The Presence Read Online Free Page A

we’ve been really good for it,” Toni said, feeling her jaw clench.
    â€œAh, then, back to the buses!”
    David, who had apparently been charming the guests in the massive kitchen, came bursting back into the hallway, the large group of tourists behind him.
    â€œNow, now!” David said as his group began to splinter. “The buses are waiting!” But he had lost control, and their guests began to mingle before leaving, stopping by Toni, Gina, Ryan and Bruce. The four of them, including Bruce MacNiall, received glowing compliments for their performances.
    â€œOh, it was great!” a woman named Milly—from Chicago, if Toni remembered correctly—cooed to Bruce MacNiall. “I mean, it was all just so wonderful. And then you on this magnificent beast here—pure magic! Thank you so very much. I’ll never, ever, forget this trip to Scotland. What a dream fulfilled it has been!”
    â€œThank you, dear,” Kevin said, quickly sweeping up behind her to draw her away.
    â€œI loved it!” Milly said.
    â€œBuses are waiting!” Kevin said cheerfully. “Mustn’t hold them up!”
    â€œReally!” Milly called to Bruce MacNiall as she was ushered out.
    He had the grace to slightly incline his head to her. “I’m delighted that you’re enjoying Scotland,” he said.
    The crowd moved on, passing by the constable and Eban, the tourists chatting and boisterous as they moved out to the courtyard, ready to board their buses.
    Thayer, however, was now in the room.
    â€œMy cousin! He is a Scotsman!” Toni said. Her words sounded defensive, as though, because Thayer was a Scot, they couldn’t possibly be in a mess here.
    â€œA Scotsman, or an American of Scottish descent?” MacNiall queried.
    â€œGlasgow, born and bred,” Thayer said, frowning. He stepped forward, offering a hand. “Thayer Fraser, sir. I’ve overheard just a bit of this. And I’m really sorry regarding this and my own confusion. We may well be at your mercy. Toni did the paperwork from the States after finding this rental through the Internet. The agreements went through a rental agency, a corporation. But we had a lawyer—and I saw the ads for the place myself, down in Glasgow.”
    MacNiall shook his head. Toni once more felt a fierce irritation. Again, the men’s club was meeting, and she and Gina were entirely ostracized. MacNiall was decent enough about horses, and give him a fellow Scotsman and he could almost resemble polite.
    â€œThere’s definitely a problem, I’m afraid.”
    â€œAye, but they been good, Bruce, really good a fixen ’er up!” Eban announced suddenly.
    â€œWe really have put a lot of hard work into it,” Ryan said.
    Apparently the tourists had been loaded back onto their buses. David and Kevin came back into the hall.For a moment, they were all a tableau, at an impasse. David moved up awkwardly. “Laird MacNiall?” he murmured. “David Fulton, and my friend, Kevin Hart. We’re only beginning to understand the gist of what went wrong, but, honestly, no group could have put more toil and loving effort into making improvements here. If you’ll take some time and look around, you’ll see what very real elbow grease has gone into our stay here.”
    Then, to Toni’s amazement, Bruce MacNiall uttered an oath beneath his breath, and made what to him must have been a very generous statement. “All right. It’s Fri day night. Jon is here with us and can validate who I am, but the legal offices are in town and they won’t be open again until Monday morning. Until then, I believe you’ll have to stay.”
    â€œWe’ll have to stay because we paid a great deal of money to be here, and we have legal documentation,” Toni said stubbornly.
    Gina jabbed her with an elbow to the ribs. She winced, realizing that maybe she was pushing it. But she wasn’t