Page 74 of A Highland Bride Taken
“Please, dinnae pull away from me,” she begged, reaching for his hand. “I mean ye nay harm. I just… I want to make sense of things. I want to ease yer burdens.”
He turned back to her with a small smile and led her to sit on the edge of the bed. It made her more comfortable, and she was close enough to offer comfort if he needed it.
“‘Tis a dark tale,” he warned.
“I want to hear it,” she insisted. “I just wish to ken how to help ye.”
“Ye have already helped me, wife.” He tried for a smile. “Ye worry for me well-being, and ye kept the clan safe while I was away. ‘Tis more than anything.”
“Yet this dark cloud hangs over yer head,” she said with a pout. “Dinnae think I cannae see how ye suffer. Ye comforted the boys today and comforted me, but who will comfort ye when ye are alone? Share yer burdens with me.”
He studied her hands, rubbing circles on her palms as he considered her words.
She was not unaware that she had done nothing to deserve his trust, yet she felt the need to probe and dig up the past if it would help him heal. He was so focused on making everyone else around him happy, forgetting that he, too, deserved it.
Now that she knew how she felt for him, she would scarcely find sleep if she didn’t at least hear his tale and see some of the shadows leave him.
“I wanted to spare ye the grief of me past, but ye are me wife, and ye should ken about it,” he started. “Darragh is… Ye were right to say that our feud isnae recent. I was eight when I first saw him, and I havenae seen him since.”
“May I ask why?”
“He didnae have any children except me maither, and when she got married and had me and Aidan, he came when Aidan was amere babe. Me faither was powerless to stop his manipulation and let him take me maither and Aidan away to raise him as his heir. His manipulation wrecked me faither and turned him into a shadow of himself. I was a lad, but I wasnae too young to understand what had been done and who was to blame for the cloud that shrouded me home.
“I swore I would never be as weak as me faither, so I endured his harshness, and when he died, I fought hard to protect the clan from those who thought us weak. Darragh kens now that we’re nay longer the weak clan he thought us to be, which is why he willnae dare to attack. But this? What he did today? That I cannae forget.”
He had stiffened with grief, and Mabel did the only thing she could to ease his burden—she nodded and placed a hand on his arm to comfort him.
“Ye will have to because he willnae dare cross into yer territory again,” she urged. “He is in the past, and ye arenae the lad ye once were. He has more to gain from ye holding onto yer anger than ye.”
“He hurt ye. He hurt Ollie,” he argued. “I swore to protect ye and the boys. I swore to give them everything Aidan never had. ‘Twas me fault he never thought to return home. If I hadnae been a coward and tried to reach out to him, he could have been here now. But ‘tis too late. I made a vow, yet I wasnae here to keep it.”
“Ye didnae break yer vow because we’re here unharmed—ye protected us.” She smiled. “If ye hadnae returned when ye did, Idinnae ken what might have happened. But ye returned, and it is what the boys will remember. They trust ye now, and with time, they will grow to love ye. But ye have earned their trust, and they dinnae blame ye for what happened.”
“Darragh…”
“Is to be blamed for much, but he nay longer has power over ye. Except if ye let him. Ye have been strong and protected yer people, just as ye protected me and the boys today,” she insisted. “I am sorry ye had to relive yer past today. I ken it wasnae a pleasant experience, but ye have stepped into the future with the bairns. They are yer future, while he has none. Let the fact that his blood will die with him be of comfort to ye. Leave that man where he belongs. He will be a fool to forget yer warning today.”
“Darragh is nay fool. He willnae forget, but he is most definitely planning something,” he said ominously.
But she was undeterred.
“And ye will be ready. Nay matter what he chooses to do. Ye are Laird Muir. Yer clan is the most feared in the Highlands. He wouldnae dare rise against ye.”
He nodded and squeezed her hands.
“I thank ye for understanding me,” he told her. “I havenae shared this with anyone, but I found it easy to tell ye.”
“I am yer wife; I should ease yer burdens.” She cracked a smile. “And ye arenae the only one who has been burdened. I had me secrets as well.”
He nodded, kissing her forehead. “I am indeed most fortunate to have such a wise wife.”
“Aye, ye are.”
He pulled back to study her face. She could still see the hurt in his eyes, and she moved before she could stop herself. She took his lips in a kiss she hoped would comfort him.
She pulled back and looked him in the eye, surprised at herself.
“I…” she started. “I just wanted to comfort ye.”
