I squeeze his arm and tug him forward. “Come on, let’s keep walking.”
He claps a hand over mine. “I’ve a notion.”
“A notion to what, exactly?” I try to decipher his expression. “Okay, Callum. What’s with the wicked gleam?”
“I’ve a gleam?”
“Mm-hm. We’re out late, we’ve apparently stolen apples…what’s next?”
I follow his gaze. A silver band of moonlight stretches across the valley, then fractures, dulling as the landscape shifts. It’s not a loch, but?—
“Is that a bog?” I squint. “Are we smuggling peat now?” I give him a stern look. “Just so you know, bogs are dangerous. They suck you in, like quicksand.”
He chuckles. “I’m not looking at the peat.”
He crouches beside me, his shoulder brushing mine as he points. “There, just along the edge—see where the light doesn’t shine?”
I follow his finger to a dark tangle of branches.
“A wee thicket of brambles,” he murmurs. “Might be a fine accompaniment to your apples.”
Brambles. It’s what my mother calls blackberries. I’d always thought she was trying to be cute.
“You mean the blackberries? Are they Campbell’s, too?”
He hesitates, shrugs. “Mayhap yes, mayhap no.”
“Mayhap which is it?” My tone is more severe than I’d intended. But seriously, he needs to stop taking risks. There are dangers all around, and I swear they’re all aimed at Callum.
“Mayhap it’s not your concern,” he says with a grin. “Wait here.”
I snatch his arm. “It’s too dangerous.”
He smirks, easy and confident. “Don’t worry. I’m verra sure-footed in the dark.”
“It’s not your feet I’m worried about.” My grip tightens. “If those were Campbell apples and these are Campbell blackberries…what if you get caught? If something happened to you?—”
My voice catches. The thought is unbearable.
He softens, misreading me. “If aught happened to me, Donag would care for you. She’s a crabbit old sort, but she’d?—”
“I’m not worried about who’d take care of me,” I snap. “If anything, I worry about who’ll take care ofyouafter I’m gone.”
His smirk vanishes.
“You need to be more careful,” I press on. “Hamish is out for you. Promise you’ll be especially careful around him.” My chest tightens. “If he hurt you—badly?I’d be devastated. Really. It’d kill me. And it’s not just because you said you’d help me or whatever. It’s because you’re you. You’re too important, Callum. So, no. No brambles.”
Silence.
What’s he thinking? I wish I could see him better, but his face is in shadows.
“I’m being ridiculous, aren’t I?” My voice is weaker now. “If I were you, I’d have stopped listening a while ago.”
“I…Rosie-love…” He swallows hard. “I always listen. ’Tis my honor that I’m not below your concern.” His tone softens, reverent. “You’re a lass of boundless heart.”
“Boundless?” I chuff a laugh. “That doesn’t sound like me.”
Back home, I hold on so tight, controlling how things need to get done and when. “If you asked someone from my town, they’d probably tell you I have plenty of bounds. I’m a bundle of bounds. And rules, and anxiety, and schedules.”
