Page 101 of The Laird's Secret Bairn

“I ken what ye thought.” He stepped further into the room, and she noticed with a fresh jolt how tired he looked, how the absence of his mask left nothing to hide the shadows beneath hiseyes. “I thought it too, for a time. That I’d done the right thing by sending ye home.”

“And now?”

He grew quiet. Whatever he had prepared himself to say had died in his throat before he had the chance to say it.

Skye stood there patiently, not wanting to ruin the moment. She would stand here as long as it took for him to say his piece. This was what she had dreamed of over the past few weeks, after all, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

37

Dougal had read the pages she left behind more than once. He had read them so many times that he had committed everything in them to memory.

The next step was obvious. He had to see Skye.

He only hoped she would be willing to forgive him for breaking her heart and his own. He stepped towards his horse, pausing to look over his shoulder at his mother.

She stood there, a smug smile on her face. “Ye look nervous.”

“I am nae nervous.”

Stephen chuckled. “It’s nae nice to lie to yer maither, Dougal. Both of us ken that ye are nervous about seeing Skye after the way ye parted ways.”

“Thank ye for stating the obvious, Stephen. It’s helped put everything into perspective.”

“Sarcasm aside, ye’re welcome, Dougal.”

“Ye look good,” Kenna said, patting her son’s shoulders.

Before she could say anything else, Dougal removed his mask.

Stephen’s jaw dropped. “Is this happening?”

“Aye, I think it is, Stephen,” Kenna quipped. “Skye must be quite something.”

“She is,” Dougal confirmed, managing a smile.

Lily used to be the only one who made him smile… until he had met Skye. She had made him smile almost as much as his precious daughter did.

He felt strange without his mask, naked in a way he had not felt in seven years. As Skye had said, he had hidden behind the mask. It had become a part of him without him realizing it.

He did not want that. The mask represented a past he had held onto, but now it was time to let it go. If Angus could move towards forgiving and forgetting, then he could do the same.

He did not know when he would return. It might be sooner than he hoped if Skye turned him away, refusing to have anything to do with him. He would not blame her if she did. He deserved it after everything.

Lily appeared with one of the maids, smiling. “Da, are ye really going to get Skye back?”

“Aye, I am.”

“She’ll forgive ye, Da,” she said confidently.

The goat bleated in agreement, but Blossom remained eerily quiet.

“Say goodbye to yer da,” Kenna told her.

The little girl rushed forward, throwing her arms around his waist. Dougal did not waste a moment, picking her up and hugging her against his chest. She giggled, clinging to him.

“Come back soon, Da!”

“I will, Lily.”