Chapter 10
Edinburgh, Scotland
Despite Laurel’s insistence that there were people at Cagair Castle who would welcome us whenever we decided to show up, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was very bad manners to just show up at someone’s home unannounced. So, as Mom and David waited for our suitcases at baggage claim, I moved away to connect to the airport wi-fi so I could look up the number to call Cagair Castle.
A man’s voice answered on the second ring. “’Ello.”
“Hi…um…” I hesitated and my cheeks warmed as I realized I really should’ve planned what I was going to say before dialing. “This is going to seem like a very strange phone call. Do you mind if I ask who I’m speaking with?”
“Certainly, lass. My name is Orick. Might I ask ye the same question?”
“Yes, of course. My name is Kate. Is there…would it be possible for me to speak to either Sydney or Gillian?”
“I’m sorry, lass, but I’m afraid they’ve gone out for a bit.” He paused, and I couldn’t help but wonder if what he couldn’t say was that they’d gone into the past using the castle’s stairwell. “And they are unreachable at the moment. Are ye certain that I canna help ye?”
“Sure. Maybe. Do you know Morna?”
It seemed to me that was the most important question I could ask him. If he did know Morna, then surely he knew about the magic, and I could speak freely with him without sounding like a lunatic.
The man laughed, and his tone changed to one of recognition.
“Ah. I thought it strange that the phone was ringing. Rarely happens. Ye must be Laurel’s sister, aye? Sydney told us to be expecting ye. Come on then. The lassies should be back by evening. If they are not, I’ll see that rooms are ready for ye. How many others are with ye?”
I let out a big sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank you so, so much. Just me and two others.”
“Perfect. I’ll see that three spare rooms are ready for this evening. Safe travels. We shall see ye soon.”
He hung up before I could say goodbye. By the time I turned around, my mother was standing right next to me, her hand inside Mr. Crinkles’ carrier to pet him. She glanced at the phone and then back at me, and her cheeks flushed with excitement.
“Was that Dillon? Did you finally give in and answer the phone?”
I sighed and shook my head. Morna’s potion had worked wonderfully. It had been way too easy to tell them everything on the plane. They listened quietly, took a minute to collect themselves, and then somehow—obviously due to the magic—were able to come to the conclusion that everything I said made sense. They both had no desire to be separated from their children, so they were as ready to go into the past as I was. Unfortunately, the potion seemed to have no effect on my mother’s desire to meddle in my love life.
“No, it wasn’t Dillon. I called Cagair Castle just to let them know that we were on our way there. I’m not going to be speaking to Dillon again. Please let it go.”
She pinched her lips together and furrowed her brows. “Okay, dear, I just really think it would be best if you spoke to him. It’s possible he really needs to get ahold of you.”
Ignoring her, I threw my head to the side to motion toward the rental car building and walked on ahead.
“Let’s get going. I’m eager to get there.”
Cagair Castle
At the advice of Sydney and Gillian—both of whom were beautiful, kind, and had husbands that looked like male models—we agreed to wait until after dinner to be shown to our rooms. They both believed that if we saw them now, we’d be too tempted to rest, and the best thing we could do to adjust to the time change would be to power through the rest of the day.
Instead, we spent a lovely day at the castle exploring the grounds with the owners and having a lovely dinner filled with great conversation.
Once dinner was over, and it was deemed late enough for us to go to sleep, Gillian led us to our rooms.
David looked awestruck as he stared down the hallway lined with doors. He was such an enjoyable travel companion. He was so gleeful about everything. “There are so many rooms. How do you not forget which one is yours?”
“Well, all of our rooms are in another wing that has fewer rooms, so that makes it a little easier. This room is yours, David. There are extra pillows and blankets in the wardrobe, and there are towels in the cabinet in the bathroom. If you need anything else, I’ll hang around in the sitting room for awhile to make sure that you guys are settled.”
He nodded, thanked her, and opened the door to the room. Before stepping inside, he turned to ask one last question. “What are the other room assignments?”
I felt my brows lift at his question. Why did he need to know which rooms we were staying in? I looked over at Gillian to see that her confused expression matched my own.
Before she could respond, David attempted to course correct. “You know, just in case there’s some emergency and I need to rescue them. If I had to open every door, I might not make it in time.”
I smiled at him and leaned in to give him a hug goodnight. “You would rescue us, wouldn’t you, David?”
He squeezed me tightly before pulling away. “Of course I would. Now which room is whose?”
“Myla is in the third room from the stairwell on the other side of the hall, and Kate is closest to the stairwell on the other side.”
David smiled and gave a quick nod before disappearing into his room.
Gillian moved to loop her right arm with my left as she walked me over to the room they’d set aside for me.
“They’re both as lovely as you are. All right, here is your room. The rooms are set up in much the same way so you can find pillows and towels in the same places I told David. The only difference between this room and the others is that it shares a connecting bathroom with the room next to it, but don’t worry, it’s unoccupied. Since your escorts have yet to arrive, I suspect they won’t get here until morning.”
“Escorts?” I was under the impression that Sydney and her husband would be seeing us to the Isle.
“Oh.” Gillian shook her head as if she just remembered. “We all thought you knew. Sydney found out she was pregnant a few weeks ago and doesn’t feel comfortable traveling that far in such cool weather. Your sister is sending Maddock and Paton—two of the other men on the Isle—to see you guys back.”
“That’s wonderful!” I smiled at such happy news for Sydney. I would have to remember to congratulate her in the morning.
Gillian nodded in agreement. “Yes, it is. We are all very excited. Anyway, please do make yourself at home. I don’t want you to feel as if you have to stay cooped up in your room all night. Feel free to roam around the castle or the grounds. The moon is bright tonight. You should be able to see just fine, and the garden out back is lit anyway. Do you need anything?”
I shook my head. “No. Thank you so much for all of this.”
I was so sleepy I was certain I would fall asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. Instead, the moment I lay down, my mind started racing a million miles a minute.
Mom’s obsession with Dillon’s phone calls to me didn’t make sense, and now that I had a moment to myself, they were starting to worry me. A lot. Something was amiss about the entire situation. Come morning, I was intent on finding out exactly what it was.
“You two look exhausted.”
The journey from The Isle to Cagair Castle had been a miserable one. He and Paton rode hard, but with the rain and the mud, the journey had been slower than expected. When they rode up to the front door of the castle, they were beyond weary.
“Aye, ’twas wretched weather the whole way. Thank ye for waiting up for us.”
Sydney waved a dismissive hand as Callum came outside and gathered their horses.
“It was no trouble at all. Callum will see your horses to the stables. I’d originally planned for you to sleep in this century tonight, but both of you really look like you could use a nice hot shower. Wanna sleep in the twenty-first century?”
He wasn’t sure what a shower was, but anything described as nice and hot sounded too good to pass up.
“Every muscle in my body aches, and I doona know if I will ever be able to get warm again, so if ye think there is something in yer own time that can help us with that, I’ll sleep anywhere ye wish.”
Sydney laughed.
“You’ll love it. Let’s go.”