said to herself as she plodded back to the room that Richard had allocated her when she’d returned. She was feeling all kinds of awful for ruining Ben’s life. She sat on the end of her bed and stared out the window, not focusing on anything really at all.
If Ben wouldn’t stay, could she?
She couldn’t imagine not having him in her life, but could she give up all that she loved here for him? Leave her mother, her family, and home? There was no denying she lived a comfortable life, having inherited the family estate, something her mother no longer wanted anything to do with. And when she was back in the seventeenth century things were different. She’d thought to stay, and would have been happy there, but now, now that she was back, Kenzie wasn’t so sure that decision was right for her.
Just as Ben had people in the past relying on him, she had people relying on her now. The estate, the very one Gwen and Braxton had been given by Gwen’s brother, Laird MacLeod, was hers now. There was a small tenant village situated upon the lands that rented from her, some of whom worked her farmlands. She had a successful B&B business and with the restoration of Castle Ross, that too would be a source of income for her in the years to come.
It was a lot to leave to go back to what? Ben’s home had been burning when they left, and it remained a blackened shell to this very day.
Unless…
Kenzie stood and smiled. Oh yes, there was a way to keep him here, and maybe happily so. She just needed to get him better, and then she could put her plan into place.
Chapter 18
Ben pushed the little black stick that Kenzie called a remote and fought to remember how to turn the blaring black box on the wall off. It was just one of many of the annoyances Ben had to deal with now that he was in the twenty-first century.
No longer was there quiet, the sounds of the sea or the tweeting of birds in the trees or his clansmen busy with their chores or maids gossiping in the halls. Now there were cars that ran past a road up behind the estate. The town lights that shone bright in the night and stole the view of the stars.
The absence of his friends: Aedan and Abby, Gwen and Braxton whom he missed more than he thought possible. Living in this time brought with it the cold, hard truth that they were all gone now. Long buried in the Scottish soil and no longer around to visit, to drink with. To reminisce old stories and sing clan songs. All of that gone.
A maid walked past the room Kenzie termed the lounge and threw him an odd glance. He supposed he was an oddity. He didn’t know how most things worked. That the candles had been replaced with electricity, a magic he’d never understand.
That castles such as this one were restored, made comfortable and draft proof. Well, a lot less drafty than he was used to. That kitchen stoves were replaced with electric and gas ovens. That horses were ridden for pleasure not as a means for transportation and warfare.
Ben lay back in the chair, staring at the black box on the wall. Stupid, loud thing that it was. The only saving grace of this time were the running water and hot showers. Should he return to the seventeenth century, he would study this more and try and work out a way to have such luxuries in his home. That one invention was a marvel.
Kenzie walked into the room and despaired at the boredom that she could read on Ben’s face. “Get up. I want to take you somewhere.”
“I’m comfortable here,” he said, not moving.
She came over to him and pulled him to stand, glad that he didn’t fight her considering he looked less than pleased to be moved. “We’re going for a drive. I want to show you something.” Now that Ben was well enough for Kenzie to take him in a car it was time to pull out her trump card. The drive wouldn’t be too long, but for a man who loathed vehicles, it would be an interesting trip, to say the least.
“I know we haven’t spoken of it much since you came back to Druiminn from the hospital, but before I send you back, I wanted to show you something.” Something