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Max’s daughter, the one who was to be married, had been sent to live with the men’s sister when she was young because Max had wanted the best for her and hadn’t thought he would do a good job, raising her by himself after his wife died in childbirth, but I rather thought he would’ve made a fine single parent. All three men treated me with fatherly deference; any one of them would’ve been a decent family man. During our time together, they fed me, saw to my comfort, and told me entertaining stories of their lives.
Through them, I realized the people of Far Shore were actually no different than those of Donnelly. By the time we reached Vance, I felt I had three new friends.
“Here,” I told Max, tugging a dress from my pack. I’d planned to marry Farrow in it when I’d packed it in Donnelly, but that certainly wasn’t going to happen any time soon. And Max had spoken of how upset his daughter was because she couldn’t even afford a new dress for her wedding.
“It’s been in the Cull,” I lamented, “and needs a good washing, but it would still make a fine dress to be wed in, if you think your daughter would like it.”
“Like it?” Max exclaimed, his eyes wide as he reverently took the gown from me and studied it. “She’ll probably burst forth in tears from its overwhelming beauty. I’ll be the best father of the bride in the entire village if I showed up with this in tow. It looks fit for a princess to be married in.”
“Aye,” I murmured sadly as I silently said goodbye to the dress.
Max noticed my melancholy and paused. “But I can’t take this from you, child. You—”
“No,” I told him firmly. “Please take it, for I no longer need it.”
His eyes filled with pity as he likely assumed I was mourning a dead husband. “She’ll cherish it, I’m sure,” he assured me.
“Good.” I hugged him in farewell. “That makes everything worth it. Take care, Max.” I turned toward the other two. “Take care, all of you.”
Both Pax and Jax offered to escort me all the way to my family, but I insisted they stay and watch their niece’s wedding.
The men plied me with food and drink before I departed from them, and then I was once again alone.
I made my way through the village of Vance, not pausing or making eye contact with anyone. When I reached the trees of Dimway, anxiety cramped my stomach. I’d long ago moved out of range of Farrow, so I couldn’t sense his nearness or emotions in my mark, anymore—not that the stubborn, closed-off man would let me see his feelings, anyway—but a nagging sensation kept telling me to turn around and go the other way. Return to him.
“Shut up,” I hissed to the stupid sensation. “We’re going our separate ways until he learns his damn lesson and can treat me like a proper mate.”
But with that spiteful mutter, I winced with unease. Was I returning home now merely because my pride had been besmirched? Because my feelings had been hurt? Because I felt like a silly, young idiot girl for so quickly and willingly buying into every lie he ever told me?
Because I did feel all that. But if that was the only reason for my actions, then I felt rather vain.
He was a liar, I tried to remind myself. The man could not be trusted. He’d let me put all my faith in him without reciprocating in the least, playing me for a fool.
And yet…
He had good, solid, sound reasons for his lies, usually an altruistic bent for them, too. He was always so determined to save someone else. He hadn’t even taken my innocence in a ruthless, selfish manner. He’d tried to stay away and protect me as much as he could from his own deceit. And I don’t know if that excused or pardoned him, but it seemed worthy enough to note.
I also felt bad about delaying him from his quest to save Sable. It felt wrong that she should have to suffer because he’d burned my pride and hurt my feelings. I hoped it hadn’t taken him long to find that key.
Stomach tensing with anxiety, every instinct I had screamed for me to turn around and return to him, while my brain told me what an epically stupid decision that would be. He needed time to learn how to trust first, and I needed to process this new development of learning he was a fallible human and not yet the man I needed him to be.
I paused and debated.
Should I give us time apart to learn who we were separately, or help save a child’s life?
Well, when put that way, the choice seemed rather obvious.
I’d already been gone this long from home, anyway. What would another couple of weeks mean? As soon as I helped Farrow save his sister, I could still return home then until we both matured enough to start the rest of our lives together.
I was about to turn around, my mind made up, when I heard a commotion ahead.
My hand immediately went to my pocket. Hoping it was another set of travelers like the three brothers Max, Jax, and Pax, but preparing for the worst, I eased up against a tree to blend in, and I craned my neck around to seek the source.
Evening had fallen, so it was growing hard to see well, but I squinted and strained until finally, I spotted a bit of blurry movement to my left. Horses and men moved about, around—
What the devil was that they’d built?
Needing a better view, I dashed forward to the safety of more trees that were closer to whatever was going on so I could determine if the newcomers were a threat or not.
