Maddy leapt to her feet. “I have to find him.”
Darla nodded. “I know ye do. Dinna worry about Rory. He’ll be fine with us.” She rose and squeezed Maddy’s hand. “It’s never too late, my dear. Everyone comes here to escape their past but they come here for something else as well.”
“What’s that?”
Darla’s gaze sharpened. “A second chance.”
Chapter 14
Deryn sat in the dark, staring down at the little patch of ground in front of him. As always at this time of year, it was covered in early flowers. Celandine and anemones. They had been her favorites. He reached down and brushed his hand across the ground. So cold. Nothing but dust and memories.
“I’m sorry, Lizzie,” he breathed into the still air. “I’ve not visited in too long. Forgive me.”
Guilt twisted in his stomach, tasting like acid at the back of his throat. He should not have kissed Maddy. What had he been thinking?
Hehadn’tbeen thinking, that was the problem. He’d been acting on instinct, giving into the feelings that Maddy engendered in him, feelings he’d never expected to feel again. He scrubbed his face with the heel of his hand. Ah, dammit. It was all such a mess. What was he going to do?
There was a rustle in the undergrowth and Deryn’s head snapped up. He was on his feet in an instant, although Mara, who was lying a few feet away, didn’t growl but only thumped her tail. A huge figure stepped out of the shadows.
“I thought I might find ye here,” said Craig.
Deryn blew out a breath. “Damn it, man, ye shouldnae sneak up on me like that.”
“Sneak?” Craig said, scratching his head. “Now that’s a first. Darla reckons I walk like a herd of Highland Cattle.” He looked around. “So this is where ye’ve been hiding.”
“I’m not hiding.”
“Are ye not? I’m sure if Lizzie were here, she’d say that’s exactly what ye are doing.”
Hot anger flared in Deryn’s chest. “What would ye know about it? What do ye know about what she would or wouldnae say? Ye never even met her!”
“Nay, I didnae,” Craig agreed, shaking his head sadly. “To my sorrow.”
The anger disappeared as quickly as it had come and Deryn’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry, my friend. I’m a little out of sorts as ye can see.”
“I’m the one who should be apologizing,” Craig replied. “I shouldnae have made those smart comments about ye and Maddy back at the festival. I didnae mean aught by it.”
