Page 57 of Love Beyond Words
Eventually, I couldn’t bear to listen to him ramble on any further. I reached my hand up behind me to gently cup his face.
“It’s okay. She clearly really needs to speak with you, or she wouldn’t have come all this way. I’m rather tired anyway. I’ll just slip away to your room when we get inside and leave you to them for the evening.”
I felt the sharp intake of his breath against my back.
“Do ye…do ye wish me to stay in Calder’s room, lass?”
“Definitely not. It’s not like it will be our first time sleeping next to one another.”
“Ach, thank God, lass. Knowing that I have yer warm arms to look forward to may be all that helps me survive the angry lassies that await me inside the castle. Doona wait up, though. I canna say how long they will keep me.”
There was no way I would sleep, but I had no intention of letting him know just how much I would be anticipating his return to his bed.
“Okay, I won’t. Hurry as fast as you can. It’s a cold night. I need you to keep me warm.”
He groaned and nibbled at my neck as he rode into the stables.
Chapter 34
Dread settling in his gut at the angry expression on Sydney’s face, Raudrich carefully closed the door to the sitting room and approached his friend.
“I know ye are angry with me, but at least give me a hug. I’ve missed ye, lass.”
She stood with her arms crossed by the fire and stepped away as he reached for her.
“Don’t touch me. Why did you ignore my letters? Why didn’t you tell me about any of this? I’ve been worried about you for months, Raudrich. Do you know what I’m going to have to deal with when I get home? Callum is going to be furious with me. I knew he’d never let me leave to go looking for you if I told him. So I wrote to his brother and snuck off with him. I’ve made certain that Callum knew we were safe, but still…he won’t be pleased. I’ve put my life on hold for you, and you’re not even in danger, are you? You just…you just what? Decided to cut me out of your life? That’s not how this works, Raudrich. You don’t get to ghost me. We’re not dating, you bloody imbecile.”
Seeing that she needed to vent, Raudrich calmly took a seat by the fire and listened as she continued to scream at him.
“Is it that woman you were kissing? Is that it? You found yourself a girlfriend and decided you didn’t need friends anymore? Is she the one who made you stop responding to my letters? How did I not know you were one of The Eight? Why didn’t you tell me?”
The longer she screamed, the less angry she sounded. Slowly, her anger turned to tears. The moment she began to cry, Raudrich stood and moved to wrap his arms around her.
“Ach, Sydney, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I dinna mean to hurt or worry ye. ’Twas my pride that kept me from writing to ye. I dinna wish for ye to know the truth. I worried it would change how ye saw me, and there is none in the world that have such a high opinion of me as ye do.”
She sniffled, and he tried not to grimace as she shamelessly wiped her nose on his shirt.
“What are you talking about?”
“Sit down and let me explain everything to ye.”
With some coaxing, Sydney took her seat by the fire. Slowly, he told her everything—the reason he couldn’t risk writing to her about The Eight and why he stopped writing to her because of his eyesight. When he finished, he couldn’t help but ask her the one question on his mind.
“Why did ye come here, lass? Even if ye were worried, even if ye were mad, it still doesna explain why ye are here. Not when Silva must’ve told ye some of what she knew when ye arrived in Allen territory.”
“You’re right. I came here for Silva’s sake. Obviously, I understand why you left in such a hurry now that you’ve explained everything, but you left her with a mess to clean up–one she never asked for. She doesn’t want to be laird, Raudrich. She’s still grieving the death of her husband. Allen territory wasn’t even her home until a few years ago. She’s miserable, and you gave her no choice before you left. You’re going to fix this for her.”
Such news surprised him. Silva was so strong, so capable. Despite the fact that his decision had been made in haste, he’d truly believed it the right one. Had he truly not even asked the lass if she was willing to be laird? If not, he owed her a great apology.
“I dinna know.”
Sydney nodded and reached over to pat his hand.
“I know. So, that’s what I’m going to tell Callum about why I came all this way, but the real reason is that I just really missed you, Raudrich. I wanted to see you. I wanted to see your home and make sure that you were okay. Are you okay? Are you happy?”
Happy was something he’d never placed much importance on, but for the first time in a very long time, happy did at least seem possible.
“I believe that I could be.”
