“I know.” Jeffrey turned to answer me, his eyes still sleepy, rounded out by dark circles. Clearly, Cooper hadn’t given his father the same courtesy he usually gave me by occupying himself for a while. “It was four. Four a.m., and he’s jacked up like he had six cups of coffee.”
I played with Coop’s messy curls as I sat him back down on his feet. “Well, if that really is the usual time, I never did set my alarm that early. I truly don’t know how you do it, Coop.”
He shrugged, looking up at me with a grin. “I don’t know, Mom, I really don’t. I guess I’m just too excited for all the things I gotta do each day to sleep.”
I laughed, it was a beautiful attitude; I hoped he’d keep it always. “I guess so.” I turned my attention to everyone else in the room, catching Eoghanan’s eye for the first time this morning.
He smiled at me, but not widely enough so as to draw attention from everyone else. His eyes said more, nearly as tired as Jeffrey’s but excited and happy. I hadn’t felt that way in such a long time—that feeling of being in a room with many people, but being so intensely aware of just one person that it’s as if there’s a secret between you that no one knows. The promise of another encounter if you can just find the time to sneak away together. I hoped that the opportunity would come for us, very soon.
Eventually, I pulled my eyes away and willed myself to speak, addressing the room as a whole. “What’s on everybody’s agenda? How about we all drive to McMillan Castle and explore around there for the day?”
“McMillan Castle? Why there, lass?” Eoghanan seemed shocked by my suggestion, though I couldn’t imagine why.
“For the article. It looks lovely on the Internet, and I’d like to check it out. Do you know it?”
“Aye.” Eoghanan shared a knowing glance with Morna, puzzling me further. “I know it verra well, lass. ’Tis a good way from here.”
“Farther than Edinburgh?” I couldn’t begin to rationalize his reaction. As much time as he’d spent in the inn, I’d expected him to jump at any excuse to get out for awhile. Instead, he seemed genuinely hesitant. Even more than that really, he seemed afraid to go there.
“No, ’tis closer than Edinburgh.”
“Is it haunted or something?” I laughed, but his face showed he didn’t think me funny.
“No for ye, though it might be for meself.” He said it softly, almost underneath his breath.
I wasn’t given the chance to ask him what he meant by that, for as soon as he spoke, Morna leapt up from the couch, interrupting.
“I think it’s a lovely idea, Grace. We should leave soon, for it isna a short ride. Cooper,” she tapped him gently on the shoulder, “would ye mind helping me make some sandwiches to pack? Jerry, why doona ye and Jeffrey ready the cars? Grace, ye go pack yer camera.”
Everyone dispersed quickly, and I was left with little choice but to do the same. I hesitated, lingering in the doorway until it was only Eoghanan and me in the living room. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, standing and moving forward to grab my hand, squeezing it gently. “Aye. McMillan Castle is lovely. ’Tis only…” he hesitated far too long, finally releasing my hand as he turned away, ending the conversation. “Never mind, lass. Go and get yer things. ’Tis nothing to worry yerself over.”
Knowing when to leave well enough alone, I stepped away, wondering all the way to my room just what had been said during the other conversation in the living room.
The conversation that had been entirely silent.
*
Eoghanan wanted to tell her desperately just why he didn’t wish to go to McMillan Castle. That he didn’t wish to see his home, the castle he’d grown up in, crawling with visitors, no longer a home or safe haven among the Highlands. All of it a painful reminder that while he knew his family lived in the past, in today’s time they’d all been dead for hundreds of years.
A hand gripped his shoulder, pulling him from his thoughts. Morna stood next to him, her knowing eyes telling him she already knew his concerns.
“Ye needn’t worry. I too once had trouble visiting me old home. But now, seeing all that it is today gives me comfort that harm dinna befall all those I love over the centuries. McMillan Castle is still in fine condition today; ye will be surprised to find that many things still look much the same. And…” she patted his right hand, where he gripped the spelled rock that had sent him here. “If ye are worried that I’ll spell ye back, I have no intention of doing so today. No, when ye are just getting to know the lass. Besides, ye still need to heal, and ye have some time before Mitsy’s babe is born.”
“Thank ye,” Eoghanan turned the rock over in his hand, realizing that perhaps leaving had been his greatest fear. He couldn’t go home just yet, not before he’d told Grace the truth.
Smiling, she stepped toward the hallway. “Still, I think it best ye leave the wee rock here. Ye wouldna want someone throwing it into the pond by happenchance.”
“No, I wouldna.”
Morna turned to leave as he placed the rock down, and he called out to stop her. “Morna, will she believe me?”