“I’m sorry,” she said as Lachlan helped her out of the saddle. She held onto his middle, not sure her stiff legs would hold her. He helped her to sit in the damp grass on the side of the road. “What must they think of me?”
“They think nothing at all, love,” he said, propping a saddle bag behind her back.
She gratefully collapsed against it as he started massaging her calves. “How close are we?” she asked hopefully.
He looked up at the sky and then off into the distance, his face creased with concern. “Not too far,” he said.
She laughed. “Liar.”
Lachlan plied her with warm beer from the inn, and gave her a brisk and thorough rub down of all her aching muscles before getting her to her feet and helping her walk up and down the road as if she were an old lady.
“How often do ye ride in yer time?” he asked.
Her shoulders slumped. “Not much, and I just learned. Is it that obvious?”
“Aye, ye shouldna have gone as far as ye did.” He handed her the reins of her horse and took his. “Let’s just walk them a bit. Until yer muscles ease up.”
He glared at the sky and she hoped it heeded his warning and wouldn’t rain. It was already plenty dark with the low storm clouds. When it was true night, it was going to be miserable enough out on the road without rain pouring on them.
She plodded along in misery behind him, dragging her horse, whose name she couldn’t remember, and who seemed to radiate contempt every time she had to pull on its bridle to keep it from grazing every patch of green along the side of the road.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
Lachlan turned and shook his head at her. “Lass, do ye think any less of me because I canna ride one of yer automobiles?” He carefully enunciated the word.
“Of course not,” she said, yanking on her piggy horse again.
“As I see it, it is the same thing.”
Her legs grew stronger with every stride. She liked hiking. It was one of the best things about inheriting the estate, all the miles of wonderful forest, full of secret old ruins and foliage that seemed untouched by time. That and her great-grandmother’s amazing collection of clothes.
She was in the swing of things, marching along at a good pace, with Lachlan turning around to smile at her once in a while, her horse finally giving up trying to eat every two steps and even giving her a friendly nudge on the shoulder.
They’d been walking for such a long time she wondered if Quinn and the others made it to the castle yet. It must have been getting close to dusk. The persistent clouds made it impossible to judge the time.
Starting to feel antsy to get a roof over her head, she was about to call up to Lachlan that she thought she could ride again when thunder as loud as a cannon blast boomed directly above them. Even Lachlan flinched.
He looked at her apologetically as the sky opened up and an icy torrent crashed down on them. He tried to shield her by pulling her under his arm as he led the horses off the road and into the forest.
They huddled under a tree, its branches offering a small amount of protection, though it was blustering so hard, the rain seemed to be coming at them sideways as well as from above.
She clung to Lachlan, blinded by the stinging rain. He tied the horses to the tree and tried to get them to stand close together, positioning her so she could stand under their heads, but then she just got pelted with water that had first landed on a dusty horse, which ran in dirty rivulets down her neck and arms.
He leaned down and hollered in her ear that he would be right back, and took off running. He was gone from her sight after just a few steps and she tried not to panic. She never would have thought anyone could drown in a rainstorm until this one.
A few minutes later and he was back, yelling something that she couldn’t hear over the crashing waterfall of rain. He quickly untied the horses and grabbed her hand, leading all of them through the forest at a snail’s pace.
The rain started to taper off as they slogged through the flooded underbrush, and it was a mere drizzle when she saw a hut several hundred yards ahead of them. She noticed Lachlan looked relieved.
“I wasna sure it was here,” he said. “I know ye can see it from the road, further down the bend, and I was hoping to reach it from this direction.”
“I hope they’ll let us stay until the rain stops.”
She peered into the distance and thought she saw smoke coming out of the chimney. The drizzle had become little more than an annoying mist, but she was soaked through from the downpour and would be thrilled to sit by a fire. Lachlan tossed his head, sending a shower of drops from his drenched hair.
“Aye, they will,” he said. “I’m surprised they are even home. Most of the crofters are at the castle preparing for the celebration.”
When they got to the door, he knocked and waited, turning his head to the side to hear if anyone was in there. When no one answered, he pushed the door open a crack and looked in.
His eyes widened and he threw the door open so hard it nearly broke off its hinges, bellowing with rage at what he saw.
Piper scurried after him to find him holding a half naked man by the back of his neck, smashing his face into the rough wall of the cottage.
There was a girl sitting on a small mattress in the middle of the floor, dressed only in her shift, which she was scrambling to pull down over her thighs.
“Lachlan, stop that,” she screamed, jumping up.
The earth under Piper’s feet seemed to shift slightly when she realized the girl had called him by his name. But of course she knew him, they were on Glen land. Lachlan was merely coming to her rescue, whether she needed it or not.
She pushed down the fact that calling him by his first name seemed awfully familiar, especially coming from someone so young, and to a respected laird and honored guest of the castle.
The man who was pinioned to the wall turned his face to the side and asked what was going on.
Recognition jolted through her and her knees started to buckle. She blinked, but the scene remained the same.
“Pietro?” she cried and he tried to crane his neck to see her.
She might have laughed if her heart wasn’t about to burst from her throat. She’d been so worried about Pietro disappearing into the past and the lothario had gone and shacked up with some crofter’s daughter.
Lachlan mashed him harder against the wall, but turned to Piper, eyes full of confusion and more angry than she’d ever seen him.
“Who is this?” he thundered.
It seemed Lachlan was about to kill Pietro, well and truly kill him, if she didn’t do something. She was so shocked she couldn’t answer fast enough and Lachlan turned to the girl.
“Who is this, Bella?” he repeated in an even scarier voice.
Pietro made a valiant attempt to hit Lachlan in the ribs, and managed to wrench free, whirling around and ducking out from under Lachlan’s grip.
When he saw Piper he stopped dead, eyes round and face going slack as if he might pass out, giving Lachlan time to knock him to the ground and plant a knee in his back.
“What’s going on?” Pietro choked. “Ah, crap, is this—” he was cut off by Lachlan viciously bashing him in the side of the head.
“‘Tis my husband,” Bella wailed.
Chapter 19
Piper’s heart stopped trying to get out of her throat and dropped like a stone. It might have turned to stone.
Tiny lights started winking on and off in her vision when she heard the woman scream that Lachlan was her husband. She staggered forward with her hands out, begging Lachlan to tell her it wasn’t true.
The despair on his face when he turned and saw her told her that it was true and she stopped dead, a small whimper managing to escape from her lips. For a moment it was so quiet all she could hear was Pietro’s ragged breathing and the patter of water from their sodden clothes falling in drops to the floor.
Her heartbeat echoed in her ears as she turned to
really look at the girl, face flushed and pretty, even in her state of distress. Had she really said it? The words were crashing around in her head like a crow caught in the barn, but she couldn’t make them real. Husband? Her husband. Lachlan?
As her world crashed in on her, she turned and ran for the door before she passed out or threw up in front of the dainty, darling Bella. Lachlan’s wife.
She heard him yelling for her as she ran away from the hut, not sure if she was heading toward the road or deeper into the forest, and not caring.
With every gasping breath and every pounding step she saw that girl flash before her eyes. The long, luxurious hair that was the color of fall leaves. Her pert nose and rosy cheeks.
She stopped short just as she came to a rushing stream. She put her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath, calm the racing of her torn up heart, so she could think. It was a mistake. She should have kept running.
She remembered when they’d first met, and she’d brought him modern books and magazines. They’d spent hours asking each other fascinated questions about the other’s time. The first time he’d kissed her, the first time he’d said her name. Every memory cruelly sliced a fresh wound.
With a gasp, she remembered their first time together, out on the back lawn, under the stars. She’d wanted him so much, and when she tossed her pride to the wind and begged him to stay, he didn’t. He went back to his own time.
While it had hurt, she had admired his sense of duty. Had it been duty to his wife that made him leave her? A deep shudder of self loathing wracked her already shaking limbs. Was she the other woman?
His brother knew. That explained the crack about the honeymoon and the look of pity. She wanted to die of shame. Her mind raced as a new realization hit her.
That girl, who was married to her love, her Lachlan—oh, it cut deeply to think it. But that girl had been in the middle of some very passionate activity with Pietro when they walked into the hut.
Perversely, she was overcome with outrage that the harlot was cheating on Lachlan. Oh dear god, what was wrong with her? A scream reverberated through the forest and she clenched her fists, not wanting to care. But it had been Pietro back there, and she couldn’t let him be hacked to bits for sleeping with Lachlan’s wife. She leaned over and heaved at that thought, then turned and raced back to the hut.
Lachlan looked relieved when she burst in the open doorway, but she ignored him. Pietro was being held against the wall by his neck, blood running from his nose and one eye swollen, but still conscious. Bella was sobbing into her small, pale hands.
Piper just stood there, not sure who she hated most in that room, but seething with some very unfriendly feelings.
“You’re married?” she finally yelled.
Lachlan wiped his free hand over his face and tried to reach out to her. She stepped away.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I can explain.”
Piper felt dizzy as the common words came out of his mouth. Some things never changed.
Pietro glanced at her weakly. “Piper? Is it really you? What the hell is going on?” he burbled through the blood.
“Let him go,” she demanded, wanting to hit Lachlan, but knowing if she touched him she might disintegrate.
He looked torn apart with some emotion she couldn’t read, and he punched Pietro as he yelled.
“He has ruined everything.” He hit him again. “Ye canna be with her,” he said, almost to the brink of tears.
She’d only been this scared once before when she had foolishly accepted a ride from a nice enough looking guy who started acting erratic and wouldn’t stop the car when she’d asked him to. She’d had to jump out at a red light and make an embarrassed dash across three lanes of cars.
Now Lachlan was acting like the crazy guy and there was no way she could just jump out of this situation. Almost choking on her anger and fear, she grabbed his arm to keep Pietro from getting hit anymore.
“Stop,” she begged. “Why are you doing this to him?”
“Because he has been with her,” Lachlan said, his voice broken and rough. He tossed a filthy glare at Bella, who glared back.
“Now ye shall have to free me,” she said petulantly.
Lachlan roared with frustration and looked like he was going to take it out on Pietro’s face.
Piper’s eyes burned. All her anger melted into sorrow and hot tears spilled over and rolled down her face.
“You want to kill him because he slept with her and she wants to be free of you?” she asked. “Do you love her so much, then?”
Lachlan dropped Pietro, who slid to the floor. With a nervous glance at Lachlan, Bella ran and knelt by his side, wiping away the blood from his face with her skirt.
“What?” Lachlan asked, then dropped his head forward onto his chest. “Love her? No. Ye dinna understand.”
He took a step toward her and she sobbed and stepped back. The hut was so small she’d hit the other wall in two more steps, so she raised her chin defiantly as the tears flowed down her cheeks.
He pointed to Bella, noticed how close she was to Pietro and his rage bloomed again. He reached down and pulled her up by her arm, shoving her away. Even with no love lost for this girl, Piper flinched at his callousness.
“Ye canna be with him,” he snarled at her. He looked defeated as he turned back to Piper. “That,” he said, “is Isobel Glen.”
Piper stopped crying mid sob, she was so stunned. She looked at the small, frail girl, who was shaking in the corner and trying to look brave. This was her many times great-grandmother?
Lachlan turned to Pietro’s crumpled form and his voice grew louder with every word. “And she must only be with Connor McKellen, not yer bloody stable master from the future.”
She leaned over and grappled for the edge of the chair, seeing bright sparks as her vision started to fog over. Oh, this was it. She was already ceasing to exist. They’d tried to come back to fix things and instead they’d managed to make it worse. Lachlan grabbed her arm and steadied her.
“But that’s me,” Pietro garbled, spitting blood. “How did ye know that name?”
Piper tipped her head to see he had pulled himself up and was leaning against the wall.
“Tell them, Bella,” Pietro urged, an amazed and thoroughly confused look on his battered face.
Bella didn’t look happy to have all eyes on her. “Aye, that is the name he gave me.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Did ye lie to me?”
Pietro shook his head and winced at the pain it caused him. “No, it’s my middle name, and my mother’s maiden name. She’s a McKellen.” He looked at Piper to explain. “I didn’t know what happened to me. I thought my name sounded too foreign. Are we really in the past, then?”
Piper sidestepped Lachlan and helped Pietro sit down on the edge of the bed. She tore off a piece of one of her slips and handed it to him for his bleeding nose. Sitting down next to him, she patted his arm, and asked him what had happened to him.
He explained how he must have passed out in the barn, and when he woke up everything was all wrong. Not knowing what to do, he’d run out into the forest and met up with Bella, who was running away from her brute husband. Lachlan bristled.
“You knew she was married?” Piper asked.
“She said she was afraid of him, that he was insane. I wanted to help.”
Lachlan took a step toward Bella, then stopped and ground his teeth together.
“Ye’re afraid of me?” he asked with a sneer. “Since we’ve married ye’ve bit me, kicked me and tried to slash me with my own sword. Which is half as big as ye are. Ye’ve the strength of a mad bull.”
Hearing Lachlan say the words himself shriveled Piper’s heart. Maybe she could have pretended that Pietro and the girl were confused, but he had said it himself. Since they married. She gave Pietro a reassuring glance before she got up and flung herself at Lachlan. She bounced off him, but kept trying to shove him backwards.
“Why did you marry her, you
idiot? You said you chased off her suitor, wasn’t that enough?”
Lachlan’s face flamed and he took Piper by the shoulders, trying to calm her. “I did what I had to. I was desperate to save ye, my love.”
At this Bella shrieked with laughter. “He didna chase off my suitor. Galwain would never ha’ given me up. This scoundrel compromised me and forced my father to give me to him.”
She spat the words, then crossed her arms in front of her, lip quivering. Every word she said was like a slap to Piper, but Piper couldn’t help see how upset she was. She hadn’t been given a choice, and … wait.
“What does she mean, you compromised her?” Piper said, knocking Lachlan in the chest again.
Lachlan grabbed her hand and held it, his eyes blazing blue fire.
“Will ye Glen women stop abusing me, please,” he said, keeping hold of her hand. “I did no such thing and ye know it, ye wicked wee harpy.” He rounded on Bella, then turned to Piper beseechingly. “Her betrothed was a greedy old fiend and wouldna leave. The girl has an impressive dowry—”
“And that does no’ bother ye one bit, does it?” Bella hissed.
“I dinna care about yer money,” he yelled, practically shaking the walls with his fury. He rolled his shoulders and sighed. “Do ye no’ believe me, Piper?” he asked, leaning down and resting his forehead against hers.
His main objective was to keep her from disappearing off the face of the earth. He loved her. He left everything and everyone he knew and traveled through time to save her. Of course she believed him. Still though, she didn’t like him being married to someone else, not even in name only. She reached up and kissed him on the mouth.
“Well, I guess we did it,” she said with a shaky laugh. “We found Connor.”
“Aye,” Lachlan agreed, relief washing over his face that Piper was back on his side. He looked at the injured Pietro and frowned. “What to do about him, though?”
“Ye’re all mad,” Bella pouted.
“What do ye mean?” Pietro asked, gingerly prodding at his ribs. “Piper, just tell me what’s going on.”
Reunited (Book 2 of Lost Highlander series) Page 16
