Page 100 of Taken By the Heartless Highlander
“It does nay such thing,” Keira replied stubbornly as Scott handed Daisy the leather-bound book Noah had gifted to her. Daisy placed it quickly inside her own pack.
“I thought ye finished that,” Keira said sadly.
“Aye,” Daisy said, “but I thought we could sell it. It’s a very fine book.”
Keira did not reply, trying not to let her worries overwhelm her again. In truth, she did not know much about the new world or how they would make ends meet, but Scott seemed to have no such qualms.
‘Everyone gets sick, what world doesnae need a healer?’
She had not been able to argue with that but it still all seemed very surreal.
“Is it alright if we take Cuddy to the Blackwoods now?” Daisy asked, her little face falling as she asked the question.
“Aye,” Keira said, walking out with them as her brother and sister went to untie the donkey from the post beside their cottage. “He will be very well cared for by the Blackwoods, and the little ones will ride him into town. He’ll be much happier with them than he would be at sea.” Keira said, stroking Cuddy’s nose. He snorted affectionately at her.
“I will miss him,” Daisy said, hugging the donkey’s neck.
“I ken, flower,” Keira said.
Scott untied Cuddy’s rope and pulled gently as the donkey slowly moved forward. Daisy looked back as they made their way down the lane, and Keira held back her own tears at all she was saying goodbye to.
She went back into the cottage, shaking those thoughts away. She checked her list for the third time, ensuring that everything was in its rightful place and that she had not forgotten anything.
After she had been through the last bag and sealed it, she headed to her room. It was bare, save for one item she had deliberately left hanging by her bed.
The pendant of black glass that Noah had bought for her glinted in the sunlight from the window, taunting her with its beauty. For the hundredth time, she wondered if she should take it with her.
She picked it up, lingering on the fine chain and sharp point of the stone, still feeling that familiar comfort from its weight.
With a sigh, she hung it around her neck and placed it beneath her undergarments. It would not do to dwell on what she was losing. What she had never truly had.
I could sell it when we reach our destination,she thought, trying to convince herself that was the real reason.It might fetch a very fine price.
As she double-checked under the bed, she heard footsteps coming up the path. She knew it could not be Scott or Daisy back already, as they would be a good hour yet. It must be a customer. She still had a few things on hand for the last few hours before they sailed. She would always care for anyone who had made the trip to her door.
“Just a moment!” she called. “I shall be with ye—just tell me what the problem is,” she said as she bustled through to the front of the house.
“Heartache,” came a deep voice from the doorway.
She froze as she reentered the kitchen, staring at Noah, who was standing, limed in light, looking taller, stronger, and more handsome than she had ever seen him.
She caught her breath, unable to look away as he ducked beneath the front door and came to stand before her.
“Me laird,” she breathed, stepping into the kitchen, keeping the table between them. “What… what are ye doin’ here?”
His dark eyes were twinkling at her, but there was uncertainty in his gaze.
“As I said,” he replied, his large hands coming to rest on the back of one of the chairs around the table, “me heart hurts.”
She frowned, in two minds as to whether to order him to leave the house or help him.
But she was no fool. She could never deny him treatment if he needed it. It occurred to her that she had not given him instructions on the recipe for the tea she had made. Perhaps it had helped, and he wanted to ask how she had brewed it.
“Do ye need the tea I made ye?” she asked awkwardly, trying her best to keep her hands from shaking. His proximity was making her heart beat hard in her chest.
She busied herself with finding some of the ingredients she knew she still had in one of the bags but stopped as he came toward her, looming above her, his body only inches from her own as she stood back, looking up at him, feeling as though the ground was opening up beneath her feet.
“Nae. Nothin’ like that,” he said softly.
