Page 57 of The Runaway Bride and the Highlander
It was as he read it again now that something began to niggle at him. He could not quite put his finger on it, but he was certain there was something there. As he reached the end of the letter, he read a particular sentence over and over again.
Dinnae try and find me. Ye told me last night that ye would do anything for me. So, I ask ye this. Leave me alone. That is what ye can do for me.
There was just something about that sentence that irked him, and then suddenly, it hit him.
“That’s it!” he cried out.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
“What is it?” Bram said, taking two steps to reach Maxwell’s side. “Where is it? Show me.”
“Skylar told me in our conversation last night that she would never ask me tae do something because o’ her. She said she only wants me tae do things that I want tae do. I know it doesnae make sense tae any o’ ye, but after the discussion we had, it makes sense tae me. Here,” he pointed to that same sentence again, “she writes that I shouldnae search for her. Her words are, ‘that is what ye can do for me.’ But she told me that she would never ask me tae do anything for her.”
Bram frowned, and by his expression, was clearly not convinced. “‘Tis a bit o’ a stretch, Maxwell.”
“Perhaps for ye, but I swear tae ye I ken something isnae right. Something has happened.”
“All right,” Calean joined in. “Let us agree that this is some sort o’ hidden message. What could’ve happened that she suddenly decided tae up and leave?”
“Are ye certain things were well between ye when ye fell asleep?” Bram asked.
Maxwell nodded. “Entirely certain.”
Bram raised a hand. “So ye went tae yer bed, ye did the deed, ye both went tae sleep, and she was away by the time ye woke up.” He was talking more to himself than anyone else as he paced back and forth across the study floor. He was shaking his head. “It still doesnae make any sense tae me. It’s nae like anything could have happened when ye lay in bed together.” Bram suddenly chuckled. “Not unless she received some divine message that made her write all those things about ye being a liar and a cheat.”
Bram suddenly stopped chuckling and stared at Maxwell. Maxwell knew at exactly the same time as Bram what his brother had deduced.
“She had a vision,” the brothers declared at exactly the same time.
“Tae see a person’s future, she needs tae be touching them, isnae that right?” Bram said.
“‘Tis the forehead,” Maxwell elaborated. “She needs tae kiss them on the forehead.”
A silence fell across the room as all three men looked at Maxwell. Evidently, there was only one man she could have kissed on the forehead between the time they fell asleep last night and the time he had woken that morning. She had seen something in his future, and it had made her run.
“So, the question is,” Bram cut into the silence, “what is it that she saw?”
Maxwell walked across the room and stood before Kendrick. If anyone knew what she had seen, it would be him. Apart from the fact that the old man was the last person to see her, he had stated only moments ago when Maxwell had not yet figured out that it had been a vision that had sent her away that she had told him her reasons for leaving.
There was a sad smile on the man’s lips, and it was clear to Maxwell that he knew something.
“What did she tell ye?” Maxwell asked.
“Naething that ye have nae already concluded, my laird,” Kendrick replied.
“There must have been something else, Kendrick, some small bit o’ information that ye’re nae telling us.”
Kendrick took a deep breath in and sighed heavily.
“Ye realize she could be in grave danger,” Maxwell pressed. “Is keeping her secret really worth her life?”
The older man now looked at Maxwell with a troubled expression. “When I questioned her as tae why she was going, she made mention o’ her reasons for leaving being good, that her actions were the best solution for everyone. I, of course, deduced she was talking about ye, my laird. I also deduced, as ye have concluded, that she had seen something in the future, something that lay ahead o’ us all. She then told me that it would be better with her gone, that nae harm would come tae anyone else if she left. She didnae, however, tell me what it was.”
Maxwell shook his head and sighed in frustration. “Ye should’ve come and told me, Kendrick.”
“Believe me, my laird. I struggled all night with such a decision. In the end, I deduced that with her message being so vague, it wouldnae really have been o’ any use tae ye.”
“It hardly matters now, Maxwell,” Bram cut in. “What matters is discovering her whereabouts and getting her back. We need tae find her before Johnson’s men do.”
