Lachlan wanted to hear everything about Piper, but Evelyn made him go first with his side of things. He told her everything on the car ride into the village, and she believed it truly was a miracle he wasn’t actually dead.
“That was a farfetched plan,” she said, wracking her brain for all the mentions she’d read of that fateful battle he’d supposedly been killed in. While Piper had refused to speak of it further and gone into her shell of denial, Evelyn had scoured everything she could find about it. “I think there was a fire that night,” she said. “I bet Bella really did set the woods on fire to cover up your disappearance. That was risky back then.” She thought about the village’s antique fire truck and the few volunteer firefighters who kept it running. It would be risky now.
“Aye. She was desperate to be rid of me, of that I’m certain.”
“Piper didn’t believe it for a long time,” she said, feeling guilty for not doubting everything she’d read herself.
“I shall leave this verra night to find her,” he said, pulling at the seatbelt as if he wanted to jump out of the car and leave that second.
“Well, just hang on there, He-Man,” she said. “You need to know what’s going on, and if you don’t at least stay to see Mellie, she’ll throw a fit and probably poison our food.”
Lachlan groaned at the mention of poisoned food, and agreed to stay at least one day. Evie hoped beyond hope that Piper would waltz through the kitchen door that evening, having defeated Daria, to find the surprise of her life. Then they could all go to Disney World.
She pulled into the parking spot for Donna’s Beauty and hustled him inside. When he was done, what was left of his raggedly chopped black locks were neatly trimmed into a typical twenty-first century man’s hairstyle. Except he looked anything but typical. After Donna brushed off his shoulders and whirled his chair around, they both stood and stared at him for several long moments. He blinked from one to the other and smiled nervously, running his hand over his shorn head.
“Dear God,” Evelyn said, adjusting the neckline of her sweater. “Your face hurts my heart. You are seriously too handsome.”
“Far too handsome,” Donna agreed, shaking her head and tutting.
Lachlan went beet red and scowled at them, while he dug out his stash of modern money and handed over an indiscriminate wad. Evelyn intercepted it and counted out the proper amount for Donna. Piper had accounts at all the shops in town, but he seemed so proud of himself, and she didn’t want to hurt his old-fashioned pride.
“Next stop, we shock the living daylights out of Sam,” she said, pulling him next door to Sam’s bookshop.
“Ye’re a bit cruel, Evelyn,” Lachlan said mildly. “Ye should have called him first.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes at him and flung open the door to Maclean Booksellers, making sure the little bell rang violently.
Sam looked up from stocking magazines with a huff, and promptly dropped the stack he was holding. The glossy magazines slid everywhere at his feet as he stood there staring, first at Lachlan, then at Evelyn, who thought her face would crack from smiling so hard. He clapped his hand over his mouth, his green eyes wide. Dear lord, but she loved him.
He turned to her accusingly and she couldn’t stop smiling. She knew she should have called and warned him, but the look of surprised delight on his face was worth it.
If only Piper had waited a few more days, but she’d been determined, sure this was the right path to her freedom, and they’d been certain Lachlan was dead. Once again she felt guilty for her part in convincing Piper of that, wondering if she’d ever trust a historical document again. If it pertained to Castle Glen, probably not.
Sam and Lachlan embraced and Sam repeated the same questions, mainly how and when, over and over. His face fell and he turned to Evelyn.
“Jesus, what about Piper?” he asked, going pale.
“If she’s not back by tonight, Lachlan’s going after her tomorrow. We’ll get her back safe and sound.” Evelyn gripped Lachlan’s forearm. “I just wish you could have gone with her in the first place.”
“Do you think she would have gone if he was back?” Sam asked the question she didn’t want to think about.
She shrugged. Piper wanted to be rid of Daria, wanted her own form or revenge against her for shooting her back to the present without Lachlan. Piper hadn’t been herself in so long. It was difficult to say what she might have done if Lachlan appeared sooner.
“Probably. I’d have liked it better if he went with her, but he’ll find her.”
“Aye, indeed I shall,” Lachlan said, warming her heart with his warrior chivalry. “Ye must tell me why she went to that time, though? And why did she go at all? Ye mentioned her granny?”
Sam and Evelyn exchanged long looks. “Come on,” she said, tugging Lachlan out of the shop. “I’ll explain everything. Let’s go home and get a plan together, get some food in you. You actually look a little thin.”
Lachlan laughed. “Ye act like a mother now,” he said fondly, making her blush. “But they did fairly starve me. I wouldna turn down a meal from wee Mellie.”
Evelyn rubbed her hands together and laughed with glee, picturing Mel’s surprise when she came home from her class later that day. Both men looked at her disapprovingly, but she ignored them. It had been so long since they’d had any truly good news, her and Sam’s engagement notwithstanding. Even that had been overshadowed by Piper’s possession and all of their sadness over losing Lachlan. Now as soon as they got Piper back, they could live life in unfettered joy. In the meantime, she’d enjoy the looks on her friend’s faces.
“Will you take Mags for the rest of the afternoon?” she asked, hoisting the car seat to Sam. “I’ve found a couple mentions of Rose in all those papers, and I want to try to align the dates with her diary and everything else we know.”
Sam took Magnus. “Of course. I’ll come round at dinner time.” She gave him a warning look and he smiled. “Don’t worry. I think it’s wrong, but I won’t call Mellie.”
It took the drive back to the castle and the better part of the afternoon to explain what had happened since Piper came back without him. He was devastated to learn she thought she was possessed.
“Do ye think it’s true?” Lachlan asked, taking a hearty bite out of his third biscuit.
He’d been eating everything she put in front of him since they returned. It seemed he hadn’t been able to eat much as laird of the Glens. She shook her head at how dreadful Piper’s ancestors were. At least Bella had turned out to have a few redeeming qualities.
“When she first came back, I thought she was just spooked. It seemed so unbelievable. But too many things happened that made me think it had to be true. There are a lot of things I believe now, that I wouldn’t have before all this,” Evelyn answered. “She was barely functional for a few weeks, worried about you, scared to death of Daria’s spirit.”
“Aye,” Lachlan agreed. “She was verra frightened at the last. I tried to stop, but it was too late. This terrible thing is my doing.” He put down his unfinished cookie and looked pained.
“No, it isn’t,” Evelyn assured him forcefully. “It’s Daria’s doing. And to be honest, I’m glad she’s dead. She was far more dangerous alive than her stupid spirit could ever be, as long as it’s trapped in Piper.”
“Ye dinna think it will harm her?”
“I don’t see how it would be in its best interest to hurt her. It hasn’t yet.”
“I pray this Rose can help her.”
Evelyn heard Mel’s car pull into the back drive and jumped up. “She’s back early. Go hide in the pantry.”
“I willna do that,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Oh my God, you’re no fun,” she said, scooting around behind the counter to have the best view when she came through the door.
Mellie paused with the door open, whistling for the dog and barely glancing around when they were both inside. The dog made a beeline for him, jumping on his legs and dema
nding attention from his old friend. Mel stared at Lachlan for a split second before screaming at the top of her lungs and dropping everything she carried.
Evelyn heard the shatter of glass and feeling a bit guilty, ran to help her. “Lachlan’s back,” she said breathlessly. “Again.”
“Bloody hell,” Mellie said, rushing to hug him. “That was your dinner in the bag, so I hope you’re satisfied.” She stepped back and shyly looked him over, nodding in approval of his new haircut. “Eventually this will stop being such a shock. Ideally, you’ll stop going away.”
“Only once more, lass,” he said, beaming at her. Everyone loved sweet, gangly Mellie, with her extreme cooking skills and huge heart. “When I find Piper, we’ll stay put for good.”
“Ah, that’s lovely,” Mellie said. “Happily ever after for everyone.”
Evelyn called Sam to ask him to bring a takeaway meal since she’d ruined their dinner goods by scaring Mel half to death. She listened to him tell her so with good grace, in too content a mood to let Sam wreck it for her.
Tomorrow, the next day at the latest, Lachlan would have retrieved Piper. Hell, maybe Rose would want to see the castle in the present day again, start fresh with the family she’d left behind. Miracles all around.
“Evelyn, lass, I think your phone is ringing,” Lachlan said, looking warily at the phone on the table in front of him.
Evelyn patted her pocket where her phone was and realized it was Piper’s that was ringing. She’d left it behind, having no need for it where she was going.
Evelyn looked at it, wondering if she should answer. She recognized the number as coming from the states, but other than that it was unknown to her. Thinking Piper’s mom might be calling from a different phone, she decided to answer.
A strange man asked for Piper using her full name, which made Evelyn think it was just a solicitation. She used her cold, business-like voice to tell the man Piper wasn’t available and was about to hang up when he spoke again, hurriedly.
“Please, my name is Edgar. I spoke to her the other day about her grandmother. If I could leave a message?”
Evelyn paused. “Okay,” she said. “This is her friend Evie. She told me all about your conversation.” She didn’t want to admit he’d been on speaker the whole time. She put him on speaker now, waving for Lachlan and Mellie to gather in closer.
“I got to thinking about that conversation,” he said slowly. Evelyn’s stomach turned over at his tone and she wanted to tell him to cut to the chase. “It’s been so long since I thought about those days. To be honest, I tried to block it all out. Something like that … It can make you feel like you’re going off the deep end.”
“Like what?” Evelyn asked. He was quiet on the other end of the line and she mentally kicked herself. “I know about the time traveling,” she said, and heard him sigh.
“All right then, that’s all right,” he muttered. “You know, I was thinking about Piper and thought to myself, what if she does something so crazy as to try to go find her grandmother. I mean, if Rose could do it, perhaps her granddaughter can too.”
Evelyn made a noncommittal sound, looking at Lachlan and Mellie, one frowning in a menacing manner, the other’s eyes wide with uncertainty.
“There was just more to the story than what I told her. But, it’s not that important. Like I said, it was a foolish notion that Piper would do something like that.”
Lachlan’s fists clenched on the table, and Evelyn motioned for him to be quiet, but shared the tension he clearly felt.
“Edgar,” Evelyn said, cutting off his ramblings. “She did do that. That’s exactly what she did.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Oh, dear? And what do you mean, there’s more to the story? Why didn’t you tell the whole story to Piper?” Evelyn asked.
“I thought she was looking for answers— closure. I didn’t think she’d run off after her, or even know that she could.”
“Well, she did,” Evelyn said.
“Listen, if you can, you must get her back. My wife was sick with grief and bitterness, that part was all true. But I didn’t pity her. I feared her.”
Chapter 14
Jubilation coursed through Piper. She wanted to high five someone, she was so excited about her success.
She’d marched into the forest, said the words she remembered Lachlan using, tossed the herbs onto the ground and blithely nicked her finger, spilling one tiny drop of blood. She’d growled out a verse to My Darling Clementine, then closed her eyes, daring the universe to defy her.
When she opened them, she knew she was in the right year, as certain as she was of her own name. Deep in the recesses of her mind, behind all her exhilaration at finally making time travel her bitch, she felt deep fear, but she ignored it. Or rather, dismissed it as having nothing to do with her.
“Yeah, you should be scared,” she said, then quickly turned around to make sure she was alone in the woods.
Straightening her bodice and skirts, she headed for the village, fairly certain Rose wouldn’t live at the castle. Though she was a Glen, she’d had to hide that fact, unable to explain to them where she’d come from. In her diary, John had been a miller. So, she was going to find the mill.
She paused at the bottom of the high street, taking in this version of Castle on Hill. It was better populated and more built up than the seedy, sad 1729 version. In fact, it was fairly bustling. A few people walked along the streets and she was pleased to see her dress would fit in well. The men dressed in trousers instead of kilts and she felt a bit sad at that change.
The stable was where she remembered it, as well as the inn, though that was much more inviting now and shops had sprung up around it. Further down the street was a nice new pub, an apothecary and a printing press. Across the way was the milliner and a few more shops selling this and that.
If she got stuck here, it would be a vast improvement over Lachlan’s time. She’d thought coming back to the past would hurl her into a fresh bout of despair at missing him, but everything was too different, almost more like a quaint version of her own time.
A shout from above followed by a torrent of dirty water hitting the street several feet away from her brought her back to reality. Okay, so not like her own time, not at all.
She didn’t want to have to talk to anyone if she could help it. Her fake Scottish accent was atrocious. She’d tried it once on the tourists who came to the castle and Sam had quickly put a stop to it, telling her she was shaming an entire nation, as well as embarrassing herself.
The last thing she wanted to do was arouse curiosity in any of the villagers with her foreign accent. Then they’d scrutinize her short hair and find fault with her gown, and she’d be screwed before she found Rose. She also didn’t want Rose to fall under censure. She’d worked hard to build a life in this time. Piper didn’t want to ruin it for her.
She headed toward the river, deciding to try the old ruins there in hopes that in this time it would be a working mill. If Rose and her husband weren’t the proprietors, she’d find a way to get information. She spent the whole meandering walk along the riverbank thinking up a back story for herself when she saw the wheel turning in the distance.
She stopped to admire it, enjoying the relaxing whooshing sound it made as it did its rounds, and the heady rush of the river. It must have been extra rainy that year. The river was higher than she’d ever seen it.
Piper wandered around outside for a while, looking over the water wheel and trying to work up the nerve to go inside. She picked a small bouquet of scraggly wildflowers, thinking it would be nice to give them to Rose.
“Lass? Are ye lost?”
Piper turned at the sound of the voice. A woman, slightly taller than her, with dark brown hair peppered with silver strands, stood several feet away, looking expectant and welcoming. Piper knew instantly from the few pictures her mother had, that this was her grandmother. Her hair was up in a bun, her dress dusted with flour, and she carried a sack of grain
in her arms. Piper numbly held out the flowers, shaking from head to toe.
“Oh my dear, ye dinna look well,” Rose said, hurrying forward and taking her arm. She gave Piper a good looking over and dropped her arm with a gasp. “Who are ye?” she asked sharply. “Ye canna be her, it’s been so long.” Her voice held a tinge of alarm.
“My name is Piper Sinclair,” she said, not knowing how to ease into it. “You haven’t seen me since I was a baby.” Rose staggered and dropped her grain sack. Piper held up her hands and shrugged. “I can do it, too,” she said.
Rose gasped for breath, but wouldn’t let Piper help her. She kept her distance and squinted at her granddaughter. “Ye look like…” she shook her head. “Ye’re Finley’s child? The wee lass?”
“That’s me,” Piper said.
“Has it been so many years, then?”
Piper frowned, wondering if all the time jumping had addled Rose’s brain. Well, time did fly for older people, and Rose clearly kept busy helping to run the mill. “I’m twenty-six,” she said. “I just found out that you came back. Like I said, I can do it too, and I wanted to find you. I, uh, need your help.”
“Ye must come inside.” Rose ignored the sack she’d dropped and stalked toward the cottage further down the river from the mill.
Piper hurried to keep up, following her inside the small house. There was a roomy cooking and eating area, a spinning wheel surrounded by piles of wool, a few mismatched wooden chairs with homey cushions tied to them, a cabinet with a basin, and a narrow bed covered with an intricately designed quilt. Piper wondered if Rose’s needlework skills had improved over the years or if the quilt was a gift. A dozen or more crosses hung on the walls along with wreaths of dried flowers.
Rose took a bottle from the mantel and poured herself a healthy slug into a wooden cup. She waved the bottle at Piper in offering.
“No thank you,” Piper said. This reunion wasn’t playing out at all like she’d imagined.
“This is a shock.” Rose sat down in one of the chairs, pushing the other one toward Piper. “Sit. Tell me why ye’re here. Is your mother well?”
Reckoning (Book 4 of Lost Highlander series) Page 12
