Evan stared at his cider, the surface trembling slightly as his grip on his cup tightened. “That canna be right.”
“Ye think yer brother incapable of generosity?” Hamish asked.
“I think him incapable of doing anything that doesnae benefit himself,” he snapped.
“Perhaps,” Hamish allowed. “But whatever his reasons, he didnae abandon us.”
Like you did.
The unspoken words echoed in the space between them yet when he looked up, Evan found no resentment on his old friends’ faces. He had expected hostility. Blame. Anger. But Bryce had stepped into the breach he’d left and helped this place prosper.
Bryce. The brother he’d built into a villain in his mind so completely that there had been no room for anything else. Nothing was turning out how he had expected.
Had Bryce acted harshly after their father died? Aye. Had he been driven by fear as Niall claimed? Possibly. But had he also stepped forward when needed?
It seemed he had.
Evan felt a strange sensation: doubt. Doubt that the certainties on which he’d built his life these past years might not be so certain after all. That the story he had told himself of abandonment, greed, betrayal might not be the whole truth after all.
Perhaps it was time to find out what was.
A KNOCK AT THE DOORmade Ruby jump. She climbed to her feet and pulled the door open to find Evan standing on the other side.
“Ruby,” he said, shifting his feet awkwardly. “I...er... hope I’m not intruding.”
“You’re not,” she replied. Intruding? Hardly. She was absurdly pleased to see him. She stepped back. “Come in.”
He stepped inside and Ruby closed the door behind him. Evan’s presence seemed to fill the small space, his sky-and-leather scent stealing through the air and made her pulse tick a little faster. His eyes swept over the room, noting the door and the window, the routes of escape. Old habits die hard, it seemed.
“How was your time with Niall?” she asked.
“It was...friendly. Not what I expected,” he replied. He hesitated. “Then afterwards, I went to my own lands. To see my tenants. That wasn’t what I expected either.”
“Then how was it?” Ruby asked.
Evan shrugged helplessly. “They’re thriving. And Bryce...” He hesitated. “Bryce has been looking out for them.”
Ruby cocked her head. “He has? That doesn’t sound like the villain you’ve described to me.”
“No,” he admitted quietly. “Nothing is what I thought it was.”
She gave a wry smile. “Huh. I knowthatfeeling.”
He snorted softly. “Aye, I suppose ye do. How was yer day?”
“Great, actually,” she replied. “Charlie showed me around. Her life. Her people. She’s happy.” She shrugged. “And that makes me happy.”
Evan stepped closer. “I’m glad. Ye deserve to be happy, Ruby Douglas.” He brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and it was all Ruby could do to stop herself leaning into his touch. “AndI...came to thank ye. For making me come here. For making me see things differently.”
“You’rethankingme?” Ruby said, raising an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around? I would never have made it here without you. In case you hadn’t noticed, Idohave a knack of getting myself into trouble.”
“Really?” he said with a smile. “I hadnae noticed.”
“Yeah, I hide it well.” Then she turned serious. “So in case I forget to say it, thank you, Evan. For getting me here. For seeing me safely to Charlie. And for...” Her throat suddenly closed. How could she find words for everything she wanted to say to him? “Thank you for helping me begin to heal,” she whispered.
He watched her for a long moment, his eyes deep and penetrating. On impulse, Ruby went up on her tiptoes and kissed him. She hadn’t meant to, it just happened, but the moment her lips touched his, all thought seemed to cease.
Warmth flooded into her from where their lips met and it took only an instant for Evan to respond, groaning as he deepened the kiss slowly, deliberately, giving her time to pull away if she wanted to.
