Page 44 of Wicked Highland Wishes
Bridgette nodded.
Relieved, he stood and held his hand out to her to help her stand. Once she was up, he released her hand, wishing to hold on to her yet knowing it was best if they did not touch again, not until their time came. She was simply too much temptation for him to resist once he touched her. He stared at her hand and looked into her eyes to find her watching him.
“Bridgette, I—”
“Ye dunnae need to say more. We will nae touch.”
He nodded, and then they collected their horses together, side by side, as close as they could get without grazing, which was much too far apart for him.
They rode in silence, but Bridgette’s thoughts were deafening. Her mind turned with all that had happened, from the news about Helena and Lachlan, to what Eolande had told her, to the kisses and embraces she had shared with Lachlan, to her vow to wait for him. She’d not dared to hope to hear such words from him, and she feared in daring to hope that now they both risked destroying themselves.
She could feel him beside her, power rolling off him in hot waves. To think his need for her had rattled his incredible strength left her with a feeling of awe and fear. Lachlan was a man who lived to protect others, and she sensed his honor was tied to his need to do so. Ever since she could remember, Lachlan had always seemed to be looking out for Graham, even more so than Iain, who was laird and the eldest, but she’d never thought to ask why before now.
“Tell me of yer relationship with Graham,” she said into the silence.
He turned slightly and looked at her. “It has long been strained, and I have long tried to repair the rift. In spite of that, he is my brother. I would die for him, and I would die to defend him.”
Bridgette swallowed hard, thinking upon the seer’s words. “What caused the strain?”
“When I was a young lad, our mother fell ill. She feared she was going to die, and one day, she called all of us into her bedchamber and bid each of us to vow to watch over the others when she was gone. She instructed Iain to watch over all of us. I was to watch out for Graham. Graham for Lena, Lena for Cameron, and Cameron was still a wee bairn, so he was nae given anyone to watch over. Mother recovered but nae fully, and she made sure we kenned she expected us to fulfill our duties.”
Bridgette nodded, listening carefully.
“One day,” he went on, “when Graham was supposed to be watching over Lena, she drowned. She was only seven summers but she kenned how to swim, so Graham decided she would be safe without him. He wanted to catch a rabbit for our mother because she’d told him he needed to become a better hunter like I was. I teased him about it for days. When he returned from trying to catch the rabbit, Atholl was in the water frantically searching for Lena. He’d been on guard duty at the seagate stairs, had heard her crying for help, and raced into the water when he saw her going under. But he could nae find her… We searched for days for her body, but the loch swallowed her up.”
Lachlan’s face twisted in pain, and Bridgette’s chest squeezed at his obvious guilt. “If I’d nae teased Graham but taught him to hunt with more skill, he’d nae have left Lena in the water to chase after that rabbit.” He paused, as if deep in thought. “After Lena died, Graham withdrew from me. I ken he blamed me for teasing him, and he was right to do so. I was to watch out for him, and I failed.”
“Ye did what any child would do to a sibling, Lachlan. Ye were nae to blame for yer sister’s drowning and neither was Graham.”
“After it happened, I vowed always to treat others with respect and to be humble. To be a defender, above all. I honed my body into a weapon so I could keep those I love safe. Do ye ken?”
She nodded, new feelings building in her that she’d never experienced. She had yearned for Lachlan, had known he was good and honorable, but to talk with him this way, for him to let her see a glimpse inside his heart, made a deeper caring pulse within her.
“But—” he sighed “—It seemed the stronger I became, the more tournaments I won, the more I tried to watch over Graham and keep him from harm, the more he drew away from me. Sometimes I think he despises me.”
“He kinnae see beyond his jealousy,” she said, suddenly sure it was true.
Lachlan shrugged. “I dunnae ken if that’s so or nae. We have nae ever been close, nae like Iain and I are, since Lena drowned.”
Sadness welled in Bridgette’s throat. How awful Graham must have felt about Lena when he was supposed to be watching her. Surely their mother had not held Graham accountable. Surely, others had told him it was not his fault. “Did ye tell him he was nae to blame?”
“Of course. I told him I was to blame for failing him, and he scoffed at me and stalked away.”
The sorrow in Lachlan’s voice pierced her deep. He loved his brother, and he’d done all in his power to show Graham that. No matter what happened, she could not be the thing that drove them irrevocably apart.
“Ye must vow something to me,” she said.
“And what might that be?” he asked warily.
She took a deep breath, a hard knot of fear forming in her belly. “Pledge to me that if it becomes a choice between Graham and me, ye will choose Graham.” She didn’t know where the worry came from, but it was there, along with a sense that a time would come when Lachlan would, indeed, be forced to pick between her and his brother. She wanted—no,needed—to release him from the choice by making it for him.
“That will nae come to pass,” he replied in a hard, unrelenting voice.
“But if it does?” she demanded.
His face grew serious and somber. “I will choose ye both.”
She knew she would not get the vow she was after, so she relented. “Ye’re a stubborn Scot,” she grumbled.
“Aye,” he said with a chuckle. “Almost as stubborn as ye.”
