Katherine drank in the sights and sounds of the 2nd Street Promenade as they left Old Navy. Had she really been gone a year? These clothes weren't her style, but Luag wasn't going to be here long enough to warrant a trip to Beverly Hills on his behalf. The two of them would fit in now, instead of looking like starving actors advertising their show. That was all she'd meant to accomplish with this clothing purchase.

Staying close to the shops on the same side of the Promenade as her apartment in order to avoid the beady eyes of her loudmouth neighbor, she made her way down to the cafe beneath her apartment. She simply had to have a nonfat cinnamon latte, and they had pastries for Luag's stomach. Why had he grabbed onto her when she was wishing she could go home? His being here nearly ruined it for her.

She had no doubt Lauren's druid friend, Kelsey, could find a way to get Luag back to his time, but she didn't want to wait a month for Kelsey to contact her in her dreams. That University she'd gone to —where they'd made her a druid without her realizing it— kept her busy. She could only visit Lauren and her friends once a month or so.

Ooh! Maybe Kelsey’s email address or even her cell number was on that University's website. Katherine would look Kelsey up once they got to the café and she could charge her phone. She had taken so many pictures back in the 1400s that it was dead. Mostly of Jessica’s wedding.

Something in a jewelry store window caught Katherine’s eye as she passed by.

She gasped. Was that the new Alberto Milani ring? She pushed her whole body up against the window so that it blocked the sun and she could read the label on the box. It was! Shaking with excitement, she pushed her way through the heavy glass doors into the shop and found a salesperson.

"Can I see that new Alberto Milani ring, please? Size 6."

Annoyingly, Luag had followed her into the store and was standing there frowning. As usual, he didn't like something she'd done. "You know I hunger,” he said, “yet you stop to buy trinkets?”

"It's the new Alberto Milani," she told him before she realized he wouldn't even know who that was. Ugh, he was so tiring. She paid for and wore the ring, which reminded her about Luag’s new Swiss Army Knife. She handed him its box and threw the shopping back away.

With a sheepish grin, he took the knife out of its box and slid its sheath onto the belt of his new walking shorts.

Soon, they were once more on their way to the food he'd said he wanted.

"Katherine?"

"Yeah?" She turned to look at his surprisingly earnest face.

"Will you help me get one of those master cards so that I can buy things too?" The hopeful tone in his voice was kind of endearing despite how annoying he could be.

She laughed. "You actually have to have money to pay those."

"I have money," he said, reaching for his backpack.

She threw her hands up. "Anyway, we’re getting you home, so you won't need a MasterCard."

The smile he gave her at that was even more hopeful, and she smiled, herself, in relief. Good, she would be rid of him soon.

The coffee aroma hit her twenty feet from the door of the café.

She breathed in deep, savoring the taste she'd missed for a year. It was midmorning, and the place was crowded. Spotting an empty outlet, she pointed it out to Luag. "Quick, go save that thing on the wall while I get our food." She used the sign language the two of them both knew well from playing Charades together for a year, so that no one would overhear it. She almost gave him her phone to plug in, but thought better of it. Who knew what trouble someone from the Middle Ages would get into trying to harness electricity? She shuddered.

Using the same sign language, he said he would do as she asked. Only, he used the warrior signal for guarding it, rather than the Charades signal for saving it, which puzzled her at first.

It was kind of fun watching him skulk over there like the warrior he was while she stood in line to give her order to the barista. The amount of caution he used! To her, this cafe was like an extension of her upstairs apartment, she spent so much time here. His caution reminded her that he was out of his element the same way she had been when she first arrived in 1410 Scotland and met him in Inverurie.

Despite the contempt she had for him as someone who could never approve of anything she did, she felt the tiniest bit of sympathy for Luag, knowing just how bad his culture shock certainly was.

And then she giggled at seeing him sit down and just watch everyone warily. Anyone else would be on their phone.

In fact, while she watched, several people approached him.

"Hey buddy, you going to use that outlet?”

She giggled harder at their reactions when Luag gave them the sternest look they'd probably ever seen in their lives.

The good news was Kelsey had indeed paid Katherine’s bills as she’d promised. Her cards were working just fine. She'd used two different ones at Old Navy and the jewelry store. Getting out a third one, she finally approached the barista.

Lupe’s face lit up, and she started Katherine’s nonfat cinnamon latte immediately. "Where have you been for a whole year, Chica?"

Katherine gave Lupe her signature nose wrinkle and her level seven smile, saying "Scotland" as if it were no big deal.

Lupe made an impressed face while routinely saying, "Anything else?" as if she didn’t expect a yes.

"Yeah,” Katherine perused the pastry case. “One of those slices of cheesecake." Her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn't eaten since last night.

The barista laughed "You don't look like you changed your eating that much in Scotland."

Katherine laughed a little too. "Of course not. Give me two forks." She used this opportunity to glance over and make sure Luag was still doing okay.

Still on high alert, he started to get up, signing to her, “Do you need help?”

“No, stay there,” Katherine quickly signed back.

He sat back down, but his eyes scanned the area around her.

Lupe made an appreciative clicking noise. "No wonder you spent so long in Scotland. He’s one of your models, no? He’s a good one. I wouldn’t mind trying out survival gear with him."

Katherine didn't correct her. It was a good cover story, so she just let it stick. "Thank you," she said with a smile as Lupe handed her a tray with the cheesecake slice and her latte.

"Aren't you going to get your guapo something to drink?"

"He doesn't drink coffee. But yeah, please give me a big water for him, and thanks.”

As soon as Katherine plugged her phone in, it went nuts.

You have 6,973 notifications.

She spent the next few minutes sending mass texts, explaining to all her contacts she was fine and she would catch up with them later.

She checked her employer’s website to see the new products they'd put out during the last year. Wow, it would be fun selling that James-Bond-style underwater breather. And those working cell-phone earrings. Wow, she would have to drop by the shop asap and get a pair of those.

Against her will, she imagined Luag modeling PenUlt’s new survival knapsack, made of genuine cowhide. Lupe was right, it would look so good on him up on a mountain in the Highlands…

Now now. Get your mind away from the impossible and back to the task at hand: getting rid of Luag.

She downloaded a book about the history of Luag’s town, Inverurie. Hoping it would give her ideas on how to get him home, she put in one of her ear buds so she could listen to it, offering the other to Luag.

It was more fun watching his reactions than listening to the book. His eyes popped open wide when the narration started, and he kept grinning or gritting his teeth at what was said about the town where his best friend Leif was laird.

They were on Chapter 6 when Lupe waved as she left the café. "See you soon, Chica. Si?"

Katherine raised up her nonfat cinnamon latte in salute to the woman who made them perfectly. "See you tomorrow!"

Lupe smiled as she left.

Taking a sip of the delectable drink, Katherine was so glad she'd come home at last. She fired up the browser on her phone and searched for Kelsey MacGregor. Encouraged at seeing a number of hopeful possibilities, she clicked on the first one.

But the outlet was awkwardly far away from the table, making her block the aisle with her cord, now that she was holding her phone up to look at it. Afraid someone would trip, she got up and stood against the wall.

Luag was moving next to her when a man looking at his phone ran into Katherine.

"Excuse me, I didn't see you—"

Luag got in the man's face. "You will apologize to the lass!"

Katherine put her hand on Luag's wrist, trying to get his attention. “It was an honest mistake.”

But Luag continued staring at the man, nostrils flaring and fists clenching.

She noticed that everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle.

Wearing a barista apron, a man she didn't know came over and stood behind Luag. "Sir, you need to leave. Now." He gave Katherine an apologetic look. "Sorry, ma'am, store policy. We don't allow customers to speak to each other that way."

Katherine nodded at the barista, picked up what was left of her latte, put her phone in her bag, and grabbed Luag by the wrist, dragging him out the door. Once they were outside, she dragged him around the corner.

Away from her neighbor’s prying eyes and ears, she lit into him. "You cannot act that way in this time!"

"Me act a certain way! He was manhandling you!"

"He was on his phone and didn't see me. It happens all the time."

"It shouldn't happen at all, and to hear you say it happens all the time makes me wonder why you want to be in this time!"

"This time is far more enlightened as to women's independence than your time!"

Luag’s face turned crazed. "You want to be independent? Fine!" He ran down the sidewalk toward the cliff over the ocean two blocks away.

"Good riddance," Katherine said to herself. She'd had more than enough of his superior take-charge attitude this past year. The man was insufferable. Halfway up to her apartment, she decided to call PenUlt and tell them she was back and would come in tomorrow to once more be their top salesperson.

She dug out her keys and went inside. There was so much to do! Make sure she had something to wear tomorrow, coax the salon into a haircut and manicure on short notice… Good thing Luag had run off. She needed this whole afternoon to get ready. But first things first. She was going to take a hot bath. She’d missed those even more than lattes.