Page 54 of Desire of a Highlander

She nodded. “It would give more warning.”

He studied the sketch then looked at her. “That’s a fine idea, lass.” Ronan stood, offered his hand, and pulled her to her feet. “I’ll speak to the lads tonight, implement yer plan.”

Elodie nodded and they continued walking. The morning was still. Peaceful, even. Yet as she glanced towards the head of the valley, a shiver walked down her spine. What would happen if the Murdochs found the Steading? If what they’d done to Thomas was any indication, nothing good, that’s for sure.

Ronan followed her gaze. “When I came here, I wanted to leave my old life behind. No fighting. No feuds. No expectations. Just...peace.”

Elodie studied him. “Was it really that bad? Your old life, I mean?”

For a long moment he said nothing and Elodie feared he wouldn’t answer. But then he shrugged.

“No. That’s the strange thing. It was a good life. I had my family. My home. My future. Everything was laid out in front of me.”

Elodie could see the tension in the way the skin tightened around his eyes. It was only a tiny thing and yet she noticed it anyway. How was it that she was beginning to know him so well in so short a space of time?

“But something changed?” she prompted softly.

“Aye, something changed.”

Elodie’s chest ached at the sight of his pain. She didn’t ask any more questions. She just waited, giving Ronan the space to speak if he chose to and respecting his choice if he did not.

He sighed. “My parents died. First my mother and then, a couple of years later, my father. After that, my brothers and I went to war. Every conversation became an argument. Every disagreement became a battle.” He gave a humorless laugh. “Some people seem to enjoy fighting. I never understood it.”

Elodie said nothing, digesting this. So something had happened between him and his brothers to drive him away. This was more than he’d ever revealed before. She thought of the fine swords hanging in the forge. The well-bred horse. The polished manners that occasionally surfaced when he forgot himself. The warrior she’d seen training alone behind the smithy.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

He looked at her. “For what?”

“For telling me.”

Something warm flickered in his expression. “So ye know a little of my story. What about yers?”

Elodie hesitated. She wanted to tell him the truth. She wanted it all to come tumbling out and be laid bare between them. It would be such a weight off her mind to finally reveal it all.

But she couldn’t. He wouldn’t believe her. Who would? Oh, I’m a time traveler, that’s all. Popped in for a visit from the twenty-first century. Nothing remarkable in that, is there?

He would think her insane or a liar.

“My story is much less interesting.”

“I doubt that.”

She kicked a stone from the path whilst she thought about what she could safely reveal. “I had a job.”

Ronan frowned. “A job?”

“Yep. And an apartment.”

“What is an apartment?”

She laughed. “I guess you’d call it a suite of rooms.”

“In a keep?”

“Not exactly.”

“A town house then?”