Under different circumstances, he would have taken her statement as an invitation to an afternoon of sensual pleasure, but when she was in her workroom, she became a different person. Sober.
“I ken. I am sorry.” It helped that she had not dropped his hands. He pulled her close and grabbed her hips. “I am fine now, I promise.”
As the healer, she did not want to believe anything other than her diagnoses, but as his fiancée… Well, she would have treated unfamiliar patients with more sternness.
“I want to take ye somewhere today.”
By her exasperated sigh, he knew he had won.
The stream stretched on longer than it appeared. It went on for miles, cutting through the moors and rocky woodlands, and ended in a waterfall that fell into the ocean.
Talia could not have known this. Not many people from the clan had traveled so far into the moors to discover this. It was better that way, as the ocean, which was more of a beach, bordered MacTarvish lands.
They passed by the ruins of the stables, and Darragh felt the scar across his back tingle.
“Do ye ken what caused the fire?”
He had not told her about the attack on purpose.
“Daenae worry yerself.” He tried for a calming smile, but he quickly realized it was the wrong approach.
“Why nae? Ye took yer sword with ye, which ye never do, so this is something I have to worry about.” They had stopped walking. She stood in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest. “I havenae had to treat an arrow wound until yesterday. Were we attacked?”
He was beginning to understand that his betrothed was no pushover.
“It’s—it’s nothing so serious.”
He told her as much as he knew, leaving out the part about the suspect. That much she didn’t need to know.
She looked more aggravated after he finished speaking, which he soon learned was not empathy.
“Where ye truly intending to keep something like that from me? I am yer future wife, the future lady of the clan. We cannae have secrets like this between us.”
“I understand.”
They continued the trek.
“Do ye have any idea who it could be?”
He hesitated. Could he lie again to her face? What if she caught on?
“Nay.”
He watched for her reaction. She looked behind her, where the ruins faded into the background, her expression blank.
“I sent Cohen to investigate a lead,” he added.
He could tell her about the arrows if she inquired further.
“What is yer plan now? Ye cannae keep the horses in the paddock forever.”
“Until I rebuild the stables, they will be kept in the village stables. Farmer Hendry also has a shack that can house four horses.” He shrugged his shoulder instinctively.
He should have been shackled by the new weight thrust upon him. But his joints rolled and glided without strain, and his spine was as straight as a rod. The thought of restoring his castle no longer stirred dread. In fact, he looked forward to undertaking new endeavors, anticipating their result earnestly.
“Talia, would ye like to redesign the stables?”
She cringed instantly. “I daenae have an architectural bone in me body.”
