Prescribed for Love (21 page)

Alasdair approached hoping to learn the source of her amusement, but instead he heard Catriona say
, “Alright Keith, I think we’re all set, would you mind giving me a hand down?”
Alasdair
offered his own hand since he was so close and did not immediately see Keith.
“Thanks Keith.”

“For what? I didn’t do anything.” Keith
emerged from the inside of the structure.

“Then who?” Catriona
spun
to see
Alasdair
, “Of course it’s you.”

“And now he’s gone and ruined our surprise!” added Keith.

“What surprise?” asked
Alasdair
.

“Well, it’s not really a surprise. We just didn’t want to say anything until we were sure we’d be successful. We know you’ve been trying to rebuild—so we took a crack at it. If we are going to stay here for a while, it’s the least we can do,” explained Catriona.

“Ye did this by yerselves? In three days?” asked
Alasdair
.

“I could have done better, but your resources here are limited,” added Keith.

“
I ken better than most
,” agreed
Alasdair
.
Circling the building for further inspection, he had to admit he was impressed with their work.
Inspired, he asked, “If I gave ye a few more men, do ye think we could rebuild the rest before winter?”

“How many?” asked Keith.

“Maybe a dozen more near the castle, a
nd another two dozen further more toward the borders,
”
said Alasdair. “And maybe another two dozen only needing repair.”

“It c
ould be possible, but I would need to see the condition of the homes,”
answered Keith
.

“I
can show ye some now
,” offered
Alasdair
.

“Great! Let’s go
.
”

***

Cat
knew she should feel
a little insulted the two men had completely forgotten about her, but she was honestly glad they had. She had been hoping for an opportunity to get out alone
again. She had gotten so
dirty the past three days
she had hoped she could slip away to the
pond. She had tried to bathe
as well as she could in the castle, but it just was not that same as a good soak.

Cat had even worn her crochete
d bathing suit in the hopes
a chance like this would present itself.
Unwilling to waste another moment, s
he grabbed her purse
and left. She would
meet the boys back at the castle
later
.

Approaching the water, a blush came to Cat’s cheeks as she
remembered
the last time
she had been in its depths
.
While the experience had been pleasant, it had also been the starting point of the disaster that
had been
their affair
.
No, that’s not true, it had
n’t a disaster
—it had just had some unintended consequences
. Truthfully, Cat could
not regret their time together;
Alasdair
he had been nothing but attentive.
And w
hile she had always planned on meeting just the right man with which to start a family—she could not deny that Alasdair had all the characteristics
she could desire for the father of her child
.
Well, except for the fact he’s a little old for my ideal—like six hundred years too old.

Alasdair
took his responsibilities seriously, but also knew how to laugh. Thinking back
upon the day he made his offer
, Catriona thought part
of the
reason she had fled
was that a small part of her wanted to say
‘
yes.
’
Like she had told him
in a
later
conversation
, if
she had met him back home, she would have most likely agreed
—or at least have given the idea some serious thought
.

But, she
simply
could not stay here. The idea of raising her child in the past scared the bejeezus out of her. The lack of technology, the shorter lifespan, and e
ven the lack of opportunity
made it absolutely impossible to seriously consider his suggestion.
Sure, she knew enough to be able to compensate for much of the lack in technology and medical knowledge. But what would her child do in his or her adult life? It was not as if she could pass down her pharmaceutical knowledge.
Well, actually you could, just not the type you are used to using.
Cat cleared that thought from her mind with a quick shake of her head
.
And what about Keith?
S
he could not leave he
r brother; he was her only family.
Sure, he had seemed more than willing to look at thi
s jaunt into the past
as a vacation of sorts, but
that did not mean he had ever considered the adventure
to be permanent.
There was just no way she could ask him to stay with her in the past.

And
even
if
Cat had any desire to stay here, she did not even know
if
she could. Yes, Elspeth had told her the book was necessary to go back to the future, but Catriona was not confident that was true. What if she lived in the past for a while, then suddenly was ripped away six hundred years. The consequences were just unfathomable!

Catriona took a deep breath to calm hersel
f. She was worrying for
nothing;
she was not staying here
—period
. Determined to not ruin the rest of her bath with panic, Cat emptied her mind and got back to the business of cleanliness.
She scrubbed her skin as best she could and then dipped below the surface to remove the grime from her hair.
Once satisfied she was clean,
she left the water to lie in a small spot of sun. She would return to the castle after she was dry.

***

Keith looked at the last hut before him, “I don’t think we should have any
trouble
fixing these homes in a timely matter. Cat, what do you think? Are you ready for some more hard work?
” When Keith did not get an answer he looked behind his back to find his sister. “Cat?” to
Alasdair
he said, “H
ave you seen Cat?
I thought
she was right behind us
.”

“Nay.”

“Huh,” said Keith with a shrug of his shoulders, “She must have decided to go back to the castle instead.”

“She shouldnae have gone alone,” scolded Alasdair.

“Dude, she’s a big girl. She can take care of herself,” dismissed Keith.

“We should return and ensure she got back safely,”
insist
ed
Alasdair
.

“
I’m sure she got back just fine.” But, seeing the look on the other man’s face, Keith changed his mind. “Or,
on second thought, let’s go back and check on her
.”

***

Alasdair
could not believe he had
failed to notice
Catriona
had not been following
them.
His only
excuse was the excitement caused by the
prospect of beginning to rebuild the damaged homes of his clansmen.
Approaching the hut where he had first found Catriona and her brother, h
e increased his pace
.
A
fter a quick scan of the area he knew she was not here
. Granted, he had not truly expected to find her here.
He returned to the path toward Duart Castle, once again increasing his
stride
.
Alasdair
did
not know why he was so worried; they were not far from the keep. B
ut
,
he simply
could not dispel his sense of unease
.
I am most likely
just nervous
due to
the recent Cameron attacks.

Arriving at the gate he asked, “H
as Catriona returned
?”

“Lady Cat?” asked the man, “Aye, she returned just moments ago.”

“See, you were worried for nothing,” sa
id Keith with a quick slap to Alasdair’s shoulder. “I’ll catch you later.
I wanna start planning
.”

Still unable to completely rid himself of his unease, Alasdair went in search of Catriona.
Recalling her attire this afternoon,
Alasdair
t
hought it most likely Catriona w
ould be in her room changing.
In front of her door
in mere moments
, he knocked.

“Come in
,
”
she called.
Alasdair did as beckoned.
“Oh, I thought you’d be Ailsa or Lainie,”
sai
d Catriona before
showing him her back and
returning her attenti
on back to what she had been
doing. Watc
hing as she combed her hair, Alasd
a
i
r realized where she had been—her hair was damp, but there was no tub in the room.

“Ye shouldnae go to the pond by yerself;
it
is dangerous to be
away from the keep on yer own,
”
scolded Alasdair. He inwardly cringed at the unintentional harshness of his tone.

“Hey, I only decided to go there alone once you two left me behind,” she said defensively.
Her comment stung; i
t truly was uncharacteristic
of
Alasdair
to be so careless with another’s safety.
Her voice took on a more caustic tone,
“Oh, and you being in here is hardly helping.
I’m pretty sure I said we should keep our distance, not chit chat in each other’s bedrooms.
If anyone sees you in here it
will only increase the
gossip
I am to be the next Lady MacLean.
And no offense Mac, but I have an entirely different future in mind.
”

Alasdair bristled at her harsh words—he did not want to admit how much they actually hurt
. “I simply wanted to ensure ye were safe.
”

“Well, I’m here,” she said, “Safe and sound—even though I had no big, strong man to defend me.”

“Catriona, I am sorry. I didnae mean to leave ye. But please, dinnae
go there again without yer brother or me.
Consider what happened to Cailen
.”

Catriona had looked ready to give another sarcastic retort, but stopped at the reminder of Cailen. “You’re right, I need to remember it is more dangerous here than my home. Sorry I was being such a bitch.”

“Ye werenae…”

“No, don’t deny it,” she interrupted.
Then she mumbled,
“If I didn’t know better I’d say I was PMSing.”

“What is…”

“So did everything go well with Keith?
” she asked, interrupting him for the second time.
“
Will w
e be busy building for the next few weeks?”

“Aye,
” replied Alasdair,
“H
e is planning now.”

“Good, I’m glad he can help,” said Catriona.
“
He’s confident he can get it done before winter?”

“Aye. I wish I could spare more men to help, but even with the few I can provide he still thinks it willnae be too difficult,
”
explained Alasdair.

“
That’s good,” said Catriona.
“
If it had been just the two of us, we probably wouldn’t be done until next year.”

“
On second thought, maybe I cannae spare
any men,
”
teased Alasdair.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not gonna work,”
laughed
Catriona.

“
Nay, it is too late;
I ha
ve already changed my mind.” Alasd
a
ir could not help but
be amused as he saw the look of
mock-anger come across Catriona’s face
. “Although, I
could
be persuaded to change my mind.”