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I laugh, the sound of it broken up by my own thick emotion still lodged in my throat. “I guess that party trick came in handy, hm?”

“Aye,” he chuckles brokenly. “I’m glad you decided to save my arse this time instead of setting it on fire.”

I pull back, unable to wipe the beaming grin from my face, but since Lachlan’s is a perfect match for it, I think it’s fine. “I did save you, didn’t I?Again.”

“Aye, you did.”

“Who’s the princess now, huh?”

“Och. I’ll never live that down, will I?”

I lean in, pressing my lips to his cheek. “Not a chance.”

“What do we do about that bastard over there?”

I turn back to glance at Brodie’s still-prone form. “Tie him up?”

“With pleasure,” Lachlan says with a smile.

“And your ancestor’s journal?”

Lachlan grimaces, almost a sneer. “Burn the bloody thing for all I care.”

I don’t know if I agree with that choice, but I guess I understand it.

“This is going to be”—I glance around at the mess of the clearing—“hard to explain.”

“Aye, but we have all night to come up with a story,” Lachlan says, pushing to his feet and offering his hand to help me do the same. “Now that I won’t turn, we have plenty of time to—”

I watch as he goes still, his eyes rounding and his mouth hanging agape.

“What?” I ask. “What is it?”

His wide eyes find mine. “My da. Do you think…?”

“Oh.” My heart rate picks up. “Well. There’s only one way to find out, right?”

He nods, lacing his fingers through mine, and I send up a silent plea.

I squeeze Lachlan’s hand. “He’ll be there,” I tell him. “I can feel it.”

Maybe if I speak it into existence…it will have to come true.

34

Lachlan

I’m almost certain that Key and I run the entire way across the property—her hand gripped tightly within mine as she follows after me, never asking to slow. It feels almost like flying, running under the stars with her, the weight I’ve carried for so long seeming to dissipate into the night air. My legs burn and my heart pounds as we cross the fields and the sloping terrain to press on toward the loch, and by the time the water comes into view, glittering under the moonlight, it feels almost like my chest might burst with the force of the heavythump thumprattling away inside it.

I can hear her panting breath beside me, but when I turn to look at her, her eyes are bright and her face is lit up with a radiating joy—her lips curving in a smile as if everything is already as it should be, as if she has no doubt that everything will be just fine. I wish I could say I had her confidence.

My steps to the shore are slower then, cautious even, my eyes searching the water for signs of movement, signs ofhim. I know that the chances of him being here in the cove are slim whether he’s changed or not—but Key squeezes my hand when she catches me frowning, looking up at me with an encouraging expression.

“It worked,” she tells me.

I squeeze her hand back. “How do you know?”

“I can feel it,” she says confidently.