“A few months. He’s working from notes an old trapper left. Grandma opened the site to him before she died. She loved Native American history. He hasn’t found much, only some arrowheads and a beaded necklace.” Jared was going to kill her when he found out she’d gone treasure hunting without him.
Bree caught a glimpse of Faelan’s talisman as he moved closer to the holes. She’d feed him as much as he could eat, if he’d let her examine it. “Be careful,” she warned, when his foot neared the edge. “Those holes are dangerous.”
“These wee holes?”
“I sprained my ankle in that one.” She muttered to herself, “The same ankle I broke in the cave.”
He gave her a look that bordered on insulting. “What were you doing in a cave?”
He not only healed fast, he had ears like Superman. “Exploring.” She shuddered at the memory, running her hands through her hair. “Did you figure out what that sound was?”
“No,” he said, glancing at his dusty boot.
Bree saw a footprint in the dirt smeared with something… red?
Faelan nudged a rock, covering the print, and turned his attention back to the trees.
“Does this place seem familiar?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Do you get many trespassers?”
“Just campers,” she said. “There’s a campground a few miles through the woods. Every year a few of them get lost.” Several since she’d moved in. “I think I saw one last night.” She nodded toward his boot. “Is that blood?”
Faelan gripped her arm. “You saw someone last night? What did he look like?” His accent was stronger now, the brogue more distinct.
What did it matter, since he couldn’t remember anything? “I’m not sure it was even a man. It was dark outside.”
“Do you have a horse and carriage?”
“I have a Mustang—”
“It’ll do,” he said, pulling her across the grass, his longer legs forcing her to jog to keep up. His eyes never stopped scanning.
She wanted to ask what he was looking for, but she was almost certain she wouldn’t like his answer. “Where are we going?”
“We need to leave.”
“Why? Did you see something back there?”
He didn’t answer, just kept pulling her forward.
“I guess we could ride around the area, see if you remember anything.” While they were out, they could get extra sheets and get him some new clothes. Nothing would be open this early except Walmart, but if secrecy was so important, he was going to have to lose the kilt. Probably best. Knowing he was naked under it wasn’t doing her any good. “Let me change clothes and get my bag.”
“Do you have to change?” he asked, eyeing the glob of food on her jeans.
“I’m wearing jelly,” she said panting. “Can you slow down?”
He did, but not much. “Has this place been in your family long?”
“For generations,” she said, looking at the house coming into view, faded, yet grand, like an old woman who’d once been a beauty, and now only character remained. Like Grandma Emily. “My great-great-grandmother’s family owned the land. Her father gave it to her and Frederick, her husband, as a wedding gift. Frederick built the house for Isabel when she was only eighteen. The chapel was already here. A lot of my ancestors are buried in the graveyard. There was a village through the woods. This path was the road back then. My great-great-great- grandfather had a farmhouse not far from here. It burned down a long time ago.”
For a man whose movements were so smooth, the hesitation in his stride struck her as extraordinarily clumsy.
“What was his name?”
“Samuel Wood. Does that ring a bell?”
He didn’t answer, just watched the trees as if he expected them to attack. They hurried past the orchard her grandmother had planted near the house. “Look out!” Faelan said, as Bree’s shoe caught the edge of a log Jared’s men had carried over from a tree they’d cut near the dig.
She felt herself falling, and then she was in Faelan’s arms, her breasts plastered to his chest. His heart hitched. Or was it hers?
“Are you okay?” he asked, untangling their legs. He didn’t let go. He searched her face, blinked a few times, and jumped back as something poked her stomach. She didn’t have the courage to look down and see if it was his sporran or something else.
“I think so. Thanks. You’re fast.”
His lips twitched. “Now I understand how you fell in that wee hole.”
Faelan scooped up an apple, cleaned it off on his kilt, and took a bite.
