Tears I didn’t even know I needed to cry came freely then. Before I knew it, he was pulling me up from the chair and into the best hug I’d ever had. He had the most calming presence about him. I’d never seen anyone that could ooze such sex and serenity at once.
“How did you know what I was thinking? It was like you could see me worrying that perhaps you didn’t enjoy our night together as much as I did. Is that one of your druid skills? Can you read minds?”
He shrugged and gently gathered my hair together to keep it from getting pulled between my shoulders and his chest. “Not at all, but my best friends have always been female. I guess I’ve learned to read between the lines a bit in regards to what you all say and what you think. If you watch enough, it’s all spelled out on your face.”
“You should start classes for other men. Women would pay you to teach their men to be that perceptive. You’d make a killing.”
He laughed and gently pulled away.
“I should’ve thought about that back in Boston. I’m not sure I’d have much success with it here.”
He took one step toward the door and I hurried to open it for him.
“Thank you for the food and for everything else. I feel much better.”
“Good. That was the goal. I’ll be gone in the morning. I have somewhere I have to go with Brachan for a few days, but Laurel and Kate will see you settled in here. When I’m back, let’s catch up. You can let me know how it’s going.”
“I look forward to it.”
I stood in the doorway until I could no longer see him. For the first time since Ross’ death, I slept through the night without waking.
Chapter 12
Sleep had been a pointless effort. He lay awake thinking of all he’d said to Silva and damning himself for being so idiotic in his selflessness. Of course he would be Silva’s friend if that was the only option. And, while she healed, that was all he needed to be. But he didn’t want to be just her friend forever. She’d been on his mind for every waking moment since their night together. And the revelation about who she truly was only made him want her more. It gave them shared experiences, reference points of their old lives back in the twenty-first century that he would never have with anyone from this time.
“Ye seem distracted, Marcus, and I think it has little to do with the purpose of our journey. Although, speaking of which, ye have yet to tell me where we are going or what ’tis about.”
He stirred from his trance as he and Brachan rode together toward the small boat that would take them to the mainland. “I think I’m a fool, Brachan. I’m a stupid, self-sacrificing fool.”
Brachan laughed and rode a little closer to him. “Ye are often too selfless for yer own good. I love Kate and Laurel both verra much, but ye do things for them that ye needna do.”
It was true, he knew it, but Laurel and Kate were so special to him. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for either one of them.
“This time, it actually has nothing to with them.”
“Truly? Then what ye’ve gotten yerself into?”
He’d given Silva his word that he would keep their secret, but if he didn’t speak to someone about it he would burst, and Brachan was by far the best candidate.
“I think I’ve fallen for Murray Castle’s newest resident, and I did a fantastic job convincing her that I only wanted to be her friend.”
“Already, lad? She only arrived yesterday.”
“She only arrived yesterday, but as I told you last night, I met her at the wedding. We got on well, although I never thought I’d see her again. Now that she’s here, I can’t see how I’ll manage to stay away from her.”
“The lass needs to heal, Marcus. She’s been through much. Once Raudrich tells her the truth, she’ll have even more to deal with.”
He nodded. As they reached the stables that would house their horses until they returned, they dismounted together.
“I know. But she won’t be sad forever, will she? And when she’s not, I don’t want to already be so hard in the friend zone that there’s no coming out of it.”
Brachan stared at him with unbridled confusion. “Friend zone? It must be one of yer twenty-first century expressions for I know I’ve never heard it before.”
“Yes, but surely you understand my meaning.”
“I do. I’ll not pretend to know much of anything when it comes to matters of the heart, but surely ye can be her friend, and give her the space to heal while still giving her clues about how ye may feel. I do know this—if she is meant to love ye, yer patience with her will serve ye well. Show her patience, give her time, and when her heart is ready, she will love ye all the more for yer kindness. Now.” Brachan paused and walked toward the stables with his horse. “Tell me where we are going and why. My curiosity is killing me.”
He could only hope Brachan was right, that perhaps his patience would one day see him rewarded. For now though, it was time to tell Brachan the truth of his plans to see Freya freed.
Not long past dawn, I woke to the sound of knocking on my door, followed by the quick chatter of what sounded like a group of women.
When I opened the door, Laurel stood there with a basket in her hand identical to the now-empty one on the cottage table.
“Sorry if we’re disturbing you. We thought perhaps it might be easier for us to give you a gradual introduction to everyone than to throw you into the group headfirst.”
I yawned and opened the door to let the group inside. I recognized them all from the wedding, although Laurel was the only one I’d ever spoken to. The younger blonde had to be her sister. If the similarity in their chins and noses were any indication, I assumed the other woman with them was their mother.
“Not at all. Come on in.”
Smiling, they filed in.
“Was the food okay last night? I’m sure it wasn’t very warm, but hopefully it at least kept you from going to bed hungry.”
“It was perfect.” I grabbed the basket as Laurel extended it to me.
“We brought you some breakfast. Olivia wandered into the castle this morning and has now been taken captive by Davina, our new groundskeeper’s daughter. She was so glad to see someone her age that she didn’t really give your stepsister any choice in the matter.”
“I’m sure Olivia is also glad to meet someone her age.”
“I’m Kate.” Laurel’s sister extended her left hand and I quickly adjusted to offer her my left hand, as well.
“Silva. It’s so nice to meet you. I saw you at the wedding, of course, but we didn’t get a chance to meet. I was so busy spontaneously bursting into tears of joy for Laurel, I’m afraid that there were lots of people I didn’t speak to. What do you think of the cabin? I designed the interior myself.”
“It’s wonderful. It’s almost like being back home—in the twenty-first century, I mean.”
“Then I met my goal. We desperately needed a few spaces around here that didn’t scream Stone Age.”
“You’re only a few millennia off, sis.”
Kate rolled her eyes at her sister and huffed. “I never said I was a history buff. You know what I mean.”
I stepped toward the third woman as she ignored her daughters and moved toward me.
“And I’m Myla, their mother.”
“I’m so pleased to meet all of you.” I peeked into the basket to see it stuffed with food. “I hope you all are planning to join me. I definitely can’t eat this all myself.”
Laurel reached for the basket she’d just handed me and began to lay everything out on the table. “You bet we are. We hoped to give you the rundown of things before you meet everyone at dinner tonight.”
Kate spoke as she took a seat at the table. “She won’t meet everyone. Brachan and Marcus won’t be there. They left this morning.”
“Oh really?” Laurel sounded surprised.
“Yes, although I’m not sure where they went. Maddock said that Brachan didn’t know and that Marcus was very secretive about all of it.”
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“Hmm…”
I watched as both women turned to look at their mother suspiciously.
“What? You know something, don’t you?”
Myla shrugged and shook her head. “No, I don’t know anything for certain. It’s only that Marcus has been secretive about everything lately. I wonder if he’s convinced Brachan to accompany him while he goes to visit the woman I saw him speaking with at your wedding.”
“Woman? What woman?” Both Laurel and Kate said the words in unison as my muscles turned to liquid, and I reached to grip the chair.
“I don’t know what woman. I never got a good look at her face, but I saw him visiting with someone at the party. He was clearly quite taken with her. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they continued correspondence after the wedding.”
Hoping that my face hadn’t blushed with embarrassment, I lowered myself into a seat as I settled in to listen as they made all sorts of guesses about the woman they had no idea was me.
Chapter 13
It was the next morning before I had any real chance to check in with Olivia. Laurel, Kate, and Myla had stayed with me until well past midday, and by the time Raudrich finished giving me a tour of the castle and grounds, it was time for dinner. Then after that three-hour-long ordeal, it was time for bed.
Raudrich’s behavior while showing me around my new home was strange and unsettling. The normally self-assured man fidgeted endlessly. I eventually stopped counting the number of times he opened his mouth to speak and then stopped. Something was eating at him, and I hadn’t the slightest clue what.
Eager to be around the comforting and familiar presence of my stepsister, I went over to her cabin early in the morning to see if she wanted to join me for a walk.
“O’course. I feel as if I havena seen ye at all since we arrived. In truth, while I was pleased at the thought of having my own space, ’tis unsettling to be so alone after never having been so in my whole life.”
I smiled and offered her my arm, and we strolled away from the set of cabins behind the castle.
“I was like that the first time I lived on my own, too. You’ll get used to it, I promise. And you’re always welcome to come and stay with me anytime you wish. So, how are you liking the castle. What was your impression of everyone last night?”
Olivia grinned and I had the sudden sinking sensation that if I didn’t watch her closely, she was bound to get into all sorts of trouble here.
“Do ye think they’ve all taken some sort of beauty potion? I’ve never seen such a group of handsome men in my life, Silva. Doona ye remember what the men at home look like? Certainly not like that lot.”
I laughed and nodded in agreement. While I didn’t remember the men in Allen territory being as loathsome looking as Olivia suggested, I was certain that the swoon-worthy gents at her home didn’t usually gather around the same table every evening. The dining hall at Murray Castle oozed testosterone. I wasn’t even fueled by the same roaring, early-twenties sex hormones as Olivia, and I had to admit that it felt rather overwhelming sitting there amongst them—and that was with two of them missing.
I didn’t have to answer Olivia’s rhetorical question for her to continue.
“And they all seem so nice.”
They did seem that. I’d never been so fussed over as I had been sitting down to eat amongst the legendary members of The Eight.
Nicol, the castle’s master, had welcomed us warmly.
Quinn, a man with hair so blond it shouldn’t have been naturally occurring outside of a bottle, had ushered us both to our seats while he regaled us with embarrassing stories about the other men.
Ludo had served the meal he’d cooked himself, and you could see the pride that he took in his work. I loved watching him watch everyone else eat. He was delighted each time someone smiled or savored his food.
Raudrich and Maddock we’d both met before, but it was a joy to see them interact with their wives. Although, the bond between them made the empty hole in my own chest ache with a yearning I had to continually shake off all evening so it wouldn’t swallow me whole.
Henry, a strong, strapping beast of a man with curly red hair and a beard that I wanted to cut so badly it made my hands twitch, sat in between us. He had an infectious smile. His personality was so at odds with his intimidating appearance that it made him even more likable. I wanted to record his laugh to have on playback for a gloomy day.
“I do think they’re all very nice. What did you think of the girl you spent yesterday morning with?”
As if manifested by my words, two figures appeared in the distance. Olivia tried desperately to pull me back the other direction, but we’d already been seen.
“That’s her with her father. Let’s go back, Silva. I doona wish to be taken hostage again. The lass talked endlessly.”
The man next to the girl was waving, and I knew there was nothing we could do to avoid the interaction. I looked over at her and shrugged. “Sorry. We’ve been spotted. Was she so bad?”
“No, she’s a nice girl, but I dinna get a word in all morning.”
“’Ello there!” The girl’s father bellowed as we neared each other on the path around the castle. I couldn’t help but think the man looked like he belonged on a pirate ship. With a deep scar that sliced down the side of his face, several missing teeth, and long, wild hair that draped over his shoulders, all he needed was an eyepatch and a parrot to complete the look.
His hand was already extended toward me as we reached him. When I took it, the tightness of his grip took my breath away.
“Ye must be Silva.”
I gasped and swallowed to keep from laughing as he released my hand and moved to shake Olivia’s.
“And ye must be Olivia. My sweet Davina hasna stopped speaking about ye since she met ye yesterday. She’s right pleased to have a friend here. The move hasna been easy on her. Why, she thinks ye are the kindest, prettiest lass she’s ever seen.”
I glanced over at Davina to see a bright blush spread over her face as she gently whacked her father’s arm.
“Da! Is there nothing I can say to ye that ye willna tell another?”
Pinkie’s face dropped momentarily in what I could only assume was regret, but he recovered quickly. “I’m sorry, lass. ’Tis only that I’m pleased that someone has arrived that might be yer friend.”
I glanced over at the dreadful expression on Olivia’s face and hurried to try and save her in any way I could. “Your name is Pinkie, correct? Laurel told me how knowledgeable you are about all of the trees and plants around here. Liv has a keen interest in such stuff.”
Pinkie’s eyes lit up. “Aye. I know ye wouldna think it, with me being a former tavern owner and all, but the land is my first love. ’Tis it true, Olivia? If so, I can tell ye all about the trees surrounding yer wee cottage right now.”
I winked at Olivia. Catching my meaning, she stepped toward Pinkie.
“Aye, I would love to hear about them.”
As Pinkie and Liv walked a few steps in front of us, I fell behind with Davina to try to occupy her so that she might give Olivia a break. In truth, I felt rather sorry for her. Pinkie’s personality was so boisterous, I suspected the only time Davina ever got a real word in was when her father wasn’t around. No wonder she’d talked Olivia’s ear off the day before.
“Has it always just been you and your father?”
Davina nodded as she kept pace with me. “Aye. My ma died when I was just a bairn.”
“I was raised by my father too. I never knew my mom.”
“Truly?”
“Yes. It’s tough sometimes, isn’t it? My dad’s a lot like that, too. His personality fills a room.”
Seeing that we had something in common seemed to warm Davina to me, and it didn’t take long before she spoke freely. The girl had many interests, most of which I never would have expected. Many in this time—despite the prevalence of it—were quite skittish around anything involving witchcraft or the unexplainable. Not Da
vina. She told stories of mystics and witches and talked about her desire to study the stars. She was well read, which gave me a new respect for her father that I didn’t quite have at first impression. He’d taught his daughter to read and encouraged her to explore whatever interested her. Despite his weathered appearance, Pinkie was a man ahead of his time.
“So, books, horseback riding, what else interests you?”
She glanced down at her feet as another blush creeped over her skin.
“Oh, I know that look. Is there a boy, then?”
“Not a boy, miss. A man. The finest man I’ve ever seen.”
I smiled. “Are you and this man sweethearts?”
She shook her head sadly. “No.”
“Does he know that you care for him?”
“No, not at all.”
“Hm.” I stopped and crossed my arms as I turned to look at her. “Let me give you a little piece of advice. Men aren’t very good at picking up subtle clues. Don’t overdo it, of course, but make sure to speak to him when you’re around him. If there’s ever a reason for you to touch his arm or brush your shoulder against his, take it. Sometimes they just need a little help seeing what’s right in front of them.”
“Ye are right. I never speak to him.”
“Well, there you go then. You have some place to start now.”
About fifty yards ahead, Pinkie called out over his shoulder to his daughter. “Come, Davina. We must be back in the village soon.”
He waved a goodbye as Davina walked away, and Olivia returned to my side.
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