Page 74 of Highlander’s Bride

“But there’s something else.” Bryanna was unstoppable now. She’d just told her family her deepest secret, the deepest regret that had eaten her alive for years. What would another piece of shocking news be? “I didn’t just go for a walk in the woods. I actually traveled back in time. That’s why I couldn’t call or send an email or come back. That’s why I didn’t have access to pharmacies. My insulin got smashed and that was it. And Raghnall is a medieval Highlander who crossed time to bring me to a hospital and save my life. He’s my husband. We’re married. And now…” She sobbed. “He’s back in his time, and I’ll never see him again.”

People walked past them, cars swooshed by, but both Mom and Kris were staring at her with a deafening silence.

Bryanna let out a laugh that sounded on the verge of hysteria. “You think I’ve lost my mind, don’t you?”

“Um…honey…” Mom used the calming, careful tone of someone who was talking to a dangerous person. “Let’s just go somewhere and have a cup of coffee…no, perhaps chamomile tea would be better.”

“Kris?” Bryanna looked at her sister, who was staring at her with the same expression her mom had.

“I—I’m not sure I know who you are anymore…”

Bryanna sighed and scoffed. “That’s interesting. Because for the first time in my life, I actually know exactly who I am. Raghnall was right. I do feel like sunshine, I do feel invincible, and I don’t need anyone else to tell me when to be careful and how to live my life. You know, Mom, I learned to ride a horse. I got married to a stranger. I was in a medieval battle. And I almost died. I love you, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but the purpose of my life can’t be to make your worries and anxieties go away. I don’t need to be a music teacher and live with you, Mom. I’ll always love you, both of you, but I can take care of myself, and I don’t want to live my life in fear. I’m going to live it unapologetically, responsibly but fearlessly. So if you two can’t wait to go back home, I understand. I kept you here longer than you ever wanted, but I’m not finished with Scotland yet. It’s my husband’s country, a phenomenal place to explore, with history and culture you can’t even imagine, and I’m going to stay.”

Mom’s mouth hung open. “F-for how long?”

“I don’t know.”

“If you think I’ll leave you alone after the tirade that you just went on…about time travel and about your psychic dreams…we need to take you to a neurologist!”

“You can stay, Mom, if you want. But I’m not going to a neurologist. I’m going to rent a car and go back to the Highlands. Maybe get a job somewhere and learn Scottish music.”

Mom and Kris exchanged a flabbergasted look. “Bryanna!” Mom started.

But Bryanna did something no one expected. She placed a gentle kiss on her mom’s cheek and hugged her. “Thank you for everything you did for me, Mom. Thank you for worrying, thank you for loving me, and thank you for raising me into who I am.” She looked at her mom, whose pale green eyes were bloodshot and watery. “I think you feel like I’m still small and still need protection. But your job is done now. I’m raised. It’s time for me to live my life and for you to live yours, knowing that your daughter will be fine.”

Without saying anything else, she kissed and hugged Kris, turned around, and walked down the street.

But even though she felt strong and meant every word, she knew that she’d lied to her family with her last words.

She’d never be fine, not completely, as long as Raghnall wasn’t in her world.

But she’d need to live with that.

Chapter 35

Ten days after arriving in his own time, Raghnall threw a pebble into the handprint illuminated by the dancing light. It didn’t go through. Like its ten predecessors, it bounced right off, this one rolling under the edge of the boulder he was sitting on. The rock was now completely clear, and the masons had been working on repairing the wall but were finished for the day. Raghnall didn’t know how long he’d sat here today.

Every morning, the first thing he did was come down here and press his hand into the print. And every morning, cold, hard rock didn’t let him through.

“You know, I heard Èibhlin turned up, married to a cousin or something,” said David. “Sends her apologies to you.”

Raghnall looked up. His young friend stared at the rock with the same stern, careful expression as a hunter tracking a wolf. His arms were crossed over his chest.

“I’m happy for her.”

“Are you? Don’t you wish she’d have come to the church, and you’d have married her and not Bryanna? At least you wouldn’t be sitting here staring at a piece of rock for days.”

Raghnall threw another pebble. “No. What I wish is that I hadn’t left the future.”

“Welcome to the club. I’ve been doing the same thing you’re doing for months now.”

Raghnall sighed. “Well, at least I’m a man of honor. A very unhappy man of honor.”

David picked up a pebble and threw it into the handprint. Like Raghnall’s pebbles, it bounced off.

“How did you like it there? In the future?”

“I liked it fine. Strange, of course, with the cars and electricity and those big windows ye people have there. But I see how things are easier and more convenient. Most importantly, I see why ’tis better for Bryanna to be there and why ’tis impossible for her to be with me here.”