Page 41 of The Highlander's Twisted Deal
Once they’d promised solemnly, she launched into the whole story, right from the beginning. Of course, she omitted certain details, like the night she’d spent with Callum and the painful conversation they’d had the next morning. When she finished, the three women sat in silence for a few long moments.
“Well,” Niamh said after a pause, “that’s… unexpected.”
“It’s deceitful,” Elsie interjected, pressing her lips together. “Why pretend to be betrothed?”
Ava shrugged. “Lots of folks arenae inclined to marriage. Perhaps he wants to buy himself time to find true love, or perhaps he just wants a wee bit of breathing space to do his work as a clan laird. It’s nae easy, running a Keep like this. He works hard.”
Why am I defending him after he made it clear that he feels nothing for me?
Ava carefully avoided the eyes of her mother. Elsie was looking at her with a strange expression, too. They glanced briefly at each other but said nothing.
“I’m glad ye are safe,” Ava said, hoping to change the subject. “Laird McAdair had promised me gold when all this is over, so we can start afresh somewhere else—somewhere that Laird MacCarthy cannae get to us. Get to me, rather.”
Again, Elsie and Niamh exchanged glances. Ava tried not to feel annoyed or left out. Since she’d been exiled, Elsie really had been like a daughter to Niamh, to say nothing of what they’d suffered in the tense days since Ava was taken.
“There’s another thing,” Niamh added, after a pause. “Laird MacCarthy said that ye were…” She swallowed hard, closing her eyes. “A woman of pleasure. Is that true?”
Hot shame flushed through Ava. She’d known, right from the start, that one day she would need to tell her mother the truth. Her motherdeservedto know the truth.
It didn’t make it any easier, though, or any less humiliating that Niamh had heard the truth from Laird MacCarthy, of all people.
“I’m sure it was lies,” Elsie said hotly. “Niamh, ye shouldnae believe a word that man says. Tell her so, Ava.”
Ava dropped her chin to her chest. “It’s true, in a way.”
There was a taut silence, and she forced herself to look up and meet their eyes.
“I’m nae a woman of pleasure. I called meself a woman of the night because I didnae provide any pleasure. I put me customers to sleep with an herb. They’d wake up feeling refreshed with dizzy, half-remembered dreams of pleasure, and they’d think that we’d been together. But I never lied with them.”
“Ye just took their money under false pretenses,” Niamh said flatly, and Ava’s face burned.
“Would ye rather I really did—”
“She wouldnae,” Elsie interjected quickly. “It’s just a lot to take in, Ava. Ye are such a talented healer, and it’s a fair pity that ye were forced out of yer profession.”
Ava smiled weakly. “Not exactly. The reason I wasnae here when ye arrived was because I was out in a village helping a maither deliver a babe. I can show ye the healer’s chambers. As long as I’m here, I’ll make meself useful.”
“Ye are right, of course,” Niamh said, reviving a little. “I didnae mean to snap at ye, lassie. Come here.”
Ava shuffled over to her mother with relief, resting her head on her shoulder. Niamh put her arms around her, holding her close just as she had when she was small.
For a few wonderful moments, Ava really did believe that everything would be fine. The hurt of Callum’s rejection faded into the background, and nothing else mattered.
Then, Niamh moved away, and all of Ava’s worries came surging back.
“I’m delighted to see ye, lassie,” Niamh said heavily, “but I’m exhausted. I’ve barely slept since ye left. Is there somewhere I can lie down?”
“Of course, Ma. Take me bed here. Elsie and I will leave and let ye rest. Unless ye want to rest, too, Elsie?”
“Nay,” Elsie replied, still regarding her curiously. “Why do ye nae show me the healer’s chambers, and we can talk, ye and I?”
“Aye, sounds nice,” Ava said, although it sounded nothing of the sort. It sounded like she was in for a lecture.
* * *
“I hope to ask the Keep healer if I can work here once she gets back,” Ava said. “Well, what do ye think?”
She spread out her arms, turning in a tight circle. Elsie looked suitably impressed, gawping up at the high ceiling of the healer’s chambers and the seemingly endless array of tools, books, vials, and so on.
