Secret Garden (34 page)

A threesome of golfers, plus their caddies, approached the small hill where a few tournament officials waited beside the seventeenth tee.

Malcolm consulted a video feed on his mobile phone, and then whispered to Rhiannon, “He’s currently in second place. He’s one shot under Doc Masters. If he keeps that place, it’ll be somewhat of an upset.”

Daisie Lee jumped up and down.
“Go, Colin!”
she belted out, her hands cupped about her mouth like a megaphone.

Rhiannon cringed from the loudness, but had to smile at Daisie Lee’s exuberance.

Colin appeared to have heard her, too. Though he was deep in concentration, seemingly blocking out the presence of the crowds, the faintest smile of recognition flashed across his face.

He glanced over toward them, just for a split second.

Rhiannon scooted behind Daisie Lee.
Please don’t see me.
She didn’t want to do anything to break his stride.

Colin glanced back to his business at hand. He seemed not to have seen her.

The crowd hushed as Colin made a beautiful yet ferocious swing. Like poetry. The ball arced high into the sky and disappeared from view.

“Come on,” Daisie Lee whispered, tugging Rhiannon’s sleeve. “He’s moving to the eighteenth. Let’s follow him.”

Rhiannon resisted. “I...have anxiety in crowds,” she explained to Daisie Lee.

“Anxiety? Oh, honey, been there, done that.” Daisie Lee grimaced in commiseration with Rhiannon.

“Um...severe anxiety, actually,” Rhiannon clarified.

“Do you need some meds?” Daisie Lee asked, searching through her purse. “You can borrow some of mine.”

“No, thank you, I’m all set.” Rhiannon felt a smile twitching on her lips. “I suppose I will walk with you, if you don’t mind.”

Daisie Lee was Colin’s mum, after all. What would be more natural than to watch the rest of the tournament beside her?

Rhiannon gestured to Isabel. “I’ve decided to go to the eighteenth hole.” Quickly, she made introductions all around.

Rhiannon reached for Isabel’s hand. She was doing well—fabulously, actually—but she was eager to see Colin, so she could do even better.

He’d been so close to her she’d felt the urge to run over and touch him. They hadn’t been together in weeks. Just the sound of his voice each evening on her mobile phone wasn’t enough for her.

“So, how was the funeral?” Daisie Lee asked as they followed the path of the rope line in front of them.

Rhiannon stopped short.
What?
He hadn’t told his mother? “What exactly did Colin say about it?”

Daisie Lee frowned. “Nothing, really. He only calls once a week now. He’s been off training with his golf game.”

Rhiannon nodded, relaxing a bit. She needed to trust Colin. He was setting his boundaries, as he’d said he would.

She only hoped that she was still included in his plans.

* * *

C
OLIN STOOD AT
the edge of the eighteenth hole, waiting for his turn to sink his last putt. He stayed focused—avoiding thought or emotion over the holes that were behind him. Or the result that was in front of him. He’d been trained to take each moment as it came.

Finally, it was his turn. He went to the putting green, pulled up his marker and set down his ball. Then he studied the slope and distance in order to determine the best angle and force with which to sink the eight-foot putt.

From his squatting position, he glanced up to confer with Mack. In his peripheral vision, though, he saw a tall redheaded woman jumping up and down. Daisie Lee. Colin smiled to himself. He was long used to his mom and her expressive cheering at his golf tournaments. That was okay with him—he wasn’t embarrassed as an adult the way he’d been as a kid.

He was just about to snap his focus back to the business at hand when he realized who was standing beside his mom.

Rhiannon!

His mouth dropped open and he froze in place, dumbfounded. She seemed paler and thinner than when he’d seen her last, but honestly, he was just so happy to see her.

“Colin,” Mack muttered, nudging him. He held out Colin’s putter.

“Right. Thanks.”

One more stroke. Sink the last putt.

He’d sunk thousands of putts over the last few weeks, and he was glad for that foundation of practice to fall back on.

Colin sighted the ball one last time, lined up his stance, drew his putter back and...

The ball circled the hole for a heart-stopping moment, but it went in at last. A loud cheer broke out from the crowd.

Mack ran at him in a bear hug. “Holy shit! Top of the leader board!”

“We made the cut? I figured we had, but—”

His words were drowned out by Mack’s maniacal laughter.

Over Mack’s shoulder, Colin scanned the crowd for Rhiannon. Her hands were clasped to her mouth, and she was beaming at him. Her entourage was with her—Jacob, Malcolm, Kristin, Isabel.

Colin broke away from Mack. “Give me a second, okay?”

He bounded over toward Rhiannon. She took steps in his direction. They collided somewhere in the middle on the green. Colin caught her up in an embrace. Wrapped his arms around her and held her against his chest. She threw her arms around him and squeezed tight. He could have cried—it had been so long and it felt so good to touch her again.

“Colin!” Rhiannon choked out a sob. “You were brilliant, but I knew you would be!”

He kissed her hungrily, tasting her lips. It had been too damn long.

She pulled back and wiped her eyes. Tears had spilled over her lower lashes. “I think we’re giving the crowd a show.”

He was dimly aware of the Golf Channel guys hovering nearby, waiting for their interview. “Luckily, it’s only Friday. The big crowds won’t be here until tomorrow and Sunday.”

“There’s more to come?”

He laughed at her, brushing his lips against hers. “I haven’t won the big purse yet,” he teased. “All I did today was qualify for the final round.”

He shook his head at her. “How did you get here, Rhiannon? When you didn’t answer your phone this morning, were you on your way to see me?”

“Yes,” she said, pausing briefly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t go to Sedona with you like we’d planned. But I have news for you.” She clung to him tightly.

He caressed her hair. Breathed deeply of her scent. Living alone in a hotel for the past weeks hadn’t compared at all to living with Rhiannon. “I’m just glad you’re here now.” He drew back and faced her. “Are you sure you’re okay? How were you able to leave the castle?”

“It wasn’t easy, but I am okay now, finally.” She smiled shakily at him. “Here’s my news—Colin, you were right, I needed to work with a therapist. I planned it as a surprise for you. While you were at your golf boot camp, I was at my agoraphobia boot camp.”

“That’s fantastic!” He tried to laugh, but his throat was choked up. “Damn, I missed you.”

“Me, too. Just thinking about you, constantly—missing you—and doing what you told me to, enabled me to finally leave the estate.”

“What did I tell you?” he asked. “Remind me.”

She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “I brought my secret garden with me.”

He laughed in spite of himself.

“What’s so funny?”

“Just that I have news for you, too. I’m playing the European Tour next spring. Kildrammond will be my home base.”

“Oh, my gosh. But Daisie Lee will be—”

He put his finger to her lips. “You and I are a team, Rhiannon. Everybody else will just have to get used to it.”

He kissed her again, for longer this time, not caring who saw them. He was pretty much sure that the whole world did, anyway.

Or at least, the people who were watching the Golf Channel on television that day—because they filmed the whole thing.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

C
OLIN WENT ON
to place a surprising second in that tournament and earn a hefty prize purse.

He returned to the Highlands with Rhiannon and her group after the Mid-Atlantic Open. He met her parents again—they remembered him as a young boy—and his reappearance as lover to their recluse daughter, coupled with the change in Rhiannon, created quite a stir.

But because of his upcoming tour commitments, he was only able to stay a few days, most of that time spent helping Rhiannon choose a small cottage she’d wanted to rent nearby in the village.

“It’s close enough that I can return to my castle garden to recharge when I need to, but far enough away that I’ll be able to develop my new, own life.”

“That sounds like a good plan. Will you paint here, too?” he asked her.

“No, I’ll go to my studio for that,” Rhiannon said. “I’m just not sure what direction I’m taking yet. It’s possible I’ll go back to my landscapes, but they’ll be of new places, I think.”

Colin liked the sound of that. But still, she hadn’t addressed his big question. His
elephant-in-the-room
, as she liked to say.

Namely, where did she think his place fit with hers?

She was quiet, not giving an answer to that question. “Colin, I want you to focus on finishing your season,” was all she said. “That’s your most important task right now.”

“Will you ever travel with me, Rhiannon?” he asked wistfully.

“I wish I could say yes, but...” She sighed and traced her finger over his chest. They were in bed. In a hotel room, after celebrating his final day before leaving again.

“I need to work more with Ceci before I’m able to join you. I love you, Colin, I really do.” She pressed her bare body to his, and it was all he could do not to groan.

“Can you wait for me?” she asked.

“Rhi,” he murmured, kissing her deeply. “I missed you for twenty-one years. I can wait a couple more months.”

“Besides,” she said gently, “you have six more tournaments scheduled this autumn, all in America. I want you to continue to focus and do well. It’s what you were made for.”

“I’m more than just golf, Rhi.”

“I know. I have every faith in you. It’s me—let’s see how I do these next two months, all right?”

He made the cut in each of those next six tournaments, and scored some more purses. On the golf front, everything had clicked into place for Colin. He was the man he wanted to be.

He’d managed to establish himself on the tour as someone to look out for—not for his good humor and jokes but for the talent and skill in the way he played the game.

He still had one major thing he wanted to do for Rhiannon, but it would take time. Her time.

Two months later

R
HIANNON WORKED ON
three pieces of art while she and Colin were separated.

First, she completed two small portraits of Colin. One she sent to Daisie Lee, and the other she gave to Jessie.

Rhiannon had compassion for them—there would always be two women missing Colin almost as much as she did. Colin had told her that they would always be in his life—of course they would. But he’d carefully avoided saying the same of Rhiannon, though she knew that was because he didn’t want to pressure her.

The third piece she painted was a landscape—a wedding gift for her cousin Isabel. It was a view of the firth from Isabel’s back garden. Rhiannon had actually driven there, to Edinburgh, with her mother, part of proving to herself that she could stand as maid of honor to her cousin. And here she was...

Now...dressed in her bridesmaid dress, she paused just before entering the church in Edinburgh.

Colin had promised he would meet her later for the wedding reception. Fresh off the plane from his last travel commitment, she wondered how he would feel.

But when she saw him in his Black Watch kilt, surprising her just inside the foyer, he put his finger to his lips and drew her aside, a devilish smile on his face.

She pulled him to her and threw her arms around his neck, wanting to weep for seeing him. The familiar taste of his lips felt like home.

“I’m all done,” he murmured, interlacing his hands in hers, “no more tour stops or travel commitments until next year.” Then he drew back, marveling at her. “You drove yourself here? You’re amazing. I can’t believe the change in you.”

“Neither can I.” She sighed against his chest. She couldn’t stop touching him, it seemed.

“Rhiannon,” he murmured, rubbing her back. “There’s something I need to tell you. I heard from my father. He’s coming to visit Jessie for Christmas.”

“That’s wonderful! Right?” Rhiannon said.

“I’ll make it through, as long as you can be there with me.”

“Of course I will,” she promised. “I hope never to be separated from you again.”

“Do you mean that?”

She nodded. She really had made so much progress. “I even hope to be able to join you in Texas sometimes.”

A huge smile spread over his face.

“If you’ll have me,” she joked.

“If you’ll...” He leaned back his head and laughed. “I love you, Rhiannon.”

Then he led her outside the church, down the stone steps and across the busy street into a small garden surrounded by a low wall. It was late in the season and cold, and they were both shivering, but he protected her with his embrace.

“I was going to ask you in your secret garden,” he said, “but I can’t wait.”

Can’t wait for what?
She felt breathless.

He presented her with a jewel case. She opened it with a huge grin, her heart pounding.

“Will you marry me, Rhiannon?”

She’d been hoping...oh, she’d been hoping. She felt a long way from that recluse who never thought she’d be able to share her life with someone. That it was Colin—her oldest friend—made it all the more special and amazing.

Her eyes felt misty with emotion.

He pressed his mouth close to hers, warming her with his breath. “I had the ring made especially for you. The diamond symbolizes enduring love. Those gems in the band—they’re actually heathers and wildflowers from your castle grounds and your gardens, processed and hardened into gems. This way you really will be carrying your secret garden with you wherever you go.”

“Colin, that’s...” Her voice felt choked up, and she couldn’t speak. The ring was so beautiful. But it was the part about the garden that above all touched her heart and made her see how blessed she was in loving him.