Hayley was the first guest to arrive. “I brought Scotch whisky!” She bustled into the living room and hugged me and kissed me on both cheeks. “It’s meant to be ironic!”

I relieved her of the bottle and carried it to our stuffed liquor cabinet. “You didn’t have to bring presents. You’ve been here every day. You helped us move in.”

“Plus I found you the place, but still the first party deserves a present.” She spun around while taking her jacket off. “You hung pictures. This has a much better vibe than your last place.”

I followed her eyes. There was the photo of our dinner after our wedding hanging in the living room. A selfie we took at Disney World placed on the mantle. The photo of Magnus that I took in 1702 was printed and framed and hanging as well. If anyone asked he was on his land in Scotland. The date need not apply.

Beside that? One of the five paintings I owned that looked suspiciously as if it was painted by Pablo Picasso. With a signature that said as much. This was something I needed to handle someday.

Ben was happily banging on the tray of his high chair. Emma was arranging appetizers on a platter. Zach was bustling in the kitchen preparing dinner for twenty. Thankfully this kitchen was four times as big as the apartment’s kitchen.

Hayley did well finding the house for us. Signing the lease for me. Money-laundering the payments through her own account. She was doing everything she could to help us hide.

Hayley went to the sliding doors and looked out over the beach. “Too bad it’s cold out there today. Your deck is awesome.”

“Yep, we maybe should have checked the weather before we planned the housewarming. But that’s literally what it’s called — a housewarming. Not a deck-party. So it’s better anyway, more literal.”

“I thought all you did was check the weather?” She gestured at the Weather Channel beaming across the room from the tv on the wall.

I said, “Yeah, well as you know, we’re especially interested in the weather over Michael’s uncle’s unused land near Gainesville. So far so good. No storms over the vessels.”

“So if there are storms you’ll drive down to protect them?”

“Not if, when — when there are storms. We have the shovels packed in the trunk of the Mustang for when it happens. Speaking of Michael’s uncle, when does Michael get here?”

“A few moments. He’s bringing Tyler again.”

“Seriously? Well, at least he’ll get to meet Magnus, then he can stop being interested in me at all.”

“You are so full of yourself, maybe he’s here because he likes to spend every weekend with Michael?”

“Right, are you hearing yourself?”

She chuckled. “Though as you mention it he didn’t come once while you were gone.”

“See?”

“I do see, I also see that my hand has yet to be holding a drink. Zach! I’m practically your sister-in-law and I’m about to die of thirst over here.”

Zach said, “When ya gonna go ahead and marry him, anyway? It would be a lot fuckin’ easier to take orders from you if you were a relative instead of just some chick at a party.” He brought her a glass of wine and kissed her hello on the cheek.

“You see what I’m dealing with here, Katie, literally everyone is pressuring me.” She sighed over-dramatically. “I’ll have to sign us up for another race. I’m going to run out of the fun ones. I’ll be forced to do an Iron Man.”

We sat down in the living room. It was decorated beach house modern, but in pale blues and greens instead of the peaches and pinks of our last house.

It suited us better, more wood, a little smaller. Though it had enough room for Zach’s family to live here too. There was a lot less glass, plastic, and chrome. Best part? Lady Mairead had never ever been here. She had never even been to the north end of the Island.

She would have a very hard time finding us.

We had no paper trail at all. Magnus’s uncle Samuel would never find us.

But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try.

And it didn’t mean we could ever stop hiding.

As Magnus explained — all it took was dropping our guard once ten years from now and our whole history would be known. I always thought of time as linear, but from the future looking back, each of our individual histories became flattened. My entire life was a long line, but within the longer line of history each life was just a vertical notch down the horizontal string marking the centuries.

Three hundred years from now my entire life would be summed up in the dash between my birth year and my death year. Kaitlyn Campbell lived from this date until this date. Even if I hid my entire life, well, my obituary might include my address and then I would be found.

There was no hiding from a future. Unless you always hid. So we would.

Michael walked in a moment later, James right behind him, then Tyler too. I welcomed them all. “Where’s Magnus?” James asked.

“Getting dressed, we visited my grandmother this morning for the first time and then he had a training session this afternoon. I haven’t even seen him yet this evening.”

“Cool, I haven’t seen him since he got back from Scotland.”

Emma brought a tray of appetizers to the table. Another larger crowd appeared, more friends and acquaintances, until we had twenty people easily. We stood around the table and talked and laughed, a full living room, lots of friends. And then a few minutes later from down the hallway came Magnus. Carrying his sword in its sheath. Wearing his kilt, a linen shirt. He was so — awesome. He ran his hand through his damp hair, leaned his sword in the corner, and then his eyes found mine in the crowd.

Aye.

Yes.

He came directly to me and swept me into an arm and kissed me in greeting. Then he was introduced to the guests he didn’t know and shook hands and hugged with the guests he did. “Master Cook! Tis good tae see ye.”

They did that man hug with the pat on the back. James immediately said, “So explain about Quentin?”

“Och aye, I had a need for him tae remain in Scotland for a time. He’s a good man tae handle my business for me.”

James grinned. “Well, okay. I mean, he’s been my friend since we were six years old but I don’t think anyone thinks of him as the kind of guy that can ‘handle business’.”

“Och.” Magnus drew his brow. He looked down at his beer. “Ye are sayin’ Quentin is nae capable? I have found him tae be brave and loyal and able tae handle everything I need done. Ye winna hear me sayin’ a word about him that is nae filled with gratitude.”

James laughed. “Are we talking about the same guy?”

I said, “James, you and Quentin have a long history. You remember him making a lot of mistakes, but as far as Magnus and I are concerned, Quentin is a hero. I won’t accept anyone talking shit about him in my house. Even in a ‘friendly’ way.”

James put his hands up. “Okay, okay. I get it. And he served in the military. You’re right, he’s a hero. Plus he’s getting to rewrite history. Wish I could do that sometimes.” He raised his eyes to mine.

“Who are you talking about rewriting your history with, me? Lee Ann? Every girl you ever slept with? You don’t have to rewrite your past. You have to do everything with your dick differently from this day forward. With new people. Sheesh.” I rolled my eyes at Hayley and giggled while we each took a drink.

I glanced over at Magnus. He smiled at me. I smiled back. And the whole night was a lot like that, through tray after tray of appetizers and conversation with all those people. He caught my eye. He lingered on my face. He hung on my words.

Soon enough Zach and Emma brought out the actual dinner, after we were already too full. Magnus joked that Zach was making up for lost time and shoveled in a big bite.

Micheal joked, “We’ll have to hire you to cater our wedding, right Hayley?” Her eyes went wide.

Zach said, “Well, about that, baby brother, I’m not really a ‘for hire’ caterer. I have a fucking job.” He placed a tray down on the table.

Michael said, “I know, I just meant—”

“I know what you meant. I’ll cater your wedding as a gift because I have a job. I have a family. I have a home. I don’t need anyone’s charity.”

All eyes were on Zach. He ran his hands through his hair with a groan. Then he said, “You know what? I meant this to happen differently…” He looked across the table where Emma sat in front of her plate of food. “Emma, I’ve been planning to ask you to marry me. I wanted to do it when I drove you home from our first date four years ago, but I came up with a ton of bullshit reasons not to, like marriage isn’t cool enough or that I didn’t need a contract to prove how I feel.” He came around the table and pushed her chair back and kneeled in front of it. “Since then I’ve wanted to marry you every single day but I’ve been scared to ask.”

Emma had tears rolling down her cheeks. “You were scared to ask?”

“Terrified. What if you said no?”

“We have a baby.”

“No one has ever called me smart.” He took her hand and held it in her lap. “Every time someone told me I needed to marry you it got worse. I didn’t want you to think I was being forced. You deserve so much better than that. You deserve the kind of guy who drops to his knee after the first date.”

“I don’t know, I thought marriage was pretty uncool for a while there too.”

“Yeah, well, I definitely should have dropped to a knee when Ben was born. There’s no excuse. I love you. I’m not being forced. I want to marry you. I always have. Will you marry me? And before anyone starts asking, no, I didn’t buy a fucking ring, I didn’t plan this through, though I — I will buy you a ring. You can pick it out.”

Emma said, “Yes.”

Tears were rolling down my cheeks. Magnus took my hand.

Zach and Emma spoke to each other, little whispers, “Really?” and “Of course” and “I love you.”

Magnus stood and said, “I dinna think I would get tae see ye become a husband, Master Zach, but I always ken ye would make a fine one.” He raised his glass. “A h-uile là sona dhuibh 's gun là idir dona dhuib. May all your days be joyous. Slainte.”

We all said, “Slainte!” and everyone drank. And we ate dinner, and drank and laughed.

Then dinner was over and Magnus stood in the living room in front of our big screen tv watching the weather. Zach and I had taught him how to watch it — how to read the radar. How the graphs worked. What the predictions meant. Though he didn’t need the predictions, our storms would be a surprise.

Magnus asked Tyler a question about a nor’easter that was predicted for the following week and Tyler stood beside him and they talked about the weather for a while.

Hayley was talking with Michael and then turned to me. “Katie, help me! Michael can’t do the Warrior Dash this weekend — can you come? Can you do it with me? Remember you owe me for the whole deserting me in Scotland thing?”

My eyes went to Magnus. “Maybe, if—”

“I’ll ask him. Magnus, can Katie run the Warrior Dash with me this weekend? You can come cheer her on.”

Magnus came to the dining room table with a big smile. “Kaitlyn, ye would want tae? I wanted tae do one with ye, but my ribs arna good enough.”

“I would, it sounds awesome. Okay Hayley, count me in.”

He joked, “Would monsters be chasin’ her? I would have trouble nae drawin’ my sword tae protect her and Quentin isna here tae stop me.”

Zach laughed. “I’ll come watch. I’ll keep you from drawing your sword.”

Hayley said, “Besides there are no monsters, this is just an obstacle course.”

Zach worked on his phone and brought up the website for the Warrior Dash and showed the main photo to Magnus.

His eyes got big. “Aye, Kaitlyn will race it and win it.”

I laughed. “Well, I doubt I’ll win it, but it sounds like you’re going to make a great cheering section.”

Magnus put his hands around his mouth and pretended to chant. “Presenting Madame Kaitlyn Campbell of the Campbells of Balloch on the south bank of the River Tay now living in Fernandina Beach!”

Zach laughed. “Or Katie! Katie! Katie!”

Magnus grinned. “That has a better sound.”

Tyler asked, “Are you sure? I mean, Katie hasn’t been training, right? Lots of people train for these things, she could get hurt.”

Magnus looked at Tyler incredulously. “What are ye sayin’, ye daena believe Kaitlyn can do the race?”

Hayley said, “It’s just a short one. It’s no big deal. If I can do it, she can do it.”

Tyler said, “I mean I don’t know, I just thought she might want—”

Magnus asked, “Kaitlyn, ye want tae do the race?”

I swigged from my beer wiped my mouth on my arm. “Now more than ever.”

Magnus tilted his head back with his cocky grin. “At our home in Scotland Kaitlyn must cross an obstacle course such as this just tae get tae the chamberpot. I think she can crawl through a mud pit if she wants tae, but we will let her worry on the trainin’ she needs.”

He met my eyes.

And the party just kept getting better from there. Then Magnus walked by my chair and squeezed my hand. He disappeared into the kitchen and came back a moment later. He leaned to my ear. “Chef Zach has said twill be a half hour until dessert is served. I ken it may be complicated but could ye tell the guests ye need tae step from the room for a moment?”

My eyes went big. “For what, is everything okay?”

He whispered, “Tis nae a problem, mo reul-iuil, tis that I want ye.”

I giggled, “Um yes, just a minute, let me make it look casual.”

I turned to Hayley and we spoke for a second about the new Ariana Grande album. My eyes followed Magnus as he walked around the table talking to James, making a joke with Michael, raising his brow, grinning at me, and gesturing with his head toward our door.

Finally I stood and excused myself for a few minutes and walked down the hallway to our room.

A moment later Magnus entered and locked the door.

He folded me in his arms. “Thank ye. I saw ye across the room and thought, ‘I want her. Do I have tae wait for her? Haena there been enough waiting?’” We kissed as his hands traveled up and down my back. “Tis nae fair tae leave our guests, but…“

“They’ll understand. You’ve been gone a long time.”

“And we need tae practice in our new bedroom. Tis a new situation for the bed. We need tae learn tae navigate it—”

“Are you saying you needed a booty call because our bed is facing a new direction?”

His lips paused on my neck. “What is a ‘booty call?’”

I giggled. “Why do I speak during these things? I should know better.”

He pulled my dress over my head. I was wearing his favorite color and — it worked.

His hands ran down my naked back. “Your undergarments, Madame Campbell, are verra wee.”

I pulled up the front of his kilt. “Your undergarments, Master Magnus, are non-existent.”

He sat on the bed. Then laid back, his calves hanging down, his kilt at his waist, his smile cocky. With his hand he gestured ‘climb on,’ and oh yes, I climbed on. “Tis so I can get tae the business of ye easier.” His hands helped pull me down settled on his lap. I moaned and pressed my palms to his chest.

He winced.

“Sorry, love.” I moved my hands to his biceps and held on while we moved against each other. I arched back enjoying the view, my power, him.

Then I folded down over him and pressed my face to his cheek and breathed him in — the scent of toiletries, soaps, clean water, the smell of civilization, but underneath it, his own scent, mingled with mine, a part of me.

Just as I was a part of him.

We had been separated, but found each other again. And in the days since we had entangled even more. Doing the hard work of building me up and rebuilding our marriage. The easy work of loving each other through it.

Like most moments with him, naked and vulnerable, tears welled up in my eyes. Because there had been so much.

Just. So. Much.

But I loved him.

And he loved me.

And that was how we would live on…