Page 29 of All In Good Time

Chapter 8

The great hallof Breaghacraig was filled with clan members here to celebrate Lammas Day. The room hummed with the excitement of those who had traveled in from the far reaches of MacKenzie territory. Old friends happy to see each other raised their voices in order to be heard above the din of the gathering. Sara was fascinated. She’d imagined many times what it might be like to experience the life she read about in history books and novels. The pages of those books had come to life right before her eyes and she was amazed at how vivid and colorful it all was.

The silky blue dress she wore belonged to Helene. She ran her hands over the folds of fabric, enjoying the feel of it and expelling her nervous energy. Her posture had never been better and it was all thanks to the way Helene had pulled and tugged on the ties that bound her into this beautiful dress. It would have been impossible to put on without her help. Sara had returned the favor and thought Helene looked exceptional in her emerald green gown.

Helene explained that they would sit for their meal and then later there would be music and dancing. Against her better judgment, Sara hoped Logan would dance with her. She searched the crowd and spied him engaged in serious conversation with a group of men on the far side of the hall. She couldn’t help the way she stared at him. He was so handsome and her heart was breaking at the thought of losing him. Perhaps feeling her eyes on him, he glanced up and caught her staring. Sara hurriedly looked away, her heart racing in her chest, causing her to feel light headed. She grabbed Helene’s arm so she wouldn’t fall.

“Are ye well, Sara?” Helene steadied her. “Perhaps ye should sit.”

“I’m fine, really.” Taking as deep a breath as she could, Sara calmed her frazzled nerves. Looking back across the room, Logan was no longer visible. She was wondering where he had gone off to, when everyone began to take their seats for the meal. She craned her head around to the entrance and smiled as she saw Aisla arriving with a man Sara assumed was her father. She was just about to call out to her when Logan appeared at Aisla’s side and guided her away to his table where she sat happily next to him while her father scowled.

“Shall we sit ladies?” Dougall put an arm out for Helene and one for Sara as he guided them to their seats. He was such a gentleman. He helped Helene and then Sara navigate their way onto the bench they would be sharing. It wasn’t terribly comfortable, but it made sense. Separate chairs for this number of people wasn’t very practical. Keeping tabs on Logan wasn’t going to be easy from this spot. He was behind her and it wouldn’t have been right to keep turning to see what he was doing. Besides, if she did she envisioned herself falling over backwards and causing a scene.

Servants began serving the food and drink, and soon the noise in the hall grew softer as everyone partook of their meal. They were seated at a table with some of Dougall’s men and their wives and one man who seemed to be on his own. He took an immediate interest in Sara and introduced himself.

“I’ve nae seen ye here before, lass. Me name’s Hamish MacBeown. I’m pleased to be sitting with such a comely lass as yerself.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Sara”

“How long are ye here with us?” Hamish asked

“I’m not too sure.” The heat of his gaze was making Sara uncomfortable.

“Ye sound much like Lady Ashley,” he observed.

“So I’ve been told. We’re both from the same area,” she replied. This was another one of those times she wondered how much he knew about the time travel that had taken place here.

“I hope ye’ll have a dance with me later, lass.” He seemed nice enough, but Sara was unsure of herself.

“We’ll see.” This guy was enormous. Dougall and Logan were both quite tall. Each being well over six feet, but this man was easily a head over each of them. She feared she’d be crushed in his arms and worried that her slippers would be little protection from his big feet. He had wildly curly red locks and the greenest eyes she’d ever seen. They merrily twinkled at her from across the table. He wasn’t Logan, but she had no reason not to be nice to him. Dougall wouldn’t allow him to dance with her if there was even the slightest reason to worry. Besides, Logan seemed to be busy with Aisla and dancing with Hamish might make him a little jealous. If it did, that was a very good indication he still had feelings for her.

She wondered why he was with Aisla and then it dawned on her. She remembered her earlier conversation and realized Logan was the friend Aisla had been talking about. Now she understood her comment about ruining his chances at real love.

This was bad. She couldn’t possibly take Logan away from her. Aisla needed him. There had to be a way to make this right. Maybe if she could find the real father and let him know about the baby he’d remember how much he loved her and come back for her. It was worth a try, but first she had to find out his name. Aisla wasn’t about to tell her, so she was going to have to do some detective work and she might as well start with Hamish. She’d need a plan, but first things first. She needed to know who he was.

Helene was chatting back and forth with Hamish and Sara joined in. He was actually very sweet and she found that she liked him. He told her many tales of his adventures and she took it all with a grain of salt, assuming that some of them surely had to be tall tales. Helene jabbed her under the table every now and again, which was Sara’s signal that the truth was being stretched. It was fine though. He was a great story teller and she enjoyed listening to him. Dougall was busy speaking with the woman beside him and her husband. Glancing around the room, no matter where she looked people were enjoying each other’s company and the surprisingly good food. Probably not surprising to anyone else but her. She didn’t ask what she was eating. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but if she liked it, she finished it and if not she set it aside. Every now and again Hamish would reach across the table and help himself to something she had rejected. He winked at her, as if they had a secret agreement that he could help himself to whatever she didn’t eat. She couldn’t imagine how much food it would take to keep him from going hungry, so she was happy to help. She finished her wine and pushed her plate, along with the remainder of the food she hadn’t eaten in his direction.

“Thank ye, lass.”

She smiled warmly at him and thought it would be nice to dance with him when the time came. She certainly wasn’t going to be able to dance with Logan. And it would be a good time to set her plan in motion.

* * *

Her feet were safe. Hamish was quite the dancer and he was very gentle with her. He treated her as if she were a breakable object and it was his job to see that no harm came to her. He’d escorted her to a spot away from the dancing where a table was set with drinks on it. She was just catching her breath when she saw Logan walking out with Aisla and her father. Her heart sank at the sight of them, but she smiled at no one in particular knowing that if she was smiling she wouldn’t cry.

“Here ye go, lass. Thank ye fer putting up with me dancing.” Hamish had picked up drinks for them both.

“I wouldn’t say I was putting up with you, Hamish. You’re quite a good dancer. You didn’t once step on my feet,” she teased.

He beamed at her kind words and lifted his cup. “To the loveliest of ladies here tonight.”

Sara wasn’t good with compliments. “That’s very sweet of you to say, but I doubt that it’s true.”

“’Tis. In my eyes, there is nae a fairer lass here.” He moved closer to Sara, who tried not to be too obvious when she inched away.

This was getting a little too serious for her liking. “Hamish, do they have these feasts often?”

“Aye. Often enough. They have them for celebration. Ye ken, a new bairn in the laird’s family, a wedding, a visiting nobleman or a special day, as is the case this night.”