They arrived at the loch, finding Alex sitting close to the water’s edge, his back to them.
“Thank ye for bringing her, Jamie.”
“Aye. Do ye want me to stay close?”
“Nay.”
“All right.” Jamie gestured for her to move closer to Alex.
She did, standing quietly beside him.
“This place holds so many memories,” Alex observed.
“Happy ones?” she asked.
He turned and looked at her. “I learned to swim here. Caught my first fish here. Kissed my first lass here. Found my first love here.”
His dark gaze lingered on her, and Keely knew exactly who he was talking about—her. “I remember,” she whispered.
“What happened to us?” he asked.
“Fate had different plans.”
“Fate is nothing. Men control their own destinies.”
“And women’s,” she added sourly.
“Keely…” He started to get up.
“Nay.” She backed away, too afraid to let him touch her, too scared to touch him.
He stayed seated. “One word from ye would have prevented yer marriage to John.”
“At what cost, Alex?”
“Everything, if it meant we stayed together. Remember our promise?”
“Which one? We made so many.”
“Aye,” he agreed sadly. “They turned out to be empty promises.”
“Again, I tell ye, we were young and foolish. Innocent.”
He smiled wickedly. “There was nothing innocent about ye, lass.”
“Is that what ye really think of me?”
He rubbed his chin. “I try not to think of ye anymore, Keely.”
“How many insults will ye sling at me?”
“As many as it takes to rid my soul of ye,” he said.
His comeback ripped a gaping hole in her chest. Those were the words of a man in love—a man who had been shattered and never found a way to put himself back together again.
“Let me go, Alex. Tis a fair solution. Ye’ll be happier. Yer people will be grateful. And Lord knows, I may find my own bit of joy once I return home.”
He held up his hand. “Stop.”
