Morna's Legacy 04 - Love Beyond Measure Read Online Free PDF Page B

arrival. So many days spent in near solitude made him doubt his ability to communicate suitably, especially if the visitors were from the time he found himself in now. “No, thank ye, Morna. I think it best that I rest a while more.”
    The look on Morna’s face confirmed his fears. She’d not meant it as a real question and threw a wad of strange clothes on him. “I dinna ask ye for ye to say ‘no’. Now, ye can either get up, or I shall drag ye up, but downstairs to the kitchen ye shall go one way or the other.”
    Resigned, Eoghanan slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed, sitting up. Thankfully, the task of moving about normally became easier with each passing day. “Fine. I dinna think ye would let me stay here, but I thought it worth a try.”
    “Ye knew it fruitless to try before ye uttered the words. Now put these on. Ye canna wear the loose linen ye have on now, for no man would wear it in this time. I have tried to find ye the lightest modern material I could, so it willna press too much against yer side, but no doubt ye will feel it against the scar.”
    Eoghanan held up both garments. The first, while about the length of a kilt, was made of a fabric he’d never seen before and had two holes, one for each of his legs, he assumed. The top scrunched together and, as he pulled on the sides, he watched in fascination as the bottoms grew and shrunk with his efforts. “And what are these, Morna?”
    “I believe that American men wear them while they play sports. Jerry said he’s seen basketball players don them. I thought that since the waistband is moveable, it would hurt less than placing ye in a pair of fitted pants.”
    Eoghanan frowned down at the garments. “Men must take no pride in how they look to wear such ridiculous garments. Can I no just wear me kilt?”
    “It’s too heavy just yet. It would rub right against yer scars. Just strip yer clothes, and I’ll help ye. Doona be shy about it either. All these months of healing ye, I’ve seen every blessed inch of ye, and ye know it well.”
    Not a skilled talker on his best day, Eoghanan knew the witch would win every war of words with him. So he stood to step out of the thin linen pants, deciding not to argue the point further. His mind took him, instead, back to where he’d been only moments before. “The lad saw me this time. I know he did. I suspected he did the first time, but I couldna be sure. This time though, he waved at me.”
    He thought back on the boy, smiling and waving at him as if he’d known him all his young life.
    “Oh?” Morna’s voice spoke as she lifted his foot to slide into a solid white, strange foot covering she called a ‘tennis-shoe.’ “I’ll no say that it surprises me that a child was the one to see ye. They are much more perceptive than adults.”
    “Aye, I believe the boy to be verra wise for his small age. He dinna seem to be afraid of the way I look.” Eoghanan tried to wiggle his toes, grimacing at the monstrosity being strapped to his foot.
    “Why would he be? Ye look mighty fine in me eyes, and I’d be hard pressed to find any lass that dinna think ye so.”
    He pulled up one corner of his mouth in disagreement. “Mayhap once, but no so much anymore. I doona mind it, but ’tis true well enough.”
    “Hogwash,” Morna swatted his covered foot dismissively. “Yer scars may look a bit painful now, but as they fade, they will only draw lassies to ye, wait and see. Makes ye look a wee bit dangerous, and I doona know any lass that doesna like a bit of danger whether she is willing to admit it or no. No matter that ye are about as dangerous as a wee kitten, ye willna look that way, and that’s what matters.”
    “If ye say so. Are ye done with me? I feel rather foolish.”
    In answer to his question, Morna stood from her crouching place at his feet. “Aye. Ye know ye seemed surprised that the child wasna scared of the way ye looked. Children are only afraid of what they’re taught to be