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“But you called her she.”
“Because I drew a little girl, which has nothing to do with the child I’m carrying.” She stared at him in exasperation. “And you know it.”
“But it would be a gift if I did. Do you believe it’s a girl?”
“Caleb.”
“It would be a gift. The minute we go out that door, there will be no more ancient magic Highlands and we’ll have to concentrate on death and vengeance and survival.” His tone was wheedling. “What does instinct tell you? What do you believe?”
He was almost boyishly appealing. So different from the Caleb she knew. In this tension-fraught moment, she desperately wanted to keep that Caleb. Oh, what the hell. “It’s a girl.”
He tilted his head. “That’s what you believe?”
She stared him directly in the eyes. “It’s a girl. But I’m not going to tell you her name. Now leave me alone.”
For an instant he looked a little uncertain. Then he started to laugh. “That’s impossible.” He kissed her, hard. “Thank you for my gift.” He opened the outside door. “And now I’ll give you food and wine as a reward.”
Chapter
16
Supper that night was filled with laughter, and an excellent stew, though Jane had to refuse the even more excellent wine that Caleb had offered her. Life was already being dictated by that little girl who had appeared in their lives, she thought ruefully.
It wasn’t until after supper that Jane was brought abruptly down to earth. Fraser received an emergency call from his supervisor at the border station recalling him from the Highlands to return to the city. He was obviously upset but, after he went for a short walk with Caleb, he came back resigned and even cheerful. Caleb had offered to take Fraser’s place and stay the night at the facility until he could arrange to have a substitute come to the Highlands the following day. He did it with an offhandedness that made it seem ultra-casual. He even asked Fraser to tour the yard with him to make sure the area was safe. He listened patiently to Fraser’s advice and admonishments and then helped him load his van.
Fraser’s last words were to Jane. He stuck his head out the window as he was backing out. “Sorry about this. But you’ll be fine. You’ve got a good man here. If there’s anything I can do for you just give me a call.”
“I’ll do that,” Jane said. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. Thanks for giving us such a good day.”
Then Jane watched as Fraser waved and then drove off down the road. She immediately turned to Caleb. “How did you manage to get him away from here?”
“I called MacDuff and told him to contact the president of the railway and tell him to get Fraser out of here before midnight. All business executives are eager to do favors for MacDuff.” He glanced at his watch. “Right on time. He only had another fifteen minutes.”
“Midnight? Are we running that close?”
He shook his head. “I figure we’ve got at least until dawn. As a last resort, I told Rodland to give me twenty minutes’ notice when Bohdan was near enough to be a threat. But I didn’t want to cut it any closer where Fraser was concerned. He was an innocent, and you’d just lost Campbell. It would have torn you apart if something had gone wrong.” He looked at Fraser’s taillights disappearing around the curve. “Do you know how much I wanted to push you into that van and get you out of here?”
“Fraser would have understood.” She wrinkled her nose. “You heard him tell me what a fine man I had to take care of me.”
“And you were very polite. So instead of doing what I want to do, we’ll spend a good portion of the night checking out the north trails and the forest.” He took her elbow and turned her back toward the camp. “And then I’ll open the trunk of the Range Rover and go over the three semiautomatic pistols and two rifles that I stashed there for you. I’m not sure about the handguns, but I’ve already got a plan for the rifle. I approve of long-range weapons for you.”
“I’ve no objection. Just so it’s effective.”
“But before we go into hunting and any other skills Joe Quinn might have taught you, I suggest we go lie down and you let me hold you for a while.”
“That’s a fine suggestion.” Jane’s voice was trembling as she reached out and took his hand. “I can see why Fraser was so impressed by you.”
“I hoped you’d feel that way.” He slipped his arm around her waist and was leading her into the rail yard. “Because I really want to hold you and my little girl tonight.”
***
2:40A.M.
Jane’s eyes snapped open.
“There’s more!” she said aloud.
Caleb woke and turned over. “What?”
