A god? Seriously?

"What did he say?" Jane inquired. The light teasing tone in her voice made me groan internally.

"That he liked me because of who I am," I replied, not hiding the fact that I was disturbed. "At least that was what I think he said. I could be wrong but..."

"Julie, Duncan is nothing like the men you have met," Jane told me.

I could hear the confidence in her voice. Like she knew for certain that no man was like Duncan.

"In a way, I kinda get that," I told her I know I sounded unbelieving, but what the heck! "I'm just weary that's all. Look at me" I exclaimed, I opened my arms wide, indicating my size. "I'm big as a house."

"Did he say that?" she asked back.

"No…but Jane!"

"My dear, dear Julie," Jane said, there was a hopeful tone in her voice, and I could sense that there was also a smile on her lips.

If I were to imagine what she would look like now, I would bet that her eyes were shiny with happiness.

"Duncan is not an ordinary man. He is…what word should I use..."

Jane had let her words trail off causing me to look at her. There was a pensive look about her that made me think she was in deep thought or something.

"Handsome?" I supplied.

"No, there is something more suitable than that," she said back.

"What? Amazing? Extraordinary? A god?" Confusion was clearly in my voice.

And I got even more so when she said the next words.

"Yes! That!" Jane exclaimed.

"That what?" I asked in confusion.

"The last word you said."

There was a ridiculous look on my face when I repeated my last word, "God?"

"Yes. He is a god…" her voice trailed off like she suddenly remembered something. "Well yes, he is a god that boy have a body like one when he was born," she continued.

There was this weird look I was giving her like she had lost her mind.

[God? Duncan?] I thought.

"Jane, you, okay?" I asked, I put my hand against her forehead, to make sure that she did not have any fever.

She sighed and kissed my forehead, "I'm fine, dear. Don't mind my ramblings" I heard the weariness in her voice, and I could not help but feel sad for her.

Jane must have missed her husband. I can't blame her. He was the best, and on the day of his death, I felt like I lost a father all over again.

They were the ones to give me the lawyer that I needed. They had an international lawyer fly over to help me with my annulment.

Can you imagine that?

The only connection we had was online communication for two years and yet they help me so much. From applying for an annulment, documentation for passports application, and even the plane tickets Jane and her husband were the ones who paid for everything. I didn't release a single cent.

I was thinking it was a hoax. That it was a cruel joke. But it wasn't. The moment we stepped out of the plane and waved her hands with tears in her eyes I knew that it was the right decision.

"Who is he, Jane? Who is Duncan? Who is this man who, in my estimate, will move heaven and earth just to make sure that I'm happy?" I finally dared to ask Jane about him.

Jane was silent for a moment. He had unconsciously held my hand and was rubbing the back of it with her thumb. This was one of those gestures that had always comforted me. it made me feel like she was my mother at times.

She sighed, and said, "Duncan is a man who will always be responsible for everybody around him. From the moment he understood his responsibilities, he did his best to provide people with what they needed. Never had he asked anyone or anything…" Her words trailed off again.

"I know," I told Jane. "He would joke, have those lewd words, but he never asked anything from me," I continued, "it was like he wanted me to go to him in my own time, in my phase."

"You should. He knows pain more than anyone. If there is someone who can tell you about pain, he can." Was Jane's reply.

Those words caught my attention. Had someone hurt this wonderful and persistent man?

"Did he love? Did he have the same pain I had?"

"Pain is pain, can be different for everyone. The cause of your pain may be different from his, but it doesn't mean it is less," Jane had a sad smile on her lips after she said those words.

It was my turn to hug her. My turn to give her the comfort that she needed. It was then that I felt her tears fall.

Jane, one of the strongest women I have known began to cry.

How long has it been since the death of her husband? Four years. And not once i have seen her cry. Even when we laid her husband to rest.

"I know you miss him," I whispered." I know that there are times you wanted to join him. I have seen that look in your eyes, the way you looked at the sky."

"You are making a poem, Julie," Jane chuckled in between tears.

"I guess I am," I replied, returning the kiss on the forehead that she had given me, "but I did make you smile."

My last words made the other woman laugh and shook her head. The depressing mood around her vanished. Replaced by the warmth she had always been around her.

"I was supposed to help you, my dear." She replied. "Not the other way around."

"I can still handle things," I replied, smiling at her. "You need to cry. And I'm the only person you could trust not to tell anyone about it." I confidently said.

She signed, and said, "You are right. But, Julie, whatever that is troubling you about Duncan, tell me. Ask me. Don't keep it to yourself."

I should…but I...

I can't tell her. How the hell will she react if I tell her I want to climb him like a monkey?

And my dreams.

Great Scots, the dreams. They were so fucking vivid! Like we were actually doing it!

Each moan, each push, and pull. The way my skin was flushed when I suddenly woke up. And then the wetness of my bed.

No. It was not a nightmare. It was a damn erotic dream that I had been having for the past two days.

How can I possibly tell her that?

I heard Jane laugh, "OMG Julie! You are blushing! "

"Jane!!"

"Julie!"

Both of us looked at each other and we burst out laughing.

Who would have thought that one simple sad story about Lugh would take me to this place?

Who would have thought that I would be living in a village near an actual castle?

Who in their right mind would imagine that I would be an author and an innkeeper at the same time?

And most especially, who would have thought, that the kind of connection I longed to have…would be from a woman who, was more like a mom than a friend to me?