17
When Heather woke up and found Gavin missing, her first thought was panic. Someone had kidnapped him in the night. Then she calmed herself down. How likely was that?
He was laird of an entire clan, hidden right at the back of a cave with dozens of people between him and whatever was outside.
She thought back to last night, about the way he’d looked like he was on the verge of kissing her. Then he just told her to go to sleep like she was a servant he could order around.
What did it say about her that she liked it when he told her what to do? Something that didn’t feel very feminist. Great, she thought. Why not chuck some guilt into this churning maelstrom of feelings? You might as well.
He’d probably just gone outside to go to the bathroom. He would be back in a minute. She had no doubt. He’d come back and he’d give her that look of his, the one that made her melt inside as if she were a schoolgirl with a crush, not an adult perfectly capable of looking after herself.
There wasn’t much point denying it anymore. The more time they’d spent together the more certain she’d become. She had fallen in love with him. Was it supposed to happen like this? She could only compare it with her previous relationships.
They were like grains of sand where he commanded an entire beach of emotions. She’d never felt this way about David. She thought theirs had been a reasonable enough relationship but now she could compare with this, she realized it was nothing at all.
This was love. It was proper love. Like it said in the Princess Bride, that was something that only happened to one couple in a thousand, no matter what the story books said.
Was she lucky or unlucky? Her one true love lived centuries before her own. If it wasn’t for Tony giving her the key and sending her back, she never would have found him at all. Would she have fallen for someone else? It was possible but she doubted the feeling could ever be as strong as this.
Part of her thought the only reason she felt this strongly was because he was forbidden. She couldn’t be with him. They came from two entirely different worlds.
Sure, he might have suggested marriage but she knew he hadn’t really meant it. He knew same as her that this could never work, especially not after what she’d done.
She’d distracted him from being able to focus on the clan. She was the reason why they were all hiding out in a cave. It was all her fault. The guilt weighed heavily on her.
She dug out the key and turned it over in her hand. It was such a little thing and yet it had brought her all the way back through time to meet the man of her dreams. Where was he? He’d been gone a long time. She peered around the corner at the mass of people.
They were beginning to stir. “Where’s Gavin?” Will asked, sitting up and stretching. “We must plan what to do next.” He looked at Heather. “Is he with you?”
“I’ve not seen him since last night,” she replied. “Have you?”
“He’s probably outside,” Will said. “I’ll go look.” He vanished out of the cave, returning a minute later. “No sign but his tracks head back the way we came.”
People started to talk. “He’s gone to surrender.”
“He’s left us.”
“He’s run. We should too.”
Heather moved toward them all, her hands outstretched. “Hold on, calm down. We don’t know where he’s gone or why so let’s not panic. Bruce? Where’s Bruce?”
“Here, my lady.”
“Take a couple of men and find us some food. The children must be starving. Someone find a way to fetch us some water too.”
As Bruce and his men headed outside she made her way through the cave, glad to have something to concentrate on. “Anyone injured?” she asked.
No one was but many people were still afraid. She did her best to reassure them, trying not to think why Gavin had gone. He must survive until the peace negotiations, right? Else why was that her deadline for retrieving the knife?
She refused to accept that Tony’s calculations might be wrong. She also refused to think about the wrenching pain she felt from being separated from the man she loved. She found herself praying for the first time in a long time. Please God, she said silently, let him be safe. I couldn’t bear life without him.”
She knew then that she truly did love him. There was no doubt in her mind that for better or worse she was going to stay in this time with him. If he asked her to marry him, she would say yes.
She smiled at the thought. Would she be the wife of a laird living in a castle? Or in the back end of a damp cave? Either way, at least she would have him. If she could just work out where he’d gone.
“Heather,” Bruce called from the cave entrance. “Can I have a word?”
Bruce’s men were bringing in blackberries and hazelnuts, handing them out to the hungry children. Heather watched for a moment before heading outside to join Bruce in the morning light.
