Page 22 of Highlander's Caged Rose
Her voice was soft and encouraging, but after a moment’s thought, Moira shook her head. She took a deep breath. “I’mafraid I’m not quite ready yet. Perhaps it will take a little while longer.”
She tried to keep her voice from trembling, and succeeded, but tears pricked the back of her eyes as she remembered the tenderness with which Niall had treated her when they had finally reached the riverbank.
Although she remembered the shock of the whole incident, the first thing she experienced was a feeling of profound relief as she found herself on dry land.
Then she recalled the feel of the strong pair of hands gripping her and pulling her out of the water. She remembered the look of concern in Niall’s green eyes, and the way his hands had moved carefully over her to make sure she had not injured herself.
The gentleness on his face as he helped her to her feet passed through her mind as she sat down on the grass. It took her a long time to calm down and relax, during which time she closed her eyes and let the sounds of nature soothe her. The loch was not her enemy, she realised, merely the circumstances in which she had found herself that night.
Her reaction to Niall had been one of the reasons for that, but he had come to make things right again. She had no idea why, however. He could not have known she was going to be in such mortal danger. Perhaps he was a good man after all, she thought.
Moira began to stroll along slowly behind Ritchie and Glennie, and saw Ritchie put his arm around Glennie’s waist as they meandered along, following the path of the river. She saw as Glennie and Ritchie were drawn together in a loving embrace. She felt infinitely jealous as she saw the tender look that passed between them, and although she could not hear the words they were speaking, she knew they were expressions of the deepest love.
For a moment, she watched them, but as they drew apart she looked away, not wanting to invade their privacy.
Gradually, Moira allowed herself to lag further behind, unwilling to intrude on their privacy. She had been invited to ride with Glennie, but she had a secret suspicion that Glennie’s real reason for the outing was so that she would have an excuse to be with Ritchie.
Moira had never experienced such a thing, but longed for it with all her heart. Glennie was an extremely affectionate friend, and no doubt when she married Ritchie—which Moira was sure she would—she would be a very loving wife and mother.
From time to time, Glennie looked back to check on Moira, but when she saw that all was well, she turned to direct all her attention back to her beloved.
Moira’s mind drifted back to Niall again. Why had he rescued her? He could have let her die and no one would have been any the wiser.
Perhaps he is not like my husband and father at all,she thought. She felt hopeful, but if that was the case, she certainly could not fall in love with him then stay and watch him marry another woman.
It was at that moment that she heard hoofbeats behind her, and she turned to see Niall cantering towards her. Moira looked immediately towards Glennie and Ritchie. They had not yet seen Niall, but as soon as they did, they quietly but hurriedly made their way into some nearby trees and disappeared from Moira’s sight.
She had to stop him seeing them, she realised. If Niall knew that a mere stable lad was seeing his sister, he would be furious. Although Moira knew that Glennie was quite capable of defending herself, she had no wish to see Ritchie losing his job because of the sin of being in love with the wrong woman.
She stood up and waited for Niall to dismount, and when he did so, he walked towards her, wearing a strange half-smile, half-frown on his face. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said.
“I thought about avoiding this place altogether,” Moira answered, “but something Glennie said changed my mind. She said that the best way to conquer a fear is to face it, so I decided to do just that.” She looked out at the clear waters of the loch, which were shimmering in the breeze, and shivered.
“It looks so beautiful,” she observed, “but I have a healthy respect for it now, and I will never dip a toe in it from now on.”
“Moira.” Niall’s voice was deep and thrilling to her ears as he spoke. He turned her around to face him. “I know what it is to be afraid—I have been there many times—and recovering is a gradual process. Give yourself time, and you will succeed, I’m sure of it.”
Moira stood looking up at him, mesmerised by his eyes, which were the same colour as the newly sprouting leaves on the trees around them.
Such beautiful eyes,she thought.
“I hope so,” she said, with a faint smile.
Then suddenly she remembered Glennie and Ritchie, and almost panicked. Almost. She began to walk slowly in the opposite direction to where she had seen Glennie and Ritchie, and Niall followed her. After the incident a few nights before, he was still afraid for her safety.
Moira was trying to think of something to say to break the awkward silence between them, but nothing came to mind.
“Why are you here, My Laird?”
He eyed her intensely again, in a way that always maybe her heart beat faster. Instead of answering her, however, Niall pointed to a spot in the middle of the loch. Then, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Look, Moira.”
Curious, she turned to see a swan with five tiny cygnets, gliding majestically along the water. Her fluffy grey babies were following her in a straight line like a row of toy soldiers, and Moira was enchanted.
“Oh,” she cried, “how lovely they are!”
“Indeed they are,” he agreed, smiling widely. “I used to come down here as a boy fishing and see whole families of them building their nests, and watch the cygnets growing into swans, then learning to fly. I wished I could fly too.”
Moira watched him, looking at his bright smile and shining eyes as he gazed back into his past. She knew from what Glennie had told her that they too had not had affectionate parents, although they had not seemed to be as bad as hers.
