A breathy laugh fell from his lips. “How are ye here, Vi? Did ye come for me?”
She grinned now, dropping her hand. “As scintillating as the conversation about…” She dropped her voice to a whisper, “cockshas been, yes. I—I wanted to see you, and James told me you’d be here.”
His mind was reeling, his lungs filling to the brim, so light he thought he might sail into the air alongside the stars. “Can we talk, please—”
She nodded towards the children gathered on the blanket, and he felt a terrible swell of fondness for the wee monsters. “Will they be alright without you?”
“Gracie,” Callum called without taking his eyes off Violet. “It’s time for shortbread, aye?”
“Aye aye, Uncle Callum!” she yelled, diving into his satchel and retrieving the wrapped parcel of sweets he’d finished baking that morning.
“That should buy us a few minutes,” he said, thrilled when she smiled in return.
He led her down the hill, between the wind-worn grave markers and around twisted tree branches, winding down to a bench that looked out over the firth. The lights of distant Edinburgh sparkled over the stillness of the water, reflected starlight fused with manmade illumination.
She was silent for a long moment after they sat, her slim fingers working the fabric of her skirt before she spoke, not meeting his eye. “You didn’t go to Panama.”
“No.” He braced for her anger, and he deserved it. He hadn’t intended to deceive her, but he had.
“All of this…” She looked over her shoulder towards what sounded like the predictable squabble over the last piece of shortbread. “Why did you do all this? The new business, the swimming…”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about what ye said.” His voice was solid, certain every decision he’d made since leaving the party had been the correct one, and wondered if he’d be able to convince her of the same. “I needed to forgive myself, quit living in the past. But I didn’t want to forget, so… I tried to help where I could.”
Her lips parted. “But you didn’t tell me.”
He shifted in his seat. “Nae, I… I needed to ken I could be a different person…” The lump in his throat was so large heworried he wouldn’t be able to speak. “I needed to see if I could be what ye needed… in case ye came back.”
He felt the burn of her gaze on his cheek. “I’m still angry with you. You let me worry that you were dying halfway around the world and I wouldn’t know—” She pursed her lips, focused her eyes somewhere over the water as she blinked rapidly.
“I was ashamed I wasnae ready.” The words surprised him as much as they did her. “I wanted to believe I could take care of ye, be the husband ye deserved. But I couldnae even keep a roof over yer head.” He let his head drop, but she caught his hand in hers.
“I didn’t fall in love with you for your wealth.”
His eyes shot to hers. “Love?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t be daft. You had to have known.”
“Ye should repeat it, to be sure.”
Her lips curled in a wry smirk. “I love you.” Her expression turned serious. “But so much time passed, and I heard nothing from you. I worried you’d forgotten me.”
“God no.” Callum pushed off the bench to stand before her. Only a beat passed with her staring up at him with those wide, whisky eyes.
He fell to his knees.
“I dinnae deserve ye, but that doesnae mean I won’t try. I’ll fight to the death for ye, bloody myself on the shore for ye.” He took her hand and pressed her palm to his chest, her body an extension of his, another chamber of hisheart. It had lain dormant for so long, frozen and atrophied, until she’d come along and changed everything. “A man like me doesnae forget when a woman likeViolet Waverly shows him the barest hint of affection. Shows him how to love again. Any man that would is a fucking fool.Iwas a fucking fool. I love ye, and I’m sorry I didnae tell you before now, but I do.”
The tears building in her eyes glimmered in the light off the water, shining with love. “You did tell me, more than once, but I didn’t know until I asked James, just today.”
His brow furrowed. “I didnae say it before.”
“You did.” She leaned forward and took his other hand, pressed his fingers to her lips. “Tha gaol agom ort.”
His chest swelled so quickly he wondered if it might burst. “In my room,” he breathed, “ye asked me what it meant.”
“I knew it was important by how you said it, so I repeated it until I could say it by heart.” She brushed her lips against his. “Tha gaol agom ort.”
“I love ye.” He kissed her deeper. “Yer pronunciation is terrible.”
