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He had caught her just as her eyes fluttered closed, but he thought—he hoped—she had seen him, for he believed she had smiled at him before she passed out. Zia had tended her, assuring him the wound was nothing to worry about. And when she hadn’t revived, Zia explained that it sometimes happened, but she would awaken soon enough. She suggested it would be good to get her back to the keep where she could rest in familiar surroundings.
He had followed her advice and had been sitting by her bed for over an hour now, worried that she wouldn’t wake up, that he would never have the chance to tell her how sorry he was.
He took hold of her hand. It was warm and soft but also branded with a callous or two from hard work. She always worked hard and never complained and she was always there for her friends and adopted family, and for him, though he was foolish enough to believe otherwise. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back and then the palm and then he gently nipped at each fingertip, a playfulness of his that never failed to delight her. He hoped and prayed it would rouse her from her sleep, but she didn’t move.
He hung his head and gently brought her hand to rest against his chest over his heart.
“My heart belongs to you, Alyce,” he said softly. “It always will. I wanted you to be happy. I wanted you to know you were free with me and what did I do? I failed you and why?”
“You’re a fool.”
His head shot up to see his wife’s eyes open, and he smiled. “You’re right.”
She broke into a wide grin and tapped his chest. “But you’re my fool.”
He took hold of her hand, kissed it again, and then leaned over to gently kiss her lips. “I’m sorry.”
She pressed her cheek to his. “I am too.”
“You have no need to be.”
“But I do,” she said, taking hold of his arm to help her sit up.
He lifted her up with a supportive arm while his other hand stacked pillows behind her back.
She grabbed hold of his hand. “You’re everything I wished for in a husband.”
“You wanted a fool for a husband?” he teased.
She smiled and her blue eyes twinkled. “I wanted a good man with a good heart and I found him, only it took me awhile longer to realize just how good his heart truly is.”
He shook his head. “I promised you I would never judge or—”
She pressed her fingers to his lips. “I should have told you my suspicions right away. I should have trusted your reaction.”
He tried to disagree, she objected with a shake of her head, but he gently pried her fingers away. “How could you fully trust me when I never gave you a choice in marrying me?”
“It doesn’t matter any—”
“It does matter,” Lachlan insisted. “You had a right to that choice and if I had trusted our love enough, I would have given it to you. I feared you would deny me, yet I was confident I could make you see my decision was the best for us.”
“It was best.”
“Of course it was,” he said with a smile.
“Then there is no need to discuss it any longer,” she said. “What is done, is done. We start anew and bury the past—”
The door opened and Zia walked in along with Artair, Honora, and Cavan following soon after. Lachlan reluctantly gave them time to have their say, when he would have much preferred to continue talking with his wife.
He couldn’t get her words out of his head.
Bury the past.
She was burying the past as she once buried her identity, to escape an unpleasant situation. He didn’t want the past buried. He would rather resolve it so that it could never again hurt them.
A sprinkle of laughter broke through his musing and he was glad to see that all was well with his family again.
Addie rushed in breathless, her face smeared with sweat and dirt, a dirk sheathed at her waist and her green eyes bright. “Are you all right?” she asked, rushing over to Alyce.
“I’m fine,” Alyce assured her.
“I knew you would be,” Addie said proudly. “You’re a Sinclare woman and today I finally remembered just what that meant. Bless you for reminding me, I finally feel alive again.”
Lachlan could see the difference in his mother. She even looked younger than her fifty-three years. They all could see the difference, and it was good to see her…happy.
Zia finally chased everyone from the room, insisting that Alyce needed to rest, though she remained to speak with them.
“You suffered a minor wound that will barely scar, though I would recommend you curtail your strenuous activities from here on.”
“Is there a problem?” Lachlan asked, taking hold of his wife’s hand with worry.
