She stepped outside. It was still chilly, the sun hidden behind the clouds. She looked around the yard. No sight of Niall anywhere—a fact that both relieved and saddened her. She really would never see him again. She could hear the sheep bleating somewhere in the distance. Maybe he was checking to see how they fared through the night.
Gripping the straps of her backpack, she headed off down the road, admiring the rippling green hills. As much as it hurt to think she was never going to see Niall again, she knew she was doing the right thing.
She walked for almost half an hour. It was uphill, downhill, and then uphill again. Her breathing picked up as she followed the winding road. There had to be a way on foot to get across the road. Just because a car couldn’t cross it didn’t mean someone on foot couldn’t. She’d find a way.
The sound of burbling water reached her ears and she knew she was nearing the stream. She rounded a bend, fully expecting to see the road overrun with water.
But all she saw was a road.
A fully passable road.
She froze as this sank into her brain. A thin layer of water covered the road, no more than an inch high. A car would have no trouble crossing through it.
The road was passable.
She blinked a few times as though her eyes were deceiving her. The blood rushed to her head, roaring in her ears.
He’d lied. Why had he lied to her?
The sound of a car approaching had her whirling back around. Niall’s Jeep rounded the bend and braked hard. He flung open the driver’s side and hopped out, an anxious look on his usually passive face.
He started toward her and she held out a hand as though to ward him off. “Stop.”
He obliged, his gaze darting over her face. “Thea,” he began.
“You lied to me,” she accused, pointing a damning finger to the road.
His expression turned pained.
“I asked you and you said the road wasn’t clear!”
He nodded. “Aye, I lied.”
She shook her head. “I can see that! I don’t understand—”
“I dinna want you to go,” he flung out. “Damn it, I want you to stay longer so I lied.”
She stared at him in stunned silence. At this surly, too hot man with a panicked expression on his face that was all because of her. Because … she was leaving.
She glanced back at the road with the barely there current of water trickling over its surface as though needing to see it one more time—the evidence of his deceit.
She faced him again, her heart tumbling headlong at the sight of him, at the incredible words he was saying to her in that delicious brogue of his. They echoed in her head. I dinna want you to go. Damn it, I want you to stay longer…
“Why didn’t you just say that?” she whispered.
He dragged a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Because I’m an idiot who couldn’t find his voice around you. Who felt like a tongue-tied lad because he wants you so damn much. Because I was scared that you would think I was deranged and run screaming for the road. I haven’t even known you a full day, but I want you to stay.” He flung out both arms. “I want you here. I’m sorry I couldn’t say it before.” He looked at her bleakly, emotion ripe in his eyes. “Don’t go.”
Elation swelled inside her chest. She shook her head and tamped down on her joy, fighting for her composure. She didn’t want to look like a giddy child on Christmas morning, even if that was how she felt. “I don’t think you’re deranged.”
“No?” He advanced on her slowly, his expression hopeful. “I’m not a rash or reckless man, but you’ve done something to me. Changed me.” He held out both hands, gesturing around them. “I think yer a faerie and those glens are magical. I don’t know how else to explain it. How else could I have fallen in love with you the moment I found you in my house, wearing my clothes, eating my dinner? You made me feel again. You made me believe. How can I no’ believe those glens are magical anymore? They brought you to me.” His hand reached out to caress her hair. “What’s it going to be, Goldilocks?”
Her eyes burned, swimming with tears, and this time the tears were not from pain or disappointment. She fought against a tide of joy, trying to not to get swept away in it. She needed to be reasonable now.
He couldn’t love her. It was impossible. Too soon. This didn’t happen to people.
This didn’t happen to her.
He took another step, stopping just in front of her. “Stay.” He inhaled. “Please. Stay forever.”
She opened her mouth and just then she heard another engine. They both looked up as a small car came into view, cresting the hill and zipping down toward them. It crossed over the stream and pulled to a hard brake beside them.
The driver rolled down the window. A man with a grizzled beard stuck his head out the window. “Hello, there. I’m looking for an American.” He eyed Thea speculatively. The pocket of his T-shirt bore the logo for the tour company she’d hired. “A tour bus left her behind, and I’ve been sent to find her. You haven’t seen her, have you?”
She lifted her gaze and locked eyes with Niall. He watched her, his blue eyes intent, hungry. Hungry for her. But he volunteered nothing. He waited for her to say something. Waited for her to reach a decision.
She looked back down at the driver, her heart pounding hard in her chest as she reached her decision. The only choice she could make.
“You can go back,” she told him, and no words had ever felt so natural, so right coming out of her mouth. “She’s not lost. She’s right where she wants to be.”
Epilogue
Two years later…
Thea set down her charcoal pencil and pushed up from her stool, arching her spine and stretching against the perpetual ache in her back as she critically evaluated her work. Well, perpetual ache as of eight weeks ago.
Rubbing the small of her back, she glanced at the clock. It was well after twelve and she hadn’t stopped for lunch yet. Her stomach grumbled in protest. She removed her smock and hung it on the hook on the wall.
She followed the sounds of hammering outside. Standing on the porch, she held a hand up to shield her eyes. It was a rare sunny day, and she smiled as she caught sight of Niall on the roof of the new house. It should be ready for them to move into next month.
With three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, she could invite Gina and her husband to come and stay with them now. Maybe Grams would even pay them a visit, now that she had adjusted to the idea Thea was staying in Scotland forever.
Of course marrying Niall six months after they met had definitely forced Grams to get accustomed to the fact that Thea would only ever be returning home for visits.
That day on the road had changed everything. She had hoped she found something special with him. She had wanted to believe it, had longed to believe in the forever he was offering.
Within the week she knew it for truth.
She was totally, irrevocably in love. And as the days slid to weeks to months, she knew that wasn’t going to change. She wanted him in her life forever.
He proposed to her precisely one week after walking in on her asleep on his couch.