Dougall leaned forward and touched Helene’s shoulder. She jumped, as if she were frightened of him. “Helene, I’m going back. I’m going to leave tomorrow morning. If ye wish to come with me, meet me at sunrise at the spot where ye arrived. I’ll wait for ye there.” She didn’t respond. “Helene, I love ye more than life itself. I thought ye loved me, but mayhap I was wrong. If ye do love me, if ye still love me, then I hope to see ye then. If ye don’t come, I’ll know ye dinnae and perhaps never did.”
Helene sniffled and sat up straighter. He knew she was crying, but had no idea what to do about it. He was so confused by her behavior. All this time they’d been together they’d never spoken harshly to each other. When they were together, the world faded away and it was just the two of them. He didn’t know if he would ever understand what had changed her mind so swiftly. He waited a moment or two longer and then departed the car, closing the door and knowing that this was possibly the last time he’d see Helene. The car pulled away and Dougall stood there until it was out of sight.
“We should go get you taken care of,” Sara grabbed his arm and pulled him in the direction of the doors.
He was numb to the pain his body was feeling. It was the pain he felt inside that was killing him. How would he ever go on without her? He didn’t know if he could.
“Are you okay, Helene?” Zeke asked, concern evident in his tone.
“Aye,” she sniffled, but before long the sniffles turned into full blown sobs.
“I don’t think you are.” Zeke reached over and clasped her hand. “Do you want me to pull over?”
“Nae. I want to go home,” she cried.
Zeke wasn’t sure which home she meant, but thought she must surely mean her home at Breaghacraig. He knew she had to miss it terribly. He also knew she still loved Dougall and that any chance he thought he might have with her had never existed.
“Are you going to meet him tomorrow?” he asked.
“Nae. I cannae.” She wiped her eyes, but he could see the tears as they continued to fall.
“We’ll talk about it more when we get home.” He knew he had his work cut out for him, but he was going to try his best to convince her to go back. He saw how much she meant to Dougall. Whatever he had done to cause Helene to react this way, was obviously not done with malice. Zeke could tell from the little time he’d spent in Dougall’s company that he would never do anything to hurt Helene, at least not on purpose. Maybe he had been careless in leaving her alone with his father, but he probably never thought things would turn out the way they did.
He parked the car in front of the house and walked around to open Helene’s door. She took the hand he offered her and then fell into his arms. He wanted to protect her and care for her, but he knew she wasn’t his. He had to wrap his mind around the fact that he was giving up on her. He was sending her back where she belonged and to the man she truly loved. It was the right thing to do. He wouldn’t take advantage of her current vulnerable state. “Come on. Let’s go inside.” He gently held her and guided her up the stairs and through the front door. “Sit and let’s talk.”
“I cannae. I must go to me room.” She wouldn’t look at him.
“We’ll talk later then.”
“Aye. Later.” Helene headed upstairs, never looking up and with tears still streaming from her eyes.
“Well, Zeke, now what do we do?” he asked himself before heading to the kitchen to make himself something to eat and to wait for Helene to be ready to talk.
Hours later Helenedescended the stairs to find Zeke on the sofa reading a book.
“Zeke?” Helene spoke softly so as not to startle him.
His head came up at the sound of her voice and he closed his book. “Are you okay?”
“I will be.” She joined him on the sofa.
“Are you ready to talk?”
“Aye. I’m so confused, Zeke.”
“I understand. I guess I am too.”
“You? Why?”
“Because as much as I want you to stay, I’m telling you to go. Go back to Dougall. He loves you and I believe that no matter what you say, you love him too.”
Helene didn’t speak right away. Zeke was right. She did still love Dougall. It was tearing her apart to pretend otherwise. “I’m so sorry, Zeke. I didnae wish to hurt ye. I truly believed I’d never see Dougall again and I still dinnae believe I should keep him from becoming laird.”
“Maybe that doesn’t matter to him as much as you think it does. Maybe you matter more.”
“I don’t see how. I’m nothing more than a servant. I’m nae a lady.”
“You’re wrong, Helene. You are a very special woman and even though you don’t hold the title of lady, you easily could. You are strong, intelligent, sweet, loving, kind. I could go on and on listing all of your good points.”
