When were guys in white jackets going to show up with a straitjacket and take her away? None of this could be real.
People didn’t travel back in time. Faeries only existed in faerie tales.
Laurie’s mind raced. She paced from the bed to the fireplace, back and forth across the chamber while mumbling her chaotic thoughts to the silent room.
Patrick’s arms around her felt real. The memory grounded her. She shivered and wrapped one of the drying cloths around her shoulders. Picking up another cloth, she ran her fingers over the coarse fabric.
She needed to suspend long-held beliefs as to the workings of the natural world to accept the existence of faeries and time travel?
Well, duh, she traveled through time.
Caitrina spoke of destiny. Laurie rubbed her aching temples. Did her destiny truly involve Patrick? Her heartbeat spiked at the thought. He was a control freak and ordered her about, which she didn’t like, but he made her feel wanted. Special.
Lost in her whirling thoughts, she tensed when the door creaked open behind her. When she spun around, Elspeth stood in the threshold, blushing.
“Come in,” Laurie said in an effort to be friendly.
“Patrick sent me to assist you.” The young woman warily stepped into the room. “I will help you to bed.”
“Why? It’s the middle of the afternoon, I’m not tired.”
Elspeth winced. “Patrick thought you should rest.”
“Sorry. I don’t mean to offend you.” Laurie sighed. “It’s just that I need fresh air.”
“I will open the shutters.” Elspeth rushed to a window.
“No. I mean—”
“I am here to assist you.” The young woman twisted around.
“Why are you being nice to me? I’m a stranger.”
“You are a guest in my brother’s home. Highlanders live by a strict code of hospitality. Besides, I like you.”
“Listen, I have to get out of this room.” Laurie flipped her wet braid over her shoulder. “You promised to show me your garden. Can we go now?”
“You cannae go outside in that damp gown. You will catch your death.”
“Then help me change.”
Elspeth assisted with removing the soggy dress, and Laurie slipped into her comfy twenty-first century clothes. As they walked out of the castle proper and into the courtyard, Laurie tightened her tartan stole around her shoulders and used the brooch Caitrina gave her to secure the wool fabric.
“’Tis unusually warm for late spring,” Elspeth said.
“Is it?” Laurie hardly noticed the temperature, her emotions churned with too many conflicting and confusing feelings.
Images of Patrick’s bath remained vivid in her mind. She still tasted him on her lips and felt his hands on her breasts. She tried hard to push the memory to the farthest corner of her mind, refusing to admit her desire for him.
She pretended nothing naughty happened between her and Patrick. Naughty—what a silly word to describe what happened. They’d almost had sex.
She shouldn’t feel such a thrill.
With a sigh, she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other without thinking too hard. The afternoon might be salvageable, if she didn’t run into the irresistible man.
Laurie smiled at her guard and Elspeth as if she didn’t have a care in the world. They strolled the short distance to the garden nestled within the security of the castle’s outer fortifications. Enclosed within a high wall, the sanctuary offered both protection and solitude. She and Elspeth entered through the narrow stone archway, leaving Duncan outside to stand guard.
Laid out in a geometric grid, the castle garden provided a well at the center for irrigation. Heavy wooden planks held the soil in beds, most containing medicinal and culinary herbs and vegetables edged by lavender and white violets. Strawberry plants filled one bed and a large section dedicated to roses lay to the side. Though not yet in bloom, the roses’ shiny new leaves glistened in the sunlight. At the center of the rose garden grew a bench of living plants.
“’Tis a turf bench of chamomile. ’Twill flower soon,” Elspeth said with pride.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. Must be beautiful when in bloom.” Laurie followed Elspeth as they meandered through the garden.
“Most of the seedlings are collected from local fields and woods then planted here. Other plants are brought to me by friends and travelers who visit the castle.”
“What you’ve created here is amazing.”
“Thank you. My love for the garden came from my mother.” Elspeth’s voice saddened. “We spent hours together tending the plants. Since she is gone, I nurture the garden in her memory.”
“What happened to your mother?”
“My father and mother are missing—presumed dead by many—they disappeared three years ago while traveling across our land. After that, Patrick became chief of our clan.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Laurie’s chest tightened with sympathy.
“Aye, well.” Elspeth stopped to pick a brown leaf from one of the rose bushes. “My brother Archie often brings me gifts of seeds and cuttings from the Continent when he returns from his travels.”
“How many brothers and sisters do you have?”
“I am the only lass.” A sweet pout plumped Elspeth’s lips. “After Patrick, Archie is the eldest. He travels in France with my betrothed Alexander Campbell on embassage for the king. Suibne attends university in Glasgow while our wee brother, Iain the Younger, fosters with the Campbells of Glen Orchy.” Elspeth’s face glowed with love for her family.
“You must miss them.”
“Aye, sure, but now you are here.”
Laurie couldn’t help but smile as she glanced around the verdant garden. She needed this diversion. She stood near the well and spun in a circle. Her mood lifted. The garden held a tranquil beauty, pleasing and calming. Both, she desperately required.
“Elspeth, the garden is wonderful.”
The young woman gave Laurie an impetuous hug. “I hoped you would like it. As my companion you will be expected to help with the chores.”
“At home, I was learning about gardening.”
“Tell me about your home and how you came to be at Castle Lachlan. I would like verra much to ken where you came from. Patrick is secretive about your past.”
Laurie cleared her throat and glanced around nervously. She wasn’t sure where to begin or how much to share. And she definitely didn’t want anyone to overhear her. Still, she needed to tell someone. She truly needed a friend.
Somehow, she sensed she could trust Elspeth. The younger woman seemed so young and innocent; she couldn’t be much more than eighteen or nineteen. Yet an ageless wisdom shone in her silver eyes.
Elspeth seemed to understand Laurie’s hesitation and took her by the hand, leading her into the rose garden, where they sat on the turf bench. “Laurie, dinnae fear telling me. You must have a special gift, as I do. I see things others dinnae.”
Okay, this was awkward. Laurie seldom shared her personal life with anyone other than with her uncle David, who raised her, or her cousin Finn, when he wasn’t acting her boss. There were no women Laurie felt close to, at least not close enough to confide in. She’d always been too busy dealing with her business life, where the competitive nature of the work made it difficult to trust. Caitrina was the first woman she considered a friend.
Look where that got her.
She liked Elspeth. She easily believed the young woman had a special gift. From her flowed a sense of serenity.
Cautiously, Laurie began her story. She told Elspeth she quit her job and went to North Carolina. How she found the cottage with its garden and decided to move there. The story unwound and she told her about the strange happenings. About her dreams and visions. How she traveled through time, ending up in sixteenth century Scotland.
Precious expressions crossed Elspeth’s face while she listened. Wide-eyed through most of the story, she seemed to understand, though Laurie could tell at times Elspeth didn’t comprehend specific words or phrases.
“How did you get the brooch you wear on your plaide?” Elspeth asked when Laurie finished.
“Caitrina, the woman who helped me with my garden, gave it to me the night I traveled here.”
“Do you ken how she came to have it?”
“I think she might be a faerie,” Laurie confided in a whisper, fearing the other woman’s reaction.
Elspeth didn’t appear the slightest bit shocked. She continued to smile as if discussing faeries a common occurrence. “May I see the brooch?”
Laurie unclasped the pin and handed it to Elspeth.
The young woman ran her fingertips across the delicate artistry, studying the brooch in deep concentration. Her brow furrowed and she gazed at Laurie with moisture in her bright eyes. “’Tis lovely. It belonged to my mother.”
“The brooch belonged to your mother?”
“Aye. She was wearing it when she disappeared.” Elspeth handed the pin to Laurie.
“That’s incredible. Caitrina claimed the brooch was a reproduction, but I knew it had to be original. Here, you take it.” Laurie held the brooch out to Elspeth. “It rightly belongs to you and your family.”
“Nae.” Elspeth sniffled. “’Tis yours now. Since it was given to you by one of the Sithichean, the brooch must be a key to your future. Besides, I feel you are the sister I never had. We will have such fun in the garden together.” She hugged Laurie again.
“I’m sorry, I can’t stay.” Laurie glanced off across the garden. “I need to go home. I don’t belong here.”
“May I tell you what I believe?”
“Of course.”
“Events often happen for reasons that are hard to understand at first. Dreams tell you things you need to know. Your visions of Patrick. Your traveling here. Neither happened by accident. There is a reason you cannae yet see.” Elspeth’s gaze penetrated. “You must stay until you find out why you were sent to us.”
Why, indeed?