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Mary bobbed her head as her lips tightened into a straight line. “If that is what M’Lady wishes, then it shall be done. I’ll spread the word to the other servants.” Her voice carried such reassurance that the tension in Saoirse’s shoulders eased a bit.
“Why must we keep this from the Laird?” Leah looked puzzled, and a touch suspicious.
“I’ll explain later,” Mary promised. “For now, just dae as M’Lady requests.”
Without saying a word, Leah nodded and walked off to check the larder. The pie would not be ready in time. And although Saoirse could see the hesitation in Leah’s eyes, she hoped the cook was a woman of her word.
But why did he nae eat his breakfast? I left it right there.The thought perplexed Saoirse as she opened the kitchen door, preparing to make her swift exit.
“Shall I bring yer dinner to ye, when it’s done?” Mary asked, letting Saoirse know thatshewould keep her word.
Saoirse nodded gratefully and darted out.
Running for her chamber, she had to wonder what it was she was running from. A huge part of her wanted nothing more than to clear the air between her and Noah, to begin afresh. It was the same part of her that had listened to Mary’s story of Noah’s past love and felt pity for his heartbreak… as well as a small measure of jealousy. But her feet kept pounding the flagstones, taking her away from a reconciliation.
Once inside her chamber, she slumped to the ground and ran her fingers through her hair. After everything she had said that morning, she realized the irony in the room around her—Noah had forbidden her from his chamber, and though she had not explicitly made the same demand, she knew he would never knock upon her door again.
“We will be strangers,” she whispered.
They hadn’t just closed their doors on one another; they’d closed their hearts, too.
CHAPTER13
“Well,that worked out better than expected,” Scott said as he trotted next to Noah with a huge grin on his face, the two men riding on the forest road that would take them to Thorn Castle.
“Ye got lucky, ye mean,” Noah replied, shaking his head.
“Luck had nothin’ to dae wit’ it,” Scott teased. “It’s just a pity that I’ve temporary lost a favorite, but I’m sure I’ll find someone equally divertin’.”
“Daenae ye have a list already?” Noah’s eyebrow rose in disapproval, causing his forehead to wrinkle.
“Aye, but there are quite a few of them that I need to scratch off. I may have a long list of lovers, but I daenae go after married ones anymore.”
“Really? And what was Lady O’Donald? Was she nae married?” Noah jerked on the reins, as the horse tossed its head. It seemed spooked by something, but the forest shadows had a way of frightening even the most familiar mounts. Usually, it was just a rabbit in the undergrowth.
Scott waved a hand. “That was different. Lady O’Donald was a widow, so she doesnae count.”
“And the lasses ye bed who are about to be married—do they nae count, either?”
Scott shook his head. “Nae as far as I’m concerned.”
“I swear, Scott, will ye never settle? Yer youth willnae last for—” Noah’s heart stopped.
Up ahead, standing between the pillars of two great oaks, a figure drew his eye. Even at a distance, she was painfully familiar. Shiny brown hair that tumbled to her waist, with curves like an hourglass, and a beauty that he couldn’t put into words. It wasn’t rare and breathtaking, like Saoirse’s, but it had always stolen his breath regardless. And she was there… right there on the side of the road, looking straight at him with eyes that he knew were the color of a loch’s shallow waters.
“Aye, I’ll settle,” Scott replied, oblivious to Noah’s astonishment. “If and when I find the right lassie, ye ken. Right now, though, there’s nay rush for such things. I still have me youth and vigor to sow around, I daenae have money to provide, nor dae I have any pressin’ reason to wed. Of course, I ken why ye married.”
Noah looked to his friend for half a second, but when he looked back at the trees, there was no one there. “Did ye see that?”
“See what?” Scott frowned.
“The… woman on the side of the road, between those trees there.” Noah gestured wildly, his heart starting again with a jolt.
Scott’s frown deepened as his eyes surveyed the road. “What woman? I daenae see one. Was she pretty? Ye ken I can sense a pretty lass from five miles away.”
“It was—” Noah couldn’t bring himself to say her name.
“It was who?”
