Page 55 of Katie's Highlander (Highland Protector 3)
“Sort of.” She wasn’t going to lie. She truly had mixed emotions about the whole damn deal. Katie refilled all their cups. “A hot shower sounds like heaven and I’d sell my big toe for a cup of coffee.”
“Ye speak of things, lass—no’ of people in the future. Do things mean so much t’ye?”
Dwyn’s unblinking stare was growing more uncomfortable by the minute. It was like he was peeling away all her layers and exposing her most vulnerable thoughts. Katie looked to Ramsay, but his body language said he wanted to hear what she had to say too.
“No.” Katie lifted her chin, taking the dare. No one could ever say she was a chickenshit. “As my Papa used to say,thingspass through our lives—easy to gain, easy to lose. What matters in life is making memories with someone you love. Memories that no one—not time, the gods, angels, or demons can ever take away.”
Dwyn smiled. “Wise man, yer father. I regret I ne’er had the honor of meetin’ him.” He turned with a start as though just awakening and walked over to Ramsay. “Mistress Katie can return to the future this verra moment. I’ll take her there m’self, if ye wish.” He thumped his empty whisky cup against the center of Ramsay’s chest. “But you, m’lad, are here t’stay. Yer destiny lies here as high chieftain of the clans until such time as ye go to yer grave.”
Ramsay stood taller, looking past Dwyn’s shoulder and capturing Katie in his stare. The muscles in his jaw twitched and his hands tightened into fists at his side.
Oh, no, you don’t.“Hell no. I know what you’re thinking.” Katie threw her cup to the table. “I am not going back without you.”
“I can only bear t’lose ye once,” Ramsay said. His voice sounded ragged. His words were labored as though he wished he didn’t have to say them. “At least, if I lose ye now to Dwyn, I’ll know ye t’be safe…and happy in the future.”
“You’re such a damned hypocrite. You lied to me.”Time to pull out the big guns.
Ramsay looked as though she’d struck him. “I’ve ne’er lied t’ye, m’ dearest love. How could you say such?”
“Who said, ‘There are no guarantees in any life—no matter the century’? Who told me that, Ramsay?” She had a damn good memory and he might as well learn it now. “Before Flora’s sister died, you wanted me to stay here, but now you’re afraid. You’re a coward. Who’s to say that as soon as Dwyn takes me back, I don’t get run over by a bus or get shot by a madman or die of some weird ailment they don’t know how to cure yet?” Katie shook her head, pulling out every damn guilt trip she could think of. “I never thought I’d find myself married to a coward.”
Ramsay grabbed her up by the shoulders and jerked her close. “I’m only a coward when it comes t’losin’ you. I canna bear it. D’ye no’ understand?” He shook her as though she were a disobedient child. “I love ye, dammit, love ye more than a man should—the thought of goin’ through life without ye tears at m’soul. D’ye no’ understand?”
“Hell yes, I understand!” she cried out with a whack of her fist against his chest. “Don’t you think I feel the same way about you? How could you possibly think I’d skip back to the future and go along my merry way as though I’d never met you? I love you too, dammit!”
“Then it appears we’re at an impasse,” Ramsay said with a sad shake of his head as he released her shoulders and turned away. “We’re no’ leavin’ this croft until ye agree to return to the future with Dwyn.”
“Would you do something with him?” Katie flipped a hand in Ramsay’s direction as she glared at Dwyn.
“What would ye have me do, lass?” Dwyn asked in an infuriatingly calm tone as he refilled their cups with whisky.
“Manage him!” She closed in on Dwyn. “Apparently, you and the goddesses have been dealing with the MacDaras all their lives. You should be an expert at this shit by now.”
“Aye…ye’d think such, would ye not?” Dwyn sounded weary as he clasped his hands to the small of his back and meandered about the small dwelling, a thoughtful look pursing his lips. He paused in his pacing and scowled at Katie. “Are ye sayin’ ye’d be willin’ to live out yer days here in the past?”
“I’m saying I don’t care where I live out my days as long as I live them out with Ramsay.” And there was the truth of it in a nutshell. She loved Ramsay more than coffee, more than indoor plumbing, and even more than modern-day feminine hygiene products. She’d trade away everything for Ramsay.
Ramsay whirled around, jabbing a finger at her. “I willna have her stay here t’die whilst tryin’ to bring my child into the world. I willna have it!”
Dwyn studied him for a long moment and frowned. “Why are ye so certain that’s the lass’s fate? Ye’ve ne’er had the gift of second sight.”
“Many women die that way—I rememberMáthair’swords to Esme about the history of women’s sufferin’ and how lucky the lass is t’live in a time that’s so much safer. I’ve already witnessed one such death in the short time we’ve been here. What else am I t’think when it comes t’my own wife bearing children?”
Dwyn paced a few more steps but the stronger slant to his shoulders and lift in his step gave Katie hope. The demigod was up to something. Her hunch was confirmed when he glanced her way and winked. Dwyn pointed to one of the benches by the table. “Sit ye both down. I’m about t’do something that I’m rarely given permission t’do.”
“What?” Katie asked as she and Ramsay sat on opposite sides of the table, facing off like a pair of arm wrestlers.
Dwyn solemnly nodded to Katie as he took his place at the end of the table. “I shall show ye two possible futures,” he paused and gave them both a long serious look. “And with this knowledge, the two of ye will make yer choice.”
Chapter 24
“Possible futures?” Ramsay knew Dwyn and his tricks. He didna trust the wily bastard. Dwyn and Katie needed t’be on their way while he still had the strength to let her go back to the safety of the future without him.
“I’m in no mood for yer damn games, Dwyn.”Take her now, Dwyn. Take her now.Ramsay squinted his eyes and hardened his stare, willing Dwyn to heed his unspoken wish.
Dwyn waved a hand in front of his face as though brushing away an annoying bug. The bastard knew Ramsay’s thoughts—he just didna give a damn about them. He returned Ramsay’s stare—just as stern and hostile as the one he’d received. “This is no game, boy, and if ye’ve an ounce of sense left in that head of yers, ye’ll accept this gift from the goddesses and be grateful for their givin’ of it.” Dwyn shoved his upturned right hand in Ramsay’s face. “Now take hold and shut yer maw so yer stubborn ears might open.”
The unreasonable urge to snap Dwyn’s neck sent another flash of rage through him.Non-carin’ son of a bitch.Gritting his teeth, he grabbed hold of Dwyn’s right hand with his left and squeezed. Hard. A distinct stinging jolt made him adjust his grip to a more mannerly hold. Dwyn followed the painful reprimand with a smug superior look that he’d oft used when training the MacDara sons in the ways of a protector.
