“What?”
“That ye dinna care what other people think of you.” He bit into a slice of turkey, grinning as he chewed.
“What do you mean?” I was sure he was making fun of me, but I hadn’t yet figured out how.
“You just start laughing at somethin’ you thought about in your head.” He took a huge bite of bread and kept talking. “Has anyone ever accused you of being a wee bit mad?” He twirled his finger in a circle near his ear in the universal gesture for crazy.
“No!” I pursed my lips in mock offense. “Has anyone ever told you that you have appalling table manners?”
He quirked an eyebrow.
I tilted my nose in the air in my best imitation of Mrs. Francis, Bainbridge High’s ever-pretentious Home Ec teacher. “‘One should never speak with one’s mouth full.’ Didn’t they teach you that in Prince School?”
Jamie flashed a wicked grin before stuffing half a slice of bread into his mouth, “Well, as the soon-to-be ruler o’ Doon, I declare speaking with one’s mouth full an edict. From this day forth, no one is to speak unless their mouth be stuffed full!”
At least that’s what I thought he said around the chunk of bread in his mouth. Mentally adding ‘great sense of humor’ to my growing list of his desirable traits, I sat up, jammed half an oatmeal cookie into my mouth, and raised my glass in the air. “Here, Here!” I cried, or rather, garbled around my stuffed mouth.
His loud laughter rang through the glen as he rocked back, catching himself just before he fell flat on his back. The dimple appeared along the side of his mouth, and I thought my heart might burst. This boy-king-to-be desperately needed a little fun in his life, and if I could play any part in that, then whatever time I had here in Doon would be well served.
“I never thanked you for the miniature castle.” I focused on a string that had frayed from the hem of my skirt before glancing up with a small smile. “I love it. Thank you.”
“You’re verra welcome.” Jamie beamed, set his plate down, and stood. “Come on,” he said, cocking his head in the direction of the trees.
“Archery?” I asked as I got to my feet and brushed crumbs from my skirt.
“Later. I have a mind to show you something special.”
We wound our way through the forest for at least fifteen minutes before he turned to me, extending his hand. I couldn’t read his expression clearly in the shadow of the dense trees, but as I put my fingers in his I felt the excitement buzzing through him.
Pushing through a line of dense brush, we came out of the forest to face a sheer rock wall rising into the sky farther than I could see. Up ahead, a boulder protruded from the mountain appearing to block the path. A deep roar vibrated through my chest, and I tightened my grip on his hand.
As we approached the boulder, the roaring grew louder, and a new scent permeated the forest—a refreshing, briny aroma that cut straight through the pine and cedar. Glancing over his shoulder, Jamie smiled broadly and then turned left into a narrow rocky passage. I couldn’t see around him, but an invigorating breeze flowed around us, the rhythmic roaring becoming almost deafening.
The ocean. The realization hit me just as he pulled me out onto a ledge, and the whole world opened up before us.
“Oh, Jamie.” Squeezing his hand, I leaned into his arm.
Cobalt-blue water met the cerulean sky, stretching infinitely into the horizon. Jagged moss-covered rocks broke the waves crashing along the coastline far below. It was the most spectacular thing I’d ever seen. Of course, the only other time I’d seen the ocean I’d been careening down a crooked Scottish road in the rain, Kenna driving like an escaped NASCAR lunatic. That first day in Scotland seemed a lifetime ago now.
“’Tis the northernmost boundary of Doon,” Jamie said reverently.
We were standing on an outcropping protruding from the side of a cliff, the narrow beach two hundred feet below us.
“It’s breathtaking.”
“Aye. I come here often to think. When I feel … auntsee.”
His pronunciation threw me for a moment, but when I realized he was saying
“Do you feel that way often?” I asked.
“From time to time …” He trailed off, but I sensed there was more he was not saying. “Shall we sit?”
“Sure.”
Jamie lowered himself on the ledge, leaned back against the rock face, and pulled me down beside him.
I let go of his hand to situate myself. The cool stone cut through the thin cotton of my shirt as I leaned back. Arranging the fabric around my bent legs, I realized I was sitting over a foot away from him. I stared back out at the ocean, and contemplated scooting closer but decided it would be too obvious.
“Come here.”
Although it was what I wanted, I bristled at the direct order. This boy was a little too accustomed to getting his every whim fulfilled without question.
Looking over at him, I lifted my brows in challenge. “No.” Then I turned my attention back to the view.
“Dinna be stubborn, lass,” he practically growled.
“You’re the stubborn one. I’m fine where I am.” I shrugged and stared straight ahead.
“Please, come sit with me,” he said, forced sincerity dripping from every word.
I glanced at him, fighting the smile curving up the corners of my mouth, and said, “Better.”
Scooting across the smooth rock, I closed about half the distance between us. A slow smirk spread across Jamie’s face, causing his eyes to narrow. I tensed, wondering if he would pounce.
“I would like it verra much if you would come sit next to me.” He patted the ground next to his thigh, indicating where he wanted me to sit. Then he stared directly into my eyes, leaned forward, and picked up a lock of my hair, brushing the ends across the pad of his thumb. “Please, Verranica?”
Something warm settled in the pit of my stomach, my limbs going all rubbery. With a sigh, I closed the remaining distance between us. A girl could only take so much.
Promptly, Jamie wrapped his muscled arm around me and tucked me close to his side. His delicious scent enveloped me—clean pine and the wind before a storm, a combination that smelled perfect to me. Although I couldn’t remember ever being so glad to comply in my life, I threw out one last jab. “Happy now?”
“Aye.” There was a smile in his voice.
“Have you ever gone swimming in the ocean?” I asked, desperate to diffuse the sparks his knuckles created as they brushed rhythmically against my arm.
“I canna.”
I stared at our legs stretched out in front of us, side by side, trying to focus my thoughts on something other than throwing myself into his lap and kissing him until neither of us could breathe.
“So you can’t swim?”
“Nay, I can swim.” His voice sounded slightly higher than usual.
“Didn’t I see a path in the rock over there?” I pointed to our left to indicate the steep trail leading down and out of sight.
“When I say this is the northernmost border o’ Doon, I mean this cliff. We can see the ocean but never touch it. Except for the Centennial, o’ course. But during the last Centennial I hadna yet been born.”
“What would happen if you tried to go down to the beach?” Gray clouds were gathering, darkening the sky. The wind picked up, whipping the waves below us into a frenzy. Jamie’s hand stopped moving against my skin.
“’Tis complicated, but if I were able to cross the border, the kingdom and everyone in it would cease to exist. They would all vanish into the mist as if they never lived.” The timbre of his voice had turned low and anguished.
His words confirmed the legend, but there was something I didn’t quite understand. “What do you mean, ‘if you were able to cross the border’?”
“Why are ye asking me this?”
