He would warn his cousins not to eat or drink anything she prepared. But he would not tell them that she had already poisoned him. They would not forgive her. Aye, he would tell them not to trust her later, when she was away from their blades.
He grinned at his cousin. “I killed a roe deer with my bow.”
“With yer—how is that possible, Logan? Can ye use yer arm, then? Steafan, are ye hearin’ this?”
“Aye!” Steafan exclaimed. “Venison fer supper then?”
Ewen leaned forward and swung at him, but Steafan laughed and leaned up to fling his beefy arm over Logan’s shoulder. “Huzzah, cousin.”
Logan flicked his gaze to Miss Woodburn, but she looked away, then rose up and left the sitting room.
Logan watched her go. Was she on her way to Jamie and the deer? He almost broke free from Steafan’s arm when he heard the door to her room close. Should he go to her? He wanted to. How could he not trust a woman this much and still care about her feelings?
“Where is Jamie?” Steafan asked, breaking away from him.
Logan told them and then accepted a cup of ale from Ewen. He found himself looking at the entrance of the sitting room, looking for Miss Woodburn.
“Ye fancy her,” Ewen said, watching him.
“Dinna be ridiculous,” Logan replied on an exhalation of breath and without looking at his cousin. “She helped me.”
Steafan returned to his side. Ewen leaned in. “Helped ye in what way?”
“She is trainin’ me. Her brother taught her.”
Steafan shook his head. “What in blazes are ye saying?”
“Findin’ the use in my arm is her doin’,” he told them.
“Logan,” Ewen said, trying to sound calm. “Ye just met her a few days ago. There isna a way she could have helped ye so quickly. Ye give her praise because ye fancy her.”
Logan flicked a warning gaze at Ewen. “Quit speakin’ like a fool. I give her praise fer helpin’ me because she did.”
“What did she do? What could she have possibly done?”
Logan laughed a little. “Mayhap I am mad, but she told me to use my arm. Just try to use it in everything I do.”
Ewen nodded. “Ye’re mad.”
“But I can do this.” Logan lifted his cup in his left hand and drank from it.
He didn’t tell them how moving it exhausted him. It was perfectly normal for muscles that barely moved in six years to be in poor form. The pain would eventually fade.
“Logan,” Steafan said. “Dinna ferget who she is.”
He was trying. He could not tell them that, though, because it would prove he was having difficulty not forgetting. “She hates Camerons. She hates me, and I believe she would try to kill me first chance she gets. I havena fergotten that. Neither do I blame her fer her hatred. We killed her entire family and made her an orphan and a slave in a merciless world.”
“Cousin, send her away.”
“Ewen, where can I send her that she would be safe? Because of me, she doesna have a father or brothers to protect her. How can I cast her off as though she were a half-eaten apple? Hmm?”
“Because of ye?” Ewen asked incredulously. “Becauseher fatherattacked ye, ye mean. Logan, here me oot, Cousin. Ye have a big heart. Ye’re fergivin’ and compassionate. Just be careful not to trust her because yer heart tells ye can. Yer heart is a liar.”
Logan smiled with him. He didn’t want them to worry about him.
But he wasn’t completely certain that they shouldn’t.
*
