“I’m a time traveler,” she whispered. “I come from the future.”
Evan blinked, wondering if he’d misheard. His first instinct was to laugh it off—to tell her this wasn’t funny, that whatevergame she was playing had gone too far. But the words wouldn’t come. There was something in her expression. Something raw and vulnerable that didn’t fit a lie.
He shook his head. “But...but that makes no sense. Time travel is impossible.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised,” she said with a wry smile. “I thought I wanted to escape my life, but I didn’t understand what that meant until I was standing on that island with nothing.”
The pieces shifted in his mind, rearranging themselves into a picture that made a terrible kind of sense. The way she carried herself like no woman he’d ever met. The way she spoke, her turns of phrase just a little off. The fear she’d carried beneath her bravado.
Shite.
“And ye didnae tell me,” he said slowly.
She shook her head. “No.”
“Why?” The question slipped out before he could stop it.
“Because I didn’t trust you.”
The words struck deep. He felt them land in his chest, sharp and clean. “Ye trusted me with yer life,” he said quietly. “Ye trusted me to get ye here.”
“I trusted you to do a job I paid you for,” Ruby shot back, though her voice wavered. “That’s not the same as trusting you with something like this.”
Anger flared—hot, hurt, and immediate.
“So ye thought I’d sell ye out?” he demanded. “Is that it?”
“Can you blame me? You ran off and left me on that island! And again when we were with the caravan, andagainjust now when we got here! You’re very good at running, Evan Campbell!”
He flinched at that, her words pelting against him like freezing hailstones. They stood there, facing each other across a chasm dug by secrets and half-truths, both breathing hard.
“I protected ye,” Evan said fiercely. “Put myself in danger more times than I can count.”
“I know,” Ruby said, her voice softening a little. “And I’m grateful. But that doesn’t mean I owed you everything about myself.”
Maybe she was right. That didn’t stop it from hurting. He turned away, jaw clenched, pacing again as the familiar urge to flee coiled in his chest. This vulnerability was exactly what he’d spent years avoiding.
“I shouldnae have let Niall talk me into coming back,” he muttered.
“So, what? You’re going to run again?”
“No,” he said sharply, stopping near the door. “I promised my brother I’d stay. At least for the night.”
She stood by the fire, hands clenched at her sides, eyes bright with stubborn resolve. Beautiful and infuriating. Ah, hell. This was not how this reunion was supposed to go. He’d wanted to kiss her, not argue with her. But after everything he’d learned, did he know her at all?
“I didn’t lie to you to hurt you,” she said quietly.
Neither did I, he thought. But the words stayed lodged in his throat.
Instead, he just nodded once, yanked the door open and left before he could say anything either of them would regret.
RUBY STOOD STARINGat the closed door long after Evan’s footsteps had faded down the corridor.
The room felt emptier than it had a moment before. She wanted to go after him. She wanted to...she didn’t know what she wanted to do. She only knew that wasnothow she’d pictured her conversation with Evan going.
When he’d appeared with Niall, she’d been so relieved to see him that she’d felt a little giddy. But hot on the heels of that relief had come anger. For the lies. For all the things he’d kept from her.
It had reminded her too much of Daniel.
