For a moment, they only looked at one another.
“I heard about the annulment,” she said. “And the shaving.”
“That was forme.” His voice was raw. “This is for ye.”
He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders as if the floor had begun to tilt under him.
“I am sorry. For letting ye leave. For making ye think ye were weight I couldnae carry. For every time I let the sea pull me away, when me place has always been beside ye.”
Emma kept very still. “Logan, you cannot just say these words. I know you think you believe them, but you have to?—”
“I love ye.”
What?
She felt William shift slightly behind her.
“I tried nae to. I thought if I kept it locked, losing ye would hurt less. That was a lie I told meself. The truth is, I am already lost, and staying away only leaves us both bleeding.”
Her throat closed around air. “You told me trust was not needed,” she said. “That you could want me and have children with me without ever letting me in. That is not love, Logan. That is distance.”
“I ken.” He took one careful step toward her. “I have spent days at the bottom of cups trying to drown me fear. It stayed. I am stillafraid. I may always be. But I am done using that as a way out. If ye will have me, I will stay.”
There was no charm on his face now. All she saw was a man with clarity in his eyes.
Something about the look in his eyes, and the very fact that she had gone weeks without seeing his face, locked her decision.
“I love you, too.”
“What?” William sputtered behind her.
Emma turned to him, her eyes bright. “I always have, William. I just needed him to come to his senses.”
“Really?” William asked, his hand raised.
“It has always been Logan, Brother. It will always be Logan.”
A moment of silence passed between the three of them. Then William cleared his throat and turned to Logan.
“If you hurt her again,” he hissed, “I will find a way to drag you back to London. You will be surprised just how little being a pirate laird means over there.”
Logan’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile. He held out his hand. “Fair.”
Melody stood in the kitchen doorway, arms folded, watching the scene as if it were a play she had not paid for.
Emma’s chest felt tight and oddly light at once. She believed Logan this time, and it wasn’t because he no longer had that fear of opening up in his eyes. He still did. It was there, clear as day, but he braved it and was still standing here.
That meant something to her. It meant more than he would ever understand.
“Then let us go back,” she said.
Logan nodded, and Emma turned around to thank Melody for her hospitality. A few minutes later, she had packed her things and bid everyone goodbye.
The ride to MacLellan Castle felt familiar, like she was returning to an old life she had never planned to leave in the first place. When they eventually reached his chamber, she stepped inside and stopped.
The tapestry still hung on the wall. Lambs and a fox and a small fawn looked down in soft colors, absurd against stone.
“You kept it,” she said.
