Connie’s voice seemed to come from far away. Lowri turned towards it to see her friend running along the beach, her words almost stolen by the roar of the sea. Connie reached them, breathless, eyes darting between Lowri and Donnan.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Lowri was just saying farewell,’ said Donnan, and then he took off full pelt down the beach. Lowri pointed the pistol after him but gave little resistance when Connie pulled on her arm.
‘Lass, who was that?’ she stammered.
‘An old friend,’ said Lowri, lowering the pistol. Then she doubled over and vomited into the sand.
‘Aye. I could tell that by the way you were pointing a pistol at his head,’ said Connie, with forced laughter, patting Lowri’s back to soothe her.
‘We must go from this place,’ said Lowri, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. ‘Let us hurry. I am eager to get home to my husband.’
‘Alright. But if that is how you treat your friends, God help anyone who actually loves you. Cullen better watch out.’
Lowri’s heart clenched, as if in its death throes, and she thought. ‘I’ll never be so much of a fool as to think Cullen loves me. Not anymore.’
***
The sick feeling dogged Lowri all the way home. It worsened when she got to Kildara - a sour mix of anger and heartbreak, making her dry retch into the fireplace. She had cared for Cullen, shared his bed, and all of it was a lie.
Dusk was falling by the time she heard the clip-clop of Cullen’s horse outside. He flung open the door, stamping his boots to rid them of mud before entering. She kept her back to him, warming her trembling hands before the fire.
‘Did you spend all my coin at the market?’ he said.
‘No. I found that I had no appetite for ribbons and fripperies.’
‘That’s a shame. Maybe next time, we can go together.’
There would be no next time. ‘Where have you been?’ she said.
‘I had work to do down at the cove, offloading some cargo,’ he said, as if his villainous dealings were normal, nothing to worry about.
Lowri turned to face him. His smile lit up his handsome face as he said, ‘I’m glad you are back safe, for there’s a storm blowing in. I must say that the ride has brightened your cheeks,lass. You look remarkably well. Come here. I want to take you to bed.’
She did not move. She could not. ‘Are you lying to me, Cullen?’ she said.
‘What?’
‘You heard me. Is every word out of your mouth a lie? When you whisper words of affection in my ear as you take me, is it all just words?’
His face darkened to anger, or was it guilt? Suddenly, Cullen was not the warm, handsome man who held her in his arms after making love to her. He was a cold, calculating stranger who used her. She had only ever trusted one man in her life, and that was her brother, Peyton, and with good reason, for they all used and abused her, beat her, forced her, until Cullen. She had trusted this man, let him inside her heart, her body, her mind. He took a step towards her.
Lowri pulled out the pistol and aimed it at his face. ‘Take another step, and I will shoot you,’ she said, and in that moment of terrible anger, she meant it.
‘Lass, what is wrong? Put the pistol down.’
‘No. Not until you tell me the truth.’
‘And what truth is that?’
‘I saw an old friend in Garron today. Quite by chance. His ship happened to be docked there, and I saw him.’
‘Who?’
‘Donnan, my friend who is supposed to be your father’s prisoner. All this time, I thought he was suffering in a Macaulay dungeon, but he was safe and well, and living in Wales, free as a bird.’
His eyebrows knitted. Cullen was doing a good job of pretending to be surprised. ‘I don’t understand.’
