She Came From the Forest (James and Tera: book 1)

11

It was around 10 in the morning when my phone woke me up from sleeping. I was in bed and was still tired because of a few hours ago when Tera had invaded my bedroom to get her clothes and explain things about what she was.

"James?" I heard a husky voice say with a Scottish accent. "Get your arse up here. We've got a busy night ahead."

I groaned as I sat up. "Right now? It's only 10, Calum."

"No, I mean until Finn and the Fianna come to town." He sounded sarcastic.

I closed my eyes. "Finn and who?" I asked. I never understood his smart remarks because I didn't really know anything about the Scots or their culture or history.

He said something under his breath in Gaelic. "Yes, now." He hung up.

.........

I walked into the bar and was not surprised to see the regular customers. It was mainly workers from the mill, but I also saw others from the sheriffs department at the bar taking a break, with Ava, Calum's daughter, serving them. I walked around the counter and to the back.

Calum was in the storage room, picking up a box filled with bottles of Wild Turkey. He turned and handed them to me as if he knew I had been standing there.

"Probably gonna have a busy evening." He told me, his middle aged body bending to pick up another box of what looked like it was filled with wine. "Got a party coming ta fill the place."

I backed out of the room and let him through. "A party? What for?" I asked. We came from the back and set the boxes down behind the counter.

He started unloading them. "New family in town. They've been making friends quickly." I bent down and grabbed a few bottles and started putting them down in their place. "A man and his daughter."

I froze. "You met them?" I asked.

"Yep. Nice fella, he is. Good tipper too." He started to laugh. "Knows how ta crack ya up as well. He even knew a few myths from ma home." That was surprising. I didn't think anyone knew any stories from Scotland like Calum did.

"I've met his daughter." I told him.

He turned and winked at me. "She's a mighty fine flower, that girl. Beautiful set of eyes and good heart." He talked good on her but didn't know who or what she was.

I continued to stock. "They're coming here tonight?"

He grunted a yes and kept picked up the empty box after placing the last bottle. "Whole town likes 'em already. They make themselves well-liked fast, especially in a hateful place as this." He stood straight and bent his back until it popped.

Calum wasn't as young as he looked, and age was catching up to him. He was doing pretty well at his age, even though he never really let anyone outside of his family or doctor's office know his age. All I know is that he was old enough to have a son who was 25 and a daughter who was 22, who both worked here. Oliver and Ava always loved working for their father.

I felt a poke in my arm and looked up to see Ava standing over me. "Girl looks like a keeper." She smiled. "Be nice if you two could get together." Ava didn't have much of a heavy Scottish accent. It had slight traces but other than that, she had an English accent down pat. Oliver, on the other hand, had the same deep Gaelic in him as his father. He was born in Scotland, and Ava had been born a year after Calum moved to America.