My Highland Lover Read Online Free Page B

of business. I think I shall have animal control come over immediately and check his papers. That’ll put an end to his nonsense.” She excitedly drummed the tip of one manicured nail atop the glass case and sneered down at Karma. “One shot in your wicked heart and you’ll never growl again, mutt.”
    Enough. It was bad enough the woman hated Granny, but nobody threatened sweet, lovable Karma. Trulie pulled Karma closer, leaning against his reassuring weight as she returned Mrs. Hagerty’s hateful glare. “Animals are not born evil or mean. Humans torture them into that disposition. And if you don’t have any business here other than insulting my grandmother or threatening my dog, I suggest you leave and put us all out of our collective misery.”
    Mrs. Hagerty’s eyes widened behind the rhinestone spectacles perched on the end of her hooked nose. “I have never been so insulted in all my life. I don’t have to stand here and listen to such.”
    “Good.” An effortless, wicked smile felt quite pleasant as Trulie nodded toward the exit. “Then we understand each other perfectly. Don’t let the doorknob hit you where the good Lord split you.”
    The few customers perusing the shelves tittered and snorted behind their hands. Mrs. Hagerty puffed up even further, stomped back across the room, and slammed the door so hard upon her exit everything on the shelves rattled and swayed.
    “Bitch,” Trulie said under her breath.
    “Trulie! Such language.” Granny playfully shook a bent finger as she emerged from the back room. Kismet trotted in beside her, greeting everyone with a trilling, happy
pprrtt.
    “How long have you been back there?” Trulie’s mood lightened as Kismet’s loud purr vibrated through the shop. The cat rubbed against the still-irritated dog while weaving in and out between his front legs. The bright mood faded as every customer quickly filed out without buying a thing. As the last person closed the door, the soft jingling of the bell confirmed Trulie’s assumption. Everyone feared the backlash of Mrs. Hagerty’s wrath. No one would go against her.
    “I heard every word the old crow cawed.” Granny took an apron off the hook behind the counter and tied it about her waist. A solemn look replaced her grin as she joined Trulie behind the counter of the now empty store and laid a soft hand atop hers. “You know she won’t rest until you and I are ruined and gone. Since her money’s never bought her happiness, she uses it to spread misery and make everyone around her hate life as much as she does. It’s time we resettled to another time. I know in my heart if you and I left, things would be much easier here for Kenna and the girls until it’s their time to join us in the past.” Granny softly chuckled and shook her head. “For some unfathomable reason that woman steers clear of Kenna.”
    “Kenna has dirt on her. She caught Hagerty’s housekeeper buying some of our blackberry elixir. The woman fessed up that Hagerty’s a closet drinker. Poor thing lost her job once Hagerty found out she’d told Kenna she likes her elixir spiked with whisky.” Surely Granny wasn’t using old Hagerty as an excuse to retreat to the past. “Since when do you let somebody like Hagerty run you off? I thought you enjoyed one-upping people like her. And now you want to leave Kenna and the girls here? Alone to fight their own battles?”
    “We wouldn’t be alone. Granny showed us how to use the fire portal. It’s easier to get a hold of you and Granny with that than if we use a cell phone. You don’t have to worry about a crappy signal or a dead battery with the fire portal.” A curvy brunette in tight-fitting jeans bounced out of the back room. She was followed by two auburn-haired girls still too young to have many curves, but old enough that their physiques promised beautiful things to come.
    “Yeah, Trulie.” One of the green-eyed twins agreed. “Half the time your phone is dead and Granny