how to help him. To reassure the woman who’d become like a mother to me, I pasted a smile on my face, thanked her, and accepted the weird outfit.
Once we were outside, I hissed, “Please don’t tell me this is the Doonian version of lingerie.”
That elicited further giggles as we entered the teepee we shared. “Don’t be such a prude, Ver—I mean, my queen,” Gabriela admonished.
I had to laugh at that. These girls would faint dead if they saw modern-day underwear, or swimsuits for that matter. And then it hit me—the garments were vintage swimwear! What was Jamie thinking? The weather had turned a bit warmer, but low sixties with a cool breeze was by no means swimming weather.
Blasted Scotsman!
His audacity reminding me of the Jamie I knew, I deciding to play along by wearing the swimsuit, but rejected the hideous cap. The girls helped finger-comb my hair and then wound the waist-length strands into a loose bun on top of my head. Wishing I had a mirror, I glanced from my bare legs up to the lace-edged shorts and the A-line plaid dress, fitted in the waist and bodice. It looked a bit like a ballet tutu with frilly spanks underneath. I felt ridiculous.
Gabby clapped her hands together beneath her chin and exclaimed, “Ye look lovely!”
“Please don’t make me wear this. I’ll meet Jamie wherever he wants, but if he sees me in this, he won’t be able to stop laughing.”
“My friend.” Sofia grasped my shoulders and stared me in the eye. “In our world, this is considered provocative. Believe me when I tell ye, Jamie will no’ laugh.”
Extremely grateful that my BFF was not around to crack Ethel Merman jokes, I allowed them to slip fur-line moccasins on my feet and a light cloak over my shoulders. I was ready, but trepidation still rolled through me at the thought of being alone with Jamie for the first time since his return.
Gabby exited the tent. As Sofia followed, I reached for her hand to stop her. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
She turned. Her wide, dark eyes examined my face and her expression sobered. “Of course.” After telling Gabby she’d meet her later, she joined me back inside the shaded warmth of the teepee.
“You dinna want to go?” As usual, the girl saw more than I’d intended.
“I . . .” Instead of answering, I asked, “Where’s Eòran?”
“I’ve occupied him elsewhere. Ye need this time alone.” She cocked her head. “Or are ye afraid?”
“It’s not that . . .” I turned and faced the fire, not wanting her to read the pain on my face. “Since Jamie came back he’s . . . he’s not the same. It’s like something is eating him up from the inside . . . turning him into someone I don’t even know. He can be fine one moment and then something triggers a change and he snaps. I never know which Jamie I’m going to get, moment by moment, and it makes me . . . leery of being alone with him.”
“Veronica, when you first came here—to Doon—ye were broken, were ye not?”
I thought back to the abandoned, insecure girl who’d crossed the bridge looking to escape the pain of her life. She was right. This place, the miracles I’d experienced, and Jamie’s love had healed me. But it had taken many ups and downs. Just a short time ago, in Indiana, I’d had a hard time accepting that men weren’t all like my father—that they wouldn’t leave when things got hard. Jamie had said he would choose me no matter what the future held. That he would choose me over and over until I understood that he always would.
Unable to speak around the scorching in my chest, I faced my wise friend.
“He’s hurting, Vee. I’ve known him all my life and I’ve never seen him like this either. But I ha’ to believe the Jamie we know and love can return to us.”
My eyes stung and I couldn’t be sure if they were tears of hope or shame. It was my turn to choose him. To show him that, despite his broken places, I wouldn’t give up. That I would do whatever it took to heal him. To heal us.
I pulled Sofia close and hugged her tight. “You’re so right. I have to show him that I haven’t lost faith in him. Thank you, my friend.”
She pulled back and met my gaze, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. “Dinna let the