With a sheepish grin, Chloe nodded.
Brianna hugged her hard. “I’m so happy for you. For you both.”
Unbidden, tears sprang to her eyes. She blinked them away furiously, but her eyes still burned with them. Once again, Evie hooked her arm in hers. They started out of the room they once called the tapestry room.
“You should tell him how you feel, Bri,” Evie said.
“Yes, before it’s too late,” Chloe added.
The same thing Roslyn had told her. Her only response was to nod. Though she wanted to, she was also afraid to tell him. The last thing she needed was a broken heart.
Chapter Thirty
After she andher sisters had had their fill of food, Brianna retrieved her cloak and headed out of the keep to the stables. She wrapped the cloak tight around her shoulders and was grateful for its warmth as she crossed the green. Overhead, the sky was overcast with heavy white and gray clouds. The wind was still cold and, despite the warmth of the woolen cloak, chilled her to the bone.
As she entered the stable, she saw Jamie talking to one of the stable hands. When he saw her, his face lit with joy and he gave her his famous knee-melting smile.
“Ah, there ye are, lass.”
He examined her for a long moment as he approached her, looking her over as though decades had passed since he’d laid eyes on her.
“Your hair…” he said.
She reached up and ran her hand down the thick braid Roslyn insisted on. “Yes, Roslyn did it for me.”
He started to reach for her, but then dropped his hand.
“You don’t like it?” she asked.
“I’m no’ used to seeing it like that,” he said.
“Roslyn said it would keep my hair from being snarled with tangles.”
The woman was right, of course. Standing there, the wind whipping around her, would surely cause more gnarled knots.
“I like it better the other way. Long and loose.”
She flushed, the heat rising to her cheeks as her mind went utterly blank. Thankfully, she didn’t have to think of a response. He motioned to the two horses he had saddled and ready to go.
“Are ye ready to ride?”
“Yes.”
Though he tried to help her, she didn’t need it as she stuck her foot into the stirrup and hoisted herself onto the back of the horse. He looked impressed as he then mounted his own horse. Then they were away, heading out of the castle gates.
Brianna gripped the reins tight in her hand as she peered across the expanse of land. The wild, untamed landscape still took her breath away. And though she missed her sun-drenched beaches and her Caribbean breezes, she knew that was not her life anymore. That was her old life—her old self—and here, now, she had been renewed. She was in love with this land, not to mention the man riding next to her.
“Jamie, there are castle ruins not far from here. Maybe an hour’s ride. Do you know it?” She cut him a glance.
“That’s Castle Caelnar,” he said.
“Could we ride out to it?”
Confusion etched his features. “Why do ye wish to see ruins?”
She shrugged. “I just do.”
Of course, there was no way she could tell him the truth. He would never understand because he didn’t remember.
