Thom was leaving. He’d taken half the money his mother had left him and used it to purchase a blade blank to make a sword and other armor he would need to join Edward Bruce’s army. Under normal circumstances, he would have offered his sword to his lord, but as he would sooner run his new blade through James Douglas’s black heart, after what he’d done to Joanna—taking her innocence when he had no intention of marrying her and leaving her alone with an unborn child to mourn—Thom hoped to find a place in the king’s brother’s army. Not surprisingly, Douglas had granted him leave to go.
The other half of his coin he’d given to his father to expand the forge. It was enough to replace his tools and hire two new apprentices if he wished. At first Big Thom had refused the money, but Thom could be stubborn, too. Besides, he pointed out that half should rightly belong to Johnny. Had she lived, their mother would have wanted him to have something.
“Must you go tomorrow?” Johnny said. “Can’t you stay for the Shrove Tuesday feast at the castle?” The day before the start of Lent was one of the biggest feasts of the year.
Thom stiffened. Not just because a mention of the castle inevitably conjured up thoughts of Elizabeth, but because it also reminded him that there was onlyonecastle in Douglas now. Shortly after Thom’s fateful rooftop meeting with Elizabeth, Jamie had returned to Douglas for the third time to rid Castle Douglas of Englishmen. He’d succeeded, in the process slaying the captain whose sword Thom had just returned and slighting his own castle to the ground. Only embers and piles of rocks remained of the once great fortress.
Thom shook his head grimly. “I’ve stayed longer than I intended already.”
“Jo is better?” Johnny asked.
Thom nodded. It had been Joanna’s terrible accident afterSirJames Douglas’s departure that had kept Thom here for the additional week. She’d nearly been killed after colliding with a horse, following an argument with Jamie that she refused to discuss. But it was the loss of the child that he wasn’t sure she’d ever recover from.
“She’s out of danger,” Thom said, though he suspected it would be a long time before Joanna was “better.” But he’d done what he could for her, and a glimpse of Elizabeth when he’d gone to visit Joanna at Park Castle had told him he’d delayed long enough.
“I understand,” Johnny said, though it was clear that like their father, he did not. Though his brother was excited for him, and wanted to hear all about his adventure, Thom knew Johnny would never follow in his footsteps. His brother had everything he wanted right here.
A knock sounded on the door. Bending over the bed to start putting his extra clothes into his pack, Thom told Johnny to see who it was.
Thom heard the door open and then silence. He glanced over his shoulder and frowned. What in Hades was Johnny doing? He was just standing there with his mouth open. The door blocked Thom from seeing who was on the other side.
Thom stood and was about to ask him who it was, when a familiar voice made his spine stiffen and every nerve ending stand on edge.
“Johnny? Is that you?” She gasped and threw her arms around the stunned lad. “My goodness, you’ve grown so tall, I would hardly recognize you.”
Johnny nodded, seemingly incapable of speech.
Thom’s jaw clenched. What the hell was she doing here? He hadn’t even been sure she knew where he lived. Not once in all the years he’d known her had Elizabeth ever been to his home. He’d always met her at the forge. He’d never thought about why until now. Seeing her here was...wrong. She didn’t belong in a place like this. She never had. Only now did he realize it.
The simple two-room cottage had never looked as humble as when Lady Elizabeth Douglas in her white—who the hell worewhiteto the home of a smith?—velvet gown stepped across their threshold. The room seemed darker, the walls more black with smoke from the peat, the rushes on the hardened dirt floor seemed more in need of freshening. The simple furniture with the pillows and hangings that hadn’t been replaced since his mother died suddenly looked worn and threadbare. No one would ever accuse the MacGowan men of tidiness, and dishes from the previous evening’s meal, as well as dirty clothes, were scattered throughout the room.
“What are you doing here, Elizabeth?”
His voice came out harsher and colder than he intended. Her head jerked in the direction of his voice; she hadn’t seen him until that moment.
Releasing Johnny, she gave him a fond ruffle of the hair and turned to face Thom. “I need to speak with you.”
“Now is not a good time.”
Her gaze fell to the open leather bag on the bed, half-filled with his clothing, before lifting those big blue eyes back to his. “Jo said you are leaving.”
“Tomorrow morning,” Johnny filled in, finally finding his voice.
Elizabeth turned to the awestruck lad. “Would you mind giving your brother and me a few minutes in private? There is something I should like to discuss with him. I think I saw some boys heading down to the river to fish.”
Johnny looked to him. Thom was tempted to shake his head but nodded.
A few moments later the door shut behind him, and they were alone. Someone who didn’t know her might think she was as cool and confident as she appeared, but Thom could see from the way her fingers were gripping the edges of the fur-lined cloak draped around her shoulders and the slight quickness of her breath that she was nervous.
He had no intention of easing it. He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms formidably, waiting.
She looked around. “So this is where you hid yourself all those years. How come you never invited me here?”
As if it weren’t obvious. He hadn’t missed the tentative way she’d moved into the room, as if making sure she didn’t accidentally step in muck or brush her pristine skirts against something dirty. She wasn’t comfortable, and it showed.
His gut twisted. “What do you want, Elizabeth? Say what it is you will and go. As you can see, I’m busy.”
She frowned. Her nose was not much bigger than it had been all those years ago, and it had only a few more crinkles. He’d never spoken to her so brusquely, and she didn’t seem to know how to respond. “We need to talk.”
