Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Where do we go from here, uncle?” Aidam asked. The truth was out, and the need for resolution hung in the air like a thick fog over a highland loch. Aidam was eager for peace, for his uncle to forgive Lady MacAskill and release Ellie from her obligation. But the longer his uncle remained silent, the less sure Aidam was of that happening.
Ellie sat next to her mother, holding her hand. Their heads bent in silent conversation. It warmed Aidam to think perhaps the women could start over with less animosity. He wished for Ellie’s heart to be healed, and as long as she continued to harbor hatred and resentment toward her mother over her father’s death, that would not happen.
He was proud of the lass for taking the first step, but he knew it would take time to heal the wounds of grief.
Aidam touched a hand to his cheek. It was swollen from his fight with his uncle, and it was tender to the touch. He supposed it was well-deserved. Jemina would be pleased that no true blood was shed. The minor scrapes he suffered were nothing compared to what could happen if his uncle decided to go through with his plan.
“After all this? Do ye still intend to take the MacAskill lands?” Aidam prodded when his uncle still failed to respond to his question.
His uncle stood and pulled a sheath of parchment from his breast. “Do ye ken what this is, lad?” he asked, waving the paper in front of Aidam.
“Nay.”
“’ Tis the agreement Lady MacAskill signed, giving me the lands, the keep, everything here,” Sinclair said. Aidam could not tell from his uncle’s tone if his temper was in control or if it was the uncle of his youth, the man he loved and respected. “It was the agreement we entered into willingly. The lass and I marry, or I get it all.”
“Willingly!? HA! And why did I do that, Lachlan? Why did I sign the agreement?” Lady MacAskill said from her corner with Ellie. “Tell them!”
Ellie moved to stand, Aidam thought in defense of her mother. He put his hand down and gave her a discreet nod, hoping she would see he meant her to stay quiet. He had a feeling this was what her mother and his uncle needed to put their past and their hurt to rest finally.
Sinclair took a deep breath before he continued. “I threatened ye, my lady,” he said, defeated. “I told ye that if ye didnae give me yer daughter’s hand in marriage or the lands of yer dead husband, I would expose ye for the liar and cheat I kent ye to be.”
“Why, uncle?” Aidam stared at his uncle in shock. His confession was cruel and out of character for the man who raised him as if Aidam was his own. The man who took the greatest care of his own daughter after his wife died. Jemina, oh, how would this affect her?
“I was angry, lad. I’ve been angry for twenty-five long years. Ye think love is easy?” Sinclair pointed at Ellie. “Ye find a bonny lass, and ye get yerself caught up in her beauty, her smile. She gives ye a little bit. She tells ye its ye, yer the only one. It makes ye feel free.”
“Aye,” he said that he understood. Being with Ellie, holding her, touching her, hearing her tell a story, or laugh at one of his. Those were moments where Aidam truly felt as if he were free. There was no obligation. Only Ellie.
“Well, then ye get slammed. The heavy stone of heartache comes crashing down on ye, and ye cannot lift yerself from under it. All that happiness ye felt, one day it’s gone. Yer love leaves ye for another. And what are ye left with then?”
“Lachlan, I had no choice,” Lady MacAskill said.
“Ye had a choice!” he yelled. “Ye could have done what yer young Ellie did here. Ye could’ve said no. Ye could’ve refused yer Da and married me. Then after everything else, ye came back to me. After all those years. Do ye ken how that made me happy? How ye made me heart soar only to tell me it was a mistake? That ye would nay come back with me, that ye would stay with him? Do ye ken what it feels like? My heart died that day, Sara. From that day on, for fourteen years, all I could think was how I could hurt ye like ye hurt me.”
“Lachlan, I was wrong,” Lady MacAskill said. “I loved ye. I still love ye, but I was weak. Please don’t do this. Dae nae take my weakness out on our children. They dae nae deserve this.”
“Yer right,” Sinclair said. “The lad is my son?”
“Aye,” Lady MacAskill said. “He is yers.”
“Then I have a proposition for ye, Sara, if ye’ll entertain it?”
Aidam perked up. His uncle was offering a solution. He looked to Lady MacAskill. If the lady knew his uncle, she would know how rare indeed this opportunity was, and she would not waste it.
“And what is that, Lachlan? What do ye propose?”
“I want to be in me son’s life,” Sinclair replied. “I want th’ lad to ken his Da. His real Da.”
* * *
Ellie drew her hand to her mouth. She could scarcely believe what she was hearing. Just moments ago, Laird Sinclair was in such a murderous rage she thought for sure there would be no compromise and her family’s lands would be lost. But now, all he wanted was a chance to know Evander.
“Mother, what do ye think?” Ellie asked her mother, who seemed to be in shock herself.
“I dae nae ken,” Lady MacAskill replied. “It will be a shock to the lad to learn the only man he’s ever ken as his Da is nay his father. But he has a right to ken the truth. Will ye promise to not hurt the lad?” She asked Sinclair.
“Aye,” Sinclair replied.
