“I… I dinna know for certain,” she insisted weakly. “But I knew, somehow, that I’d see ye again. Never mind how; but I knew I would.”
“And so ye have,” he said. “Now, let’s discuss where we shall meet tomorrow.”
For the first time in her life, Isadora gave in to the arms of a man. God’s Bones, what arms they were. She relaxed, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. Her heart was pounding against her ribs, so strongly that she was certain he could hear it.
“Tomorrow?” she repeated. “We’ve not even begun today.”
He laughed softly, a sound that was warm and comforting. “True enough,” he said. “With prowling brothers and grandfathers, ye never know when we might be separated, so I want tae have tomorrow’s meeting place established.”
Isadora brought up a timid hand, touching one of the arms that held her. He felt so warm and firm beneath her palm. “Let me think,” she said. “We’ve already done the vale.”
“We have.”
“Now the bridge.”
“If they dunna find us today, then we meet here again tomorrow.”
“Agreed.”
“But if they find us?”
She thought a moment. “There’s a small lake tae the north,” she said. “They call it Took’s Water. Do ye know of it?”
“I think I do.”
“Just head north and ye’ll find it.”
“I will.” His grip on her tightened. “I’ll have tae escape my grandfather again, but I’ll be there as soon as I can. Now… will ye tell me something?”
“What?”
“Wheredo ye come from? Where do I look for ye if I dunna see ye at the lake?”
She closed her eyes to that unwelcome question.Again. She simply didn’t want him to know.
“Does it matter?” she asked softly. “Does it truly matter where a man is born? Does that make him something different than what he is?”
Cam began toying with one of her long, red curls. “Nay,” he said. “But when ye find someone that ye know ye could be fond of, ye want tae know everything about them. Ye already know where I live. Ye know many things about me but I hardly know anything about ye.”
He was right. She sought to tell him something, but not too much, careful in her restraint. “I have two older brothers,” she said, speaking the obvious. “And my da.”
“What about yer mother?”
“Died when I was born.”
“As did mine,” he said. “And yer village?”
“In the hills.”
“Do ye ever want tae leave? Do ye ever dream of something more?”
She sat up, looking at him. “Nay,” she said after a moment. “I’m happy where I am. Does that shock ye?”
He shook his head, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Nay,” he said. “Because I am happy where I am, too. Butwhat if ye met a man who would take ye from yer village, yer family? Would ye go?”
She was fairly certain that he was referring to him and she fought off a smile. “He would have tae be quite a man.”
“I am. I mean, he is.”
