Lost in the Highlands, Volume Two

by Lorraine Beaumont

  ♦

  Paige opened her eyes a crack and immediately shut them again. Her head was pounding and she had a bad case of cotton-mouth. Rolling over, she sat up and pushed her hair away from her face. Her stomach roiled from the action.

  The bed shifted.

  Trying not to make any sudden movements, she turned her head slowly and was shocked to see Gavin still sleeping.

  She turned just as slowly in the other direction and looked at the clock on the bedside table.

  It was ten in the morning.

  They should have been on the road by now, and frankly, she was a little more than surprised to find that Gavin was still asleep.

  He never slept in.

  The room was cloaked in shadows and the sky outside was gray and a steady stream of rain made soft pings against the windows. It was a good sleeping day. When it was like this at home, she would make a soup or chili and let it simmer in the crockpot all day while she curled up with a good book on the sofa.

  Putting her hand on the bed, she pushed up to standing. She felt terrible. If she didn’t have to use the bathroom she would have climbed right back in bed.

  As quietly as she could, she made her way to the bathroom and closed the door. Once the door was shut she decided to take a shower in the hopes that it would revive her somewhat. Stripping out of her clothes from yesterday, she climbed in the shower.

  The hot spray of the water eased her aching head and body. There wasn’t much she remembered from last night, save for driving them back from the games. After that, everything was a bit blurry in her muddled mind.

  Once the water started to cool, she reached up and turned off the shower. Grabbing a fluffy white towel off the rack, she wrapped it under her arms and tucked the ends in the front. The tiles were cold and damp under her bare feet as she stepped out of the shower and walked over to the sink. Using a small hand towel, she wiped the steam from the mirror.

  The reflection staring back at her told her what she already knew.

  She looked like crap.

  It was fitting, she supposed, since she felt like crap too. Fighting back the urge to puke, she brushed her hair and teeth. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep for a bit. With that thought in mind, she opened the door to the bathroom and was relieved to see Gavin still sleeping. Making up her mind, she grabbed the phone and called the front desk. It took all of five minutes to reserve the room for another night. It was raining anyway, and they didn’t have to be in Central Virginia until the end of the week.

  After she finished securing the room for another night, she pulled on a pair of sweats and her souvenir t-shirt from Grandfather Mountain.

  Once she was dressed and took two aspirins with water, she climbed right back in bed. She would tell Gavin about staying another night, later, after he woke, or so she told herself as she carefully laid her aching head back down on the pillow at his side and promptly fell asleep once more.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  HIGHLAND GAMES, WEST VIRGINIA

  The Hotel - Present Day

  “Och, so ye are finally awake I see.” He sat forward in the chair, bracing his arms on his thighs.

  “Yeah, I am.” Paige sat up and was thankful the room had stopped spinning. She looked out the window and was surprised to see it was almost dark.

  “Do ye feel better?”

  “Yes,” she said, surprised he even knew she was feeling bad to begin with. “Did you sleep well?”

  He shrugged his broad shoulders and used the remote to turn the television off. “I suppose I did.”

  She frowned at his tone.

  He didn’t seem nearly as chipper as he usually did which meant he probably had another one of his nightmares. “Would you like to talk about it?”

  He gave her a surprised look and then shook his head. “Nay, lass….” He shook his head again. “There is no point in discussing things that I can no change.”

  “All righty then.” She pulled a pillow onto her lap. “Are you hungry?”

  At the mention of getting something to eat, Gavin’s eyes brightened considerably. “Aye that would be nice.”

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I rented the room for another night since we don’t have to be in Virginia until the end of the week.”

  “Makes no never mind ta me, lass.” His expression turned guarded again.

  That was new. Reaching over, she grabbed the phone and set it on the bed. “What would you like to eat?”

  “Lass, mayhap ye can decide again since I do not know the names for the food.”

  “Okay.” Cradling the phone to her ear she dialed the room service. Like the day before, she ordered just about everything on the menu she thought he might enjoy. “You want dessert too?” she covered the receiver.

  “Aye.” He picked up a magazine off the table and flipped the pages.

  Uncovering the receiver, she added on two chocolate mousse deserts and a piece of triple chocolate layer cake for them to share.

  Once she was done ordering, Paige put the phone back on the bedside table. “It will be about an hour.”

  He looked up briefly from the magazine but once their eyes met, he looked back down again.

  Odd. She rubbed her forehead. He was acting different. Granted he always acted a bit different but she felt for the first time since they were together in this time that there might be something more going on in his mind other than the residual effects of a bad dream. She just didn’t know what.

  ♦

  Dinner was much the same as it had been every night since they started this journey together. Not much talking, just eating. Afterwards, Paige pushed the cart back out into the hall.

  When she came back into the room, Gavin was once again staring down at a magazine. He wasn’t reading it, she knew, but seemed enthralled with whatever he was looking at. If she didn’t know better, she would think he was avoiding talking to her. But why would he do that? She couldn’t help but wonder.

  ♦

  Gavin felt guilty after his latest dream about Jillian. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at his lass for fear she would somehow know he had dreamt of another woman. He didn’t want to. He wanted to forget about Jillian but somehow, someway, thoughts of her kept shoving their way back into his mind. So instead of talking or looking at his lass, he kept his eyes trained on the pages inside the magazine not really seeing any of what he was looking at.

  “You want to play some cards?” Paige asked, hoping to pull him out of his obvious funk.

  “Nay lass, not tonight,” he said, standing up from the chair and tossing the magazine back on the table. Crossing over to the bathroom, he stood in the doorway.

  “I am going ta use this room for a bit.”

  Before she could respond, he shut the door and she heard him lock it. And that was the end of that.

  “What’s his problem?” A flair of annoyance shot through her. When she finally felt like she gained an inch, he pushed her back a mile.

  Not having anything better to do, she grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

  ♦

  After Gavin spent as much time as he could in the bathroom, he finally decided to venture out into the other room.

  Opening the door as quietly as he could, he looked for his lass. She was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. A wave of relief washed over him. He was glad ta see she was sleeping. He didn’t want ta face her just now. It had been hard enough through dinner and although the food was good, and little chocolate pots and cake, delicious, he had a difficult time enjoying any of it. The feelings of guilt were too prominent in his mind from his dream.

  As stealthily as he could, he crossed the room and sat down in the chair he had occupied for most of the day. He rubbed his face and settled back into the cushions. He wanted this business of finding the damnable gypsy over and done with sooner, rather than later. He needed ta make amends, and then perhaps his conflicting feelings would become clearer. He didn’t put much stock in that though,
for when he did find the gypsy he would be leaving his lass for good. She just didn’t know that yet…or did she? He couldn’t help but wonder.

  The rain was still coming down heavily, slashing against the windows. Every so often it was accompanied by rolls of thunder and lightning flashes, illuminating the night sky in disjointed intervals. He found that fitting. The storm seemed to be just as confused as he was.

  CHAPTER TWENTY- NINE

  HIGHLAND GAMES, WEST VIRGINIA

  On the Way to the Festival - Present Day

  A cloying dampness hung in the air as Paige stepped out of the hotel the following day. It had stopped raining but they skies were still gray and overcast. She didn’t mind it too much since it fit her mood. Gavin didn’t say more than three words to her this morning, even during breakfast, and she was starting to wonder if he was going to at all. With her to-go cup of coffee in her hand, she crossed the parking lot, and unlocked her trunk.

  Gavin stopped and threw the bags inside a bit more forcefully than was warranted.

  “What did that luggage ever do to you?” she joked, pulling her jacket closer to her body to ward off the chill in the air.

  He gave her a sheepish look. “It slipped.”

  “Hmm.” She doubted that but didn’t challenge him on it—apparently, they were both in foul moods.

  Gavin walked over and waited on the other side of the car, waiting to be let in. He wasn’t looking forward to another ride in the metal beast, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

  It was hard not to notice the dark circles under his eyes. Paige knew he wasn’t sleeping well, but she didn’t know why exactly because he was too stubborn to confide in her—or afraid to, her mind chided. “I guess we better get going.”

  “Aye, we should.”

  Another surge of irritation shot through her at his lackadaisical attitude and instead of walking over and unlocking his door first, she headed over to her side of the car, unlocked her door and climbed inside.

  Reaching over, she unlocked his door and then started the car.

  Gavin opened the door and climbed inside. After he put on his seatbelt, he leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. “I am ready.”

  Paige turned and looked over at him—his expression made her nearly laugh out loud but she squelched it back. But it was hard—he looked so darn cute with his face all scrunched up like that while he held the dash in another death grip.

  “Here we go,” she said, putting the car in drive and pulling out of the parking lot. Immediately her stomach swirled and not in a good way. She felt sick at the prospect of leaving. Not because the hotel here was all that great but because it meant they getting closer to Gavin finding that damnable gypsy and returning, if he could, to his time, without her, or so he thought—she was still working on figuring that part out.

  ♦

  It didn’t take nearly as long to get to the other hotel as it did to the first one. She only had to stop once to refuel and use the bathroom at one of the rest stops. As usual, when they stopped, after Gavin used the rest room he gathered up just about every free brochure on the surrounding sights and when his eyes weren’t shut, he was staring at the pictures.

  “Did you find anything interesting,” she asked after about three hours into the drive.

  “Aye.” He turned in the seat and flashed a brochure of the Natural Bridge and some caverns.

  “Do you want to stop at them?”

  “Nay, lass. He shook his head adamantly back and forth.”

  “All righty then.” And that was the end of that. Afterwards he shut his eyes once more and did not open them again until she pulled into the back lot of the hotel.

  “We are here,” she said, putting the car in park and killing the engine.

  Gavin slowly released his death grip on the dash, and opened his eyes once more, all the while hoping this was the last time he would have to be in the metal beast. “How far away are the games?”

  “We are pretty close. I saw the sign for the entrance before we turned.” She grabbed her purse out of the backseat. “You want to come with me while I check in or would you rather wait out in the car, again?”

  “I think I will wait.”

  “Suit yourself.” She doubted he would want to get out of the car but thought she would ask in the event he actually might change his mind for once. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  He merely nodded.

  Opening the door, she climbed out. The air was just as chilly here as it was back in West Virginia. Zipping up her jacket, Paige headed across the parking lot to the hotel lobby. It wasn’t that fancy of a hotel and unfortunately, she doubted they would have room service but it was the closest hotel to the games. She saw a Domino’s Pizza just down the road a piece and figured if he wanted something to eat she could order it from there, or run down and pick it up herself, real fast.

  Twenty minutes later, she had a room secured for four nights. The festival lasted for three days. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow was the first day. Being selfish, she made a few wishes for foul weather again, but according to the clerk in the hotel it wouldn’t be likely since they were apparently experiencing a drought—which was just her luck. The room she rented was on the second floor but it was accessible from a set of outside stairs to her left. And fortunately, per the desk clerk, the pizza place she spotted, did deliver here.

  If she wasn’t in such a foul mood she might have taken a moment to appreciate the quiet beauty of the place. Leaves were already turning from summer green to shades of yellow, orange and red. The air was crisp and fresh, a reminder that fall was just around the corner. Normally, she would have enjoyed all of those things but she couldn’t, because Gavin would probably be leaving and she still had no idea how she was going to go with him, if that was even possible at this juncture.

  ♦

  Gavin set the luggage down on the floor of the hotel room. “Lass?”

  “Yes,” she said, turning from shutting the door.

  “Are ye angry with me?”

  She frowned. “No,” she lied, sort of. She wasn’t exactly angry with him, but she was upset at the prospect of him leaving.

  “I do not want ta leave.”

  A glimmer of hope unfurled inside of her. “Then why are we here?”

  That pained look she had seen so often of late was back on his handsome face. And her glimmer of hope evaporated just as quickly as it began.

  “Because I have ta leave. Ye know that.”

  “Whatever, Gavin.” She threw her bag on the floor, venting her frustration.

  “Och, lass. What did yer bag ever do ta ye?”

  She knew he was trying to be funny but she wasn’t in a laughing mood. “Nothing.” She stomped her foot down for good measure and instantly wished she didn’t because it hurt.

  Hobbling over to the chair, she sat down. “What do you want from me?”

  He frowned. “I do not know.”

  “Well, that’s great. I don’t know what you want from me either.”

  Gavin made his way across the room and sat down in the chair opposite from hers. “I have enjoyed our time together, I want ye ta know that.”

  “I have too.” Her voice came out all whinny. She sounded pathetic.

  “There, there, lass,” he said, reaching forward and patting her hand.

  She jerked her hand away. “Stop that.”

  He frowned. “Do I repulse ye now?”

  “No. You don’t repulse me.” She shook her head, trying not to cry.

  “Then why do ye not want me to touch ye?”

  “Because you are leaving and you don’t want me to go with you and I don’t know what I am going to do when you are gone, that’s why.” Her lip trembled and she bit it.

  “Ye will be fine lass,” he said. “I am sure ye will meet someone wonderful and have a right happy life together.” Gavin was trying to be helpful but even as he said it, his heart tightened at the thought of her being with someone else.
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  “No. I won’t,” she sobbed. “I will be all alone like I was before I met you.”

  “Lass, please, do not cry. I can no take it if ye cry.”

  “Well, get used to it. I have a feeling I might be doing this for a few more days.”

  “Mayhap ye should go back home and let me tend ta this gypsy business by myself.”

  Paige gaped at him, not believing what he just said. “I’m not leaving.”

  “Then instead of fighting, shouldn’t we make the best of our time together?”

  He was right, of course, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to hit him. “Sure. I’ll just act like you aren’t going to leave me. How’s that?” She was being sarcastic, of course.

  “That would be nice.”

  “Argh!” She felt like pulling out her hair.

  He frowned again. “There is no need ta vent yer anger on me, lass. Ye knew when ye pulled me through the mist with ye, that I would have ta go back ta my own time at some point.”

  “No. I didn’t. I thought you would want to stay. There is nothing for you back there.”

  “Callum is there and Muir, as well as Alec and Graham. I made the deal with the gypsy. If I am not there ta make amends, make good on my promise ta her and the King, they will seek retribution from my men, and they will be the ones that will have ta pay for my mistakes. Is that what ye want?”

  Now that he put it that way, she immediately felt bad. “No. I don’t want them to have to pay for your mistakes.”

  “Do ye now understand why I need ta leave?”

  “Yes.” She sighed. She wished she didn’t understand why he needed to leave. But she did. Well, now she did, after he explained his reasoning behind it.