Gillian spoke to them from the doorway, and he allowed Cooper to twist in his arms so he could look back at her.
“I’ll go and talk to them now. Why don’t you two stay here?”
Once she was gone, Cooper wiggled from his arms and reached for his hand to pull him to the ground.
“Okay. Let’s sit on the floor while she goes to get them. You know you look goofy, don’t you? I’m pretty sure that’s a girl’s robe you’ve got on.”
Orick laughed and slid down to the floor.
“’Tis. I dinna have any clothes when I came here. I dinna know I was going through the portal, for I dinna remember it. What are ye all doing here in this time, Cooper?”
“Morna sent Mom a letter when she heard that my grandparents were coming to Scotland. I guess they were pretty mad that it’s been so long since they’ve seen me. So we had to come since they think Aunt Jane owns this castle and meet them here. It didn’t go well.”
“Aye, I heard that last night.”
Cooper’s voice sounded surprised.
“You’ve been here since last night?”
“Aye. What happened with yer grandparents?”
Cooper shrugged and looked down at the floor.
“They wanted me to go back with them to go to school in New York. They don’t understand because they can’t. And we can’t tell them. They would never believe.”
“I’m sorry, lad. ’Tis no always easy with families, though they all love ye.”
“I know and it’s okay. None of that can make me sad, not now that you’re here.”
Orick could hear the sounds of footsteps approaching, followed by Jane’s raised and questioning voice. He stood to ready himself for Jane’s entry. It didn’t surprise him that Gillian’s conversation with her hadn’t lasted long. The moment Jane heard such an outrageous claim, Orick knew she would need to see proof right away.
It grieved him to think on the day he almost died, how he fell helping Jane climb her way back to the top of the rocky hillside. He hoped she didn’t carry guilt, didn’t blame herself for all that had occurred. He certainly didn’t.
“I don’t know what you’re playing at, nor am I sure how you even know about Orick. Haven’t you ever lost anyone before? This is not a kind thing to tell someone. If Orick lived, we would have heard from him long before now. He wouldn’t have stayed away.”
Orick listened as Gillian’s voice, much softer and less combative, trailed behind Jane’s. He knew by the ceasing of their footsteps that they stood right outside the door.
“He couldn’t remember anything. None of this is any of my business; I just thought it best to warn you before he walked into you in the hallway. See for yourself.”
The door swung open. He watched Jane’s reaction carefully, stepping toward her as she brought both hands to her cheeks in shock.
“How? Orick, how? You can’t…you couldn’t have…”
“I doona know how, lass, but I did. I canna tell ye how pleased I am to see ye.”
Her face crumpled as she ran toward him.
CHAPTER 15
I slipped out quietly, thinking it impolite to intrude on such an intimate moment between two people as close as Orick and Jane. The moment I’d started in on what happened and that Orick was here, she stood and went in search of him, tearing into me every step of the way.
Not that I could blame her. It rattled her world in a way I couldn’t even begin to understand. More than understand it, I couldn’t feel it, couldn’t empathize with it the way I knew I should have. It frightened me how easily I could close off emotions that other people felt so acutely.
Before I slipped out, as I stood there watching them with Orick’s arms wrapped around Jane as she wept against his chest, I should have been moved to tears myself. Instead, I wanted to run.
It wasn’t that I was completely void of human emotion. I worried about things; I enjoyed the company of others; I liked children and Christmas and sappy movies but, deep inside me, I’d grown cold. When it boiled down to seeing or feeling the most genuine forms of human emotion—fear, grief, intimacy, or love—I shut down.
In over a decade, the only person or thing that had really gotten inside me, that had wormed its way through the various walls I put up enough to really make me love them, was Toby, my loyal and loving dog. It was part of the reason dreams about my parents bothered me so much. They woke remnants of grief within me, and grief was an emotion I no longer allowed myself to feel.
Rather than think on them or talk about them, I expressed my feelings through a paintbrush and canvas. The images that I created there could never hurt me.
Even my recent dreams of Orick and the fanciful notion I allowed myself to think on—that he was my soul mate and we were destined to be together—I only did so when I knew it impossible that anything could come from it. Now that he was real and actually here, I couldn’t allow myself to imagine such nonsense any longer.
The kiss had been an impulse and the very sort of thing I needed to do a better job of reining in.
I imagined Orick, Jane, and Cooper, along with the others when they made their way down to them, would need the day to talk things through and catch up on all that had happened. They could have all the time they needed. The castle was still theirs for another day. It meant I could get about my normal routine. After a quick game of fetch with Toby, I would retreat to the tower to paint.
* * *
“I think Anne drank more than she realized. She doesna feel so well this morning.”
I continued to paint, waiting until Aiden stepped inside and in front of my vantage point to speak.
“Yes, well, she was downing it pretty fast. Have you been downstairs? Did you see that he’s remembered?”
Aiden laughed and went to lean against one of the tall tower windows.
“I dinna know he’d forgotten, though Anne had no time to tell me anything after I got her inside our room.”
I scrunched up my nose and made a noise of disgust.
“Keep it to yourself, will you? Do you want to start back on some work today? I’m sure you could work on our half if you wanted to.”
“Aye, I already have, and I’ve called a handful of men to come in and help. I expect we’ve only six weeks left until we finish.”
“That’s great.” I smiled but kept my eyes on my work.
“So…?”
Aiden never hovered. He was clearly very curious about something.
“So…what?” I clamped the paintbrush with my teeth as I reached to dab a smudge with the backside of my finger, making sure to not smear the rest of the paint.
“I came to check on ye. I’m sorry we left ye last night, but I couldna stand another moment of the mess. Are ye all right? It must have startled ye to see him after the dreams and the painting and thinking him dead.”
His concern for me took me aback. I wasn’t accustomed and never had been to someone worrying over me, but I knew that Aiden was just that way with everyone.
“I’m fine. It freaked me out way more when I thought he was dead, so now that I know he’s not, I’m no longer worried that I’ll wake up to see a ghost standing at the end of my bed.”
“Aye, ’twould be a relief to me as well. What do ye think yer dreams were about then?”
I removed the paintbrush from my teeth and set it down. Clearly, the conversation wouldn’t be over any time soon.
“Probably just something warning me that I would have to help him, I suppose.”
“That is no what ye told me last we spoke of this.”
I warmed all over with embarrassment.
“Oh, that. That was stupid. Please don’t say anything to him about it. It was all very silly, really.”
He nodded in agreement.
“Aye, ’twas, but that doesna mean that ye canna fancy the lad. If ye want my opinion, ye should do something about it. Ye spend too much time in this castle and are bound to spend much more now that the place is yers.”
; “I don’t know the guy. He could be a total weirdo. He could be married or have children.”
“He is no a weirdo. I can tell. And he doesna have children, and he is no married.”
I didn’t want to have this conversation with him so I picked up my brush once more and tried to look very busy as I spoke so that hopefully he would take the hint and leave. He didn’t and eventually, I fell for his bait.
“Just how would you know that?”
“I just asked him. He doesna have himself a woman either. I can tell that he fancies ye. The whole time I spoke to him, he glanced about the room looking for ye.”
I stood and moved to the doorway so that he would see I wanted him to leave. His suggestions were pointless. Orick would leave, and I would never see any of them again.
“Aiden, if he was glancing about the room, I doubt he was looking for me. He was probably looking for a way to escape you and your prying questions.”
“Whatever ye say, Gillian, but if ye think I canna see the sort of person ye are, ye are wrong. I was much as ye are once. It took Anne to wake me up and make me see that it’s important to let love in or if love is no possible for ye, at least allow yerself a fair deal of lovemaking. It’s good for ye. When ye spend so much time pushing people and experiences away from ye, all ye end up with is yerself. With a mind like the one that ye and I have, that is no a verra pleasant place to be.”
CHAPTER 16
“’Twas a day much like this one when we last walked across the castle grounds. Now that I have ye alone, allow me to ask ye a question, Jane. Did things end between ye and Adwen? Why is he no here with ye?”
He hoped Adwen wouldn’t have done something so foolish as to let Jane go. The lass was Adwen’s match in every way. If she answered aye, Orick would leave at once to track him down and beat some sense into the fool.
“Oh gosh, no.” Jane linked arms with him as they walked. “We’re married now.”
“I am pleased to hear it, lass, though he doesna deserve ye. I am sorry that I wasna there to see it.”
He took his free hand and gave Jane’s a gentle squeeze as she sniffled. She’d cried on and off since seeing him.
“Don’t be sorry. There’s nothing for you to be sorry for. I’m the one that’s sorry. I’m the one at fault for everything that happened. Every single day since you fell on those rocks, I’ve had to work to forgive myself for that. ”
She broke down as Orick moved them to the steps in front of the castle. He pulled her toward them, wrapping his arms around her as she wept.
“I dinna die, Jane.”
“But we thought you did, and we all grieved for you right up until this morning. Adwen still grieves for you every single day. Losing you was like losing a piece of his very soul. None of that would have happened if I hadn’t been so stupid as to climb down those rocks.”
“Jane, doona say another word about it. I dinna have to climb after ye. I wanted to. ’Tis the fault of no one. I willna listen to ye blame yerself for it again. I doona blame ye and neither does Adwen, I know it. So release the burden for yer own sake. Now, where is Adwen? I know him better than he does himself, and I know how much we mean to one another. I know he dinna take it well. He wasna easy for ye afterwards, was he?”
“No.” Jane pulled away but held on to his hands as she spoke. “He wasn’t, but I didn’t expect him to be. He was here. He left yesterday not long before you arrived, I guess. You two probably came very close to crossing paths. He’s gone to look for Lennox and Griffith. They seem to have gone off the radar on one of their trips.”
Concern shot through him at such news. The MacChristys were seasoned on the road. If they didn’t show up where expected, something unexpected delayed them.
“Ach, I should leave after them. I’ll go at once.”
He started to stand, but Jane stopped him by tugging on his arm.
“No, Orick. That’s not a good idea. They all think you are dead. You can’t just go riding up after them and scare them all to death. Besides, we’ve instructions to meet Adwen back at our home in McMillan territory. It’s where we’ve settled so that I could stay close to Cooper. We still travel a lot but when we aren’t, that’s where we call home. Callum took over as laird of Cagair Castle shortly after your fall.”
“Ye doona sound worried for them, Jane. It worries me greatly.”
“It’s not that. Of course I’m worried, but Adwen truly didn’t seem concerned. I think he had an idea of where he would find them. Even if you left now, by the time you made it to them, it’s likely they would be on their way back.”
He knew she was right, but he didn’t like the thought of staying here and doing nothing while Adwen and Callum worried over their father and brother.
Jane stood and motioned for him to follow her.
“We’ll go back through tomorrow. Once we do, if you really still want to go after them, I’ll accompany you. That is, of course, unless you want to see if Gillian wants to come along too.”
Gillian—he knew now why she’d seemed familiar to him. She’d bewitched him long before when he’d seen her up in her window, just as he had in his dream the night before.
“O’course I canna ask her to come. I doona know the lass. ’Twould require that I tell her of the portal and when I truly come from.”
“So?” Jane shrugged her shoulders. He wished he could always be as carefree as she. “She owns the place. It’s probably best that she know about it, so no one staying with her ever wanders down there and disappears forever. Orick, do you not remember who she is? She’s your lady, the one you pointed to that night in the window. I think you fell in love with her right then. I’ve never seen you react to anyone that way.”
He remembered it all as if it were yesterday.
“How can I love someone that I doona know?”
“I knew very little about Adwen when I fell in love with him. I still don’t know everything about him. I’m not sure that I ever will. But you sure won’t know anything about her unless you spend some more time with her. Taking her back with us will certainly give you that.”
He laughed and hoped that he would never again have to spend a day without seeing Jane. She always lifted his spirits.
“Aye, ’twould but might require kidnapping the lass. Surely ye doona wish for me to do that.”
“Kidnapping her? Why would you do that? Just talk to her. Tell her. My guess is she will be curious enough to go even if she thinks you’re crazy until she gets back there. Besides, I’m sure she likes you. Any woman with a pair of eyes and a normal sex drive would. Do you have any reason to think that she doesn’t like you?”
Orick shook his head. The things that came out of Jane’s mouth always leaned towards the inappropriate, and he loved her for it.
“No, I ken she likes me just fine. She kissed me.”
“Kissed you? Already? Geez, that woman moves just about as fast as I did. I kissed you the first night I met you, too.”
“I remember. It nearly brought me to my knees and Adwen as well. I doona think she meant anything by it.”
Jane picked up her pace as she effectively led him back to the castle’s back door.
“It doesn’t always have to mean anything. That’s a great start. Now go and talk to her. Then, come morning, when she thinks you’re totally crazy for thinking you are from the past, we will take her back with us and scare the crap right out of her when she sees you were telling the truth.”
CHAPTER 17
“Ye have a gift for that, lass. I told Aiden I would come and get ye. He’s cooked the evening meal for everyone, though we asked him to no do so.”
I could lose myself in painting. I would think only half an hour had passed, and I would look down at my watch to find that it had been three. When I heard Orick’s voice calling me to dinner, I could scarcely believe it—surely I’d only ushered Aiden out of the tower moments ago.
“It can’t be time for dinner already.”
When I turned to face
him, his brows were pulled together in confusion as he pointed out the windows to the darkened sky. He looked better out of my robe and the rags he’d arrived in, and he filled out what I could only assume were Eoghanan’s clothes quite well.
“Aye, ’tis. Did ye no notice the sun set?
“No. I didn’t. Time often gets away from me when I’m up here. I get pulled in to whatever I’m painting.”
“Might I see yer other paintings? There is one in particular that wee Cooper told me of that has made me verra curious.”
I didn’t see any point in denying or keeping it from him.
“The painting of you, you mean? Sure. Here it is.”
I walked over to the wall and flipped it outward so he could see it. He looked it over with great interest, saying nothing while he stared at it. Eventually, I couldn’t take the suspense.
“What are you thinking?”
He turned his eyes toward me, and my face blushed immediately—it was the thing I disliked most about my fair skin. Everyone could always tell when I was embarrassed or nervous.
“’Tis an impressive likeness. How could ye have painted me when we only just met?”
I shrugged, knowing that no explanation would sound sane.
“I think something was warning me that you would show up at the castle. I’ve been dreaming about you.”
“No, lass. ’Tis no the reason ye dreamed of me.”
He stepped nearer to me, and I bumped into the windowsill as I stepped back instinctively.
“You don’t think so? What was it then? Like you said, I didn’t know you until yesterday.”
He mirrored my position, leaning into the stone wall next to me with his shoulder so that we faced one another. He stayed a good distance from me as he spoke, helping to ease my nerves a little.
I knew there was no real reason to be nervous around him. Anyone could see the sort of man he was just by looking into his eyes. There was a kindness in them that gleamed with every expression and gentle authority in every step he took that made him trustworthy.
Love Beyond Dreams (A Scottish Time Travel Romance): Book 6 (Morna's Legacy Series) Page 8
