As he went to mount his horse, Jerry stomped away. I suspected it was so he wouldn’t be tempted to shove Henry off the moment he got on.
Father came up to me next. The same dreadful feeling I’d had in front of him a few nights before came flooding back. I opened my arms to him and squeezed him as tightly as I could.
An urgency I couldn’t explain filled me, and I hurried to return the words he’d shared with me in my bedchamber.
“I love ye, Father. Be safe. Doona venture into parts of the woods ye doona know.”
He kissed the top of my head before pulling away.
“I love ye, too, lass. I’ll stay to the woods I know if ye agree to stay on castle grounds while I’m away. Doona go into the village.”
For the first time in my life, Father’s protectiveness felt more like a gift and less like a burden. I nodded in agreement as he walked away.
We all stood huddled in a group as we waved them off. When we could no longer see them, Jerry approached. I was in no mood to speak with him.
“Stay away from me. Do ye think I wished to agree to marry him? Ye’ve no one to blame but yerself. Now, I must spend the day pondering how to break the engagement without causing a clash between our two clans.”
“Do ye need some help, lass? I’m certain we can find a solution together. I canna bear for that man to put his lips on ye again.”
I wanted to be alone—entirely alone—for the next three days.
“No. If ye come near me, I’ll hit ye again.”
At least Jerry had the wits to withhold his laughter until he was too far away for me to strike him.
* * *
Time alone did little to encourage any plan that seemed worthy. I ended up spending most of my time lounging in bed, reading, and calling servants to have warm bath water brought to my chambers. If I couldn’t think of a good solution, I could at least allow myself to be a little indulgent while Father was away.
On the second night of their trip, I lay soaking in a quickly-cooling tub of water when the handle to my bedchamber door turned.
“Eoin, if ’tis ye lad, I need ye to stay outside. Go and demand that yer da play with ye. I’ll find ye in a while.”
The door to my bedchamber opened despite my protest, and Jerry stepped casually inside.
I sloshed more than a little water out onto the floor in an effort to cover myself.
“Get out of here this instant or I’ll scream. Ye canna just enter a lassie’s bedchamber any time ye wish it.”
He leaned against the door, crossed his arms, and stared back at me as if he were bored.
“Ye willna scream, for ye know I willna glance in the water nor touch ye unless ye wish it. Ye’ve avoided me for well over a day now. I decided ’twas worth risking another beating to see ye.”
A beating was a rather dramatic way to describe it—his face showed no signs of my palm.
“I told ye I wished to be alone.”
“Aye, I know, and why is that precisely? I have my suspicions.”
Sometimes Jerry was infuriatingly sure of his ability to read me.
“Ye have suspicions?”
“Aye, I do. I think ye want me so badly that ye are frightened to be near me. I think ye know that if we were to spend time together while yer father and Henry are away, I would end up in yer bed, and ye doona wish to carry a guilty conscience for bedding one man whilst engaged to another.”
I was suddenly far too aware of the nakedness of my body and Jerry’s close proximity to it. While he may not have been able to see down into the water now, only a few steps prevented him being able to see every inch of me.
“I can assure ye that no such thought has entered my mind. Please leave me so that I might dress.”
