“Looks like it,” Maxine said.
Garrett snatched the frame out of the women’s hands. “Let me have a look.” He eyed Jannet. “Where did you get this?”
“Yer parents gave it to Laird MacLaren a week before he passed to the other world. I was there at the time, and they and the laird entrusted me to keep it safe for when ye came here.”
“They knew we would come here?” Garrett kept his eyes narrowed.
“Aye.”
That was all Jannet said, but Iain had a feeling she knew more.
And Garrett must have sensed the same because he said, “What aren’t you saying? What did they say about us?”
Flitting a glance in Abigail’s direction, Jannet said, “That is all ye need to know right now.”
Iain would learn more from Jannet but for now, it all made sense to Iain in a strange way. It was as if Abigail was fated to come to him, to be his always.
***
Abby wondered if her parents had visited the MacLaren Keep after the old laird died. Were they somewhere in Dorpol right at that moment? She jogged to the window and peered down at the inner buildings of the castle walls. “What if they’re here right now?”
“They can’t be,” Izzy said. “If they were, they’d let us know.”
“Not necessarily,” Max said. “If they had visited at a later date, then they would know how this little problem turns out,and they wouldn’t want their presence affecting the decisions Iain and Abby made today.”
Clearing his throat, Garrett gazed at the picture. “And if they have seen or know of us being here, then they know they’re dead. How else would we have come into possession of the orb? Actually, if they’re here right now, that means two white orbs are in existence in the same place. We shouldn’t be here. Fooling around with time could be dangerous.” He nodded his head as if coming to a decision. “We have to go before we run into them. Now!”
Max placed her hand on his arm. “You’re right, but our parents would know that, wouldn’t they? So they probably have gone back already, and we’re all sitting around the table eating dinner sometime in the future as we speak here.”
Garrett frowned at her. “You don’t know that.”
Max shrugged. “No, not for sure, but I know our parents, and I think they would have guessed we would put two and two together, and they wouldn’t take a chance on fudging around with our timelines.”
“I agree with Max,” Izzy said.
“Me too,” Abby said, wondering if the picture was telling her she could stay, could marry Iain, could live happily in the eighteenth century.
Garret focused on the picture as if he were trying to read their minds. “I suppose you’re right.”
Izzy nudged Abby. “What are you thinking?”
Abby tried not to smile, but her mouth had its own mind. She loved her family but she loved Iain more.”
Izzy gave Abby’s shoulder a little slap. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking of staying here, aren’t you? Listen, Abby, I can see how much Iain loves you, but he can’t be with you twenty-four seven. We’ve just found one another again, and I don’t want to lose you.” She gazed at Max. “You don’t want to lose her, either, do you, Max? Who else will listen to you when you go into command mode? I won’t, and I know Garrett won’t, either. You need her.”
Max eyed Abby, who sent her a pleading look.
Max laughed. “Actually, I think if Abby wants to stay, she should.”
Nearly choking, Garrett spluttered, “What? You’ve got to be joking. I thought you had more sense than that, Max.”
“I guess it isn’t that different from falling in love in the modern world, is it, Abs?” Max tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. “For better or worse, right?”
Nodding, Abby beamed at her sister. Max would know how happy Iain made her, she knew more about Abby than anyone.
Max’s gaze took in her brother and sister. “It’s crazy to me, and it does feel irresponsible to let Abby stay, but what choice do we really have when that’s what she wants? I can say that she needs to come back to reality, but this is her reality now. It’s insane and no one would believe it, but it would be pretty difficult to separate her from it now.”
Garrett crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. “I don’t like it.”
