“Are you ready for lunch?” Bethany asked, gesturing to the picnic blanket. “I brought enough for Gavin and Delilah, too —”
“Emily, where did you — oh! Good!”
Delilah came jogging down the street, her hair askew, but she slowed her pace when she saw her daughter safe and sound in her sister’s arms.
“She’s going to be the death of me, I swear,” she panted. “Is that lunch? Brilliant.”
Gavin and Delilah had been working on the interior of one of the new houses — they all headed to a hill just outside of town for lunch, as had become their habit over the last few months of construction. There was a bench there that they could brush the snow off, and it afforded a gorgeous view of the little town, so they could reflect on all their hard work as they ate. Emily set about playing in the snow, her little hands protected by woolen mittens that Mary had knitted for her, and Bethany leaned her head against Graham’s shoulder as they watched the little girl play, feeling utterly at peace.
“Can’t believe how quickly we’ve rebuilt,” Delilah said, gazing down at the village. “Soon it’ll be like the mercenaries were never here.”
“Good,” Graham said firmly. He still hadn’t quite come to terms with the things he’d done while in Matthew’s service, the evils he’d allowed to continue… but Bethany knew he was working on it. Rebuilding the town had been therapeutic for him, she suspected… a way of physically repairing some of the damage that Matthew had caused. The disgraced knight was long gone — some unfamiliar English soldiers had come to collect him a week or so after the siege had broken, and nobody had seen hide nor hair of him since. Nor had they seen Adolf, who, true to his word, had disappeared into the forest and not been seen again. Where had he gone, Bethany wondered sometimes. Off to join some other band of witch hunters? She talked about it with Graham late at night sometimes — he was hopeful that his old friend had found something worthwhile to do with himself.
“And once the village is all finished,” Delilah said, shooting her sister a sidelong glance, “we can all start planning the wedding.”
“Can’t wait,” Graham said, smiling down at her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. There was a hint of sadness in his face… but only a hint. She knew he’d always miss Galena… in a way, she missed her too. It was a terrible thing for such a young woman to lose her life. She hoped she was there somewhere, somehow, watching over them. And Bethany had a feeling that if Galena could see them now, gazing out over the beautiful landscape in the shadow of the proud Castle MacClaran behind them… that she’d be just as happy as Bethany was.
“Then you can start a family, too,” Gavin said brightly as Emily hurled a fistful of snow at him. “All of this splendor can be yours. You can borrow her any time you like if you’d like a bit of practice.”
Bethany laughed. She’d been thinking more and more about children lately… the idea of having kids had never been something she’d given much thought to, but she’d fallen completely in love with her charming little niece. The idea of a child of her own… a round-faced baby with Graham’s gorgeous blue eyes, giggling and laughing in her arms… well, it was rather appealing. And she knew that Graham wanted children, too. She knew he’d make an excellent father. But for the time being, they were being careful in their lovemaking. Cora had provided her with some herbal supplements that she promised would harmlessly reduce her fertility for as long as she was taking them… without any damage to her ability to conceive once she stopped.
“After the wedding,” Bethany said now, grinning at Gavin. “Let us have a bit of peace first before we start adding to the population of little ones.”
All of the time travelling women had had at least one child, she reflected. She supposed that made sense… not that she knew much about time travel, of course, but she suspected that reproducing was important. After all, they were all strictly speaking the descendants of the women they’d come back in time to replace… that meant they needed to create descendants, now that they were back here. She wondered what it meant for her sister that her daughter had such profound magical power… would that be passed on, down the line? It was strange to think about — Emily was Delilah’s daughter, but in a strange way she was also her great-great-great-something grandmother — which made her Bethany’s grandmother, too. They couldn’t figure out which side it was on. Bethany was convinced that it was her mother’s side — she’d always had a witchy energy. But Delilah thought it was their father.
Either way… it was undeniable that the little girl had considerable magical ability. She’d progressed from simply levitating toys that she could see to actually manifesting them in her hands — they’d disappear from wherever they were and reappear in front of her whenever she decided she wanted to play with them. It was a little frightening, if they were honest… she just hoped that Emily’s cognitive abilities would develop quickly enough for her to come to terms with her strange powers, and to use them wisely.
But that was a problem for the future. For now, the worst thing that the little girl ever did was levitate snowballs to lob at her father… who was laughing now, protesting as he rose to his feet and scooped up a handful of snow to throw back at his daughter. She giggled wildly, running away from him down the hill, and Delilah and Bethany shared a look of amusement. Before long, Graham was on his feet, also getting involved in the snowball fight… the two men roared with amusement as they hurled snowballs back and forth, Emily giggling as she watched the fray unfold before her.
“Two kids, not one,” Delilah sighed, a grin twitching at the corner of her mouth. “What a life.”
“What a life,” Bethany agreed thoughtfully. “I can’t believe you dragged me all the way to medieval Scotland.”
“Hey! We have already established that that wasn’t me. It was Graham. Or Morag, depending on who we feel like blaming today.”
“Do you ever miss it? Back home, I mean?”
Delilah sighed, her eyes going out to the horizon, and they sat in contemplative silence for a long moment. It was so beautiful out here, despite the cold. But sometimes Bethany thought back to the bright lights of home, the big city, the convenience of cars and public transport… God, what she wouldn’t give for a hot shower on a cold day, or the convenience of a dishwasher or laundry machine…
But then her eyes settled on Graham. He was covered in snow, laughing uproariously as he fell dramatically to his knees. Emily toddled over to him like a conquering hero, shrieking laughter as she tackled him — he fell backwards into the snow like a wounded animal and feigned a dramatic and drawn-out death.
“I miss it sometimes,” Delilah said softly. “Mostly, I just miss Mom and Dad.”
“Yeah, me too.” It felt awful, not being able to reach out to their parents, to tell them where they were — that they were safe and happy. “I just can’t stop thinking about how scared they must be … you going missing, then me disappearing a week later. I don’t even know if the Army would have tracked me down.”
“Are you technically a deserter if you just disappeared?” Delilah asked, a grin on her face. “They can’t prove you deserted, right?”
“I guess not. I’m an honorable soldier, still.” She grinned. “But I’m marrying a confirmed deserter, so that’s probably worse.”
“Oh, that doesn’t count. He was deserting the bad guys.”
“Some people would say that all armies are the bad guys,” Bethany pointed out thoughtfully. She wasn’t immune to the negative reputation the US Army had had — though, all of that geopolitical mess felt very far away. She supposed that in a very real sense, it was. The US Army wouldn’t be invented for hundreds of years… let alone all the conflicts that had led to its reputation. There was something peaceful about that, sitting here on the side of a hill and watching their family play in the snow. There was still war, of course. There would always be war… even this brief lull of peace wouldn’t last long. The rumors that had brought witch hunters to their door were still out there
, and no doubt the mercenaries who’d escaped would tell all kinds of stories about what they’d experienced at the witch-infested Castle MacClaran.
But we can handle it, Bethany thought, looking fondly at her sister, at her betrothed and Gavin playing in the snow with her neice. Their close ties would get them through anything that medieval Scotland saw fit to throw at them… they knew each other, they trusted each other, they’d fight for each other. Here in Clan MacClaran, she’d finally found what she’d always loved most about the Army… a sense of camaraderie, of belonging, of family. And even better — her sister was here.
“I miss Mom and Dad, and Mike,” she said finally, reaching out to squeeze Delilah’s hand. “But I’ve got you, so that’ll do.”
Delilah giggled. “What if Mike turned up one day?”
“The curse doesn’t work like that. Tell me the curse doesn’t work like that!”
“I don’t know, I think Mike’d have a great time in medieval Scotland —”
“Definitely not. No computer. He’d go insane within a week.”
They laughed — but Bethany couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow at the idea that she’d never see her brother again. Maybe there is some way of getting a message to him, she thought, frowning to herself. Could she pass some kind of message on to her children, tell them to pass it to theirs… a kind of family heirloom that was just a letter, telling her mother and father and brother that she loved them, that she lived a good and happy life, that she was safe and content and fulfilled? Could she tell them about Graham, about what a wonderful life partner she’d found?
Maybe, she thought, gazing thoughtfully down the hill at where the men were now wrestling in the snow, egged on by a cackling Emily. Maybe there was some way to send a message… not that she could ever get a response. But I have Delilah, she reminded herself. That was more than many of the others had… she spared a thought for Karin, whose whole family had been left behind, for Fiona and Marianne, who had nobody but each other.
But they did have each other, didn’t they? A bizarre kind of time-traveling sisterhood… a group of women bound by their shared past as time travelling strays… and their shared future as women of Clan MacClaran.
“Do you think there are any more of us?” Delilah asked unexpectedly. “Any more time-lost women, waiting to get yanked back to us?”
“Surely not,” Bethany said doubtfully. “There are no MacClarans left.”
“That’s what we thought when you turned up,” Delilah pointed out. “Who knows how many women Kenneth bedded while he was out? It’s possible Graham has siblings. What if they fell in love with women while the curse was still active?”
“Then I guess we better get that spare room ready.” Bethany chuckled, glancing sideways at her sister. “They’ll find their way to us eventually, I’m sure. And when they do, we’ll be ready to help them.”
Graham and Gavin came back up the hill after a few minutes, both breathing hard and completely covered in snow. Laughing, Bethany dug into the picnic basket she’d brought, distributing sandwiches made from last night’s beef — they all set about eating their meals, talking and laughing as the afternoon sun warmed their faces. It was such an unbelievably beautiful place. Bethany couldn’t believe she’d found such peace in such a bizarre setting.
The future was uncertain, she knew that. It was possible that there would be more dark times up ahead. But right now, sitting on the hillside with her sister and her family, all she could think about was how happy she was… and how much joy there was in the future, still to come.
* * *
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About Rebecca Preston
Rebecca lives in New York City with her dog. She loves sweet love stories with great characters. She loves traveling the world and experiencing new cities and cultures. Jane Austen is her favorite author.
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Also by Rebecca Preston
Highlander Of Time Series
Highlander Found - Book 1
Highlander Warrior - Book 2
Highlander Protected - Book 3
Highlander Smitten - Book 4
Highlander Fallen - Book 5
Highlander Cursed - Book 6
Highlander Avenged - Book 7
Highlander Forever Series
Rescued By The Highlander - Book 1
Stranded By The Highlander - Book 2
Swept By The Highlander - Book 3
Jane Austen Fan Fiction
Arranged To Darcy
A White Darcy Christmas
A Convenient Darcy Marriage
Married To Darcy
Elizabeth And Darcy
Saving Mr. Darcy
Mr. Darcy Forgotten
Mr. Darcy’s Pride
Highlander Avenged: A Scottish Time Travel Romance Page 25