Hamish’s grip tightened on the staff. “If they want a fight, then we’ll give them one! One thing the people of this village have learned is how to stand up for ourselves. We willnae be bullied.”
Evan barely heard him. He glanced at the doorway and the fields that lay beyond, to the distant cottages. To the life he had begun to imagine. To Ruby’s smile in the sunlight. He had dared to believe he could have it all. He wanted to laugh hysterically.
Fool! You should have known this was coming.
“Nay,” he said, lifting his chin and meeting Hamish’s furious gaze. “This isnae yer fight. It’s mine. Only mine. I willnae put ye in danger because of my failures.”
Hamish said nothing, but his gaze was shrewd as he studied Evan, reading what he hadn’t yet spoken. “Ye are leaving.” It wasn’t a question.
Evan didn’t reply, which was answer enough. It was the only thing he could do. He had to leave, even though the thought of it made him feel sick to his stomach. If he stayed, MacInnes would tighten the noose, would do God-knows-what to the people he cared about just to get at him. Leaving was the only way to keep his people safe.
To keep Ruby safe.
Evan swallowed hard, the room seeming to sway around him. “I willnae see this place burned for my sins. I willnae see anyone hurt on my account. If I leave, ye will all be safe.”
Ruby will be safe.
Hamish watched him for a long moment. “Where will ye go?”
“A long way from here.” He walked past the headman, past the unconscious men, but paused in the doorway and looked back. “Tell her...tell her I’m sorry.”
Then he strode through the door into the bright sunshine, feeling his heart break in two. He would pay the price of his sins.
But he would make damn sure he paid it alone.
RUBY HAD NEVER KNOWNan hour to pass so slowly.
The courtyard lay bathed in the soft gold of early evening, the sky streaked with pale lavender and fading blue. A breeze moved lazily through the trees beyond the outer wall, carrying the scent of cut grass and distant peat smoke. It should have been peaceful.
Instead, she could barely keep still. She stood impatiently outside the stable, resisting the urge to pace up and down. Her pulse fluttered like a trapped bird, and she couldn’t decide whether it was excitement or nerves that kept squirming in her belly.
Come on, Evan,she thought.Hurry up!
They had arranged it that morning—an evening ride. He had said he wanted to show her the places he’d loved as a boy. The stream where he’d fished with a crooked branch. The hill he’d climbed to avoid lessons. A ruined watchtower where he used to sit and imagine far-off places. The work he’d started on the manor house.
She smiled to herself. These were places he’d once wanted to avoid like the plague. Now he wanted to share them with her. So much had changed between them. And after tonight, things would change again.
Tonight, she was going to tell him.
She had gone over the words a dozen times since burning the parchment in the hearth.I’ve decided. I’m staying. You’re stuck with me.
The thought of his expression when she told him made the warmth inside her deepen. She could picture it already—the surprise, the relief, the way his shoulders would loosen, the way that smile of his would curl his lips, the way he would step forward and kiss her...
She let herself drift into thoughts of the future.Theirfuture. The manor house restored, sunlight pouring through polished windows. Rooms filled with laughter. She imagined herself learning the rhythms of the land, finding her place in a community that was slowly, quietly, becoming hers.
But still Evan didn’t arrive.
The shadows began to lengthen. Ruby frowned. Where the bloody hell was he?
The sound of the door opening broke her thoughts. She turned, expecting to see Evan striding toward her, apology on his lips, but instead, Charlie and Flora stepped out. They looked around, spotted her, and began walking in her direction. Neither of them was smiling. In fact, they both looked decidedly...uneasy.
Ruby’s stomach twisted. “What is it?” she asked as they reached her.
Charlie exchanged a glance with Flora. The housekeeper spoke first, her voice carefully neutral. “I’ve just been up to Evan’s room. To change the bedding.” She fell silent.
Ruby glanced between the two women. “And?”
Flora swallowed. “The room was empty. All his things are gone.”
