Heather's Highlander: Book Club: Heartsgate (Heartsgate Highlanders 1) Read online

  His eyes scanned the area around him, and finally he spotted a lass on the ground. She wasna conscious, and he would have to get his father’s help to heal her, whatever her ailment. First though, he would try to wake her. He grinned to himself. With a father for a healer, he often jumped to the most drastic conclusion.

  Walking to the lass in question, he knelt beside her. “Wake up, lass. Ye are safe with me.”

  The woman’s eyes opened, and he felt fear strike him, instantly knowing it was her fear he felt and not his own. “Who are you?”

  He frowned. She sounded a great deal like his mother, who though she’d been in the Highlands for more than thirty years, still had an accent from the place she’d come from. A place she called New York. “Are ye from the future?” he asked.

  The girl struggled to sit up and blinked a few times as she stared at him. “How did you know that?” She held her hand to her head as if it pained her.

  “Ye sound like me mother. Come, we shall find me father, and he will heal your aching head. And then I will introduce ye to me mother. Are ye from Manhattan by chance?”

  “Who are you?” she asked, refusing his hand as he offered to help her up.

  “Derek McClain. Future laird of Clan McClain. And your name, lassie?” He kept his voice soft and even, hoping he could avoid frightening her.

  “Heather. Heather Maguire.”

  “Ahh. A good Scottish name. Come, Heather Maguire. Meet your future clan.”

  Chapter Two

  Heather felt like she’d just stepped into the Twilight Zone. Here she was, with a stranger, and he was acting like it was perfectly normal for someone to travel back in time and just show up on his family’s land. How could anyone feel like that was normal, even if they had a mother who had traveled through time before? It didn’t make sense for him to be so nonchalant about the situation.

  He stopped and showed her a place where someone had obviously built up some sticks to try to make something. “This is where me grandparents fell in love,” he said softly. “You see, in me family, the seventh son of each generation has a different power. Me power is to feel the emotions of others. Me mother calls me an empath. Me father can heal with his touch, and me grandfather can move through solid objects.”

  Heather blinked at him. “Did Dr. Lachele put you up to this somehow?” she asked.

  “Dr. Lachele?” Derek asked with a smile. “That’s who Mother says sent her back here.”

  She shook her head. “Now I know you’re joking.”

  He shrugged. “Come meet me parents, and then mayhap you’ll understand.” Derek led her to a small village of stone huts, and then to a large keep. “This is where me family lives.”

  “Wait, did you say you’re a seventh son? How can you be the future laird then?” Heather had read enough Scottish novels that she knew the oldest son was always the one to inherit.

  “I dinna say I was the future laird, did I?”

  “Well, no, but I’m supposed to be going back in time to meet a laird.”

  “Do you read Highland romance then?” he asked, his blue eyes twinkling at her.

  She bit her lip. “I do…”

  “You and me mother are going to love each other!” He seemed excited. “She will be so happy to talk with someone from her time.” He walked to the keep and opened the door. “How bad is your head hurting, lass?”

  Heather put her fingers to the side of her temple. “Very badly. How did you know?”

  “Me mother had the same trouble when she came back in time.” He led her to a parlor off of what she recognized must be the great hall, where people would gather and eat. She was sure many parties had taken place there in the years the family had been the leaders of the clan.

  Heather shook her head, wondering how long he’d be playing this game with her. “I see.” In the room was an older woman and a man. She wasn’t sure if she should curtsey or bow or just stand there like an idiot, so she did the latter.

  “Mother, Father, I want you to meet me future wife. Heather Maguire, who was sent back in time by Dr. Lachele.” He looked at Heather. “Heather, these are me parents, Gavin and Beth, the Laird and Lady McClain.”

  “It’s so nice to meet you,” Heather said. “And I never agreed to be his wife.” She needed it to be clear that she hadn’t become engaged to a stranger within seconds of meeting him.

  Beth stood up, looking her up and down for a moment. “From the future, are you? Where?”

  Heather frowned for a moment, but there was no reason not to answer honestly. “Upstate New York, in a small city named Heartsgate.”

  “I haven’t heard of Heartsgate, but I lived in Manhattan until Dr. Lachele sent me here.” Beth smiled. “Are you a lover of Highland romances by any chance?”

  Heather nodded. “I am.” How did everyone know what she liked to read? This place was downright weird!

  “Me too! That’s how I ended up here.” Beth hugged Heather. “It’s so good to meet someone who is from my time.”

  Heather looked at Beth warily. “This isn’t some sort of elaborate prank set up by Dr. Lachele?” It made no sense at all.

  Beth laughed. “You’d think, wouldn’t you? No, it’s not. Not at all. I’ll show you the remnants of my old iPhone if you’d like. You don’t happen to play candy crush, do you?”

  Gavin groaned from the chair he was sitting in. “Tell her no. For the love of all that’s holy, you must tell her no!”

  Heather frowned at the laird. “I have never really played Candy Crush. I’m sorry.” Why Candy Crush was such a big deal, she had no idea.

  “What games do you play?” Beth asked. “Could I just touch your phone? Or your Kindle? Please tell me you came back with a Kindle full of books? I had one, and a solar charger, but they broke years and years ago. They just weren’t really meant to last a lifetime.”

  Heather pulled back her skirt and pulled her phone out of one of the myriad pockets she and her mother had sewn into it. “Here’s my phone. It’s not an iPhone, though.”

  “Like I care about the brand. Do you know how long it’s been since I touched a cell phone?” Beth held the object to her chest and hugged it. “Do you play games?”

  Heather shook her head. “I don’t. I’ve never really been a gamer.” Now she wished she had been, just to appease this strange woman who seemed as if she would cry with happiness if there was a game for her to play.

  Beth sighed dramatically. “But you have books on it, right?”

  “I have some books on the Kindle app. I downloaded as many books onto both my phone and my iPad as I could.”

  Beth squealed with excitement. “And since you have two devices to read on, you can share with your future mother-in-law, right?”

  Heather sighed. “Is no one listening to me? I said I never agreed to marry your son!” She put her hand to the side of her head, wishing the pounding would stop. This conversation wasn’t helping her much.

  Laird McClain got to his feet and walked to her. “Mayhap you would allow me to help?”

  At Heather’s nod, he put his hand against her cheek and all of the pain faded away. He looked pained for a moment, but then he smiled. “All better.”

  She frowned at him. “How did you do that?” She had never felt anything like it.

  Derek grinned. “Me father really does have the healing touch.”

  “I see that.” She looked at Derek for a moment. “This is real, isn’t it? Dr. Lachele really sent your mother back in time?” It was starting to click. It really seemed to be the only logical reason they’d know as much as they did.

  Beth nodded emphatically. “She really did. How’s she doing, anyway? What year are you from?”

  “2020, the year the world stopped turning.”

  “Why would you say that?” Beth asked.

  “You need to hear about how awful 2020 is, but not just yet. Seriously, it’s the year to end all years.” Heather looked at Derek again. “Why is a seventh son going to be the laird o
f his clan? That doesn’t make sense to me at all.”

  “Tis the way it has always been in me family,” he said. “Me father was a seventh son, and his father before him.”

  Laird Gavin nodded. “Sit down, and I will do me best to explain.”

  Heather took one of the empty chairs, very aware that Derek perched on a stool directly beside her. “Explain.”

  “Me family is one who has seven sons every single generation. It has happened that way since our Norse family settled in Normandy. We came over to England with William the Conqueror and later moved to Scotland. The seventh son always had a bit of…well, of extra something. A sort of luck. When one of those seventh sons married the daughter of a Saxon woman of power and a Norman, well…tis when things became strange. Now every seventh son has some sort of power. Me grandfather can make crops grow, which is how our family began ruling Clan McClain. Me father can make himself intangible. I have the power to heal.”

  “The most important power of all,” Beth said. “And the most exhausting power to my way of thinking.”

  Derek nodded. “Father has always been one to have to leave at a moment’s notice so he can take care of people who are afflicted with disease, accident, or even old age.”

  Heather frowned at the man in question. “And that’s how you healed my headache?” This was all incredibly far-fetched, but she’d just traveled centuries back in time. Who was she to question?

  “It’s how I heal whomever asks me to heal them. I travel all over the Highlands, healing the people who send for me.” Gavin sighed. “I feel as if I missed most of my boys’ childhood.”

  “Being a laird and a sought-after healer…that must truly be overwhelming at times.” Heather couldn’t imagine a doctor leading a clan, let alone someone who could lay his hands on people to heal them.

  “Aye, it is.”

  “And the people? They know of your healing touch?”

  He shook his head. “Nay, we keep our family’s gifts hidden. I put salve on a wound, or I bandage it rubbing a potion on it. Or I give a tonic to drink. People believe I just have a way with salves and tonics. No one but those who live and work in the keep know the truth about me.”

  “Then why risk telling me the truth?” Heather asked. “You don’t know me.” It didn’t make sense to her that they were being so open when they usually weren’t.

  “Because Dr. Lachele sent you back,” Beth said softly. “You’re out of your time, and you need protection. You really don’t have much of a choice but to marry Derek. No one else will understand who you are or why you’re here.”

  Heather frowned at Derek. “But what if he doesn’t want to marry me?”

  “Oh, lass, there’s no question of me wanting to marry ye. Ye are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and…you belong to me. I could sense it before you even woke.” Derek put his hand on hers.

  “So, you said you’re an empath. What am I feeling right now?” she asked.

  He didn’t hesitate. “A little scared. A lot excited. A little amused. Skeptical. Ye are not sure if we are telling you the truth.”

  He’d summed up her emotions better than Heather could herself. “That’s amazing.”

  “Tis my gift. Or my curse. However, you want to say it.”

  “Do you feel like it’s a gift or a curse?” she asked.

  “Mostly a gift. At times, a curse. I know me father feels the same about his healing abilities.”

  “Tis true,” Laird Gavin said. “For years my parents despaired of me having a gift, and they thought that was over when I was born…but now…well, I have a very important gift, but tis one I would gladly give to another if I was certain they were willing to use it for good.”

  “How could healing be used for bad?” Heather asked, not really understanding.

  “I have never used my gift for ill, but I had a great grandmother…I know not how many times great, and she once used her healing gift to suck the life force from someone. It was something she needed to do to save the world, so I dinna think she did wrong, but I do not want to give a bad person the power to do that.” He shrugged. “I truly dinna know if I could do it even if I wanted to, but I dinna feel like I could risk the gift in another.”

  “That makes sense.” Heather frowned. “So, I suppose there’s to be a wedding. We’ll take a few weeks to plan it, Lady McClain?” She knew enough of the Highlanders ways that she knew it would be up to her to plan the wedding and the men would have little to do with it.

  “Oh, nay!” Derek said. “I dinna want to wait to plan anything. We can marry on the morrow. I want few people there.”

  His mother nodded, frowning at him. “Derek’s gift is wonderful for understanding others, but if there are too many people around, it overwhelms him, and he must seek solace in the woods. I assume that’s where he found you?”

  Heather nodded, not having thought of that. “So, we won’t always have a houseful of people?”

  Derek shrugged. “We will have some at all times, I’m certain. We need to have people in and out as I do my duties as laird.”

  “But that will be long into the future,” she said, “right?”

  Beth smiled. “Another thing that’s strange about the McClains is that the seventh son always takes over as laird as soon as he marries. There’s a little house in the village with our name on it. It will be nice when Gavin only has to be a healer and not a healer and a laird.”

  “I look forward to more time with you also, my love,” Gavin said, looking at his wife.

  “And I look forward to time with you,” Beth said softly.

  Heather realized that she could hear the New York in the older woman’s voice every time she spoke. Sure, it was hidden under some of the Highland lilt that was filling her voice now, but she could definitely tell she was not from around there.

  Heather frowned. “So, you’re saying that Derek and I should marry tomorrow, and he’ll become laird immediately? That’s crazy talk!”

  Derek laughed. “I have been training to be laird from the time I was weaned. I promise you, I can handle the duties, though it will be easier with a good woman at me side.”

  “I’m sure it will.” Heather shook her head. “Everything is moving so quickly.”

  Beth got to her feet. “Aye, it is. And it will for a time. Come, I’ll show you to your chamber, where you’ll sleep for the night.”

  “Just the one night?”

  Beth nodded. “As my mother-in-law did before me, I will arrange for my things to be moved tomorrow. You and Derek need the entire keep for your own as you grow used to marriage.”

  “I don’t need you to move out!” Heather hated the idea of losing the only person who understood the twenty-first century.

  “I said the same thing many years ago. But I was wrong, and you are too. You need to have that space to get to know my son and for the two of you to become closer.” Beth smiled “And if you need me, I’ll be in the village ready to help where I can.”

  Heather frowned, following the older woman up the stairs and down a hall. “This is the only dress I have,” she confessed as they reached the room that would be assigned to her for the night. She was embarrassed she hadn’t thought of bringing another dress with her. She should have taken a little longer to prepare and made one.

  “I only had a pair of slacks and a blouse when I came here,” Beth said with a twinkle in her eye. “My mother-in-law, Gillian, whom you will love, burned them before anyone could see them, and then she and my lady’s maid, Kirstine, helped me sew all new clothes.”

  “I won’t have to have a lady’s maid, will I?”

  Beth shrugged. “I would say it would help. Kirstine’s daughter is just about the right age to be a good friend and confidante to you.”

  “Why do I need someone?”

  “Because you will need someone to be on your side at all times. During my wedding feast, I became overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in the keep several times, and Kirstine watched my face
and whisked me away every time. She helped me understand the culture and the time period in a way no one else really could.”

  “I see.” Heather sighed. “I guess maybe I do need someone if this girl wouldn’t mind.” She hated the idea of having someone trailing after her at all times, but she could see the benefit as well.

  “Aileen would be honored, I promise.” Beth smiled, opening the door wide to show Heather the room. “It’s small, but it’s all you’ll need for the night. This was Derek’s room when he was a boy.” There was a bed, a chest, and a chamber pot in one corner of the room. “And trust me, as much as it seems distasteful now, you’ll get used to the lack of indoor plumbing. Do you want me to have a bath brought in?”

  Heather shook her head. “I showered right before I went to book club this morning. I’d like to bathe before the wedding though. Are you sure I need to marry tomorrow? Derek seems…well, he seems so distant.” It was hard for her to imagine being married to the man.

  “He’s had a lot of years to practice shutting others out emotionally. If he doesn’t, he has a very hard time. Trust me. It’s for the best if you marry right away. It’s easier for the clan to see him married without meeting you than for them to ask questions about who will be the wife of their leader. It’s what we needed to do when I arrived as well.” Beth smiled at Heather. “Trust Dr. Lachele. If she sent you here, then this is where you’re meant to be.”

  Heather sighed softly. “I trust her. I think.”

  Beth laughed. “And if she comes back here to see you, I want you to make sure to let me know she’s here. I love her, and it would be nice to get a boobie bump.”

  “She called it boobie bumps with us too!”

  “I’m not surprised. Her affectionate term for hugs is the way I always think of embraces now. I have to keep myself from shouting, ‘Boobie bump!’ every time a friend embraces me. I manage, but it’s difficult at times.”

  Heather grinned. “You can whisper it to me anytime you want to hug me.”