Page 63 of When a Highlander Loses His Heart
With her stomach roiling, she creaked open the door and went to find Father Murdock.
Chapter Seventeen
“Where are my men?” Graham demanded as he strode up to Lachlan at the training site.
Lachlan turned toward Graham, not speaking but finishing his exercise with his sword. When it was completed, he lowered his weapon and swiped his upper arm across his eyes. “I dismissed them,” he replied.
“Why did ye do that? And without speaking with me first? I’m in charge of training now.”
“Aye,” Lachlan said. “Ye are, and usually ye ken I’d nae interfere. I dismissed them without speaking to ye because I kenned ye would nae agree, but I also ken after what Cameron told me occurred, that ye’re nae thinking clearly or ye would nae have demoted Broch for the crime of dancing with and speaking to yer wife.”
Graham opened his mouth to deny the accusation, but his brother was correct. He released a long sigh. “Isobel strips me of logic without even trying.”
Lachlan nodded. “Bridgette does much the same to me.”
Graham stabbed his sword into the dirt, feeling as if he would burst at any moment. “But it is nae dangerous for ye and her.”
“I’d argue that it can be,” Lachlan replied. “When she is on the battlefield with me, I’m more distracted than I should be.”
“’Tis not what I mean,” Graham growled.
Lachlan narrowed his eyes. “Then explain it to me.”
Graham inhaled deeply, wondering if he even could, if he even wanted to. He’d never put into words what he feared about himself, yet he felt he was splintering and needed to talk. “Without logic, emotions rule me, and when I allowed emotion to rule me, I was nae an honorable man.” He clenched his teeth, feeling his anger and desperation growing. “I kinnae allow her into my head.” Nor could he allow her into his heart, but he refused to speak of such things, even to his brother. He tapped on his chest. “Darkness dwells in here. I finally managed to lock it up, and I must keep it that way.”
“There’s nae darkness in ye, Graham,” Lachlan said quietly, stepping closer. “There was a yearning that went unfulfilled from our mother and there was jealousy, aye, but it was nurtured by Mother. She should have seen what she was doing to ye. Ye were a child, and ye did nae ken the wrong, until the wrong way was all ye did ken.”
“Nay,” Graham replied, refusing to give the blame to his mother. “I should have kenned long before I did that what I was doing was wrong. I should have stopped myself before I almost destroyed ye and Bridgette.”
Lachlan grasped Graham’s arm. “Brother, ye did nae destroy us, but ye helped to save us. Ye risked yer life to help me rescue Bridgette, and then ye risked yer life to avenge Lena. Ye set yer jealousy behind ye and overcame it and all yer injuries to become a fierce warrior. Ye did nae hold on to yer hatred of me because ye had nae ever given yerself fully to it. Ye kinnae hold on to anything ye dunnae fully give yerself to, including a woman.”
Graham tensed. “I will give Isobel everything she needs—protection and to be treated well.”
Lachlan grimaced. “Ye should ken from yer past that one needs more than to be treated well.” He stared hard at Graham, giving him the feeling his brother was trying to decide something. “Ye said ye trusted her…but do ye truly?”
“I do,” Graham replied without hesitation, yet the last moments of their conversation where he was sure she had been lying to him came back to him.
“What is it?” Lachlan asked.
Graham told him of his conversation with Isobel regarding Father Murdock. “I ken she was lying, and it bothered me. Perchance it’s nae of import, but why lie?”
“Perchance,” Lachlan said gravely, “she is more like her family than ye see.”
Graham shook his head. He understood his brother’s wariness, but he knew in his gut she was good. “Nay. She has proven she is nae. I ken everyone’s hesitation to trust this, to trust her, but she is nae like them.”
“I admit that her saving ye and Cameron speaks to her nae being like them, but ye just said yerself ye ken she lied to ye this morning. If ye dunnae even trust her completely, ye kinnae expect us to.”
Graham gritted his teeth in frustration. He did trust her, yet he knew she had lied. “Perchance,” he said slowly, thinking upon Isobel and her protective nature, “she lied to me to defend Father Murdock somehow.”
“From what?” Lachlan asked skeptically.
“I dunnae ken,” Graham replied, but now that he thought on it, he knew it was a distinct possibility. “I’ll have to talk to the priest and find out.”
“Take a jug of ale,” Lachlan advised with a chuckle.
Before Graham could reply, Iain called out from behind them. “I’ve been looking for the two of ye.”
Graham turned to greet his brother, but the greeting died on his lips at the worried look on Iain’s face. His brother rarely showed what he was feeling, so if he was showing it now, something disastrous must have occurred. “What’s happened?”
