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Olivia’s mouth popped open as her back straightened. She flew to her feet abruptly. “Then we must find another spot.”
Conner shook his head as he gave her hand a slight tug to get her to sit down once more. “Tis’ fine. I promise. I just didnae expect it to hit me like that.”
“Is there somethin’ else that weighs on yer mind?” she asked as she slowly took her place beside him on the bench.
“I must ask for yer forgiveness,” he said, his eyes darting to her hand. Guilt weighed on his shoulders like boulders grinding him into the earth.
“Whatever for? My Laird, there is nothin’ ye need to apologize for. I understand that ye may have reservations about this place.”
“That is nae what I was referin’ to,” he said in a hushed tone. “I was speakin’ about this mornin’. I rushed out on ye so suddenly and ye daenae deserve that from me.”
Her hand fluttered to his shoulder as she struggled to catch his eye. “I must admit, there was a moment I thought I may have offended ye last night. Or this mornin’.”
Conner shook his head and grabbed her hands, pressing them to his chest. Olivia’s eyes lingered on her hand and there was no doubt she could feel his frantically beating heart.
“Please forgive me if that is the impression I left on ye this mornin’. My mind was elsewhere.”
“I ken it has been,” she said, slowly shifting her eyes to his face. “I just wish ye’d let me help ye.”
“I daenae think ye can,” he said, dropping his hand from hers. Keeping her hand planted on his chest caused his body to tingle. He watched as she licked her lips and was fascinated by the way her mouth moved and twitched.
“Ye’ll never ken if ye daenae speak to me.” The pleading in her tone caught him off-guard. She sounded so weak and innocent that he couldn’t help but want to cave and give her what she wanted.
“I daenae want to hurt ye any more than I already have,” he said. Olivia’s hand slipped from his chest. She turned her back to him and started down the path alone. It didn’t take Conner but three full strides to be at her side once again.
“So, there is somethin’ the matter wit’ me,” she said as she fiddled with her fingertips.
“This is nae about ye. Yer the most wonderful woman I have ever met. Kind, honest and innocent. I daenae want to drag ye into my problems.”
“Conner, that is what bein’ married is all about. Ye have to learn to trust me. To open up to me. I may nae have the answers to all yer questions, but unless ye tell me, I’m in the dark and cannae help ye.”
Conner dropped his head and exhaled sharply. He stepped closer to her, allowing her body heat to caress his cold face. “This spot, as I’ve said, was my maither’s favorite place to go to at night after dinner.”
“Aye,” she said as her gaze lingered on him.
“And I’ve nae come here since she vanished. But seein’ as how, out of all the places ye were drawn to, and ye pick this one, well, it startled me.”
“Understandable. But if ye’d like, we can go elsewhere and talk.”
Conner shook his head as his eyes shifted about, looking everywhere but her face. Guilt, worry, suspicion, the emotions crashed against him again and again as he tried wholeheartedly to get out from under their relentless torment.
“Talk to me.” Olivia’s voice was tainted with a pain that echoed his own. He knew that unless he confessed to her his inner plans, he was inadvertently placing the guilt and shame on her shoulders.
“I’ve been huntin’ for my family,” he blurted out. The pressure in his chest vanished the instant the words escaped his lips. Conner couldn’t believe how much his thoughts had been weighing on him until that very moment.
“What?” The shock in Olivia’s voice rattled him to his very core. “But I though…”
“Dae ye have any idea what it’s like to live wit’ secrets and whispers as yer only companions? Rumors are but glimpses of hopes that can be easily shattered like glass or stolen out from under ye.”
Conner felt his hands trembling as his nerves rattled. It was as if the very warmth of his body drained out of him. Flexing his jaw, he closed his eyes, hoping to restrain his emotions from Olivia as his inner demons wreaked havoc by the obsessive taunting and ridicule. The instant he felt her hands on his face, the chaos swirling about him stopped, the voices ceased, and the world paused in that single moment. Opening his eyes, he didn’t find pity or resentment in her gaze, but love and understanding.
“It’ll be alright,” she said in such a soft tone that it melted the icy wall around his heart. “If ye believe that they are alive, then ye must nae stop searchin’ for them.”
Conner bobbed his head. “I believe they are still alive. Where, I dae nae ken. And that is the problem.”
“Yer one of the best trackers I have ever ken. Yer family told tales of how ye found the deer in the woods despite everyone else failin’. They speak of how yer able to tell the weather before it comes to pass by readin’ the signs in the sky. I ken wit’ all my heart, ye’ll use yer gifts and ye’ll find them,” she said so surely that Conner couldn’t help but believe her.
“How can ye be so sure?”
