This time, she spoke not as a tease or to gain something for herself. Her plea was for Sawny. For their family.
For her heart.
“Aye, my wee sister,” Reade said gruffly. “I will go out with Maddock and Conall on the morrow. If the lad is to be found, injured or nay, we will find him and bring him back to ye.”
Adaira sagged against him, grateful for his loyalty. He might not care for Sawny or the wild Keppochs, but Reade was a good brother and a fair man. He would do as he promised.
They reached her rooms and escorted her in. Sorcha and Blair soon joined them, and once the men left, the women helped Adaira undress. Blair hung the fine gown in the wardrobe, and as her mother poured the tea, Adaira noticed the dirt clinging to the silver hem, staining it.
Stained as she was stained by shock and heartache.
Wearing only her kirtle, she climbed into her soft, comfortable bed. Sorcha set the cup of tea on a low table near Adaira’s bed, pressed her cool hand lovingly against Adaira’s hot cheek, and then walked out of the chambers with Blair.
Only then did something inside Adaira finally break.
“I shall never love again,” she whispered into her pillow, before she turned to the wall and sobbed uncontrollably.
Chapter Eight
Thenextmorning,Maddockand Conall, led by Reade, rode north toward Keppoch lands in a flurry of plaid and kicking up mud in the morning mist to see if they could search out the lecher when his family could not. Orwouldnot. Reade was not unconvinced that Sawny’s family was helping the lad hide.
The brothers had fought with their father and uncles the night before, wanting to leave right away and find the lecher who had shamed their sister. Seamus had kept a more level head and instructed his sons to wait until the Keppochs had a day to figure out what was going on — that they must be as confused by Sawny’s disappearance as Seamus and his family were.
Once they had a day or two, they would surely reach out, Seamus had argued.
While his words had placated Reade for the night, he rose with the damp, gray sunrise, filled with purpose.
They had no assurances that the Keppochs were going to do anything to fix or resolve this situation, nor might they admit where Sawny was, even if they did know. Reade doubted every intention the Keppochs might have.
He was not going to leave his sister’s reputation to the feckin’ uncivilized Keppochs.
As their horses galloped northward, Reade grumbled the whole time, making clear his belief that Sawny’s family was hiding the bastard. The farther they traveled, the more certain he became of his claim.
Maddock, however, had not quite listened to their father’s instructions the night before. Late that night, he and Arran had made a trip to the brothel where Gracelyn worked, much to Fiona's chagrin. Yet as he had some inside familiarity with the brothel, Mistress Esme and her girls were more than willing to share what they knew.
Which had been nothing. The ladies had heard no rumors about Sawny or his whereabouts. Maddock, true to his promise to his beloved Fiona, did not linger at the brothel and left promptly with Arran.
They did not tell their father of the visit. They did share the news with Reade, however.
Maddock’s lack of news was what urged Reade to take their search to the Keppoch McDonald's themselves, where he vowed they would search every bush, barn, and croft until the reprobate was found.
“If I have to drag him kicking and screaming to the kirk,” Reade had told his mother in front of Adaira before they departed, “then I will bind the man and drag him here with my bare hands. The lad canna get away with this.”
It was late in the morning by the time they arrived at the edge of the land belonging to the McDonald's of Keppoch. Two, dark-red plaid clad Highlanders approached them on the road. They looked sweaty and disheveled, their faces were strained. One man was Sawny’s brother, Brodie.
Maddock and Conall were unable to bite back their surprise at seeing the man, but Reade’s face was as fixed as stone. He had no compunctions about beating the brother unconscious if it meant finding the rat who had left his sister embarrassed at the altar.
“I canna say I'm surprised to find ye here,” the ebony-haired gentleman riding with Brodie commented flatly. Roy was a MacDonald cousin to Sawny, and as he spoke first, Reade directed questions to him.
“I should think no’. If I stood where ye did, I’d be searching for the man who embarrassed my sister. Since we cannot know for certain that ye are no’ hiding the lad, my brothers and I decided that the Glen Coe McDonald's will aid ye in your search for the man.”
Sawny’s brother muttered under his breath but quieted when Roy shot him a stern glare.
“If we were hiding him, why would Brodie and I be out searching for the lad now?”
One sleek eyebrow rose on Maddock’s forehead. “What do ye mean, ye’re searching for the lad? Ye dinna know where he is?” he asked, ignoring the furious look Reade gave the man.
Conall nudged his horse closer to Maddock. “We presumed ye to be hiding the lad,” Conall explained, trying to temper his brothers’ harsher approaches. As a younger brother, he had experience playing diplomat between his older brothers’ squabbles.
