She laughed and sprawled across his chest, her fingers toying with the coarse curls between his pectorals. She loved the smell of him, smoke and electricity, musk and male. “Thank you for your vote of confidence.”
“My pleasure.”
“How did your aunt and uncle react when they saw your broken nose?”
He stiffened beneath her, shifted as though he wanted to escape the conversation. “They didnae ken it happened until much later.”
She sat up and eyed him warily; his jaw was set, his gaze fixed on an unseen point in the distance. “Why not?”
“I started Harrow the fall after Ewan died, and I never lived at their home again for any length of time, always made excuses to stay at school and later university.” A long moment of silence passed before he spoke again. “I had already caused them enough pain. I didnae want to remind them of the worst day of their lives.”
“Darling,” she said, cupping his cheek. “They loved you. Why would you leave?”
He grumbled something under his breath and turned away from her hand. “Why are ye asking me this?”
She’d always been greedy, snapping up tidbits of other people’s lives as though they were her own. Some thought her a gossip, but she simply wanted to understand what made other people tick, what motivated them to do what they did. She never understood the men in her life, but was closer to understanding Callum than she’d been with anyone. “Because I remember what it was like to grieve, and if I hadn’t had my loved ones close to me, I wouldn’t have been able to survive.”
His eyes met hers, the silver flashing. “I grieved, and so did my aunt and uncle.”
“They grieved without you.”
Something dark passed over his expression. “They didnae need me.”
“Callum, no.” She leaned down, gathered the massive man to her chest as best she could. Both of them had grieved, the tragedy occurring in short blasts between periods of overwhelming familial love, but only she had seen herself worthy of the care. “As difficult as my family has been, I know they love me. I could never leave them. Your family loved you, and you took yourself away from them.”
“It was different after Ewan died.”
“I know, but once someone loves you, nothing can take that away, not death or time or distance. The love is imprinted on you,changes you for the better. A scar, but one that reminds you that you are worthy.”
She wasn’t certain how Callum felt, but she could admit the truth to herself without shame. She loved him and would grieve his departure with every ounce of her being while knowing he had changed her for the better. A mere two weeks had changed everything, and she was stronger now, more deserving of the life she wanted, even if she had to live it without him.
She had been scarred by love, but this one, the one left by Callum, she would remember with affection.
He groaned, rolled until he had her trapped beneath him. “I dinnae want to talk about this.” He dragged his nose along hers, then dotted her cheek with soft kisses. “We only have a few days left, and I want them to be happy ones.”
But she didn’t want to let go of the topic. She wanted to sit with him in the discomfort, to show him how the heart can heal. “You were speaking Gaelic again.”
“When?” His words were languid, soothing.
“Last night after… after I climaxed.”
“Which time?”
She swatted his chest playfully, and he caught her palm, kissed the fleshy part of her thumb. She loved the smell of him, smoke and electricity, musk and male. “I’ve lost count. It sounded like, ‘a gill… agum…’”
He stiffened, shifted under her hand. “‘Tis Gaeligh.Tha gaol agom ort. Just an old saying.”
“What does it mean?”
He wet his lips. “Violet, I—”
The door to the bedroom swung open and James barreled in, fully dressed, with his hat and coat over his arm.
“Fuck,James!” Callum scrambled to pull the counterpane over her. “What are ye doing? The door was locked.”
Violet heard James scoff. “We’re engineers. Did you think a bloody lock would slow me down? Now get dressed, we need to go.” He paused. “Good morning, Violet. So sorry for the interruption, but business calls.”
She poked her head above the counterpane to see Callum glaring at his cousin. “What’s so important that we need to be in York now?”
