“She wouldn’t understand. And Kaitlyn might be back any day now. We’ll just figure it out when it happens.”
Emma said, “Yeah. Yeah of course. She might be.”
Seventy-five - Hayley
When I returned to the living room Fraoch was sitting with Zach and Quentin at the dining room table. Still wearing his sunglasses, he was looking at Zach’s laptop screen.
Fraoch was doing an excellent job of pretending to know what they were talking about. “What year dost ye...?”
Zach said, “This is a record from the day Roderick and Lord Philip attacked Balloch. See there’s Magnus’s name and Kaitlyn’s name and Isla and Archie. Did they tell you they were doing it?”
“Nae, but I think twas tae protect the bairn.”
“Yeah, that’s what Quentin and I think too. This is a good sign, Magnus knows to put them down in the record. He knows. So we’re searching the castle and church records, all around the area, looking for any record of Magnus and Kaitlyn, pre-1557.”
Quentin said, “Balloch castle was built not long before it though, it was the dark ages, there are not enough records.”
“Yeah,” Zach sighed. “Not enough records, but we’re still looking. I don’t want to think about the alternative. I already have to talk to Katie’s mom and dad every other day about what I know — when will they be back? What are we doing to solve this? Em and I are in constant crisis management.”
I got up from the table and walked into the kitchen for some wine. I said over my shoulder, “Or, if this proves Magnus knows to leave records, maybe it also proves he didn’t have time to. Maybe Lady Mairead has already gotten them from the past.”
I got down two wine glasses and filled them with too much wine. “This is good news, right? Lady Mairead got them from the past and is jumping them here, and probably, because she’s a bitch, she’s holding them to bring back at the year mark. And while that is unforgivable, it totally fits her personality. So, it won’t be long.”
The whole time I talked I stared at that glass of wine, the one meant for me. Thinking about how good it would taste, and how thirsty I was, then I took a deep breath and poured it down the sink. I grabbed a can of Coke from the refrigerator and returned to the table. I placed the wine glass in front of Fraoch and popped the top of the Coke for me. “And hey, Zach, let me take Katie’s parents. I’ve been dealing with them my whole life. I can be their liaison from now on.”
Zach said, “That would be really great.”
“You and Emma have enough, she freaking looks like she’s about to pop.”
“Yeah, baby is coming soon.” Zach was distracted because he was clicking on the screen and reading something lengthy. I looked over his shoulder to see a list of baptisms in the year 1523.
“How is this relevant?”
“It’s not, this is me fucking flailing.” He continued scrolling and clicking and opening Wikipedia pages.
“Okay, good. Keep looking is what I’m saying, but also, we should totally be planning their welcome home feast.” I drank another swig of coke.
After a nice late dinner and after the kids were in bed, we sat and talked a little longer. Finally we headed to bed because I declared that day plenty long enough. In bed, washed and brushed and cleaned and in pajamas, I said to Fraoch, “I’m proud of you. You learned a crap-ton of new things today and you barely flinched.”
“Och, I am hidin’ m’astonishment.”
“You’re doing it very well.”
“Good,” he paused. “Ye told me a great deal of it when we were on our rides in Scotland. It all sounded as if it were a story. I believed ye might be makin’ it up, but here we are and tis all true.”
I smiled through the darkness at my husband. “That is so romantic.”
“That I thought ye were tellin’ a story?”
“No, that you listened.”
Seventy-six - Hayley
The next morning after breakfast, James arrived. “Can I borrow Fraoch?”
“Why?”
“I want to take him fishing.”
“Oh, of course.” I held my table knife, menacing. “But no strip clubs. No freaking him out. No instigating sword fights. No telling him about that time in middle school.”
James laughed, “Just fishing. He grew up on a loch, he likes to fish. I’m going to show him my boat. We’ll be back in a few hours.”
Fraoch grinned and stood from his chair. “Dost I need anythin’?”