Yet in this moment . . .
All they had was their shared grief.
For their wee baby girl who had been born far too early and laid to rest in an unmarked grave on a distant tropical island.
A telltale sting began in his own eyes.
He felt more than heard the sob leave her, the silent shaking of her shoulders.
No—
Hewas the one trembling, as if he were truly absorbing her anguish into himself.
A great gusting breath left him.
And then another.
He pressed his face into her hair.
Oh, my love.
That was all it took for her own tears to flow in earnest.
Great wrenching sobs that tore from her lungs and drenched his chest.
They clung to one another, each weeping their pain.
For a past that could never be recovered.
For a shared loss they had each faced alone.
For an uncertain future that loomed, large and terrifying.
He had no idea how long they clung to each other.
But eventually, the sobs turned to hiccups and then to sniffles.
Kieran dragged his knuckles over his eyes.
Eilidh wiped her tears on his shirt.
They lay together for several long minutes, so still he would have thought her sleeping if not for the ragged gusts of her breathing, the repeated swallowing he could feel against his chest.
Only then, did certain things click together for him.
Something was not quite right. There was a disconnect between what he supposed her emotions to be and her words.
Why would Eilidh abruptly want to be reassured that she hadlovedtheir child? Up until tonight, she had given every indication that she resented their bairn. Why would she abruptly needKieranto tell her how much she had loved their child, how much she had anticipated the baby’s birth?
His brows drew down further and further until he had to say something.
“What else are ye not telling me, lass?” he asked into the gloom of the dark room. “There is some piece of this missing.”
Would she answer?
Jamie would have avoided the question. She would have kissed him and made him forget what he had asked in the first place.
But then, Jamie would have hesitated to pour her grief onto his chest, as well.
