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We anchored the boat in a cove and stepped onto the craggy shore.
Cait’s eyes revealed hesitation for the first time. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
I swept a red curl out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, giving her my best attempt at a reassuring smile, though I had a pit in my stomach at the thought of what she was about to face. “Trust me. Lachlan wants to see you.”
“But it’s been three years. I’m not sure he’ll even recognize the person he used to love.” She shook her head. “It feels like a lifetime ago.”
I swallowed. I didn’t doubt that she had changed. “Well, look on the bright side. At least you have the same name as when he fell in love with you.”
Cait laughed humorlessly.
Saying it out loud both helped and hurt. I had to face the reality that whatever Graham had seen in Bryn Yarrow could be long gone. I didn’t know if he would have any affection for me as Mara Stroud.
“Um, Cait,” I said. “Let’s not tell the islanders who I am. I have a feeling they wouldn’t take it well.”
“Yeah. Most people don’t love being lied to.” She winked.
I laughed and cringed at the same time. “Don’t even tell Lachlan. Not yet.”
“Okay. I’ll leave that to you,” she said, "when you're ready."
We hiked from the cove and passed through the forest, emerging from the trees into a vibrant green meadow littered with tree stumps. An abandoned axe still lay on the ground.
The village materialized out of the dissolving mist and a lone cow wandered through the cluster of humble homes. We followed it until we arrived at the center of the community, a place I'd been before, with a simple fire pit and a bell mounted on a pole.
It was quiet, but as the sun began to shine through the blanketing fog, the sounds of waking villagers met our ears.
I looked at the bell, hesitant to ring it and wake every last man, woman, and child, but my heart beat like the second hand of a clock, reminding me that every moment I waited to return to save Graham was a risk. We couldn’t stay here too long.
Cait made the decision before I could. She reached up and pulled the rope down hard with both arms. The tinny clang of the bell rebounded through the sleepy village.
I stepped back, covering my ears. “Thanks for the warning.”
Cait continued to pull the rope. “It’s been three years. I’m out of patience.”
“Fair enough,” I said.
The first figures emerged. The islanders came closer, entering the open space with tired confusion on their faces.
The bell stopped ringing, but the echo in my ears remained.
“You.” The stone-faced woman named Rowan squinted at me, her salt-and-pepper strands pulled back in a ponytail. “What are you doing back here?”
Before I answered, a man spoke. “Cait?”
The soft but fervent voice somehow cut through all the other sounds, the fog, and even the noise in my brain.
I turned around to see a young man with shaggy red hair and brown eyes.
Cait’s eyes grew wide, and her mouth moved wordlessly before she finally managed to whisper a single name. “Lachlan.”
He stepped closer, the furrow in his brow as pronounced as it might’ve been if a ghost had appeared in front of him. For a long beat, they both stared, as if unable to cut past the sliver of distance between them.
“Cait,” he said again, his voice strong and sure.
She jumped forward, wrapping her arms around him with a sound that was somewhere between a squeal and a sob. Her curly red hair covered his face, and her cheeks shone with tears.
I stepped back, feeling like an intruder. This was their moment, not mine.
