Heat rushed into Edith’s cheeks. “Scarlett…”
“I am only askin’.” Scarlett’s voice remained gentle. “Aaron kept his promise to let ye stay here, and now he is to marry ye.” She tilted her head slightly. “How do ye feel about it?”
Edith stared at her hands.
Where was she even supposed to begin? Should she start with the bargain and the arguments they’d had? Or should she start with the money and the kisses they had shared?
Her face warmed at the last thought, and Scarlett caught it at once.
“Och.”
Edith groaned. “Daenae start.”
“Ye fancy me braither?”
“I daenae!” Her voice was louder than it should be, her chest heating with embarrassment. “Scarlett, I…” She hesitated only for a moment before the truth finally spilled past her lips. “There is something ye daenae ken. Something I should tell ye.”
Scarlett shifted closer to her.
“Me betrothal to yer braither…” Edith paused, her eyes searching her friend’s face as she let the cat out of the bag. “It isnae real.”
Scarlett’s expression did not shift. She did not interrupt either. Instead, she simply listened as Edith explained the entire thing,from the arrangement to her lessons and her plan to leave with the money she’d been paid after one month.
Edith took her hand, sneezing softly once she had finished her confession. “Do ye hate me for it?”
Scarlett shook her head. “Nay. I could never hate ye.” Her voice was quiet now, laced with understanding and love. “If anything, it is a fair bargain.”
Edith swallowed hard.
“Ye will have land, a life of yer own, and ye will be the healer ye’ve always dreamed of becoming,” Scarlett continued. “How could I be anything but proud?”
Edith blinked, surprised. “Truly?”
“Aye.” Scarlett nodded. “Ye are braver than I ever was, Edith. I love me braither, but he is insufferable.”
He truly is.
Edith smiled faintly. She had been worried that Scarlett would not understand the decision she had made. But now that it was out of the way, her thoughts drifted to Aaron’s touch and his lips.
Scarlett caught it instantly.
“Ye are thinking of him, are ye nae?” she teased, leaning closer. “Perhaps he isnae as insufferable as I thought.”
Edith flushed, turning away.
“We are late,” she said quickly, walking away from the table and the drawings scattered across it. “Come.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“If ye hold that cup any tighter, it will be the last time it holds yer whiskey.”
Aaron glanced sideways, his eyes narrowing. Caelan was the only man in the Highlands who could speak such words to him without fear, and he never hesitated to do so.
“O’Keif. What is it?”
Caelan moved closer. “Ye’ve been holding that whiskey for ten minutes, me Laird,” he said quietly. “Perhaps ye might want to sit.”
Aaron huffed, ignoring the suggestion. He did not need to sit. He was not distracted, either. He held on to the whiskey only because it pleased him to do so.
