Page 46 of The Highlander's Virgin Widow
Could those be his wife and son?
Her hands blindly sought the wall nearby, disbelief crashing into her like water against a cliff. She felt so disoriented, dizzy.
“That bastard,” she whispered, feeling her anger rise to the surface.
That bastard.
16
Evander embraced his sister-in-law and nephew tightly. Now that they were here, he finally felt like he was with family.
Sure enough, he had been out of his previous castle for so long that everywhere seemed strange to him. But now that they were both here, he could begin to feel properly at home.
“How was the journey?” he asked, breaking the hug to examine them.
He looked at Tommy’s arm, examining the burn from the fire, while Shona launched into a speech about how awful the journey was and how they wouldn’t feel this tired if they had walked instead.
The burn was healing rather nicely, and Evander tried all he could to push down the memories that threatened to surface just at the sight of the injury.
He could feel the images teasing the edges of his mind, determined to rise to the surface while the cold morning air gently ruffled the hair on the back of his neck.
It was hard for him to forget the fire. Sometimes he could see it, the flames rising to the sky or even the smoke. He could still see the nameless man he had pursued into the woods and had gotten nothing from, despite how hard he had tried.
“We saw a rabbit as well,” Tommy announced as Shona ended her speech with aBut it is all right, since we are here anyway.
Evander narrowed his eyes. “A rabbit, huh?”
“Aye,” Shona confirmed. “And this one willnae let us keep moving. Kept badgering the footman, the rascal. He wanted to stop and chase the rabbit.”
“Chase the rabbit?” Evander scoffed, his eyebrows raised at the excited little boy. “Since when are ye a dog, lad?”
“’Twas quite a big rabbit, Uncle,” Tommy explained, the enthusiasm in his voice so thick that Evander could cut it with a knife.
“Aye, I bet it was,” he responded, a smile on his face.
He watched Shona stare up at the castle, her eyes examining the towers that seemed to disappear into the high morning fog. He turned to look as well, his eyes landing on the smoke that drifted up from the chimneys.
“I must commend ye, Evander. This is quite the place. How did ye find it?”
“I overtook it. From a lady.”
“From a lady?” Shona asked, her eyes narrowing in further confusion. Evander waved her off almost immediately, not ready to tell the story. At least not yet.
“Now is nae the time to bore ye with me stories.”
“Come in. Ye must be famished already. I have asked the maids to prepare some food for ye.”
Shona nodded and made to walk back to the carriage when he stopped her.
“Yer trunks will be carried to yer rooms. Ye dinnae need to worry about that.”
Shona nodded again, and they all—one after the other, with the footman and the other servants trailing behind them—made their way to the castle. Evander could see the curiosity in Shona’s eyes and the wonder in Tommy’s as they walked.
“The passageway is even more impressive. Ye have done well,” Shona noted.
Evander only smirked and directed them to the dining hall, where a spread of food waited for them. His eyes skimmed over the table, taking in the smoked venison, toast, and coffee.
“I am certain there are tablets and some fruits here somewhere. I will ask them to fetch some for Tommy.”
