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It was a particularly busy night, and Evanna was rushed off her feet with so many customers at the bar and so many meals to be served that she barely had a free moment. Her father was also a problem since he had become so troublesome that evening that he had had to be locked in his bedroom. Luckily, one of his oldest friends had offered to stay with him, so at least that had been taken care of, but he was still a constant worry.
As well as that, she could not help thinking of the man upstairs who still needed her assistance to do just about everything. He was big and strong, but the wound in his side was painful, and many such large, powerful men had been reduced to little boys by pain.
Thank God for Lexie,she thought, trying and failing to imagine life without her. She was not only robust in a physical sense, but she had a will of iron and was fearsomely intelligent.
“Ye look a bit peaky, hen,” Alec, one of her regulars, said anxiously. “Are ye all right?”
Evanna looked at his kind old face and smiled. “Tired, that is a’, Alec,” she answered wearily as she handed him a cup of ale. “Business is good taenight, but we work for every last penny!”
“Aye, lass, we all do,” he said sadly, as he handed over his money. “How is yer da?”
Evanna sighed and shrugged. “Good one day, bad the next, Alec. Ye know how it is.”
Alec patted her hand as it lay on the bar. “We all have to go sometime, lass.”
“He is still so young, Alec. Not yet fifty-five.” She sighed. “It doesn’t seem fair. I hope it doesn’t run in the family. It is very worryin’.”
Alec could think of nothing to say to this. He walked away with a little wave, leaving Evanna to serve more customers. Her mind was not on her work, however. She answered whoever spoke to her without thinking, and afterward she could not even remember what she had said. She was thinking of the stranger upstairs in her chamber, wondering about his health. She wished she could share the secret of his presence with the others since it would make the burden easier, but Lexie was the only one whom she could trust to stay quiet.
“Are ye all right, Evanna?” Flora asked, looking worried. “I see ye look a wee bit under the weather. Are ye feelin’ yerself? Maybe ye should have a rest.”
“Thank ye, Flora.” Evanna smiled, genuinely touched by the other woman’s concern. “I am fine. Da is havin’ a bad day taeday, an’ I am just a wee bit tired of runnin’ after him, but I will manage tae stay awake ’til the end of the evening, I promise.” Evanna felt dreadful about blaming her distractedness on her father, but she could not think of another excuse on the spur of the moment.
Flora looked at her doubtfully. “If there is anythin’ Donna or I can do, just tell us, Evanna.” Then she patted Evanna’s shoulder, nodded, and left.
In truth, the only thing that was bothering Evanna was the stranger upstairs. She could not get him out of her mind, even when she was overwhelmed with her duties. As well as her body’s troubling reaction to him, there was the genuine fear that he was from the Gilchrist clan, and they were Mulhollands, and if the Gilchrists knew he was here, well, she had seen enough clan warfare to know how much blood would be spilled.
* * *
There was no candle in Fraser’s room, and the only light was coming through a chink between the shutters. It was not a moonlit night, so even that was of little help. The pain in his side had lessened a little since Lexie had given him a cup of willow bark tea, but there was a constant nagging ache there that kept him from sleeping. He could hear a noise from downstairs, sounds of voices talking, laughing and occasionally shouting.I must be in a tavern or some such place,he concluded.
Presently, he heard the sound of the door being unlocked, and he lay completely still in the darkness, listening for any sounds of movement and breathing. He was tensed and ready for action should any hostile intruder be approaching. On the other hand, it could be Evanna, he thought hopefully.
Evanna! That was her name! He had finally remembered it.
He saw a shape moving past the sliver of light through the window, and with some sixth sense, he realized it was Lexie, the tall, mannish woman who had helped Evanna take care of him. He had remembered both their names, so perhaps he was recovering. However, he felt a profound sense of disappointment as he realized that Evanna was not going to be tending to him that night.
Gentle fingers prodded the wound on his side, and despite his resolution not to make a sound, he gave a little gasp, and she stilled for a moment, then went on with her task. Lexie’s hand went to his forehead to feel his temperature, then she pulled his blanket up over his chest and tucked it into the mattress.
He felt strangely safe and comforted, although Lexie was not the person he wanted by his side that night or any other night. He wanted Evanna more than any woman he had ever known in his life. Not only was she quite lovely, but she made him feel safe.
Presently he heard soft footfalls as Lexie went toward the door, then the sound of the key turning again in the lock. He closed his eyes, but sleep would not come. He realized that his heart was racing, and as he called Evanna’s face to mind again, he wondered what she would feel like if he had his arms wrapped around her. Would she be loving? Responsive? Or would she push him away coldly? Damn. Here he was in an enemy’s house, behind a locked door, and in the clutches of a woman with whom he could so easily fall in love but whom he could not touch.
Then his thoughts swerved abruptly to a much less pleasant matter. There was still the matter of vengeance. Rowan had to pay for the crime he had committed against him. He felt a surge of pure rage, but with it came a heightened sense of determination. That would be his mission, his reason to live. He would recover so that he could end Rowan’s miserable life.
* * *
When Evanna went to her father’s room, she found him tossing and turning in his sleep on his bed, with his best friend Jimmy lying curled on the floor beside it. It was obvious that he was having a nightmare, as he was whimpering and occasionally moaning, hugging himself as if in pain, and crying out names that Evanna could not identify.
Evanna envied Jimmy for his ability to sleep through all the noise her father was making, but he woke up as Bruce suddenly sat up with a great shout and managed to toss all the blankets off himself. They landed in a heap on the soundly sleeping figure on the floor, and Jimmy sat up, looking around blearily.
“What’s goin’ on, lass?” Jim asked, confused. He looked around and yawned, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.
“Da is a bit mixed up taenight. I think he is havin’ a nightmare,” Evanna told him. “I will take care of him now. Thank ye for yer help, Jim.” She dropped a shilling into his hand.
Jimmy smiled and left, then Evanna wrapped her arms around her father and kissed his forehead, rocking him as she would do if he were a baby. “Go tae sleep now, Da,” she said softly. “Ye had a bad dream, but ye are safe an’ well. Don’t worry.”
“Bettie?” he asked plaintively.
