Daniel winked and tipped his head as he glided his way back onto the dance floor, no doubt, looking for the next beautiful girl he could impress with his dance skills. Bri smiled to herself as she thought back on that night on what seemed like so many months ago when she’d been set up on a blind date with Daniel. Her mother’s sudden arrival had kept the date from ever beginning, but thinking back on the shock she’d experienced when first laying eyes on Daniel and the moments of awkwardness that had followed, Bri was reminded that she had some choice words to share with the groom.
It had been Mitsy’s new husband, Brian, who’d arranged the blind date, and the lack of sense in the match did nothing to help Bri’s already questionable judgment of him. Tonight was not the time or place to chide the groom. With plans for her to return to Scotland and thereafter back to the seventeenth century the following day, Bri suspected she was just going to have to let this one slide.
Not that she would be able to find the groom to speak to him if she wanted. The last time she saw him had been at the beginning of the reception during the cutting of the cake and the first dance. Since then, Mitsy singly navigated the crowds of guests eager to congratulate the happy couple. From the beaming smile on Mitsty’s face, it didn’t seem that she’d taken note of her husband’s absence.
Deciding she could go for a restroom break and perhaps for a little search and rescue mission for the groom, Bri stood and left the reception hall. Arriving at the women’s restroom, she was met by the unfortunate staffer who had been dealt the task of cleaning up the puke of some tipsy wedding guest.
“Sorry. I don’t think you want to come in here right now, but if you go to the end of the hall on the right, there’s an office. If you enter, there’s a bathroom connected to it on the other side. It’s fine if you want to use it since you’re part of the wedding party. I should have this mess cleaned up for the other guests shortly.”
“Thank you, I think I’ll do that.”
Making her way down the hall, Bri found that her need to use the restroom lessened as she grew more apprehensive of who and what she would find in the office. A noise of a carnal nature came from behind the office door and, as she pressed her ear up against the wooden surface, she could hear the deep male voice, drenched in a thick Texas accent, urging the moaning woman in his company to say his name.
To Bri’s dismay, the name the woman screamed was no other than “Brian.”
*
Bri fled the closed office door before her presence was discovered and quickly downed several glasses of champagne as she decided what she should do.
In the end, she’d watched her best friend, laughing and beaming as she moved through the reception hall, and knew that while she couldn’t bring herself to tell Mitsy what she’d heard, she also didn’t trust herself not to say anything.
She’d approached her dear friend on the dance floor, made her excuses claiming to be sick, and hugged her neck hard. Fighting back tears with a heavy heart, Bri hopped into a taxi that would take her back to her hotel.
Chances were, she’d never see her friend again, but she wanted to leave Mitsy the option of a new life if she decided she wanted it once she learned the truth about her louse of a husband. Mitsy would eventually, Bri was certain. She only wished that she could be here for her when she did.
Passing a post office on her right, Bri knocked on the plastic panel behind the taxi driver’s head to get his attention. “Can we stop here just for a minute before continuing on to the airport? I just need to run inside and get a stamp. I need to put something in the mail before I leave.”
“Sure thing. Meter’s running.”
Climbing out of the cab, Bri walked to buy the stamp, hoping with every footstep that if Mitsy needed it, she would be able to believe the words she’d written inside.
Chapter 12
Scotland
1646
Tormod’s eyes locked with hers as Edana watched him rise from yet another victory, this time in the sword competition. She shivered beneath her clothes at the tingly rush that cascaded over her. She was in love, she could say so without hesitation. Only a week ago, her future had seemed bleak, wrought with uncertainty and a plan for vengeance that she didn’t know how to carry out on her own. Now, with Tormod by her side, happiness no longer seemed so impossible.
He loved her as well and although he’d yet to tell her so, she knew it by the way he treated her. She’d felt she could trust him instantly and had quickly told him about her true feelings toward the Conalls and her desire to destroy them. She’d expected him to reprimand her, tell her how wrong she was to think that way, but instead, he’d expressed his own hatred. Together they’d plotted all they could do to destroy the powerful family once they were married and Tormod was laird.