Page 30 of All The Time You Need (Magic of Time #1)
- The Present
Bield Cottage - Scotland
Present Day
“So, all I have to do is be here to watch over the property.”
Emily Evans surveyed the cottage grounds and the surrounding countryside, allowing her gaze to come to rest on the elderly woman who had brought her here.
“That’s the whole job,” Syrie said with a smile that wrinkled her face even more than it already was. “Your time is your own to do with as you please. Analise simply wanted to make sure the property remains undisturbed.”
The thought of her cousin and the horrible auto accident that had taken her life still brought a lump to Emily’s throat. She forced her thoughts back to the present, shoving her memories of Annie into the safe little box in the back of her mind.
“Especially the arbor,” Emmie said, stressing the mandate she’d been given in the contract she’d signed.
Much better to concentrate on the business at hand, her new job as caretaker of the property Annie had left in a trust.
“Most especially the arbor.” Syrie smiled again. “You’ll want to oversee the installation of the new gate and make sure it’s kept locked. I’ll be as close as a phone call away, should you need anything. I suppose that’s everything. You’re sure you don’t want the trust to arrange to have an automobile here for your use?”
“I’m sure.”
Emmie didn’t like to drive at home in the States, so she certainly didn’t plan to give it a go here where everyone drove on the wrong side of the road. Especially not after what had happened to Annie.
She cleared her throat and breathed deeply, once again pushing away that line of thinking.
“The village we came through is close enough that I can walk down there if I need something. I’ll be fine.”
She’d be better than fine. In setting things up before her death, Annie had given Emmie the one thing she had always wanted. Her freedom.
“You have the book I gave you?” Syrie asked as they walked back to her car.
“I do. I’m looking forward to delving into the history of Dunellen Castle.”
Syrie got into her car and fastened her seatbelt, pausing before she closed the door.
“The castle, and the grounds, have a fascinating history. Though there’s much to learn about your new home, I suspect you might find the story of the third MacKillican laird to be particularly good reading. Stay in touch, my dear.”
“I will,” Emmie promised, waving as her employer turned her car around and disappeared down the drive.
“Such an odd little woman,” she murmured, standing where she was for a few moments longer, enjoying the silence, before she returned to the little cottage that was her new home.
Inside, she put a pot of water on to boil for a cup of tea, and, while she waited, she rummaged through her shoulder bag to find the book Syrie had given her.
For some odd reason, she felt a strong urge to look up the story the older woman had mentioned.
Flipping to the page indicated in the index, she forgot all about the tea she’d planned to have as she began to read about Alexander, third laird of the MacKillican clan, and his wife, Analise Ellena Shaw.
- The Past
Highlands of Scotland
1295
“I could kick myself for not doing this months ago.”
Annie shivered inside her heavy cloak as Alex, kneeling at her feet, dug a small hole in the frozen ground.
“Aye, the task would have been much easier before the first snows fell. It’s ready.”
He held up a hand, and Annie knelt down beside him to drop a small, tightly wrapped package into the hole.
“There you go, Nana Ellen. It took me long enough to figure it out, but your heart is finally where it belongs, joined together with your Aiden’s.”
Why she hadn’t thought of it sooner was beyond her. But with family strongly on her mind for the past couple of weeks, it had suddenly come to her in a flash of clarity. When she’d broached the idea to Lissa, her sister-in-law had agreed, and they’d bundled the two heart pendants together for her to bring them here today, to lay to rest at the head of Aiden’s grave.
“I’m sure Grandda is well pleased, too,” Alex said, taking her hand to help her to her feet. “Yer no’ going to go all weepy on me again, are you?”
“I’m not crying,” she lied. “It’s just the cold air.”
“I knew coming out in this cold was no’ a good thing for you to do,” Alex replied, tugging her cloak more tightly around her. “Especially no’ with yer feeling poorly as you have recently. I said as much before we came out here, did I no’?”
“Stop worrying about me. I told you I’m fine.”
She was better than fine, something that would become self-evident over the next few months. And though she had plenty of time to break her big news to her husband, she’d never been good at keeping secrets. Especially not from Alex. And especially not when she knew how excited he would be when she told him. Here, with thoughts of family so strongly on her mind, seemed the perfect place and time.
“I have something I need to tell you,” she said.
“Out here in the cold? It canna wait ‘til we have you back warming in front of the fire?”
Now that she’d decided to tell him, she didn’t want to wait. There was so much to do to get ready for the big change coming to their lives. But perhaps he was right.
“I suppose there’s time to wait until we’re back inside,” she agreed.
“Of course there’s time,” he said, a grin on his handsome face as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and urged her to hurry. “Have I no’ told you that you’ll always have all the time you need with me?”
“You have indeed, my love,” she agreed.
Maybe she’d begin the conversation by telling him about those prenatal vitamins she’d started taking a few weeks ago.