“Good morning, lass. Ye look beautiful. Are ye ready to tell yer father of our plans to wed?”
He offered me his arm, but I refused it. He would have to be told eventually. Now would have to do.
“I am sorry if I misled ye, but I willna marry ye. I doona think we suit each other. I know ye traveled far, and I doona doubt that Father will allow ye to stay here as long as ye wish to prepare for your journey home, but ye willna leave here betrothed to me.”
I wouldn’t have thought it possible for his already shockingly pale face to lose any more color, but it did. He stepped back as if I’d slapped him.
“I’ll give ye the day to change yer mind. Only a fool would refuse me.”
He was so much like my father. It was so impossible for him to see or relate to how anyone else might feel.
“I doona need another day, Seumas. I’m a fool.”
I left him balking as I went in search of the man I really wanted to marry.
* * *
I found Jerry in the stables, stroking Father’s horse, with Kip nowhere to be found.
He looked different than he had the night before. The warm glow inside me dulled as I neared him. He grew rigid as I walked the length of the stables, and he didn’t smile as he looked at me.
Jerry smiled at everyone.
“Titus is a good horse. He deserves a better rider than Father.”
Huffing, Jerry turned away and continued to run his hands down Titus’ neck.
“I canna disagree with ye, though I believe the horse to be rather fond of him. Animals are devoted creatures. Their hearts are so much more pure.”
I didn’t know what I’d intended by coming to the stables. I just wanted to see him, to feel his lips against my own once again.
“Do ye enjoy the stable work? Ye wouldna have to do it, ye know? ’Tis not what Father requires of ye.”
He moved to the other side of the horse. I couldn’t reconcile the feeling of intimacy between us the night before with how the distance between us felt now. It was as if Jerry had built a wall of stone up between us.
“I prefer it. ’Tis possible ye could find the spell I need while I’m away for yer father, and I doona wish for that to happen. As soon as ye find the spell, I must leave here.”
I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me—why his kiss had so completely obliterated all thought of Jerry leaving from my mind—but it had.
“Ye…ye still wish to leave then?”
He glanced up, locked eyes with me, and laughed.
“Aye, o’course. Ye dinna think…ye dinna think that last night changed anything, did ye, lass?”
He paused, and a bone-chilling pain swept through my body. I watched in horror as he continued, shattering something deep inside me with every new word.
“Doona feel badly if ye did, lass. ’Tis my own fault. ’Tis easy to forget when looking at ye just how young and ignorant ye are.”
Despite the sudden deep ache in my chest, my pride wouldn’t allow me to fall apart in front of him. If he meant to make me feel foolish, I wouldn’t allow it. Inexperienced as I was, I knew he cared for me.
Opening the door to Titus’ stall, I moved to corner Jerry. Smiling, I leaned in close to him. He didn’t move away, and I didn’t miss how his breath caught as I reached out to touch his chest.
“Do ye think ye are the only one with the ability to tell when someone is lying, Jerry? While ye may verra well return home when I find what we need to get ye there, there is no sense in pretending things are no different between us now. Aye, I am young, which is no fault of my own, but I am not ignorant. Doona be an arse, or I’ll never let ye kiss these lips again. Do ye understand me?”
I didn’t back away as I watched him. Slowly, as his breathing quickened, the iciness in his gaze fell way to one of hunger. I readied myself for his touch only to feel a sudden breeze as he stepped away at the sound of footsteps. From the other end of the stables, my brother’s voice called to us.
“Jerry, Morna, are ye in here? I looked in the spell room and even asked Mary where ye might be. I need to speak with ye.”
