Chapter 16
Evan had forgotten how bright the mornings could be here.
The sky stretched wide and unbroken above the hills, a clear blue that felt almost indecent after so many years spent under low tavern ceilings and salt-heavy coastal clouds. The air was crisp but warming quickly under the sun, carrying the scent of heather and turned earth. It was...pleasant.
He walked beside Niall up the slope that led away from the house, boots brushing through long grass silvered with dew. He glanced at his brother. All this still felt unreal.
Yesterday he had been a smuggler running from men who wanted him dead, preparing to slip away before anyone could tie him to a name he had long since shed. Today he was striding across his family’s old estate with his brother at his side.
His brother who instead of meeting him with anger, resentment, recriminations, had welcomed him into his home despite all the bitterness that had passed between them.
Niall walked with easy purpose, hands clasped behind his back, gaze scanning the land. Evan had lost track of the years that had passed since he’d seen his brother last. He looked older of course, but also more...centered. There was a steadiness about him that hadn’t been there in their youth.
“Ye are quiet,” Niall observed mildly.
Evan huffed a breath. “Just... taking it in.”
His eyes roved over the fields rolling out below them. Stone cottages dotted the landscape, smoke curling lazily from chimneys. Patches of barley rippled gold in the sunlight. It all seemed so peaceful. So familiar. As a lad he had run across these hills with reckless energy, fought his brothers in the long grass, planned futures that had seemed so full of endless possibilities.
And then everything had splintered.
So why was he back here? Why was he trying to step back into his old life? He knew the answer of course.
Because of her. Ruby.
Her face flashed into his mind, and a tingle went right through him. He had spent half the night lying awake, staring at the ceiling beams, replaying everything that had passed between them yesterday. The way her voice had trembled when she admitted she hadn’t trusted him. The way it had steadied when she told him the truth. That she was from hundreds of years in the future.
He still didn’t understand it. Couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the scale of it. But he believed her. That was the strange part. He believed her without reservation.
And then there was the kiss.
Oh, Lord, that kiss. He swallowed. It had been everything he’d been dreaming of. It had been wild and reckless and utterly, utterly overwhelming, like a fire that had consumed him from head to toe.
And he didn’t regret it. Lord help him, quite the opposite. He wanted more. He wanted her. He wanted...everything.
“I still canna believe ye came back,” Niall said lightly.
Evan dragged his thoughts from Ruby and focused on the man beside him. “Neither can I.”
Niall’s mouth twitched. “If anyone had told me a year ago my wayward middle brother would be strolling up this hill at my side, I’d have called them mad.”
“Ye wouldnae be the only one.”
They crested the rise and the wind rose, tugging at Evan’s cloak. They’d reached the base of the structure Evan had seen from the road when he and Ruby had first arrived.
A windmill.
It wasn’t enormous, but it stood solid and proud against the skyline, gleaming in the sun, wooden sails turning lazily in the breeze.
Evan craned his head back to look all the way to the top and whistled under his breath.
“Ye built this?”
Niall nodded. “With help, of course. I didnae like the fact that my people had to rely on the goodwill of my neighbor, MacAllister, to grind their grain. He and I didnae see eye to eye. And it seemed foolish when we have wind enough to spare.”
Evan approached it slowly, studying the craftsmanship. The stonework was sturdy, well laid. The wooden mechanisms visible through the open door looked carefully constructed, practical rather than decorative.
“Ye always were the sensible one,” Evan muttered.
