Page 68 of The Highlander's Twisted Deal
Callum paused. “We?”
She smiled shyly. “Aye, we. Together, if ye want.”
20
Outside, the morning was well along. The sun was up, the birds were chirping, and life was going on as usual.
In a small room of the Keep, with the door locked, Moira, Duncan, Callum, and Ava sat straight-backed and still, ashen-faced.
“What is to be done with his body?” Moira asked after a pause. Her face was livid, white with grief, and Ava wanted nothing more than to hug her and hold her close.
She sensed that it was not the right thing to do, though. Everybody grieved differently.
“He’ll be buried with the rest of the family,” Callum said firmly. He was still holding Ava’s hand, and she wasn’t sure what she would do without the warmth of his palm against hers. “I dinnae want him shamed, Auntie. He said that he was responsible for the deaths of me parents, and in a way, he was, but I dinnae believe it was murder. I cannae.”
Moira nodded slowly. “Ye are a good lad. He loved ye, ye ken. I… I kenned, always, that there was another woman he loved.”
Duncan glanced sharply at his mother. He looked anguished. “Me faither didnae love ye, then?”
Moira hushed him, patting his shoulder. “I was always happy, lad. There are many different forms of love. Marcus and I led a happy life. He was a good husband. This kidnapping of Ava, attacking ye, Callum…” She paused, shaking her head. “I dinnae understand it.”
“He’d borne his secret for a long time,” Ava heard herself say. “It was eating him up. He said that it was a rot. I bear him nay ill will. His thoughts were always for his family and his clan.”
Duncan swallowed down, wiping his tear-stained face with his sleeve. “We’ll have a funeral for him, aye?” he asked weakly. “A proper laird’s funeral, and nobody will ken what he did?”
“They will ken what he did,” Callum said firmly. “Not the bad things he did but the good. How he raised me and ye, and how he ran the clan until I was old enough to take over, then stepped gracefully aside. How Moira loved him and how he loved her in his own way. And how, at the last minuted, he gave his blessing to me and me betrothed.”
Ava sucked in a breath, not daring to look at Callum. She was aware of Duncan shooting him a strange look but saying nothing.
“So, ye are going ahead with the betrothal, then?” Moira asked, visibly relieved. “Well, I’m glad. I’m very glad. Ye are a good fit, ye two.”
Ava glanced at Callum out of the corner of her eye and found him already looking at her.
“Thank ye, Aunt,” he said quietly. “And… and I am sorry for all of this. Ye didnae deserve this. Uncle Marcus said so, too.”
Moira waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve been happy, Callum, believe it or nae. I’ve kenned for a long time that yer uncle’s sins would catch up with him, and so they have. Tell me, though, did he suffer? At the end, I mean?”
Callum shook his head vigorously. “No, Auntie. He didnae.”
They had kept back the detail of Marcus begging for the end, and how Callum had quickly ended it all. It was a painful memory, and Ava knew it would haunt her for years. She dreaded to think what Callum would think about it.
But it felt right, somehow. As if things were finally back in balance. She’d seen the peace in Marcus’s eyes in the second before his neck was broken and he was killed instantly.
Moira rose to her feet, a little shaky, and Duncan was at her side immediately to support her. “I must be doing something,” she said, half to herself. “Ava, yer maither and Elsie were sleeping—the healer gave them something to help them relax. As soon as they wake up, they’ll be told that ye are safe. In the meantime, I suggest that ye rest, both of ye. If ye will excuse me, I think I’d like a wee bit of quiet.”
They nodded, rising to their feet, and Moira swept out of the room, her head held high.
Then, it was just Ava and Callum, left alone. He watched his aunt go, a strange expression on his face.
Ava tentatively laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice quiet. “For all of this. If I’d just stayed, if I hadnae stormed off…”
He shook his head. “If I hadnae insulted ye, ye wouldnae have left. Whether ye stayed or left, Uncle Marcus had made his plans. Sooner or later, he would have gotten ye. Perhaps it’s good that things worked out the way they did.”
He turned to face her, and she felt her heart leap in her chest. Even after everything they’d been through, after everything they’d seen and done, Callum could still inspire that wonderful, intense feeling inside her, the one that made her want to kiss him and touch him and press herself against him, just as they had before.
“What ye said about the betrothal—” she added hesitantly.
“I love ye, Ava,” Callum interrupted. “I’m too tired for fine words. That’s the truth of it. I believed that me faither killed me maither and nearly burned down the Keep out of jealousy, and I thought that his blood ran in me veins. I was afraid of meself, and what I might do. But now… now, I realize that nothing I kenned was right, and things are different. I love ye, Ava, and I cannae be without ye. If ye will have me, if ye will give me a second chance, I would like to give our betrothal another try. Make it a real one, this time.”
