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"I do no' have a while," Aulay said, shifting impatiently. "I need men I ken I can trust right now if I wish to learn who Jetta is and the situation she is in."
"Or the boys and I could take turns above stairs in Conran's stead, and ye could send out him and Alick," the Sinclair said mildly. "With the four o' us doing it, 'twould mean shorter shifts."
"Five," Aulay corrected him. "I'll take a shift too."
"Six," Uncle Acair countered firmly. "I'm no' so old I can no' stand watch fer an hour or two." Grimacing, he added, "Any more than that and I might fall asleep, but I can manage a couple hours at least."
Aulay considered him briefly and then nodded. Glancing from man to man, he pointed out, "It could take a while. Mayhap a couple o' weeks. Ye'd be willing to stay that long?"
The Sinclair shrugged mildly. "We did no' travel all this way just to turn around and head home. We planned to stay a few days at least, but can easily extend it."
"Aye," Greer agreed. "Besides, I'll no' be able to get Saidh to leave here until the situation between you and Jetta is resolved. She likes her, by the by. She'll be doing all she can to make yer marriage a real one."
"If ye expect me to be upset by that news, ye're bound to be disappointed, for I wish Saidh good luck with the endeavor," Aulay admitted.
"There is no luck needed. Jetta loves ye."
Aulay turned sharply in his seat to look over his shoulder at that announcement, his eyebrows rising when he saw his sister approaching the table. She took the last few steps, paused behind and between him and her husband, Greer, who had taken the seat on his left, and then waited expectantly. The MacDonnell smiled faintly and turned to look at Campbell Sinclair, who immediately slid along the bench seat, giving him room to make way for Saidh.
"Ye think she loves me?" Aulay asked with interest once his sister was seated.
"I do no' think it, I ken it," she assured him solemnly. "She told me she did."
Aulay stared at her for a moment, his mind slow to accept what she said, and then sure he must have misheard, he asked, "She told ye that she loved me?"
"Aye," she said softly, a smile curving her lips. "She loves ye, Aulay. She thinks ye're wonderful. She thinks ye're kind and smart and sweet, and ye're kisses and touch leave her wanting. She loves ye, Aul. She says she does, and there's no doubt in me heart at all that she was no' telling the truth. Jetta loves ye."
While Aulay stared at his sister, trying to accept what she said, the men at the table, his uncle, brothers, brother-in-law and friend, broke out in whoops and congratulations, all of them standing to approach and pat his shoulders as they did.
"Ye've found yer bride, nephew."
"Congratulations, brother. I'm happy fer ye."
"Congratulations. She's a fine woman."
"She's a lucky woman. I'm happy fer ye both, brother."
Aulay swallowed and even managed a smile as they thumped his back, but his mind was racing. She loved him. She'd told Saidh she loved him. Mayhap he wouldn't lose her after all when she found out they were not married as she'd assumed.
"What are ye all so happy about?"
The men all paused and turned to smile at the women crossing the hall toward the tables. It seemed the other girls were finished organizing their rooms to their satisfaction as well. Edith, Murine and Jo were joining them.
"I just told Aulay that Jetta loves him," Saidh said with a smile.
"Aye." Edith grinned. "She called ye her 'sweet Aulay.'"
Murine nodded. "And she said ye were the kindest, most considerate man alive."
"And she thinks ye handsome too," Jo added. "She thinks yer scar merely adds a rakish air to yer good looks."
"Oh ho," Dougall said with a grin, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "Did ye hear that? Handsome and rakish."
"She wants ye, Aulay," Niels said smiling widely. "It must be love. Ye're as good as done fer now. Ye'll be sending fer the priest any day now."
"Aye," Saidh said at once. "And the sooner ye do, the better, if ye want to avoid losing her."
Stiffening, Aulay turned to her in question. "Losing her?"
"Trust is part o' love, brother," she pointed out solemnly. "Ye need to tell her the truth about yer no' being married ere she finds out from another source. Else ye risk her finding out on her own, and mayhap fleeing or some such thing."
"Fleeing?" he said sharply.
"I would," Saidh said grimly.
"Ye'd flee?" he asked with dismay.
"Well, aye. If I found out on me own I would," she assured him. "Because it would no' just mean that you lied to me, but that everyone I knew, the only people I knew, had all been lying to me." Shaking her head she said firmly, "Mark me words, does she find out on her own, she will no' longer trust a single one o' us, or feel at all safe here."
Aulay stared at her with openmouthed dismay, and after a moment, Saidh arched an eyebrow and asked, "What would ye do if ye woke up somewhere with no memories and then after weeks o' living with whom ye thought were yer family, ye learned the people whom ye've been trusting and believing in were no' who they claimed to be and had been lying to ye the whole time?"
Aulay's jaw snapped closed, his teeth grinding viciously together. He was in an impossible situation. Rory was telling him he shouldn't tell her and had a good reason for it, and Saidh was giving him a good reason why he should. He felt like he was being torn in two directions. He didn't want to set back Jetta's hea
ling, but on the other hand, he definitely didn't want her feeling she could not trust him or anyone else here, and Saidh was right, that could happen if he didn't tell Jetta they were not married, and she found out from another source.
The worst part about all of this was that he hadn't really lied at all. He wasn't the one who'd claimed to be her husband. She'd assumed he was. He just hadn't corrected her. He hadn't corrected her at first because . . . well, he hadn't really got the chance. But then Rory had told him not to and he'd been happy to let her think he was her husband. He'd actually enjoyed pretending she was his wife. Too much. Now he wanted it to be true. But that wasn't likely to happen if she found out they weren't married from someone else, and felt so betrayed she ran off.
"Ye're putting him in a tough spot, Saidh," Uncle Acair said when Aulay remained silent. "Rory is advising him no' to tell her, at risk o' damaging her health, and yer telling him to tell her or risk her ne'er trusting him and perhaps losing any future with her. Ye're asking him to choose between her health and their future. How can he choose? He loves her. He'll neither wish to harm her health, nor lose her."
Aulay stiffened. He hadn't said he loved her . . . had he? Nay, he was sure he hadn't. He'd admitted he liked her and would like to really have her to wife, but he didn't think he'd mentioned love.
"Aye, ye're right," Saidh agreed with a sigh. "'Tis impossible."
"Well, mayhap he could tell her without telling her," Edith suggested tentatively and then turned to Aulay and said, "Mayhap ye can tell her ye love her, and that there are some things Rory wished ye no' to tell her, but ye're concerned she may learn before he allows ye to tell her, and that should that happen, she should remember that ye love her."
"That'll just drive her mad with curiosity," Dougall predicted, and shook his head. "And she might get angry that he will no' tell her what he's no' telling her."
"Aye," Murine agreed pensively, and after a pause suggested, "instead, mayhap ye should just tell her ye love her and that ye want her to ken ye'd marry her all o'er again, any day she chose, because ye want to spend the rest o' yer life with her."
