Family Knots

Book 5: The MacGrough Clan

by Cherime MacFarlane, Designs by Dana

Genres: Action & Adventure; Family Life; 20th Century Romance

Synopsis

He shouldn't leave her now, but there's no one else.
Family secrets, lies and subterfuge are about to find Hamish and Lori.
Living on his family's ancestral lands has opened the door to an increase of paranormal incidents. It shocks Hamish MacGrough when his oldest son, Birk, and his adopted sister's child show an increased aptitude for the supernatural. His own brushes with the ‘sight' are developing.
Other things are changing for the MacGroughs. After the birth of their third child, Lori suffers from a mild case of postpartum depression. His longtime business partner and mentor, Warren, plans on retiring.
Hamish must decide who will manage the Los Angeles end of the business. To make matters worse, his father's family who he hoped to stay hidden from have finally found him. Hamish's cousin Catherine has an ulterior motive for seeking him out. As he suspects she wants something from him. The something she wants him to undertake will take him to a place he detests. The uncle he's never met has gone missing in the Klondike gold fields during the 100 year anniversary of the actual discovery of gold. Catherine is begging Hamish to find her father. She traps Hamish in the center of a tangled family knot.

Release date: September 11, 2017

Publisher: Paper Gold Publishing

Print pages: 218

Content advisory: steamy

Sample

 

Hamish sat in the dark in the studio. Lori lay asleep in their room in the keep. Not sure where his oldest child, Birk, slept, Hamish felt he was safe. Like as not, the lad crept down to Lurch and Cate's cottage and found his way into bed with Aili Lara. It seemed impossible to keep the two of them apart. God knew everyone tried… and they all gave up. Birk insisted Aili Lara belonged to him. No one could change his mind or Aili Lara's.

A beautiful child, the lass would most often be found with her hand in Birk's. The tiny redhead with eyes the color of a Highland summer sky exhibited no sign of entering the terrible two phase. She was gentle, sweet, and always quiet. She could talk, but most often, Birk spoke for her.

At times when Aili looked at him, Hamish wondered if she gazed into his soul. Those wide blue eyes seemed to hold the wisdom of age. He shook his head to clear thoughts of his four-year-old lad and Lurch and Cate's two-year-old lass from his mind.

Davina Ailene, his middle child, although born in the same year seemed so much younger than Aili. Cate’s lass came into the world a month early, in January of 1994 and exhibited more maturity than Davina.

Davina arrived in September of 1994. She had the same black hair and dark eyes as Birk. Lori, his wife often accused him of making clones. Hamish secretly hoped for a little lass who looked like Lori, but it was not to be. The MacGrough genes proved dominant.

Now another lad joined the clan. Gideon Alasdair. Birk and Aili Lara insisted the infant be named 'Gideon.' Birk was normally a reasonable bairn. Other than the usual things all weans did, strewing cereal all over the kitchen, chasing the dog and cat around while screeching at the top of his lungs; there were a few things Birk did which twisted Hamish's soul into knots.

Gideon is what the newest MacGrough got christened because Birk would hear of no other name for his brother. Birk insisted, stating Aili Lara knew what the lad wanted to be called. Since the bairn still resided in his mother's womb when the campaign started, he and Lori had no notion what to think.

As difficult as the pregnancy had been for Lori, they deemed it best to acquiesce. Gideon's middle name, Alasdair, was their sole contribution to the naming of the youngest MacGrough. The entire four months Lori found herself required to stay in bed, Birk and Aili Lara kept her company. But in a way, the weans filled a gap for Lori. Hamish’s business commitments could not be avoided. And Hamish did worry about her when he traveled.

Seeing Birk and Aili Lara curled up on either side of Lori's big belly, affected all the adults in the household. In the end, everyone gave up any attempts to tell the two little ones where to play or sleep during the day. They stayed with Lori, only leaving when Hamish came to bed in the evening.

Lori had a sketchbook filled with images of the wee ones. And the bairn's company kept Lori from feeling isolated. The presence of the weans kept both the unborn babe and Lori calm.

Finally, the doctor informed them the bairn was ready to enter the world. The doctor pushed to take the infant by caesarean section, but Lori refused. She and Hamish understood Gideon would be their last child. Lori told everyone as he would be last, she intended to do it up right.

Wonders of wonders, the actual birth went smoothly, against all the predictions of the physicians. Gideon came into the world with a great stretch, a yawn, and eyes wide open. Their last son was long and lean, good-natured, and slept through the night, unlike his da.

The entire time of the pregnancy, Hamish didn’t feel one twinge of anxiety. He somehow understood all would come out right. Now he sat in his studio, trying to keep his hands from the keyboard.

Hamish hoped the move to the ancient home of the MacGrough's, above the head of Loch Lomond, would be good for Lori and himself. But... living here appeared to have intensified the tendency toward other things, things of a spiritual nature. Hamish wished he understood more of the mystical side of the land he loved.

Were the currents that his children sensed good or evil? Perhaps they just existed, energy to be tapped into by those with the ability to do so. Whether an individual used what they learned to do harm or to help was the choice of the person so endowed. It seemed to be the old question of free will once again.

As sure as the sun would come up tomorrow, something of a spiritual nature existed between Birk and Aili Lara. Both the bairns possessed the sight. Cate, Aili Lara's mother, and his adopted little sister knew it. He understood such talents existed, and both weans had more than he possessed. His mum told him he had the 'sight.'

God knew he wanted no part of it. Although, in his case, it usually came as sound, not sight. There had been times when as a bairn, he sensed things, had twinges which kept him out of trouble. After a while, they just became second nature. He never really considered them part of the sight.

Because of his ability he sat in the dark in the studio. In the last month, the incidents of insomnia increased. Three to perhaps four hours of sleep per night became the norm. Sleep aides did nothing but make the recurring dreams, nightmares. Hamish opted to work on music instead of lying in bed, wishing for sleep.