“She already knows that I have every intention of doing exactly that,” his friend responded indignantly.
This time Robert made no attempt to school his expression. If there was a single soul in the room who couldn’t see how Jesse felt about Destiny by now, they were too far beyond blind for help. They were lost in the land of stupid.
Those two might need a lot of things going forward, but time apart wasn’t one of them. In fact, there was no one sitting in this room who could afford to take the risk of being left behind in time.
Except him. Were he to go, there would be no one left behind to worry over his return. No loving wife. No passel of children clamoring for a spot in his lap each evening.
He pushed the thought away. His was a good life, filled with trusted friends and blessed opportunity. That he seemed destined to live out this lifetime without finding his own Soulmate was out of his control. Had these people not become a part of his life, he would never even have known that he was supposed to have a Soulmate. He would have simply traveled his life’s journey alone, accepting what came to him.
He wouldn’t waste his days filled with envy for what his friends had found. Perhaps in another lifetime he would cross paths with the one meant for him. For this life, he would simply have to content himself with filling that empty spot in his heart by being the friend, the uncle. He was a warrior. Certainly he could be strong enough to face life alone.
Besides, this could well be his one and only opportunity to redeem himself. A last chance to keep his promise to a dying friend.
As far as the risk was concerned? He scoffed at the idea. He lived on the thrills that came from risk. This situation was a gift, pure and simple.
Taking a step forward, he broke the silence that had fallen in the room.
“I’ll do it. I’m the one to go with the lass.”
“Yer sure about this?” Connor questioned, his ice blue eyes intent as they turned in Robert’s direction.
“Even knowing we can’t guarantee getting you back here?” Cate added, her pretty brow wrinkled with concern.
Robert shrugged. His going only made sense. He’d sworn an oath. What happened to him was of little consequence as long as he was able to keep his word. “I’ve a small matter left undone by my abrupt departure. It would be good to get it off my conscience after all this time.”
The one nagging failure of his life. Bad enough to have failed a friend. Inexcusable to have failed a helpless child. Though he would never have children of his own, there was one small girl waiting for him to rescue her, seven hundred years in his past. At long last he’d keep that vow.
Across the room, Jesse chose this moment to announce his intention to marry the woman who gazed adoringly up into his eyes. Right there in front of all of them.
About time the man publicly acknowledged what they all could see.
Robert smiled and shook his head, turning from the celebration erupting around him and heading out toward the silence of the well-shaded grounds surrounding the renovated Scottish castle.
Though he shared his friend’s joy, he needed to step away from it for a moment. Not that he envied his friend. Not that the couple’s happiness highlighted the empty place by his own side. The empty place in his heart. He was too strong for such womanly feelings as that. No, it was simply that he needed the quiet and solitude to think. He needed time alone. Time to carefully plan.
There actually were any number of details to take care of before he left. Charlie, his bright-eyed Boston terrier came to mind. He knew Connor would see to picking the dog up from boarding and take it to his home where Charlie would be cared for and well loved. That was no worry. Though the idea he might never see his adoring pup again—that was a bit harder to stomach.
There were other arrangements to make as well. Legal paperwork of some sort would be required. He should set up a power of attorney, turning all his property over to someone.
Just in case.
If all went well, he’d do what needed to be done and then the magic would bring him home. The problem with using Faerie Magic was that it didn’t always do the expected, and Robert knew going into this he could well be giving up the life he’d come to love.
When a woman with Cate’s considerable Faerie Magic told you she might not be able to get you back home, you’d be well advised to take her seriously. If this was going to end up being a one-way trip, he’d best make sure someone here would have access to his belongings. None of his wonderful toys, not the vehicles or the machinery he’d collected—none of it would do him any good where he was going.
Whenhe was going, he corrected himself. The Highlands of Scotland in 1272. The exact same time he’d left behind all those years ago. As long as they’d determined to hide Leah in the past, he could think of no better time than the one he’d left. It would suit both their needs. He’d be able to fulfill his vow to Thomas, and there were many people in that time they could trust to keep Leah safe.
The Nuadians had vowed to hunt her down, no matter where she went. No one in the room he’d just left doubted for a moment they would do exactly that. But as everyone sitting in that living room had reasoned, while the Nuadians might well track Leah down wherever she hid in this world, they’d have no chance at all of finding her in a completely different time.
He would accompany Leah on her unimaginable journey to thirteenth-century Scotland. He’d see her safely settled.
And then?
Then he’d be free to fulfill the oath he’d made over seven hundred years ago. He’d find Thomas’s daughter, Isabella, and take her to his own family’s home, where she would be cared for properly.
“Mr. MacQuarrie?”
Robert looked over his shoulder to find Leah picking her way across the damp lawn toward him. Though the young woman herself was almost hidden in the baggy jeans and heavy sweater she wore, she couldn’t hide what she most wanted to remove from her identity. Whether it was the long golden hair tossed by the breeze or simply the way she carried herself, there was no denying her Faerie heritage.
