Page 66 of A Bride for the Icy Highlander
Helena set the pestle down and wiped her hands. “What is it, then?”
“I need to ask ye something. About… Kian.”
Helena’s eyebrows rose slightly, but she nodded. “Aye, go on.”
“What kind of man is he, really?” Abigail leaned against the wall, her arms folded. “I ken he’s bold, stubborn as a mule, but is he… I mean, does he mean the things he says?”
Helena tilted her head, studying her. “He’s a good man, though he does a fine job of hidin’ it under all that gruffness. His pride gets in the way,often. But he’d never say a thing he didnae mean. If he’s spoken somethin’ to ye, it’s because it burns him nae to say it.”
Abigail’s throat tightened. She lowered her gaze, fussing with a loose thread on her sleeve. “And… has he ever… cared for another?”
Helena’s eyes widened just a touch. “Ye mean, another woman?”
Abigail didn’t respond at first, then whispered, “Aye.”
“Nay. Nae in a way that counts.”
Abigail exhaled, her thoughts still clouded. “But if—if a man takes a woman from her home and then offers to marry her… it could mean guilt, could it nae?”
Helena frowned. “Abigail, did he ask ye to marry him?”
Abigail quickly shook her head.
She did not like lying to Helena, but she did not want anyone to know about the proposal, even if it made her feel guilty.
“Nay. I only wonder… if hewereto ask, would it be out of duty or desire?”
Helena crossed the room and rested a gentle hand on her arm. “He’s nae the kind to marry out of guilt. He’d sooner run headlong into a sword than chain himself for the sake of honor.”
Abigail’s heart flipped at those words. But still, the fear in her chest coiled tighter. “But me sisters… they’d never forgive him.”
“That may be true,” Helena acknowledged. “But it’s yer heart ye must answer to, nae theirs.”
Silence hung between them for a long moment. The herbs on the table gave off a sharp, earthy scent that grounded her slightly.
“I’m afraid,” Abigail admitted. “If I choose him, I betray them. But if I walk away… I betray somethin’ inside me.”
Helena’s voice was soft. “Then maybe the real question is, what part of ye are ye willin’ to live without?”
Abigail blinked rapidly, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. “I dinnae ken anymore.”
Helena gave her arm a squeeze and stepped back. “Ye have time, but nae forever.”
Abigail nodded slowly, feeling no closer to clarity, but grateful to at least have been heard. “Thank ye, Helena.”
“Any time,” Helena said, returning to her work. “And Abigail?”
“Aye?”
“Whatever he’s done, he looks at ye like a man who’s finally found the thing he didnae ken he needed.”
Abigail blinked at her, watching the knowing smile curving her lips.
“I ken just the thing to get yer mind off what’s ailin’ ye,” Helena said, brushing her hair from her face.
“Aye? And what might that be?” Abigail asked, raising an eyebrow.
Helena shoved a mortar and pestle into her hands. “Good, hard work.”
