“Are you satisfied?” Bram asked Frazier, not actually caring what the man thought. At the moment, he was simply in the way. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to see Robby.”
“Fine.” Frazier nodded. “But I’m coming, too.”
For a moment Bram considered refusing the man, but then thought better of it. No matter what else might be true or false, Frazier and Robby were kin. And the two of them had saved his life. He owed Frazier that much at least. “’Tis glad I am of your company.”
He started forward again, but stopped when Frazier didn’t follow. “Is there something more?”
“Aye,” the man said, his eyes narrowing. “I ken yer hurry to talk to the man, but surely you dinna wish to do so with an audience?” He nodded toward Alec and Lily. Then toward Jeff and Geordie still tending Robby. “Seems to me that whatever Robby might have to say is best kept among ourselves. At least fer now.”
There was truth in the old man’s words. And if Bram hadn’t been so muddle-headed about Lily, he’d have thought of it himself. He raised his brows in question as his gaze met Alec’s.
“I’ve no need to pry. You’ll tell me what I need to know when you’ve talked to your man.” He lifted a hand and waved Geordie to him. Jeff rose as well, and the two men closed the distance between them. “Geordie, we’ll give Macgillivray time alone with his man.”
“But, he still needs a healer.” Geordie started to protest.
“Mayhap, but right now they need privacy.”
“I’ll stay,” Lily offered, her voice so low it was almost a whisper. Almost as one, the assembled company turned to look at her. “I’m not interested in eavesdropping. Only in makingsure Robby is all right. I can stay out of hearing range, but that way I’ll be close in case I’m needed.”
“’Tis a compromise,” Alec offered with a shrug. “Find me when you’re finished.” He walked away, Geordie following.
“You won’t let anything happen to her?” Jeff asked, his frown a warning.
Bram’s hand curled into a fist, and he resisted the urge to plant one between the man’s eyes. After all, he’d seen them together in his vision—or whatever the hell it was. And despite Iain’s reassurances, the man seemed too bloody protective when it came to Lily.
“Have no fear. I’d ne’re let anyone hurt her.”
“Does that include you?”
Bram took a step forward, but Lily moved between them. “I’ll be fine, Jeff.” The two of them exchanged a long glance and then with a sharp nod, Jeff walked away.
Frazier shifted his gaze between Bram and Lily. “Surely ye canna mean to tell me that ye trust her. To hear ye tell it she’s betrayed ye at every turn.”
Lily started to protest, but Bram cut her off. “I dinna know what I believe and what I don’t. But right now we canna take a risk with Robby’s life. Let’s just say that she’s the lesser of two evils.” Beside him, he felt her tense as his words sank in.
“Bram, please…” Lily began but Frazier cut her off with a wave of his hand.
“Yer makin’ a mistake, lad. Best that you send her back where’er she came from.”
Bram closed his eyes for a moment, wishing that they would both just disappear, but since that wasn’t likely, he’d better get on with it. With a sigh, he opened his eyes again and lifted a finger to stop Frazier from further comment.
“She stays. But she’ll stay back.” His gaze met Lily’s and she nodded, green eyes banked with something he couldn’t quite identify. “All right, then, we go.”
The lean-to was silent, Robby still and unmoving. Bram ducked beneath the canvas, followed closely by Frazier and then Lily, who moved to the far side of the enclosure, where she dropped down onto a large rock near the pouches that held the healer’s herbs and poultices. If he hadn’t known her as intimately as he did, he’d have assumed she had no cares at all, but the tension around her mouth and her tightly interlaced fingers sent a far different message.
Purposely ignoring her, he turned to Frazier. “I want to talk to him first. You can wait over there. I’ll motion when it’s time for you to join us.”
Again the man looked as if he wanted to object, but with a sharp sigh he moved to the edge of the lean-to across from where Lily sat.
Bram knelt beside his friend.
“Robby, can you hear me?”
His friend moaned and moved restlessly. From his periphery vision, he saw Lily start to rise, but he waved her back.
“Robby?”
“Bram?” The name came on a guttural whisper. Robby swallowed and then his eyes flickered open. The ghost of a smile chased across his face. “Ach, yer a sight fer sore eyes.”
