Page 71 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
“We have a tiny wee cottage,” she told him. “There is only one room, but ye can say anythin ye like in front o’ my sisters. We share everythin’.”
“I would rather speak alone,” he insisted, his dark eyes hardening.
Ava did not like the thought of being alone with him, so she threw a meaningful glance to Janet, who gave an imperceptible nod of understanding. Her sisters would look out and make sure she came to no harm. “Then we must speak outside.” She raised her chin, steadfast and defiant.
James sighed with irritation. This was going to be quite a bit more difficult than he had thought it would be. For a moment, he looked at the ground, then he raised his eyes to hers. “Is there somewhere we can sit?” he asked.
Ava pointed to a pile of sawn logs a few feet away from the cottage. “We can sit there,” she said firmly. “It is no’ the most comfortable place, but it is a’ we have. It is that or the grass.”
James swallowed his annoyance and sat down, and waited for Ava to sit beside him. Despite his annoyance, he relished the thought of her soft body touching him as they sat close together.
However, instead of sitting on the log, Ava settled herself on the ground and leaned back against the wall of the cottage, then raised her eyebrows inquiringly. “What do ye want to ask me?”
“Before I speak to you about my request, I need to clear up a few more matters first,” he replied.
Ava nodded, wondering when he would get to the point. “I am listening,” she said, sighing wearily. “But please make it quick. I have work to do.”
“Your friend Cameron was going to marry you, was he not?” James asked.
“How is that any business of yours?” Ava was furious. “My life is my own!”
“He did not even come to your father’s funeral, did he?” he asked pointedly.
“No.” Ava shook her head and looked at the ground, not wanting him to see the anger and hurt in her eyes
“When the marriage of my daughter and Cameron takes place, Cameron will be a wealthy man,” Henderson said evenly. “And since you are his friends, I imagine he will be sending you some help in the form of food, clothes and other household requirements, even though he is marrying my daughter. Is that right?”
“No.” Ava shook her head firmly. “I want nothin’ from him, and neither do my sisters.”
“Are you quarreling?” James was curious.
Ava looked at him with eyes that were blazing with rage. “Will ye say what ye came to say or go away? Some o’ us have to work for a livin’!”
James realized that he was losing his way by being too inquisitive. Ava was not listening to him, and she was becoming angry. “I want you to marry me,” he said at last, then held his hand up as she opened her mouth to object. “Please listen, Ava. I am not pretending that this will be a love match or anything like that, but I can look after you and your sisters. You will have a home to call your own and you will not have to starve.
I am never going to be as wealthy as a Laird, and I know I am much older than you, but I am comfortably off, and if there are children, well and good. If there are not, that is also fine. I have no name to live up to, but I will be a good husband to you, I promise.” He schooled his expression to look as hopeful as he could make it, even though it angered him. He was used to getting his own way, and begging was not something he relished.
“This is a shock,” Ava replied, her eyes wide with astonishment. “An’ I hardly know ye.” She felt quite dazed as she met his eyes again. This man seemed pleasant enough and he was definitely not ugly, but he was not Cameron. However, Cameron had deceived her in the most despicable way possible. Why should she ruin her life for him? But by the same token, how could she trust this stranger who made her feel so uneasy?
“Ye will have to give me time to think,” she replied. She felt as if she was teetering on the edge of a precipice, and if she gave him the wrong answer she would fall off the edge into misery.
“Of course,” James stood up, then helped Ava to her feet so that she was standing very close to him. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her lips, but he raised her hands and kissed her knuckles instead. “How long do you need?” he asked gently.
“A week?” It was the first thing that came into her head.
A fleeting frown of irritation crossed James’s face, but it was quickly replaced by a smile. “Of course,” he said pleasantly. “If you make up your mind before then, come and see me at the castle. The guards will have instructions to let you in.”
He bowed again, then mounted his horse once more and rode away, leaving Ava to stand by herself and think for a while. She was still in a state of shock and disbelief when Janet came to stand by her side.
“What did he want?” Janet’s voice was thunderous. “Crowin’ about that daughter o’ his I suppose? Somethin’ like that?”
“He asked me to marry him.” Ava turned to her sister, sighing. “I don’t know why.”
Janet stood staring at her in complete astonishment for a moment, then she threw back her head and laughed heartily. “You said no, I hope?”
“I said I would think about it,” Ava replied, sighing. “I could do worse. He will look after me - all o’ us.”
“But why, Ava?” she asked, frowning. “Are ye mad? Ye don’t know him!”
