“I promise ye, Silva. I will think of a solution soon, and when I do, I shall return home to see ye relieved of yer duties as laird. Ye will then be free to leave. I dinna know ’twas so painful for ye to be there.”

I stood far back from Raudrich and Silva, but I could still hear his promise to her as he prepared to bid her farewell. The entire group of travelers was leaving today, then Raudrich and I truly would have the castle to ourselves for the next few weeks.

After seeing Silva settled on her horse, Raudrich moved to bid Pinkie and Griffith goodbye. As I stood there watching them, Sydney gently tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hey, come over here a second. I want to talk to you before we leave.”

I needed to speak with her, as well. Together, we walked to the edge of Freya’s garden, out of earshot and sight of Raudrich.

“I was wanting to speak to you too, actually. It seems that I may be taking you up on your offer of hospitality sooner rather than later, if that’s still okay? My sister means to travel back with our Mom and the father of my dearest friend. You haven’t met him.”

Sydney’s face lit up at the news.

“Of course, it’s okay. It will give me another excuse to visit you all here. Next time, I’ll bring Callum. I will see your sister and family through then Callum and I will escort them here. I’ll work on helping them make the adjustment, too. It’s never easy—realizing that all of this could be true.”

“Thank you so much, Sydney. I’m so happy to have met you. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”

She fidgeted nervously from foot to foot for a moment before finally straightening herself as if she’d finally worked up the nerve to say what she wished.

“Well, Laurel, I’m not really looking forward to saying anything about this to you, but Raudrich’s worth it, so for just a moment I’m going put aside my scruples and pretend I’m Morna for a minute and meddle. Raudrich is one of the most loyal men I’ve ever known. If he’s important to you, there is absolutely nothing he wouldn’t do for you. He’s all in with you, Laurel, I can tell. But I don’t quite get the same read from you. You’re happy, sure, but you don’t look like a woman who is crazy in love.

“If I’ve learned anything from my time in this century and with these people, it’s this: everything can change in a second. So, if you feel the same for him as he does for you, don’t wait to tell him. Don’t hold yourself back just because you’re scared. As you and I both know, time is a pretty relative concept anyway. Who cares if this happened quickly? That doesn’t make it any less right.”

I knew Sydney was right. Even as Kate had laid my destiny out before me, I resisted it. I was scared. I was scared that in the end he might change his mind. I was scared that somehow I wouldn’t be enough.

It was time for me to get over my fears. It was time for me to grow up.

---

Laurel was restless. From the moment Sydney and the others had left until they sat down for an evening meal, he’d watched as she paced around the castle, straightening things that didn’t need to be straightened and dusting things that were entirely free of dust.

She was nervous about something, and he didn’t know whether to pry or allow her whatever space she might need.

Eventually, as her fingers drummed over and over against the table while they ate, Raudrich couldn’t contain his concern any longer.

“Laurel, lass, ye’ve not stopped moving once all day. If there is something wrong, I wish ye would tell me.”

“Nothing’s the matter.”

She continued to drum her fingers over and over.

“I doona believe ye. Yer mind is elsewhere. Was it Freya? We never did get an opportunity to speak of what she said to ye. I’ve always known her to be a kind and friendly sort of woman, but mayhap she was different with ye?”

Laurel’s fingers stopped their assault on the table as she looked up at him in surprise.

“Not at all. Freya was great.”

It would’ve surprised him if Laurel had said otherwise, but it was the only thing he could think of. Unless… “’Twas Sydney, aye? Ach, what did she say to ye? I am sorry if she was unkind. She is like a sister to me—she can be verra protective.”

Laurel’s expression remained confused. “Sydney’s great, too.”

An unusual emotion was starting to build within him. It had been so long since he’d felt it, he almost didn’t recognize it—insecurity.

“If ’twas not Freya and ’twas not Sydney, then it must be me, lass. What did I do to upset ye? Do ye not wish to be here? Have ye tired of me already?”

For the first time in hours, Laurel really looked at him. As she smiled, his worries slowly faded away.

She stood from the table with a mischievous gleam in her eye and walked over toward him. He pushed his chair away from the table and stood to greet her as she stepped into his embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I’m not upset. There’s nowhere else in the world I want to be. And with every minute I spend with you, I become more and more sure of the fact that I’ll never grow tired of being around you.” Laurel paused and lifted her head so that her chin rested against his chest as she looked up at him. He loved the way her blue eyes sparked in the candlelight. “And do you know what else?” She didn’t wait for him to respond. “You’re kind of cute when you’re worried.”

“I wasna worried, lass. ’Tis only that I wouldna wish to keep ye here if ye dinna want to stay.”

He tried to argue, but he knew his expression had given everything away.

“I do want to stay. And you can deny it all you want, but you were worried just now. I don’t want you to worry ever again, Raudrich.”

His heart began to hammer painfully in his chest. There were only three words he wished to hear from her, but he didn’t know if she had it in her to trust him so completely just yet.

“Aye?”

“You don’t have to say anything back. I want you to know that. I know this has all happened very quickly, and if someone had told me a week ago I’d be about to say this to you now, I would’ve called them crazy…”

He couldn’t bear it another moment. Pulling away, he placed one finger across her lips to silence her before reaching to cup her face as he placed his forehead against hers.

“I’m in love with ye, lass. I doona care if I doona know yer last name or yer favorite season. I’ll gladly spend the rest of my life learning all that I can about ye. I’m a man who has always known my own heart, lass, and I knew right away that mine belonged to ye. Marry me. Marry me and make this castle yer home for good.”

She answered him with a kiss and a squeal. And right there in the empty dining hall, he got the dance he’d been denied the night before.

He’d not known such happiness could exist.

Why then did he feel such dread?