That was a lot of information to take in. Jocelyn couldn’t imagine being mistaken for a thief. She would have been scared to death of losing a hand. Or being thrown into jail. Forced to work hard labor to pay back the sum of what she’d stolen.
“Um,” Jocelyn muttered, scratching her ear. “I really don’t know how to respond to that.”
Giggles filled the room. “We all have our stories,” Clarissa chimed in. “I was enamored with Alexander, much to my brother’s chagrin and he did e’erything in his power to keep us apart.”
“Nicholas caught me stealing flowers from his garden. And aye, I was really stealing them,” Gwen confessed.
Once again, Jocelyn’s jaw dropped.
“And Finlay and I did meet at a garden party, verra briefly. But we soon realized that we both had problems that needed solving, and the only solution was to get married right away.”
“Did you love each other?”
Willamina slapped her knee with a guffaw. “I found him quite attractive, but love came later. And then I found out I was married twice.”
The women laughed, and Jocelyn found that she couldn’t stop herself from joining in with them. They weren’t lying whenthey said they all had their own stories. She wanted to hear the gritty details of each one.
“I must admit that all of you are the opposite of what I expected. And I mean no offense by that whatsoever.”
“See, ye were fashing for no reason,” Lizzie offered.
“Now ye need to tell us how ye met Gunn,” Gwen urged. “Ye ken all of our dark secrets.” She rubbed her hands together, a wicked glint shining in her eyes. “Now we need to ken yours.”
“Agreed,” Willamina said, her hand drawing slow circles on her belly.
Jocelyn took a deep breath, and let it out in a huff, her hands resting on her knees. “I fear my story is nowhere close to all of yours when it comes to excitement.”
“We shall be the judges of that,” Clarissa laughed.
“I’ve run away from my husband,” she blurted, and everyone but Lizzie, who already knew, gasped.
“Jocelyn!” Clarissa exclaimed. “How scandalous. Does he ken where ye are?”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe so. Otherwise, he would have appeared. There was a reason I ran. I didn’t just do it for fun or because I was bored.”
“There’s always a reason driving us forward in what we choose to do,” Gwen said gently and Jocelyn got the feeling that she had been through a lot. “’Tis how we handle ourselves when the time comes that is important. To me, it sounds like ye did what ye had to do at the perfect time, leading ye to Gunn.”
“I agree. However, I am still married, and this,” she paused. What was it that she and Gunn were doing? What label did they give themselves? “Well, whatever it is that Gunn and I are doing goes against every vow I spoke when I married my husband.”
On the sofa, Willamina straightened. “I believe I can speak on this as the only other one of us that has been married morethan once. Ye need to do what is right for ye. Your husband was a cruel man, aye?”
Jocelyn nibbled at her lip, nodding.
“Mine was, too. In so many ways. When he died, I mourned him as was proper. But it wasna in a way that I missed him. It was as if a burden had been lifted. If I’m no’ mistaken, I believe that is what ye are feeling now, is it no’?”
Jocelyn pondered her words. Relief had flooded her after the first night she’d left. Up until that time she was terrified that Victor would show up out of the blue, no matter where she was. When he hadn’t, it was like light at the end of a long tunnel that she had to fight her way through.
The Thistle & Pig became her respite. Gunn her support.
“You’re right. The time since I’ve left has been amazing. Gunn has been a big part of that, for which I will be forever grateful.”
“If ye ask me, your arrival saved Gunn,” Lizzie proclaimed.
“Well, I don’t know about that.”
“’Tis true. Ye dinna see him before. He was miserable. Grumpy all the time. Ye brought happiness and light back into his life. He needed that. Deserved that. And it sounds like ye did, too.” Lizzie reached over and squeezed her hand.
“Och, look at the time,” Gwen announced. “I suppose we should get ready for dinner. Mayhap after we can gather for games in the parlor?”
