He walked out of the bathroom holding up a hand.
“The purple will not come off. The rest washed off, but I canna remove the purple.”
Violet grinned. “Maybe next time you won’t fling paint around with such abandon. I can’t believe Mr. Williams let you and Dora make such a mess.”
He laughed. “The wee lass had fun. We went outside to make our masterpieces.”
“So the grass now looks like a rainbow fell from the earth.”
“Aye.” Duncan peered in the bags. “You have enough food for the day?”
“A few snacks. I think the cafe at the beach reopened.”
Duncan had on blue swim shorts covered in sand dollars. He’d wanted plain black until a woman ogled him and almost walked into a rack of clothes at the store.
He wore a white tee shirt that showed off his tan. He’d pulled his hair back from his face. The guy would make a sculptor weep with joy.
“Do ye have your swimming clothes on?” He eyed her sundress with a frown.
“I do. Under my dress.” She picked up her tote bag and tossed the keys to him as he gaped.
“You need to practice your driving if you’re going to be stuck here.” She’d meant it to sound joking, but when he paled, Violet wanted to pull the words back and cut them to shreds with her scissors.
“I’m sorry, I know how much you want to go home. I shouldn’t have made light of the situation.”
Duncan gathered up the bags and carried them to the car.
“Dinna fash, lass. Only the fates know if I can return home. Until then, I needs learn as much as I can about this time.”
He was quiet on the way to the beach, only perking up when they pulled into the parking lot.
“Those women. Look at them. Ye can see everything.” Duncan tripped getting out of the car as he stared.
She couldn’t help teasing him. “At some beaches you don’t have to wear any clothes.”
“’Tis scandalous.” Duncan’s head swiveled back and forth as he looked at the women.
As she spread out the old tablecloth, Violet saw him watching a group of guys playing volleyball. While they distracted him, she finished setting up their space and anchoring the makeshift beach towel so the edges wouldn’t blow up and get sand on everything.
Her sundress was one of her favorites. It was a blue and white gingham with daisies embroidered on the straps. Violet planned to sell the design in the boutique for the spring.
She rolled up the dress and packed it in the bag, then settled in on the blanket, sunscreen next to her knee. When Duncan still hadn’t looked at her, she put on her sunglasses and cleared her throat.
“Would you put sunscreen on my back?”
“What is—” He stopped, his mouth hanging open as he took in her pink bikini.
Heat bloomed across her skin as his eyes traveled from her head to her toes.
“’Tis verra small.” Then he grinned like a wolf eyeing a tasty lone sheep. “I like the beach.” He knelt down and took the bottle from her.
“Why do you need sunscreen?” He looked at the bottle, reading the information. “The sun does no harm.”
“It can cause cancer. A sickness.” She rolled over on her stomach so Duncan could put lotion on her back. “Not to mention too much sun can cause wrinkles but I like a little color.”
The lotion was cool on her back, his hands were warm as he rubbed the lotion into her skin. If she moved to New York, she would miss the Florida sun and beaches.
“Ye have such beautiful skin. Not a single mark or scar.” His hands left her back and Violet rolled over and sat up.
“Here.” She held out a hand for the bottle. “You need sunscreen on your back so you don’t burn.”
A gull cried as Duncan looked up at the bright blue sky. An ocean of blue above them and the blue green of the water in front of them.
He turned, the muscles standing out on his arms as he showed her his back.
Violet squirted lotion into her palms and rubbed it onto his shoulders and back.
“What’s wrong? I can feel the tension in your body.”
He looked over his shoulder and pushed the sunglasses up on his head. Dark blue eyes studied her.
“I have many scars.”
Gently, she ran her palm over a particularly long scar that went from his shoulder halfway across his back.
“How did you get this one?” She whispered. They were alone in a bubble, the world around them blurring as he told her the story.
“’Twas a battle between my clan and the Ferguson clan. They ambushed us. I was a lad of ten years when it happened. When the sword split my flesh, I thought I was dead.”
To her credit, Violet kept her breathing even, did not gasp or let pity enter her voice, for she knew if she did he wouldn’t tell her anything else. So she applied the sunscreen and let him talk.
As she touched each scar, he told her how he got it. So much violence and war in his time. She couldn’t help but compare it to now. There was still violence, but not like that.
She moved, so she was sitting in front of him. Taking his hand in hers, she rubbed sunscreen on his arms and hands. Keeping him close as he told her of battle and treachery.
“You’ve made me realize the violence of today differs from what you lived through.” Violet put the sunscreen in the tote bag. “I think the pace of life was slower. Now everything is faster, faster, hurry. I can’t imagine the lack of medicines, hospitals, and doctors. It’s frightening.”
“Men in your time do not carry a blade. They do not worry if they give offense, they may lose their life. ’Twas a different time, lass. We had a healer in the village. She stitched me up many times.”
When he leaned back, one of the grocery bags fell over. Sunlight glinted off metal, and this time she gasped.
“You brought a sword to the beach.”
He smirked as he tucked it back into the bag. “Only one. I left the other at home.”
She couldn’t help but laugh as her heart warmed. He’d called her place ‘home’. Was it wrong to want him to stay?
A child flying a brightly colored kite ran by.
“So many bright colors. Are there always so many people here?”
“This is empty. You should see the beach in the summer. There are so many people you can’t see the sand.”
She stood and pulled him up.
“Come on, let’s go for a swim.” To lighten the serious mood, Violet dropped his hand and ran a few steps ahead.
“First one in the water gets to drive home.” With that she ran, laughing as Duncan passed her in an instant. He dove in the waves and came up grinning.
“’Tis verra warm. In Scotland, the waves are fierce and the water cold enough to freeze your—. To make a man cold.” He stuttered as she grinned at him.
“Look, Violet. I can see my feet. Look at all the wee fish.”
Violet peered into the clear water. They were waist deep and could see the bottom.
“As long as you don’t see bigger fish chasing them.”
Duncan stared into the water. “Do the alligators come here?”
“No, they like fresh water though once in a while one will get in the ocean but they don’t stay long.”
They spent several hours swimming, looking for shells, and lazing about in the sun. She loved Florida. When both their stomachs growled, Violet sat up.
“I don’t know whose stomach is louder, mine or yours. Want to grab some lunch?”
He pulled her to his feet. “Aye. Will you put clothes on to eat?”
“Look around, no one does. If we were going to the restaurant on the pier we would, but not for the cafe.” She rolled her eyes. “You’ll see.”
The fancy restaurant on the beach was still closed, but the small ramshackle cafe was open and doing a substantial business. It had been there as long as Violet could remember with the same walk-up window.
There was a covered patio with round concrete tables and benches. The gulls patiently waite
d for their chance to swoop in and steal a meal or a fry. The cafe wasn’t fancy, but the food was amazing.
When they got to the window, Violet looked at Duncan and decided.
“Two cheeseburgers. Two hot dogs with everything, two orders of conch fritters, two orders of fries, and two large Cokes.”
The man didn’t even bat an eye as he rang them up. They grabbed a table as two women with little kids left and sat, enjoying the shade after being in the sun. Violet yawned.
“I don’t know what it is, but swimming at the beach and soaking up the sun makes me want a nap.”
Duncan yawned in response.
When their order was called, he went to fetch the food, leaving Violet to her thoughts. She couldn’t help but notice the women following him with their eyes, a couple of girls openly staring as if she weren’t even there. He hadn’t given her any reason not to trust him, but still… with so many women to choose from, why would he want her?
As two women in mesh one-piece swimsuits sauntered by, Violet heard one of them say, “why on earth is that fine-looking hunk of a man with her?”
Her friend giggled. “She’s so skinny, she looks like a teenage boy.”
“Or a girl who hasn’t gotten her boobs yet.”
Violet had heard it all before. How lucky she was to eat whatever she wanted. The shock at her big appetite. The watching to see if she’d dart into the bathroom after eating. Which she never did, thank you very much. She was thin and liked to eat.
Violet wished with all her heart she had the sexy curvy body of some of the women she saw sauntering along the beach, but this was what she had and she was grateful to be healthy. Normally she let the comments roll off her back, but being with Duncan?
He was so nice, so charming, and so very good-looking. He made Thor and Captain America look like homely brothers. Being around him sometimes made her feel insecure. Worried that he’d be like her dad.
“This is a feast. You ordered nothing for yourself, then?” Duncan smiled as he set the mountain of food on the table.
She took a plastic fork and pretended to stab his hand.
“Back away from the conch fritters, buddy.”
The air smelled like grilled meat, and suntan lotion overlaid with the smell of the ocean. Gulls cried as they circled, the waves broke against the shore, and the sound of music drifted to them on the breeze. It was a perfect October day. A lazy day. There wouldn’t be any lazy days in New York. She’d be working constantly.
They ate until they were stuffed, and then made room for the cafe’s famous sorbet. Duncan ordered orange, and she picked lemon so they could share.
There were a couple of fries left, which Duncan threw to the gulls who swooped in and away with their prize. The trash disposed of, Duncan took her hand.
“Walk with me.”
“I’d love to.” Violet put on a hat and sunglasses as she meandered with Duncan down the beach. He’d stop every so often to pick up a shell or point out something he found. If he couldn’t go home, he could stay and they could walk on the beach whenever they wanted.
“Look.” Duncan pointed.
“Dolphins. There are three of them.”
As they watched, they spotted four more.
“It looks like they’re chasing fish.” Violet squinted. “There’s a reef a ways out, it’s great for diving. We should go sometime.”
He squeezed her hand. “Aye. I would like that verra much.”
15
Time sped up as the next couple of days passed quickly. In less than a fortnight Duncan could go back to his own time. Would he go back to the same moment he left? Had the same amount of time passed then as now? To think on it made his head ache.
There was a soft knock on the door in the kitchen leading to the porch. Duncan opened it and grinned.
Dora put a finger to her lips.
“My grandpa likes me to eat fruit or something healthy for breakfast. I saw that box of Count Chocula in Violet’s cabinet. Have you eaten?”
The wee lass quietly closed the door behind her, the ever present stuffed cat in her arms.
“Nay, I have not. What is Count Chocula?”
Dora put a hand to her chest and gasped. The wee one was verra dramatic.
“Only the best cereal in the entire world and you can only get it around Halloween.” She went to the closet, opened it and reached way in the back.
“See. I told you.” The child held up a box.
“It doesna look verra good.”
She rolled her eyes. “Says you. Wait until you try it.” Dora looked around. “Where’s Violet?”
“She’s in her room sewing.”
The lass nodded.
“Good. When Miss Violet sews, she forgets about everything so we’re good to go.” She arched a brow at him. “Well, don’t just stand there, get the milk. I’ll get the bowls and spoons.”
Like Violet, the wee lass was bossy, but Duncan did as he was bade while Dora quietly opened the cabinet and drawers to set the table. Then she listened and once satisfied that Violet was occupied, she opened the box, stuck her nose inside and inhaled.
“Hello, sweet goodness.”
She poured the brown pieces into his bowl. Duncan was skeptical as he sniffed the concoction, but he did not utter a sound for fear Dora would stab him with her spoon. Bloodthirsty little thing.
“You pour the milk, it’s heavy and I don’t want to spill it.”
Duncan obliged. “Now what?”
“Now we eat. Go. Taste it.” The lass wore a pink shirt with a unicorn on the front, pink flowered shorts, and her hair was in a braid. She sat in the chair, swinging her feet as she shoveled the cereal into her mouth.
Duncan eyed the brown bits, then chewed. He took another bite, and something made an odd noise when he bit into it. ’Twas delicious.
“This cereal is good.”
Spoon halfway to her mouth, Dora grinned. “Told you so.” Then she refilled their bowls.
Before he knew it, Duncan was shaking the last bits of cereal into their bowls.
“There’s none left.”
Dora looked dejected as she stared at her empty bowl, the milk now turned brown.
“None of what?”
Duncan hit the bowl with his elbow, spilling milk across the table. The wee lass clenched her spoon, eyes huge.
“You both look guilty as sin.”
Violet took another step and another until she stood between them. She shook the now empty box.
“Was it delicious?”
They both nodded.
Dora, the little warrior, stood.
“It was my fault, Miss Violet. Mr. Duncan said he’d never had Count Chocula. Can you believe it?”
He was glad his blade was on his left, too far for Violet to reach.
She shook her head, then threw up her hands.
“You two could have at least saved me one bowl.” Then she grinned. “That’s okay, I have three more boxes hidden in the other closet.”
Dora jumped up and down, cheering. Whilst Duncan wished to join her, he stayed seated as if he did not care if there was more of the cereal. Though in truth, ’twas delicious.
Dora took the bowls to the sink and rinsed them out with a bottle of water.
“I have to go home now. I’ll see you later.” She ran out the door, letting it bang shut behind her.
Duncan leaned back in the chair, patting his belly. “What needs doing today? I will get fat if I keep lazing about.”
“We’re going to the store. I want to set up new scenes in the windows.”
“Might I drive the carriage?” Then he leaned in, sniffing. “Traitor. I smell chocolate. Where is it?”
“I found a chocolate bar in my drawer. I would have shared, but I looked down and it was gone. Sorry.”
He snorted. “Ye are not sorry at all, lass.”
“Nope.” Violet grinned. “Not a bit. Let’s go.” She tossed him the keys.
Duncan tamed the carriage. It did
as he bade and went faster and faster until Violet told him to slow down or they would get a ticket. Then she had to explain what that was and why he should care.
There were too many rules in this time. No one wanted him to have any fun. Instead, those in charge wished him to drive so slowly he could walk faster.
“Really? You’re pouting about the speed limit?” Violet rolled her eyes. “No one likes rules, but without them we would all turn into savages.”
He parked in front of the shop. “Stay in the car, there is a large puddle by your door.”
Before she could protest, he was around the car, opening the door and lifting her into his arms. She was light and smelled like new cloth, oranges, and sunshine. Her skin was like silk against his arms.
“What are you doing? People are staring. Put me down.”
“Nay. I shall carry you inside so your toes do not get wet.” Duncan spun her around, happy when she shrieked with laughter.
“Let them stare. They envy your beauty.”
She stared up at him; her eyes such a dark blue they almost looked purple. He went still, the sounds around them fading until there was only the sound of their heartbeats. Duncan pulled Violet close, leaned down and. Bang.
“Sorry, mister.” A boy went flying by after running into them.
He turned, eyes narrowed, and marked the boy who was laughing as he sped down the street.
“What was he riding?”
Violet shook her head. “A teenage boy almost mows us down and you want to know what he’s riding? Such a typical male.” She sighed. “It’s a skateboard. And no, you can’t try one. You’ll fall off and break your leg.”
At the door to the shop, Duncan set Violet on her feet and opened the door to the shop.
“Why do you decorate the window when no one can buy what they see?”
“To get them excited for what’s coming.”
She was pink all over, her eyes bright. So she had wished for him to kiss her as much as he desired to kiss her.
Violet touched her lips. Duncan had almost kissed her. If it hadn’t been for the skateboarder, he would have. She smiled to herself as she turned the lights on that Sam had rigged up to run off a battery pack. At least it was bright in the front of the store now that Sam and Duncan had taken down the boards covering the windows.
Falling Through Time: A Lighthearted Time Travel Romance (Knights Through Time Romance Book 13) Page 9