A Time & Place for Every Laird by Angeline Fortin (ebook reader TXT) 📕

“You name your horse, don’t you?”

“Aye, but my horse comes when I call.”

“Yes, well, my car talks to me,” Claire toldhim, pointing to the navigation screen on the dashboard, a deviceHugh had so far steadily refused to acknowledge or comment upon,much as he had ignored the television when she had watched the newsagain after lunch.

He didn’t break that trend by acknowledgingthe device now.

“My carriage is much larger and far morecomfortable, and many of the other vehicles look quite roomy,” hereverted to their prior discussion and pointed out the window atthe passing traffic. “This one is too small inside. I should thinkthat one of the larger ones might hae more room for the comfort ofa braw man such as myself.”

“Well, unfortunately, I didn’t buy this onethinking that I would be carting a braw Scottish fugitive acrossthe state. Sorry,” Claire added sarcastically before wincing andoffering a more sincere apology for her flippant tone. “I’m sorry.I tend to get a little snarky when I’m stressed. So, tell me then,what would you have me drive?”

Hugh considered the road around them, gladto have something more to think about than the bitter revelationsregarding his country and his home he had received that morning.There were many types of cars in the lanes around them. Some small,others large. Some hugging the ground and others perched high offthe ground like a fancy phaeton. Finally, he saw one that intriguedhim more than the others and he pointed it out to Claire. “Thatone. I’d have one of those.”

Claire shook her head with a laugh as hepointed out a huge black Ford F-150 pickup with an extended cab andbig twenty-four-inch wheels. “An F-150? Really? Only moments in thetwenty-first century and you’re already such a guy.”

“A guy?”

“Let’s just say I shouldn’t have beensurprised,” Claire chuckled. “It is an extremely manly truck afterall.”

“Truck?”

“That’s what we call the vehicles that havethat area in the back to load and carry things around,” sheclarified, naming the generic terms for other types of cars as shepointed them out.

“And the guy?” he asked again.

“Only that the majority of people who drivethose are men. Guys. Men. Pretty much the same thing.”

“’Tis more of thosecolloquialisms ye spoke of?”

“Yes,” Claire said. “Just like bloke or chapor whatever you would use.”

“Ye used the word tae the agents who camelooking for me,” Hugh told her.

“I did?”

“Ye said, ‘ye guys want to come in.’ I hadthought it a term for a law-enforcement official.” He stared outthe window for a moment, but Claire could see the reflection of hissorrowful countenance in the window. “This time isconfounding.”

Reaching out, Claire squeezed his armsympathetically before hastily withdrawing her hand. “You’ll getused to it. Just give it time.”

“I dinnae want tae get used tae it,” heretorted sharply, but like Claire, regretted snapping the momentthe words emerged. “My apologies for my rudeness, Sorcha. While Iam prepared tae forgi’ such a rebuke from ye wi’out malice inreturn for all that ye hae done for me, I know I should nae bringsuch grief upon my host.”

“A little temper is understandable. I getthat you’re scared.”

“I am notscared,” Hugh groundout, clearly offended. “What a horrid word.”

Claire raised her brows but didn’t look awayfrom the road ahead. The word had popped out of her mouth withoutthought and she wasn’t anxious to pick another fight with him. Wasit a Scot’s thing or a generational thing that prevented Hugh fromadmitting to any weakness? Trepidation was reasonable andjustifiable given the situation he found himself in, and beyond adoubt, Hugh had to be feeling some level of fear. Was it really sobad to say so?

He was a pretty brave guy, and Claireadmired him for it, but she would easily have forgiven him theadmission.

“I merely want tae gae home,” he said aftera muted minute.

“I know you do.” She offered a kindsmile.

The silence stretched between them for solong even the lower volume of the speakers seemed to fill the car.“Why Goose?” Hugh broke the quiet at last with his question.

A slight grin lifted the corner of Claire’slips. “It’s so when I get turned around or lost I can say ‘Talk tome, Goose.’ I know you won’t understand the reference, but it’sfrom a movie … before you ask, I’d rather show than explain thatone.”

“I can wait,” he said, hastily. “Explain taeme instead, what is this 9/11 ye mentioned that prevents me fromreturning tae Scotland?”

Claire explained the events of that tragicday in September to him and how the terrorists had hijackedplanes—taking a slight detour to explain them as well—beforeconcluding with a brief synopsis of the tougher travelrestrictions. “There’s just no way you’re going anywhere without apassport,” she concluded as gently as possible.

“Then we shall just hae tae acquireone.”

“You can’t just ‘acquire one,’” she said.“You have to show proof of who you are, citizenship, the whole nineyards.”

“Nine yards?”

Claire bit her lip thoughtfully and shookher head. “I couldn’t begin to tell you. The point is, we can’t getyou one.”

Hugh waved a hand dismissively. “Surely yeknow someone wi’ the right connections.”

“I’m sorry I’m not as familiar with theseedy underground of society as you might like me to be,” shequipped sardonically but immediately regretted sniping at him onceagain. The situation was enough to make anyone touchy and she wasfeeling entirely too prickly. They would both have to work oncontaining their outbursts if they were to get along. “I apologizefor my endless sarcasm. It’s a terrible epidemic these days. I knowI keep saying it, but just give it some time, Hugh. We’ll figuresomething out.”

Hugh was again silent for a long whilebefore he sighed and said with forced joviality. “Perhaps we mightdetermine where we might find a fair meal. I am famished.”

“You ate just an hour ago!”

“Yer pan-cakes this morning were verragood,” he assured her, sounding out the word carefully. “And thesalad at luncheon as well, but I am a man with a man’s appetite. Ineed greater sustenance than yer puny meals provide.”

Torn once again between amusement andirritation—though thankfully the former was growing stronger thanthe latter—Claire looked at the navigation screen. “There is a townup ahead where we could stop … but only