“She has nae reason to return, ye ken.”
Since it hurt to turn his head, Lyon sent the younger man a sharp glance. “I dinnae ken what ye mean.”
Keith clucked his tongue and tossed the wrappings to one side. “Of course ye do. Having Bonnie here wasnice. She made the place feel…more like a home, I guess.”
To Lyon’s surprise, the younger man stretched out on his back beside him, stacking his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. “Mrs. Oliphant—the new cook, I mean, no’ the auld Mrs. Oliphant—asked about her, and when I said she’d left, the woman cursed most soundly. I guess evensheliked Bonnie, and she’s nearly as grumpy as ye.”
There wasn’t much to say, not in the face of such cheerful observations. Lyon grumbled, “She never met Bonnie.” He shifted slightly so he could see the younger man’s face.
“Nay, but perhaps she could sense the difference in the castle.” From his supine position, Keith shrugged. “I think she really liked ye—Bonnie, no’ Mrs. Oliphant. Although I suppose Mrs. Oliphant likes ye well enough.”
Lyon didn’t need to hear this. “To hell with Mrs. Oliphant!”
Keith’s smile seemed to grow, although his attention was on the ceiling. “She does make delightful roasts, does she no’?”
“I dinnae want to hear this.” Deciding he could abide a headache for a bit, Lyon began to roll to his feet, but Keith’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.
“Easy, Lyon. Lie easy a bit longer. I’ll stop teasing ye about how much Bonnie liked ye, or how beastly ye’ve been since ye let her leave.”
“Ye’re doing a piss-poor job of it,” Lyon grumbled, but he allowed the younger man to push him back to the stone floor.
Keith just shrugged unrepentantly as he grinned.
Was he right?
Bonnie had wanted to stay; Lyon had seen it in her eyes when they’d begged him not to let her go. But if he had given in to her—and to his own heart, or perhaps cock—he knew she’d end up miserable.
Or dead.
His younger brother eyed him worriedly. “Ye ken, I havenae asked yewhyye allowed her to walk off, and I’ll no’ ask ye now. But if ye were interested in having her back in yer life, I dinnae think it would be verra hard.”
Lyon scowled, of course. “She’s better off without me.”
“Ye cannae think that,” scolded the younger man. “Ye are agoodman, Lyon, nae matter what ye believe about yerself. I see that, yer brothers see that, and Bonnie sees that.”
Did she?
Is that why she’d seemed so hurt to leave?
Of course, ye idiot.
Was Keith right? Would it be so easy to leave the castle, which had been his cave for so long, and go to her and tell her how he felt?
How do ye feel, then?
He felt as if the light had gone out of his world when she’d left. She’d taken his light, his heart, the only remaining bit oflifewith her.
God help him, but he missed her.
Keith settled back down beside him, shifting to make himself comfortable on the stones.
Lyon glowered, happy for the distraction. “Whatareye doing?”
“What?”
“I ken whyI’mlying here, but why are ye?”
The younger man managed to shrug. “I didnae want anyone to wander by and think I’d managed to knock ye out, so I’m lying here so anyone who sees us assumes we’re just two men, looking at the ceiling together.”
