Page 23 of Desiring the Highland Laird
“Tell me, lass.”
“I was born in the twenty-first century. By your calendar, I’m several hundred years older than you.” The thought made her giggle.
“Aye,” he said slowly, one brow raised in amusement.
She grinned at him. He grinned back. Oh, yes, she was definitely smitten.
“My sister got a job in Edinburgh as a director of the history museum. She was throwing her first gala and wanted me to be there. So, I traveled to Edinburgh to see her.”
“I dinnae ken most of what ye said, lass.” He looked confused.
This must have sounded crazy to him when she thought about the things she said. She picked out the one thing she thought might be throwing him off the most.
“A gala is a fancy party,” she said. “Important people with a lot of money were invited to it. That’s how the museum got their funding for the year.”
His face was still creased with confusion.
“Never mind. Suffice to say, I was visiting my sister in Edinburgh. I found my way into this little antique shop where there were all sorts of interesting things. One of those things wasthat stone.” She gave him a pointed look, hoping he would reveal the location of the stone.
His face remained devoid of all hints.
“I met the shopkeeper who was an interesting woman. She told me some odd things.”
“Like what?”
“She said she knew my face. She knew my last name was Sinclair, even though I never told her my name. She called me Clan Sinclair and that she would know the look of me anywhere, but I had never seen her before in my life. She told me I would visit Dundale in my proper time. She said the stone was part of another piece that had yet to be found and that they weren’t ready to be found yet.”
She left out the part where the shopkeeper asked about her sisters. And that Dundale Castle was all but ruins in her time.
He stiffened then, his back going ramrod straight. “She said that?”
She nodded.
He rose and paced several feet away, then came back. His face was ashen.
“What is it?” she asked.
“What did this shopkeeper look like?”
Evie thought back to the encounter with the woman in the antique store. “She had bright blue eyes and long pale blonde hair. So blonde it was white. No, that’s not right. It was silver. Yes, silver hair. Oh, and a dimple in one cheek. She seemed young but at the same time, there was something in her eyes that told me she wasn’t. I thought she had starlight in her eyes. I’m not even sure if that makes sense.”
As she glanced back up at Callum, she noticed his face had drained of color. He remained perfectly still as he looked at her, though his gaze was distant. He was someplace else, and she saw his mind working.
“Do you know her?” she asked.
There was a long pause before he finally said, “Nay.”
But something told her he wasn’t telling her the truth. She let it go. For now.
“Anyway,” she continued, “she gave me the stone. She insisted I take it and not pay for it. And then I saw a picture of a castle. She said it was Dundale on the Isle of Skye. I know this may sound strange, but…it feels like I belong here. Like I’ve met you before. But I haven’t.”
Callum reached for her hand, placing his on top of hers. His palm was rough yet warm. “I feel the same. Like I’ve met ye before. Whatever force brought ye here, mayhap it was for a good reason.”
She nodded agreement.
“Then I guess we best find out what that reason is.”
“It’s tied to the stone, isn’t it?” Not for the first time, she wondered if he still had it. And if he did, how could she get it back from him?
