Page 66 of A Promise Through Time

Maggie waved goodbye as she left them.

“How’s yer wee lassie?”

“She’s better today.”

“Good. We’re going to babysit today so that ye can spend some time with Tina.”

Donal was quite surprised. First that they were willing to watch Elena all day and second that he’d be spending the day with Tina. “I dinnae ken what to say.”

“Nae need to say anything, lad.”

“And she wishes to spend the day with me?” Donal was a bit skeptical. They were getting along better, but he still wasn’t sure what she expected of him.

“She does, but ’twill be yer job to woo her. We cannae do that for ye,” Angus chuckled.

Donal sat on the edge of the bed. He looked up at Angus who stood there, hands on hips and looking like the toughest of Highlanders. “How did ye get here, Angus?”

“Edna. I was her first time traveler,” he explained, a happy twinkle in his eye. “I knew from the first moment I saw her emerge from the fog that she was going to be mine. It was love at first sight for me and I can say with some certainty that she felt the same.

“Have ye ever made her so angry that she didnae wish to see ye again?” Donal asked.

“Nae. I cannae say that I have. She gets angry with me, but we always talk things through. ’Tis what ye must do with Tina. She’s a stubborn one from what Edna tells me, but worth the effort.”

“I believe yer right.” He’d known it all along he supposed. From the first moment he saw her, something told him Tina was a woman worth knowing.

“Edna has arranged for ye to have the day to yerselves. Ye should go downstairs and have some breakfast. I’ll stay here with the little one until Maggie comes for her, but before ye go, I’ll show ye one of the modern conveniences ye’ll love.”

“What would that be?” Donal wondered. Everything he’d seen so far had left him speechless.

Angus led him into the space they called the bathroom. “This is the shower. Now if ye’d rather, ye can bathe in the tub, but the shower is an experience nae to be missed.” Angus showed him how it worked, gave him soap and towels and then left him.

Donal couldn’t believe how kind these people were. They didn’t know him and yet they had opened their home to him and his daughter and now they were going to help him get his woman.

After the most amazing bathing experience of his life, Donal made his way to the dining room to find Tina breaking her fast. “Good morn,” he said, he sat across from her feeling quite a bit more sure of himself than he’d been in days.

“Hi. How did you sleep?” she asked.

“Verra well. The bed was even more comfortable than the big bed at Breaghacraig.”

“Everything’s more comfortable here,” she laughed and the sound gave him hope. “Ye could be right. I havenae seen everything yet, so I cannae say. Angus showed me the shower this morning.”

“I’ll bet you loved that.”

“I did.”

“I thought you looked all clean and shiny,” she teased.

He ran a hand through his wet hair. “Angus tells me that they’ll care for Elena today.”

“Yes. It’s so nice of them.” Tina said, glancing at him with appreciative eyes.

This shower must have magical powers. “We havenae spent much time together, just ye and me.”

“I guess we really haven’t,” she agreed.

“I’m happy to spend the day with ye.” He wanted her to know that despite the fact Edna had arranged their day together, he wasn’t protesting.

She smiled the sweetest smile. One that melted his heart.