Chapter 14 #2
She should have felt triumphant. Relieved. She’d crossed seas and moors, been chased and hunted. But she’d made it. She’d found Charlie. Instead, there was a hollow ache sitting in her stomach.
Evan was gone.
The door opened and Ruby stiffened automatically—only to relax when an older woman bustled in, carrying a tray.
She was middle-aged, with her hair pulled back into a neat bun and an expression that managed to be both brisk and kind.
She wore a plain dress and apron dusted lightly with flour, and the tray she held bore a teapot, two cups, and a plate piled high with golden-brown scones.
“Chamomile tea,” the woman announced briskly. “And scones, fresh from the oven.”
The smell hit Ruby like a physical thing. Melting butter. Warm bread. Her stomach growled traitorously.
“Ah, Flora, perfect timing,” Charlie said, smiling. “This is my cousin, Ruby Douglas. She’s just arrived. Ruby, this is Flora. She keeps this house running and all of us in line.”
Flora snorted softly. “That’s a generous description, but I’ll take it.” She turned her keen gaze on Ruby. “Ye are very welcome here, miss. Ye look like ye could do with something hot and filling.”
Ruby swallowed. “I...um...I.”
Flora poured the tea and passed Ruby a scone already sliced and slathered with butter.
“Eat,” she said firmly, as if daring Ruby to argue.
Ruby took a bite—and very nearly cried. It was ridiculous. It was just a scone. But the butter melted into the crumb, the tea was sweet and sharp and warming, and reminded her so much of home that she could barely breathe.
Flora, satisfied, gave Charlie a knowing look and left them alone. For a few minutes, they ate in companionable silence. Ruby sipped her tea, letting the warmth seep into her stomach, her chest, her bones.
But eventually, Charlie spoke. “So,” she said gently. “What happened? Why did you come all this way looking for me? I’m coming home in a few weeks anyway, remember? For the wedding?”
Ruby stared into her cup. Daniel’s face rose unbidden in her mind.
She exhaled. “No, you’re not. The wedding is off.”
Charlie went still. “Tell me.”
“He was having an affair with a girl called Emma from work,” Ruby blurted. “It had been going on for ages, apparently. And I was completely oblivious. How ridiculous is that? How could I not have known? I only found out because I found some...pictures...on his phone.”
“Oh, Ruby...”
“I didn’t even shout and scream,” she said with a weak laugh. “I just... told him to leave. Called it off. Tried to get my money back for the dress. Very practical. Very me.”
She hesitated, then added, “And then I thought of you. And how you said the Fae took you where you needed to be, and where I needed to be was far away from the mess of my life. And so Irene MacAskill brought me here.”
Charlie’s brows rose. “Irene MacAskill?”
Ruby nodded. “I summoned her,” she said, spreading her hands helplessly. “With a ritual. A very stupid ritual. I didn’t really think it would work but it did. Or maybe it didn’t. I don’t know.”
“Irene MacAskill,” Charlie muttered. “Never does anything without a reason.”
Ruby’s eyes drifted, once again, to the door. Charlie noticed.
“You look like you expect someone to walk in,” she said carefully. “Evan, perhaps?”
Ruby shrugged, not trusting herself to speak. But as always, Charlie seemed able to see right through her.
“You know,” she said slowly, “the Campbell brothers have been estranged for years. Niall hasn’t seen Evan since...well I don’t know when. Certainly not since I’ve known him. And yet here he is, brought here by my cousin from the twenty-first century. What are the chances of that?”
Ruby just shrugged.
Charlie smiled faintly. “Like I said, Irene doesn’t do anything without a reason. She nudges people where they’re needed. Maybe Evan was meant to come here. Maybe you were the nudge. Maybe Irene brought you to this time so you could help Evan—and his brothers—to heal.”
Ruby nodded noncommittally. Inside, though, she was shaking her head.
Charlie had got it backwards. It was Evan who had helped her to heal.
He’d had her back, kept her safe, seen the worst of her and stayed by her side.
He’d shown her that life was far bigger and full of far more possibilities than she’d ever imagined it was.
She coughed, uncomfortable under the knowing look in her cousin’s eyes. She changed the subject. “How come you’re not in Edinburgh?”
Charlie sat back in her chair and shrugged helplessly. “Politics. You might have noticed that the Articles of Union are causing quite a stir?”
“Just a bit. Seems to me that politics don’t change whatever time period you’re in.”
“Too true. There was a plot against the crown that Niall and Bryce helped put an end to and so they are both the subject of heated gossip. We’re safer here, away from the capital.”
Ruby nodded, thinking that Charlie’s seemingly cozy life might not be so cozy after all. Plots? Conspiracies? Politics? Perhaps Ruby wasn’t the only one to be thrown in the deep end. She opened her mouth but snapped it shut as she heard footsteps in the hall outside.
The door opened. Niall stepped in, his big frame filling the doorway—then moved aside as someone followed him.
Ruby’s breath left her in a rush.
Evan stood there, framed by light behind, looking just as startled as she felt. His cloak was dusted with road grime, his expression shuttered—and then his eyes met hers. For a heartbeat, the world narrowed to that single look.
Ruby blinked, shock and relief warring in her stomach.
Charlie glanced between them, then stood. “Well,” she said briskly. “I think this is where we make ourselves scarce.”
Niall nodded, already ushering her toward the door.
“We’ll give you some time,” Charlie added gently, casting Ruby one last, knowing look.
The door closed behind Charlie and Niall and Ruby found herself alone with Evan.
And suddenly, the cozy room felt very small indeed.