“Which means, cousin o’ mine,” Ranald said, this time his voice somber, “that your Lily is no’ of our world either. Which goes a long way to explaining why she simply seems to have disappeared.”
7
“So you’re telling me that Katherine—your wife—is no’ from our time.” Bram drew in a deep breath and released it. Just saying the words out loud seemed ludicrous.
“Aye.” Iain shrugged. They’d moved from Katherine’s keeping room to the great hall and were sitting on the benches by the fire. Iain’s arm was around Katherine. “We dinna know the how or the why of it, but ’tis the truth.”
“Ach, come now, man,” Ranald said. “You know the why of it.” He turned this attention to Bram. “Their love binds them together. It was the strength of it that pulled Katherine through to our time.”
Bram’s head was reeling. Their tale was as fanciful as any he’d ever heard, and yet, looking at the two of them, he knew it had to be true. Some of it he’d even heard himself. He’d known that her appearance had seemingly come out of nowhere, and that some of the people who’d met her doubted the story of her coming from France.
But no one dared force the issue. Not with Iain.
And Katherine was well loved by the Mackintoshes. Not much chance of anyone taking issue with her supposed historywhen she had all of Clan Chattan behind her. And besides, those who’d met her had nothing but good to say. She was a strong woman, a perfect match for Iain.
And here he was again thinking about love and marriage as if it were important to him. Two days ago he’d have laughed at the notion. But now…
“So did this Lily say anything that made you think she dinna belong here?” Ranald was asking.
They hadn’t done that much talking. But he wasn’t about to share that, not even with his cousins. “There were words that were a bit odd. She told me she wasna from the Highlands, but somewhere far away. Conn-ec-ti-cut, I think she called it.”
“It’s a state,” Katherine said. “In America. And you wouldn’t have heard of it. It won’t exist for another two hundred years or so.”
“Were you from Connecticut, too, then?” he asked, still trying to wrap his mind around the enormity of what they were saying.
“No.” She shook her head. “At least not anymore. I was living in New York. But it’s nearby.”
“But York is in England,” Bram said, his tone suspicious.
“Seems in this new world, they’re keen on using old names.” Iain shrugged again, as if it was nothing at all to be talking about a future that was yet to exist. But then again he’d no doubt had practice.
“Anyway,” Ranald inserted, bringing them back to topic, “the point is that if your Lily is from the future, she’s most likely been pulled back there again. Just like Katherine was the first time she met Iain.”
“And how long was it before you were together again?” Bram asked, not certain that he wanted to hear the answer.
“Eight years,” Katherine and Iain said almost in unison. The two of them smiled at each other, but Bram grimaced.
“Bloody hell. How did you stand it then?” Bram fought against frustration.
“They didn’t,” Ranald offered with a wry grimace. “At least not easily. Iain refused to consider any other woman even though he feared she’d only been a figment of his imagination.”
“And my brother, Jeff,” Katherine offered, “always called Iain my fantasy man. He was convinced I’d made him up.”
“Jeff was the one who came here to find you?” Bram asked, remembering the story they’d told.
“Yes.” Katherine’s eyes grew misty, and Iain squeezed her hand. “We were really close.”
“But now, you’re here,” Bram said. “And nothing is going to pull you away again?”
“No.” Again the two of them answered as one.
“How can you be sure?” he asked.
“Because they share one heart,” Ranald answered for them.
“We had to overcome a great many obstacles to be together. But we never doubted our love,” Katherine said.
“And when did you know for sure?” Bram thought again of Lily and the powerful connection they’d shared. “That you were meant to be together?”
