“Oh sorry, dearie. I mean, miss. Oh! Old Mary will fix her mind on it eventually. Doona be worried.” She continued to arrange my hair as she spoke. “Both lads are handsome, but in my humble opinion, I believe ye will be finding yerself sharing a bed with the finer brother.”
I should hope so. It is my coma, after all. Why would I decide to dream up a marriage with some ugly old fart?
“Wonderful!” I replied and was rewarded with a smack on the head.
“Ye keep slipping into yer strange way of speaking, lass. It’s mighty important that ye doona do that anymore. If Old Mary can remember to call ye ‘miss,’ a young lass like yerself can remember to speak proper.” Mary turned me around so that I was facing the mirror. “There. All done, miss.”
I stared back at my reflection, unable to recall a time when I felt more radiant. The blue in the dress made my blue eyes sparkle, and the cut of the dress fit perfectly. “Thank you, Mary. I love it.”
“I’m pleased to hear it, miss. Ye seem to be a smidge more accepting of the wedding than Blaire, so I’m glad ye’re here. I can only hope Blaire is fairing well in…wherever ye came from.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh. I need to stop speaking of it. I already told ye, I canna explain it to ye today. I’ll be speaking to ye in a few days, after the laird and ye have had some time alone together.”
“I see.” I didn’t see at all, but I decided to let it go. Whatever it was couldn’t be that important. This was all just a dream.
“Now.” Mary gently pushed me toward the door. “It’s time for yer wedding.”
I smiled excitedly and followed Mary out the door, hoping that I wouldn’t wake up before I got a chance to see my future husband and discover why I needed to change my name to someone else’s to marry the man I’d dreamed up.
Chapter 10
Present Day
Adelle Montgomery screamed and reached behind her, grabbing for any sturdy surface to remind her of reality as the contents of the room swirled around her daughter, one minute picking her up into the chaos, the next minute sweeping her away into nothing. Her legs shook, and her ears ached at the sound of her own terrified screams. She reached up and smacked herself hard across the cheek, trying to wake herself from the twisted nightmare. When nothing changed, she forced her eyes to close and shook her head violently, hoping that the motion would clear the insanity from her head.
When she gathered the courage to open her eyes, she instantly relaxed against the back wall and breathed in deep, savoring the dusty, wet smell that filled her lungs. Bri was there, safe, and just where she’d been moments ago. It was her own head she was worried about. She’d make an appointment with a doctor as soon as she got home.
“Bri. Did I pass out? Fall and hit my head coming through the doorway? I was so sure…” She trailed off as she took in the horrified look on her daughter’s face. Pins prickled down her back as her eyes took in the floor-length gown covering her daughter’s body. “What? What’s going on, Bri? I…I’m not feeling very well.”
Adelle watched as her daughter’s head quickly turned, scanning back and forth across the room.
“Where am I? And my name is no Bri? Who do ye think ye are?”
“Bri. What do you think you’re doing? Seriously. Your accent is remarkable, but where did you get that dress? Is this some sort of weird joke I’m not getting? Do you think that lasagna was bad?” Adelle pushed herself off the wall and moved over to her daughter, grabbing the skirt of her dress to examine the gown more closely. “It’s really remarkable actually. It doesn’t look like a costume, but it’s not an antique either. I think it’s time you filled me in, sweetheart.”
“Sweetheart? Why would ye address a stranger so? And why do ye keep calling me ‘Bri’? My name is Blaire, and I doona understand why ye seem so fascinated with my dress. Have ye seen what ye are wearing? Do ye work for Mary? Did she send ye down here to get me?”
Adelle reached up to grab her forehead, her frustration growing at her lack of understanding. “Bri, what the hell are you talking about? It’s really not funny. I seriously think I’ve lost my mind. We need to go back to the inn, maybe drive back to Edinburgh and check me into the hospital. Quit talking like that and let’s go. Grab your real clothes on the way.” She reached out to grab Bri by the arm, but the hold was broken as her daughter quickly jerked out of her grasp.
“Please, do not lay yer hands on me. I’ll no marry Eoin. Ye’ll have to send me back home.”
“Bri.” She reached out to grab her daughter once more. “We still have twelve days before we go back home. Surely you’re not ready to go back to Texas?”
“Texas?” The woman’s brows came together so quickly they almost bumped in between her eyes.
“Yes, Bri. Texas. Where you live and teach. I think we both need to have our heads examined. Maybe we breathed in some sort of hallucinogenic drug when we opened that doorway.”