Page 50 of The Highlander's Twisted Deal
“What do ye mean she’s nae here?” Callum asked, hearing the irritation in his own voice. He drew in a breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Niamh and Elsie had found a quiet corner to eat their supper. Both of them had found books from somewhere and were poring over them in companionable silence.
Ava, on the other hand, was conspicuous by her absence. In fact, now that he thought about it, Callum hadn’t seen her all day.
He’d thought, at first, that she was avoiding him, just like he was avoiding her. But now that he’d made up his mind, almost, and wanted to talk it over with her, it was infuriating not to find her.
Elsie flinched at his tone, and he could have bitten his tongue off.
“I didnae mean to snap,” he murmured apologetically. “I am sorry. I’ve had a long day, nae that it’s much of an excuse. I do need to speak to her, though.”
He glanced over at Niamh and caught her sharp eyes fixed on him. He wanted to look away, but, somehow, that felt too cowardly.
“She hasnae been too well today,” Niamh said, at last. “Nothing to worry about. I just reckon she’s tired. She’s in her bedroom.”
He nodded. “Thank ye, Niamh. I’ll see if I can convince her to join us for supper.”
Niamh gave a nod in return and a tentative smile.
Not wanting to give himself the chance to change his mind, Callum turned on his heel and strode out of the room. He carefully didn’t look at his family as he passed by them, although he could almost feel their inquisitive stares boring into his back.
It was noticeably cooler in the hallway than the feasting room, which was lit by a huge fire and the press of countless bodies. With the wind picking up outside, the fires had been stoked higher than ever, although even the highest flames guttered in the breeze coming down the chimney at times. A storm was coming, people had said.
The cool air was a relief, although as he climbed the stairs towards Ava’s apartments, the cool turned into a sharp cold, and a biting chill swirled around his ankles.
He rapped at Ava’s door so hard that the wood grazed his knuckles. That was good—it was good to feel something. There was a pause, long enough for him to worry that she wasn’t going to let him in. He imagined her lying on her side in her bed, the curve of her hip a smooth slope underneath the bedsheets, turned firmly away from the door.
Then, a latch clicked, and the door opened, and Callum flinched back.
Ava stood there, looking so beautiful that he felt as though he couldn’t breathe for a moment.
Of course, sheshouldn’thave looked beautiful, not really. Her flame-red hair was unbrushed, hanging tangled around her shoulders, and her skin was pasty-white, her face too pale and tired with dark thumbprints of exhaustion around her eyes.
And yet, she was the most beautiful woman Callum had ever seen in his life, imperfections be damned, and he realized then and there that this was the right decision.
“We need to talk,” he said before she could speak. “Can I come in?”
Wordlessly, she stepped back from the door, and Callum stepped inside. It was warm in her room but not the sticky heat of the feasting room downstairs.
She closed the door behind them and turned to face him, her arms folded. “Well?” she managed after a while, once the silence had settled uncomfortably into the cracks between them.
He could hear the wind screaming outside the window, trying to get its ice-cold fingers into any cracks between the stone. He imagined the trees outside, bent almost double against the gale, sturdy and Scottish and ready to stand firm against whatever the Highlands could throw at them.
Callum thought that he heard an accusation in her voice, a sense of betrayal. Well, she’d be right. But it would be for the best, in the end—she would understand that eventually.
Even if she didn’t, Callum would be able to go through his life knowing that itwasthe right thing. It was.
“This has to end,” he began.
Her jaw tightened. He noticed that she didn’t askwhatit was that had to end.
“It was yer idea,” she responded.
He shifted uncomfortably. That was a fair accusation. “Aye, but I didnae ken it would… didnae ken it would end up like this. It’s me fault, not yers, but it’s time to put an end to this. Deceiving me uncle and aunt, deceiving everyone… it’s the wrong thing to do. I ken that now.”
“Pity ye didnae ken it before,” Ava said bitterly.
There was an undertone of disappointment in her voice that Callum chose not to notice.
