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Eoghan nodded, the look upon his face encouraging. “There are many good men among the MacKinnears but also elsewhere. More than once, I’ve heard Keir and Sarah speak of the Whickertons. Although I’ve never met them, I’ve heard enough. Ye know them yerself, do ye not?”
Kate nodded, oddly entranced by this moment.
“There are many decent men in this world. Ye dunna have to cling to Keir.” His gaze softened, and his hand squeezed hers. “I know ye feel as though ye do, but ’tis not true. That’s nothing but fear speaking.” He held out his other hand to her. “Trust me, lass.”
Trust me.Eoghan’s words echoed through Kate’s head, their effect reaching even further, making her yearn for something she feared all the same. Still, as much as Kate felt compelled to cling to Keir, she knew deep down that Eoghan was right. And so, with one last glance over her shoulder at her sister’s fiancé, Kate took Eoghan’s hand and with it a leap of faith.
Chapter Forty-Two
A FIERCE ONE
Wanting a moment alone with Sarah, Keir pulled her outside for a walk. In less than a fortnight, they would be married. Everything was being prepared, and excitement lingered in the air. Smiling faces met them as they walked out across the courtyard and then into the garden.
Yet Sarah seemed distant.
Thoughtful.
“What’s on yer mind, lass?” Keir asked as he drew to a halt and took her hands within his. “Something plagues ye. I can see it.”
Sarah’s lips pressed into a tight line, and he could see that she was reluctant. Yet the look in her blue eyes was troubled. “I’m not certain I should tell you.”
Keir frowned. “Why?”
Sarah’s eyes closed, and she bowed her head. “Because I do not wish to betray my sister.” Her hands tensed upon his, yet she did not look at him. “All of a sudden, I feel so helpless. Everything I feel is making me wonder and imagine and fear and—”
“Yer sister doesna truly care for me.”
Sarah’s head flew up, and she stared into Keir’s eyes. “How would you know this?”
Keir shrugged, then he reached out and touched her cheek. “I dunna know. Yet there was something in her eyes…” He shrugged again. Then his gaze settled more firmly upon hers. “It means nothing, though. ’Tis the same with Kenna.”
Sarah felt his hand briefly tense upon hers and then relax.
“Ye know about Kenna, do ye not?” Keir murmured, his gaze sweeping over her face. “Did she speak to ye?”
Sarah swallowed hard, sorrow clouding her eyes. “She said that—”
“I can imagine what she said,” Keir interrupted, reaching for her and tugging her closer, not wanting there to be any sort of misunderstanding between them. “’Tis not true, though. There was never anything between us.” He searched her eyes.
Heaving a deep sigh, Sarah nodded. “From the way she spoke, it sounded more like something she’d always wished for than something that truly happened.” She shrugged. “Still…”
Keir slipped a hand into her hair, pulling her closer, wanting to feel her. “Sometimes people are in love with a dream or an idea, and they cling to it in such a way that, to them, reality bends,” he murmured, feeling Sarah’s warm breath against his lips. “They no longer see the truth but what they wish for or fear.”
Sarah’s eyes closed. “I know what that’s like. For me, it was fear, always seeing the worst in people, always being on my guard.” Her eyes rose to meet his again. “I don’t want that anymore. I want the truth. I want to know what is real.” A smile teased her lips. “I want you.”
Keir delighted in her bold declaration. Not long ago, she would not have been able to give it voice.
Rather daring, Sarah lifted her chin yet another fraction, her wide blue eyes holding his, unashamed. “I love you,” she told him, and her voice resonated with strength. “I never truly expected to find love for myself. Perhaps when I was younger but not after seeing how thetonhandles marriage and all those awful unions my parents planned for me, their disregard for my happiness obvious in each one.” Her chest rose and fell in a slow breath, and she stepped forward, her hands reaching up to cup his face. “When I found you, I… I did not dare believe. I tried to convince myself that it could not be.” Shrugging almost helplessly, she shook her head. “I was so afraid to allow myself to love you, so afraid of having my heart broken.”
Deeply moved by her words, Keir wrapped his arms around her, feeling slight shivers trail up and down her back. “Ye took a risk, and ’twas worth it, was it not?” She smiled at him, one of those smiles that always threatened to bring him to his knees. “Of course, not everything ends happily, but if ye never dare risk anything, nothing ever will.”
Sarah nodded. “I know that now, and I hope I will never forget. I don’t want to be fearful anymore. I want to savor what I have and be happy.” She grasped the lapels of his coat, giving him a little tug. “With you.”
Sliding his hands further onto her back, Keir dipped his head. “That sounds like an awfully good plan, lass,” he murmured against her lips before his mouth claimed hers in a passionate kiss. He held her close, felt her heart beat fast against his own, the pulse in her neck hammering below his fingertips. Her skin felt chilled, and yet she was warm, heat simmering wherever he touched. She was everything. To him, she was love and life and happiness, the only future he could imagine.
Lifting his head, Keir looked deep into her eyes, wishing this moment would never end, wishing they were already married. Utterly drawn to her, Keir once more lowered his head, determined to steal another kiss, when movement flickered at the edge of his vision. He glanced sideways, past Sarah’s shoulder…
… to see Kenna standing there, her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at them.
