“My husband’s pride and joy,” Evie said. “Drink. Both of you. God knows you both need it.”
Brianna eyed Chloe, each of them staring at the other. Chloe was the first to take a sip. Brianna followed. It burned all the way down to her stomach.
“Now, you two will stop this incessant bickering.” Evie’s voice wascalm, almost motherly. “We have to unite with each other if we’re going to figure out what it means to shift the timeline.”
“It means if we don’t, we all die,” she said. “I saw it as well as the two of you.”
“I don’t want to fight,” Chloe said, her eyes downcast as she peered into her cup.
Brianna resisted the urge to ask her why she insisted on picking a fight with her then. She pressed her lips together and remained silent. Finally, her sister lifted her gaze. Her face was devoid of color and she looked as though she’d had a shock.
“I didn’t know you were married.”
“Neither of us did,” Evie added.
Brianna blew out a breath. “Mom and Dad tried to talk me out of marrying him. But I wouldn’t listen. You were both too young to remember.”
She recalled the shouting match they’d had when, at seventeen, she announced she was running away with the older man whose name she long since buried into the dark recesses of her mind. She never wanted to think of him again and here she was having to think of him again. The last words between her and her parents had not been kind ones. It was something that had haunted her since the day of their horrible, unexpected death. Even now, guilt pounded through her as she regretted not being able to reconcile with them. Not being able to tell them how right they were. Not being able to say how much she regretted her decision.
She should have listened to them. She should have taken them up on their offer to send her to the local community college. But she had still harbored that deep resentment when they’d made her quit her riding lessons and give up her dream of being an Olympic equestrian.
“Anyway,” Brianna said, her voice hollow. “It was a long time ago. I’ll tell you the whole story someday. I’m sorry I wasn’t more present for you both.” She looked at them as she said it withmeaning. “I never meant to drive a wedge between us. But I was dealing with a lot at the time and I didn’t know how to handle it all.”
Evie reached a hand to her. Brianna grasped it.
“I don’t want to fight with either of you, either,” Brianna said. “We’re family, after all. We need to stick together because you two are all I have left.”
“We forgive you.” She cut a glance to her twin, reaching out with her other hand. “Don’t we, Chlo?”
Chloe looked resistant at first until she finally nodded, taking her hand, connecting the three of them together. The tension between them lifted for the first time in years. They sat like that for a moment, Evie smiling with elation. Chloe’s face remained impassive but with a hint of relief. She released them and sat back.
“Now, about the keystone—” Evie started.
“Enough with the keystone.” Brianna dropped her cup on the table. “I’m tired of talking about the keystone. I need a break from it.”
“But—” Evie started.
“Later.”
Brianna rose and left the bedchamber. There was one person she wanted to see the most and talk to him about finally reconciling with her sisters. She hadn’t a clue where to find Jamie. She decided, though, she’d roam the entire castle until she did.
Chapter Twenty
Jamie kept himselfbusy in the stables, helping to brush the horses. It was the only thing he knew to do after Callum and Malcolm both had hustled him out of the keep. He’d left Brianna alone to soak in the tub and was pacing a hole in the rushes in the great hall.
While Callum attended to his laird duties, Malcolm was busy in the armory helping to sharpen swords and polish armor.
Not that they expected anything to happen in the future, but Callum insisted on being prepared on the off chance somethingdidhappen. He’d also been busy stocking the larder and making sure they had enough food for the inhabitants of the keep in case MacDonald decided to lay siege and starve them out. They’d have enough provisions for the next two years or so.
Mucking stalls was the only other thing he managed to do while he thought of Brianna. The lass had vexed him from the moment she arrived. It was as though she’d stepped out of the tapestries. Her visage was exactly like the magical woven fibers. With her pale, wintery eyes and her auburn hair, she sent his senses reeling.
At first, he told himself she was nothing more than an infatuation since he’d spent so much time in the tapestry room waiting for her to fully appear.
But when she arrived, she was more beautiful than he’d ever imagined.
He’d spent his youth chasing women and bedding them. He carednot for deep, amorous feelings. Only the thrill of the pursuit and the end result. It was the sole reason his uncle had packed him up and returned him from their journeys in Paris. He had consorted with the wrong noble’s virgin daughter and managed to ruin her reputation.
He swore to Uncle Argyle he had no knowledge the girl was still chaste. At least not until it was far too late.
