Almost Like Being in Love

by Sariah Wilson

“These are so bland. They taste like beige. Do they not have sugar here?”

“Did you know that the Highlands are one of the most sparsely populated areas in all of Europe? Currently there’s about eight people for every square kilometer.” She read ahead a bit. “Huh. Nobles cleared out or evicted most of their tenants in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the population never really rebounded.”

Her brother had been missing for more than two decades. I seriously doubted I’d be able to find any clues, but I knew how important this was to her, so I had to go.

I want you to know that magic is real. And more than anything, I want you to go to Scotland with Penny, and I want you to have laughter and love and to let yourself get caught up in all the magic and whimsy it has to offer. Maybe even find yourself some handsome Highlander to have a fling with.

I’d been warned repeatedly about fairies playing tricks on people since my arrival in Scotland, but my rational brain told me that wasn’t possible.

My mother had told me to look for the whimsy and magic of this country, but I didn’t have time for either one of those things.

“No idea. I’m thinking either a Renaissance fair thing, which you’ll love, or it’s some kind of Outlander role-playing group. I’m leaning more toward the second because somebody did call me sassenach.

He looked to be in his mid to late twenties and was muscled in places that I wasn’t aware muscle could grow.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine that there’s a lot of cell service in Christmas Brigadoon.”

Christmas was basically banned in Scotland from 1640 to 1958! Can you imagine? 1958! That wasn’t that long ago. Anyway, Scottish people shifted their big celebrations and traditions from Christmas to New Year’s, which is why New Year’s continues to be their biggest holiday even now.”