But that theory only worked if the searchee really wished to be found, and it depended on how determined and tenacious the searcher was.

Sadie was very determined.

After wasting most of the afternoon hunting for Morgan, wearing out her boots and getting a sore throat from hollering his name over and over, Sadie finally conceded defeat. She knelt in front of Faol, who had suddenly appeared when she walked out of Dwayne’s camp, and held his big head between her hands and pleaded with the animal to help her.

“You’ve got to find Morgan, big boy,” she entreated, getting her nose within inches of his. “Before he finds me first. It’s important that I go to him with my heart in my hand and remind him again that he loves me.”

Faol whined, darting out his tongue and lapping her chin, his wagging tail shaking his whole body. Gripping the tufts of hair on the sides of his face, Sadie held him away.

“Can you do that? Can you find Morgan for me?”

He tried to wash her face again, then barked when she wouldn’t let him. Sadie let go and stood up, waving her hand at the forest.

“Go on, then. Go find Morgan,” she told the wolf, giving him a nudge with her knee.

Faol barked again, spun on his feet, and took off at a run down the trail. Sadie tightened the waist belt of her pack and started jogging after him, the thrill of the chase lifting her spirits until she was laughing out loud.

Sadie lost sight of Faol but heard him bark someplace to her left. She turned off the trail and ducked under limbs, slowing to avoid getting poked in the face by low-hanging branches. She couldn’t see Faol anymore, but the wolf was making enough noise to wake the dead.

Sadie broke onto a narrow game trail, this one obviously used by moose more than deer.

She was able to stand upright and pick up her pace again, and within twenty minutes Sadie realized exactly where Faol was leading her.

And she laughed again, at the irony of what was happening. Because it wasn’t all that long ago that she had been running down this very same trail—only away from a madman instead of toward him.

Faol had stopped at the edge of the lake. He was sitting down, his tail wagging the ground clean, and looking over his shoulder at her. He darted a look at the lake and then back at her, whining and standing up and padding over to touch her fingers. He carefully grasped the fingertips of her glove in his teeth and gently tugged.

Sadie took the hint. She pulled off her glove, knelt down, and took hold of his face again.

“I know, big boy,” she whispered. “I might be hardheaded sometimes, but I eventually figure things out. I—I’ll take good care of your son, Mister MacKeage,” she whispered.

“I’ll see that he’s happy and very glad he came to live in this time. We’ll give you some grand-babies and tell them all about your visit with us.”

Faol whined and lapped her chin, then pulled his head free and turned and looked out at the lake again. He lifted his nose into the air and sent a howl over the valley that carried into the mountains on tremulous waves.

Faol then trotted off into the forest without looking back.

Sadie stepped to where the wolf had been standing and stared at Morgan sitting on the boulder in the middle of the cove, facing her, his large hands braced on the edge of the rock and his feet lazily stirring the water.

He was naked, of course, despite the fact that there was ice lacing the shore of the lake and the air was below freezing. Steam wafted from his wet shoulders, his breath puffed in gentle billows around his head, and the water dripping from his long blond hair made icicles on the rock beside him.

“I’m beautiful, Morgan.”

“Aye, Mercedes, you are.”

“And I’m your wife.”

“I remember our vows.”

“I—I’m a modern.”

“Nobody promised us a perfect world, lass.”

“I’ll continue to be strong-minded… sometimes.”

“Aye. But only sometimes,gràineag.”

“I know what that means now. And it’s not an endearment.”

“But it fits you so well, wife… sometimes.”

Sadie scowled, thinking this wasn’t going well. Not that she’d had a plan when she’d come searching for Morgan, but she had thought the man would be more… well, at least more eager to see her. Sadie took a deep breath and continued.

“I broke your sword.”

“I noticed that.”

“And your waterfall was destroyed.”

“I noticed that, too.”

“All the magic is gone, Morgan.”

“Nay, lass. It’s more powerful than ever.”

“Dammit, Morgan. I want you to forgive me.”

“I did that two days ago, Mercedes.”

“Then why didn’t you come for me?”

“Because you needed to forgive yourself first.”

With trembling hands, Sadie swiped at the tears that had escaped and flowed down her cheeks. This was proving even harder than she’d thought. He was just sitting there like a turtle on a rock waiting for the sun to warm him, his infuriatingly patient and calmly given responses making her insides quake. Maybe he was a turtle, and she was the sunshine he was waiting for.

“I’m beautiful.”

“Aye, Mercedes, you are.”

“And you love me.”

“I must.”

“Dammit, Morgan. This is hard.”

“Only because it’s important, Mercedes.”

“I love you.”

“I’m glad. But it’s not me you must love, lass.”

“I’m beautiful.”

“Aye, wife. You are very beautiful.”

With hands more shaky than useful, Sadie un-cinched the belt at her waist and let her pack slide off her shoulders, catching it and gently setting it on the ground without taking her eyes off her husband.

Morgan lazily watched her as she sat down and unlaced her boots and pulled them off.

She tucked her socks inside them and then stood, her trembling hands going to the buttons on her shirt. It took her a long time to get the shirt open, and even longer to work up the nerve to slide it off her shoulders. She let the shirt fall to the ground, reached behind her back, and unhooked her bra, pulling both it and her body sock off, letting them fall to the ground.

And still she watched her husband.

And still he sat there, not saying a word, not moving, not taking his eyes off her.

Sadie unbuckled her belt and unsnapped her pants, pushing them down to her knees and stepping free.

She couldn’t quit shaking, and she knew it wasn’t the cold making her tremble. Every nerve ending, every taut muscle, every inch of her skin felt as if it were on fire.

She straightened her shoulders and forced her hands to her sides, now facing her husband as naked as he was.

“Do ya see that sunset behind me, lass?”

Sadie could only nod.

“I was sitting here waiting for you to come to me, and I was thinking how the sky is the color of your eyes. It’s a very beautiful shade of blue, don’t you think?”

She nodded again.

Morgan stood up and held out his hand. “Then come to me now, Mercedes. Bring your beauty into my life.”

She took a step forward, and then another. Each step was a bit easier than the previous one, and soon Sadie was running to Morgan.

Until she was up to her knees in the ice-cold water. Sadie screamed at the feel of the icy water on her legs.

“Goddammit, MacKeage! This lake is freezing!” she shouted, scrambling back to the shore.

Morgan dove into the lake and swam until he could stand up. He rose, water cascading down his tall, masculine body, and waded toward her.

Sadie took a step back. Morgan had never looked more like a warrior to her, even though she’d seen him like this before. He was different somehow.

Or maybe she was.

Or maybe it had something to do with the unholy gleam in his eyes, the look of a warrior about to possess the prize of his hard-won battle.

Sadie took another step back.

Morgan had certainly waged a fine war, if not a subtle one. But then, Sadie suddenly thought, stepping toward him instead of away, the prize he was receiving was well worth the effort.