Prescribed for Love (15 page)

***

Alasdair
lay on his plaid with Catriona, basking in the aftermath of their lovemaking.
Letting his hand caress Catriona’s body, it stilled as it came across the scar upon her arm. This brought his mind suddenly back to the
concerns that had brought him here
. “Catriona,
I know ye miss yer home, but I want ye to know that as long as ye are here, I will protect ye.”

“So you’re definitely not going to threaten to burn me again?” she asked.

“I didnae…”

“Oh relax, I’m just teasing,” she interrupted.

“Ye are never going to let me forget that, are ye?”

“Nope.”

***

Cat was
really
starting to feel settled in her fifteenth century existence. Her days were always filled with activity. Once Lainie’s mother had recovered f
rom her pneumonia
, Catriona had become the unofficial healer of the clan. Fortunately, there had not been
any serious illnesses or injuries
. Between her pharmacy education, her first aid training (learned vicariously through Keith), and the information contained within Elspeth’s book, she had been able to provide some form of care to anyone who had needed it.

She
had
also foun
d those working in the castle coming to her for advice. She had quickly learned under Ailsa’s tutelage what was needed to keep the castle running smooth
ly, so when Ailsa was busy, the clansmen
had
often sought
Catriona. At first, Cat had found this
complimentary; s
he was glad
people were seeking her expertise. Plus, this allowed her to find various ways to help the clan.
But then
,
she had begun to overhear gossip which
had gi
ve
n
her concern. Many in the keep had become of aware of her relationship with Alasdair; they thought she was to become the next lady of the keep.

She had wanted to refute
the
misconception immediately—but how could she? It was not as if she could explain her real purpose in taking such an interest in the clan’s welfare.
She had just had to
accept this
as the unintended consequence of having a relationship with Alasdair while also trying to accomplish her aim.

Besides, it was not as if she could truly complain.
Her nights with
Alasdair
were wonderful
—beyond wonderful
.
She
had never
h
ad a relationship so satisfying.
But,
i
t was not just the physical aspect that met her satisfaction.
She had
also
found his companionship
to be
truly enjoyable.
He was a good and loyal man, and was surprisingly funny. Their relationship provided a sense
of intimacy
that was a salve to the stress of her current situation
.

However, when Cat
had
realized how complacent she had become, she began to worry she would find it more difficult to get the book to send her home.
She still had no idea how the whole ‘need’ concept worked. If she found
some form of
happiness here, would th
e book even sense a need
to return
her
to her time?

This worry had brought Catriona into the privacy of her chamber. She wanted to feel more connected to her own century, so she was now going through the items in her purse.
She pulled out her cellphone and
turned it on. Knowing it would no
t work, but hoping for the impossible, she checked the signal…nothing. She then turned it back off to save the battery. Putting it back, she pulled out her wallet. She had t
o laugh at her driver’s license. As was her luck with all photos—she
looked like a train-wreck.
She smiled as she remembered her brother’s reaction when he
had seen
the photo for the first time. It had been so bad
she had tried to keep it hidden. Almost six months had passed before he finally saw it
, and
then
another six
before he stopped making an imitation of her facial expression
every time he saw her
.
Actually, she was pretty sure she had a photo of him making the face.
She dug into the bag
to pull out her photo book.
It was
deeply
buried
;
she had to remove some
of the
l
arger items from her bag
. She knew it was a bit silly to keep a small photo album when she could store photos on her phone, but she just liked having the physical copies
.

The first
photo
in the book was of her parents, Keith
,
and herself. She could not remember her parents, but she kept the picture with her always.
She liked to be reminded that at one point in her life she had truly been part of a family.
Next
,
was a picture of he
r brother with his first car; he
had been so proud of the old clunker.
Behind this were pictures of other various milestones, first apartments, graduations, birthdays, and holidays.
Last in the book was the picture she had been looking for. Imitating her license photo, he was smiling way too broadly. The expression had made her look like a crazy-stalker, but Keith’s rendition made him look criminally insane. The image never failed to make her
smile
.

Looking
through
picture
s
reaffirmed Cat’s resolve to get back to her time and her brother.
Satisfied
, she began to repack her purse. She was even able to laugh as she picked up her box of tampons she always kept with her.
I’m
really
gonna be depressed if I’m here
long enough that I run out of these
.
Fortunately, she had only needed them once so far.

“Wait a second,” she murmured to herself.
It was now almost August.
Oh g
od, no! No no no no no…this is bad…this is REALLY bad!
She leaned against the door, and slowly slid to the floor, with a blank
expression
on her face.
Me, of all people, how could I have let this happen?
Catriona had been lecturing women for years about proper birth control practices, she had always marveled at the amount of women completely taken by surprise by pregnancy. Catriona had been using the shot as her contraceptive, but had completely forgotten she was due for a new one
in July
.

If it was poss
ible, Cat turned even more pale;
there was no way she could tell
Alasdair
. She did not need him trying to prevent her from going home; he did not strike her at the type of man who would re
adily give up his child.
This i
s a nightmare!

She had always wanted to have kids, but she had wa
nted to wait for
the right man. Cat had
not wan
t
ed
to risk being a single parent. S
he knew how important paren
ts were due to her lack of them, but…she just could not tell him.
Plus, would it be fair to tell
Alasdair
, only to
rip his child
away to the future without notice?
“Keith, I wish you were here…I really need some brotherly advice,” said Cat to herself. She never even noticed
Elspeth’s
book
disappear from the other side of the room.

***

Alasdair
was o
n the parapets again, reviewing the past few weeks. He had been more content during this time than during any other since becoming laird. H
is sister was well, his people were beginning to prosper, and he had a strong
woman to warm
his bed. Yes, the threat of conflict
with the
Camerons was
ever
present
, but that threat would always exist. If they were not warring with the Camerons, they would be
fighting
with someone else.
They had had issues
with other nearby clans (most frequently the MacKinnons)
in the past.

“Hello, brother,” said Ailsa as sh
e joined him on the wall
.

“What brings ye out here at this time of day.
Should ye nae
be idling away yer time with the other women?”

“
Alasdair
, ye know I would never idle away my time,” rebuffed his sister.

“Aye, I ken
, I just delight in making ye angry.”

“Ye havena
e made me angry, well nae
yet anyways,” said Ailsa. Her tone held a hint of warning.

“
At what are ye hinting
?” asked
Alasdair
.

“I want to know what ye are planning to do about Catriona,” said Ailsa bluntly.

“What do ye mean
‘what I plan on doing about Catriona
?
’
”

Ailsa sighed, “I mean, why do ye continue to let her sneak into yer room each night? She deserves better than that. Each week she stays here without word from her br
other increases the chances
she will need to
stay permanently. Why do ye nae
ma
rry her? She obviously makes ye
happy.”

Unsure how to respond to her frank speech,
Alasdair
became defensive
, “
I dinnae
make her ‘sneak’ into my room each night.
”

“Aye, ye do—which is truly silly at this point. Everyone knows what is going on between ye two. They all thi
nk she is going to be the next L
ady MacLean. They are all starting to look to her example.”

“I
havenae noticed
…”

“
Of course ye havenae noticed!” she interrupted. “While ye are busy with yer men, Catriona has help
ed me run things so well that
nay
one
has needed to go to ye. Is that nae what ye would want in a wife?”

“Aye, but…”

Ailsa prevented him from finishing his sentence again, “I ken
,
ye have
nae thought about it. B
ut
,
just remember—ye deserve some happiness,” finished Ailsa as she kissed her brother on the
cheek
. She
depart
ed
to leave him
with his thoughts.

Alasdair
had to admit
the idea had some merit
.
Because of the precariousness of his clan in years past,
Alasdair
had never seriously considered a wife. He had not felt he had much to offer. But, Catrion
a seemed content with life here; s
he had not once complained. And Ailsa was right; Catriona seemed just as passionate as he to improve their situation. He would need
to
give the
matter further
thought
.

***

Catriona stayed sitting on the floo
r for close to an hour. I
f she wanted to keep her predicament a secret, she would need to continue with her normal routine. As if in a haze, she left her room to
head toward the kitchens. She had been learning their methods of food preservation and was helping the keep prepare for the coming winter months.

Knowing nutrition was often lacking in this era, Catriona had made it a point to try and preserve as many fruits and
vegetables as possible. This was especially important for Ailsa. With her inability to process gluten, Cat would need to make sure there were plenty of options stored away.

Lainie knew Cat’s concern, so she often kept Cat abreast of when a certain type of food was able to be harvested. She had recently told Cat about some nearby blaeberries. Cat decided today would be a good day to check on the berries since she did not really feel like interacting with anyone
and could use an escape
.

With this new direction
, Cat went in search of Branan. He would most likely agree to accompany her. Normally, she would ask
Alasdair
, but there was no way she could face him right now. She was worried she would let slip her current predicament.