would kill anyone who tried to hurt her.

Admittedly, he thought her demands were outrageous. Driving from village to village in the Highlands so she could talk to people was crazy, and yet he had agreed. Maybe he was crazy, too.

“Isabel, we need to establish some ground rules.”


Tags: Julie Garwood Buchanan-Renard Romance