“It’s nae that easy.”
“It is that easy!It’s exactly that…” Piper stopped, realization dawning. “Wait. Ye said Catherine died nine years ago?”
“Aye.”
“And ye hadbairns with her. Which means at some point, ye cared about her—” Piper’s face heated, but she pushed on. “At the least, ye love yer children. Ye opened yer heart enough, to marry, to have children with someone. Which means ye’re capable of love, Elijah. Ye’ve proven it.”
“That was different.”
“How? How was it different?”
“Catherine and I,we were married. It was an arrangement, but we—” He stopped. “It doesnae matter. She’s gone.”
“But yer children are here!”Piper took another step toward him. “Right here, in this castle, needin’ ye. And if ye could love their maither enough to have them, then ye can love them too. Ye just have to choose to. Ye have to decide that the risk of failin’ them is worth the reward of actually bein’ their faither.”
Elijah stared at her,his expression unreadable. “Ye make it sound so simple.”
“Because it is simple.It’s nae easy, but it is simple.” Piper held his gaze. “Yer children need ye, Elijah. And if ye daenae change, if ye daenae start lettin’ them in, then one day ye’re goin’ to wake up and realize they’re grown and gone. And they’ll hate ye for all the years ye wasted keepin’ them away.”
Something flickeredacross Elijah’s face—pain, maybe, or fear. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, a slow clap echoed through the study.
Piper spunaround to find a man leaning against the doorframe, the same man who’d given her directions. He was grinning like this was the best entertainment he’d had in years.
“Well said, lass,”the man said. “Well said indeed.”
Heat floodedPiper’s face as she realized she’d had an audience for her entire tirade. “How long have ye been standin’ there?”
“Long enough.”The man’s grin widened. “Ye’ve got fire, Miss Armstrong. I like that.”
“Declan,”Elijah growled. “Get out.”
“But it was just gettin’interestin’.”
“Out. Now.”
Declan heldup his hands in surrender, still grinning. “As ye wish, me laird. But for what it’s worth? I think the lass has a point.” He shot Piper a wink. “Ye’re goin’ to fit in just fine here, Miss Armstrong.”
Then he was gone,leaving Piper and Elijah alone in the study once more.
The silence stretched between them,heavy with everything said and unsaid. Piper’s face was still burning with embarrassment at having been overheard, but she refused to look away from Elijah.
“I meant every word,”she said quietly. “Even if I shouldnae have said it.”
“I ken ye did.”Elijah’s voice was rough. “And maybe ye’re right. About some of it.”
“About all of it.”
“Daenae push yer luck, lass.”
Despite everything,Piper felt her lips twitch. “I’m nae very good at nae pushin’ me luck.”
“Aye. I’m startin’to realize that.” Elijah moved back behind his desk, putting distance between them. “Was there anythin’ else ye wanted to yell at me about? Or are we done?”
Piper openedher mouth to say something else, but she wasn’t sure what, so she thought better of it. She’d said her piece. Anything more would just be beating a dead horse.
“We’re done,”she said. “For now.”
“For now,”Elijah repeated, and there might have been the ghost of a smile on his lips. “Of course. Wouldnae want ye to run out of things to lecture me about.”
