“She said he gave her a speeding ticket.”
Nathaniel looked at her then. “Did he? She doesn’t drive.”
“She was riding her bicycle.”
He smiled. “The bloody punter. He’d best be careful. She has a mean swing with a golf club.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all.”
He felt himself relax just the smallest bit. “Do you play?”
“Play what?”
He looked at her in surprise. “Golf, of course.”
“Golf is a ridiculous game that takes up great amounts of time that could be used more sensibly.”
He felt his mouth fall open, then he considered. He slid her a brief glance. “Your mother?”
“Word for word,” she agreed. “I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard her say that.”
“Yet you still don’t play, not even to vex her.”
“No time, no money, no desire,” she said. “Do you play?”
“Every chance I get.” He glanced at her. “Not interested in being my caddy?”
She glared at him. He would have smiled, but he suspected that might be the best it got for him that day. He had convinced her to come to breakfast with him. He might be wise to take that and run with it.
He was happy to leave the Fergusson ruin behind them and continue on. The roads were very good, the weather overcastand chilly, and he was driving his favorite car. It was an ostentatious bastard, but he loved it in a way that he supposed didn’t do him any credit. He was fond of his Vanquish, but it felt a little too tame to him. What he had under his hands at the moment...
He shook his head. His life was full of too many good things.
If only he could have convinced the woman sitting next to him that perhaps she might like to share a few of those things with him, he might have enjoyed them more.
He would have held her hand, but he supposed she might sooner want to clout him on the nose than touch him, so he forbore and concentrated on not driving them off into a ditch.
It took an hour and a bit to get where he wanted to go, but he was relieved to see the pub was open even so late in the year. He supposed there were even a few intrepid hikers braving the chill to venture out for the view. He couldn’t blame them. He loved the forest near his house, true, but there was nothing quite like Scotland’s coastline to truly restore something elemental to the soul.
He pulled into the car park, then turned off his car and looked at his companion.
“Normalcy,” he said, then almost wished he hadn’t spoken. She looked as though she might just weep if pushed any further.
He got out, walked around and opened her door, then locked it behind her. She looked up at him and he almost pulled her into his arms. The poor lass looked haunted. Sheldon the louse might have annoyed her, but the night before... that had done something entirely more devastating to her.
He reached for her hand against his better judgment. She didn’t pull away, though, which he appreciated. Her fingers were icy cold, which bothered him, but he wasn’t sure what to do for her save look for a pair of gloves after he’d fed her.
There was a hot fire inside, something for which he was enormously grateful. He saw Emma seated next to it before he went and ordered breakfast for them. He returned with two steaming cups of coffee and sat down across from her. She was looking at a tourist brochure and he left her to it. He hardly knew what to say, if anything, and he wasn’t going to force her to process anything she wasn’t ready to.
It had taken him a solid fortnight after his first foray into the past before he’d managed to put two words together in any useful fashion. If Mrs. McCreedy hadn’t sent a lad out to his house with groceries, he likely would have starved to death.
He pulled out his phone and went shopping. It didn’t matter what Emma chose to do; she would need a way to get around. And whilst it was very good of Patrick MacLeod to lend her a car, that wouldn’t do over the long term.
Assuming there was a long term.
His tastes ran to things that were fast and expensive, but he didn’t imagine either of those things would appeal to Emma presently. He supposed the best he could do was get what he felt was safe and reliable and hope she would accept it. He looked up to find her watching him. He smiled faintly.
“What’s your favorite color?”
