“I’m going to scoot a little closer,” Jessa said softly as she moved.She held out her hand with her knuckles up so the dog could sniff them.“I’ll protect you as long as I’m here, and maybe, when I go back, you and your babies could come with me.Em’s family loves dogs.”A subtle ache took root in her chest.Her feelings were so twisted.She missed Emily and her family with a vengeance, but everyone here had been so nice to her, and then there was Grant.She swallowed hard at the thought of never seeing him again, which was freaking ridiculous since she’d only just met the man.Her eyes burned with the need to cry as the dog licked her knuckles.“I’m so confused.But I’ll take care of you and the puppies.I promise.”
The dog scrambled back and growled, looking at something behind her.
“What are ye confused about, lass?”Grant’s deep voice washed across her, making her shiver.
“You scared her.”Without looking at him, she waved him away.“Don’t come any closer.That bastard hurt her, so now she’s afraid of men.”
“Like yerself?”
“I am not afraid of men.”And she wasn’t.She just wasn’t all that sure about time travel or fated mates.After all, both defied logic.“So, did you drop that asshole off a cliff or send him packing?”
Grant rumbled with a low chuckle as he crouched beside her.“Which did you prefer?”
“A slow, painful death by beating, actually.Isn’t that what he planned for his poor dog?”Jessa held out her hand to the canine again.“Grant won’t hurt you.He’s a good guy.”
The sweet dog settled down again in the rags but kept her frightened focus locked on Grant.
“Lachie is escorting Dubhglas off MacAlester lands and convincing him never to return.Griselda is fetching food for yer wee friend here and informing Cook that the beastie is to be given the choicest scraps and treated with the care befitting an animal under the protection of the goddess.”
Jessa rolled her eyes but concentrated on inching closer to soothe the dog rather than turning to glare at Grant.“I am not a goddess.”
The canine whined again and lowered her head, finally allowing Jessa to rub her ears.
“You’re such a sweet girl,” she crooned.“Everything’s going to be all right.I promise.”Her heart warmed, and a strange sense of calm flowed through her as she petted the precious animal that was too large for a lap dog but too small to defend itself or others.She already loved the mistreated cur.How could she not after seeing a flicker of trust and hope in the creature’s beautiful brown eyes?“I love you too, Brownie.”
“Blessed be,” Grant whispered, his voice filled with awe.“Look, lass.The cut on her wee head, the broken rib, her wounds are going away.She is healing.”
Brownie wiggled closer, wagging her tail and snuggling her way into Jessa’s lap.Her three puppies, small as large potatoes and their eyes still closed, grunted and squeaked with irate little puppy yips at the loss of their mother’s warmth.
“How could she heal like that?”Jessa hugged the dog, smiling and laughing as the canine transformed from a terrified, abused animal into a healthy, happy dog.When Grant didn’t answer, she turned to find him staring at her with a look she couldn’t quite decipher.“Does that mean Mairwen is close?You called her a witch.Did she heal her?”
“Mairwen is not here, lass,” he said with a quietness that made her shiver.“No one is here except yerself and me.”
“Maybe you’re the witch, then.”Jessa leaned over and patted the dog’s nest of rags.“Come on, girl.Back over here by your babies.They’re looking for you.”Without risking a glance at Grant and being forced to consider what he suggested, she tossed her words back to him, “Could we find her some nicer bedding?Griselda’s done the best she could under the circumstances, but Brownie and the puppies need something softer.”
“Aye,” he said, still sounding distracted, “I’ll have Jasper fetch some hay and fix her a bed here in the corner rather than the stable.She’ll be well out of the weather and close to the kitchens, so we can make sure she’s properly fed.I’ll charge him with seeing that she gets her supper each evening and breakfast every morning, as well.Will that do?”
“And snacks too.She’s a nursing mama.She needs extra food.”Jessa risked turning to meet his gaze.“Thank you.She needs to know she’s safe now—and loved.”
“How did ye heal her, lass?”He eyed her, something akin to fear and so much more flickering in his eyes.“Can ye heal me?”He leaned forward and angled his right cheek toward her, the one with the angry-looking cut.
“I can’t magically heal anyone.”She fisted her hands, trying to forget what she’d felt moments ago just as the dog took a rapid turn for the better.
“Try,” he prompted in a rasping whisper, making that single word echo through her entire being.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said just as quietly while gingerly reaching for him and resting her fingertips on his face.
“Ye told the dog ye loved her while ye rubbed her ears.”
She jerked her hand away and tucked it back against her chest.“I didn’t heal her.Something else must have happened.If this place is some kind of time travel bus stop, then maybe other impossible to believe things happen here too.”
“What are ye afraid of, lass?Why are ye scairt to even try?”He trapped her in his gaze, pulling her in like a powerful tide that threatened to drown her.
She glared at him.“I told her I loved her because she needed me, and I saw unconditional love in her eyes.I have yet to see that in any man’s eyes.”
His eyes flexed, narrowing as if she had slapped him.He nodded.“I understand.”
She doubted that he did.“Have you ever loved anyone unconditionally?”
