Page 70 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
“Who was that?” Davina asked, although she knew full well the identity of the young woman.
“That is the woman I love,” Cameron growled. He closed his eyes and counted to ten to stop himself from screaming at the woman he had been forced to promise himself to. What must Ava be thinking? That he had deliberately kissed another woman instead of her? Oh, God, this was a nightmare.
He turned to Davina. “Excuse me. I have work to do,” he said tersely.
Davina watched him rushing away. She felt angry and not a little embarrassed, but most of all frightened, because her father would not be pleased with her, and she feared him more than anything. Most of the time he was a pleasant, civil man, and attimes he could even be a good father, but underneath lay a vein of malice which only she knew about.
As she walked away, Ava felt her heart shatter. All her adult life she had been in love with a man who did not exist, a man who had played with her affections for some mysterious reason of his own. He had kissed her tenderly but passionately, but had he not also kissed the woman he was about to marry the same way, with so much gentleness and love? Was Cameron capable of such deceit? If he was, he was very good at it, since Ava had been taken in by his attentions for years.
She went home, exhausted and depressed, and as soon as she saw Janet, she wrapped her arms around her sister and burst into tears on her shoulder.
Janet said nothing as she looked over Ava’s shoulder at Rona, but her face said everything. At that moment she looked and felt capable of murder.
“If I get my hands on him I will beat him to a pulp,” she said at last, her voice throbbing with anger. “He is no’ a man. He is a worm.”
Ava managed a wobbly laugh. “No, Janet. You might be strong, but you are nowhere near as strong as Cam.” She stood up straight and squared her shoulders. “No, I will get over Cam, an’ I will find another, better man out there somewhere - one I can trust.”
“I am beginnin’ to think such a man does no’ exist,” Rona remarked with a cynical laugh. “I have never met one.”
“I will put Cam behind me,” Ava said grimly. “I know it will be easier said than done, but I cannot go on pinin’ after him my whole life. There are far better men than him out there. They might no’ all look like the handsomest man on earth, but it is what is inside that counts.”
The burial service the next morning was very simple, since there was no money for anything more elaborate than a plain wooden box and a simple wooden cross as a headstone. A few of the neighbors came to attend, since Colin had been a well-liked man, but there was no sign of Cameron.
Still, Ava thought, if she had been treated the way Cameron had been by her sisters, she doubted if she would have attended either. Nevertheless, his absence hurt her, since he and her father had always been the best of friends, almost like father and son.
There was no food afterwards. Besides the fact that they could not afford it, everyone had to get back to work, but the three sisters lingered, clinging to each other with tears running down their faces. Somehow they had managed to weather the last few days, but after seeing his coffin lowered into the ground, the reality of their father’s death had just hit home very hard indeed.
When they arrived home, they all sat around the table to rest, since there would be no work on the day of a funeral.
“I wish we had some whisky,” Rona said, sighing.
“Aye,” Ava said sadly. “Da liked a wee bit now an’ again. Maybe you will marry a rich man, Rona, then you can buy as much as you like.” It was said in jest, but no-one laughed.
“Pfft!” Rona scoffed. “Men! They are too much trouble! I am never goin’ to get married.” Her voice was a growl.
“Da was no’ a bad man,” Ava reminded her. “He was one o’ the best, an’ ye will no’ go wrong marryin’ somebody like him.”
She felt as though the bottom had fallen out of her world. She had no money, and since she had refused Cameron’s help, there was the distinct possibility that they might starve. Other women in her situation had resorted to the desperate solution of selling their bodies on the street, but Ava could not even bear to think of that possibility. She was sinking into a pit of despair.
There was a sudden rap at the door, and when Ava opened it, she found James Henderson standing on the doorstep. She regarded him with surprise, since she could think of no reason for his visit, and she was very wary of people she did not know well, especially men.
Standing in the small doorway, he looked big and powerful and she knew they would have to fight hard to overcome him if he chose to attack them. However, although he was a big man, he looked like a person of quality, and was likely not going to risk his position and place in society by attacking three poor sisters.
“Mister Henderson?” she said uncertainly. “Can I help ye?”
“You certainly can, Ava,” he answered, smiling. “How are you?”
“As well as ever, Sir,” she replied politely, even though she was deeply uncomfortable. She had never liked the way he looked at her, but perhaps that was her imagination. “Come in. An’ you?”She stood aside to let him in and he had to bow his head to pass under the low lintel of the door.
“Never better,” he replied, with a perfect smile that made Ava wonder if his teeth were real. “And there is no need to call me ‘sir.’ I consider us friends.”
She felt suspicious suddenly. “An’ what do ye want wi’ me?” she asked, puzzled. “I want nothin’ to do wi’ the Laird or his estate.”
“That’s not what I wish to discuss,” he answered, “I have something to ask you.” He had suddenly assumed a serious air and she frowned, feeling that something was not quite right. She took an unconscious step away from him.
“Aye?” Ava folded her arms, feeling the need to protect herself.
“May we speak alone?” His tone was solemn, his dark eyes fixed on hers to such an extent that she felt uneasy.
