Page 63 of Highlander’s Haunted Past

“Kenna, look at me—does it look like I recently came into a pretty purse of gold?”

Kenna frowned. Thomas did look particularly ragged. His eyes were sunken and dark, and lines of exhaustion, age, and stress had settled along his eyes and forehead. Even his clothes were rumpled and stained, though she knew that he had plenty of good, decent clothes to wear and plenty of maids to keep them clean. He just simply didn’t care. He didn’t want to seem better off than he was.

“Look,” Thomas continued, leaning forward in the chair to level his blue eyes with hers, “I did a lot to wrong ye these past few months. I’ll be the first to admit it. There is much I am ashamed of. Much that has kept me awake until the wee hours of the morn with fret and guilt. Things like working with Sutherland and agreeing to marry ye off just to try and protect our place here. I ken that my guilt does little to solve anything, and ‘tis certainly nothing compared to what ye must have endured. I’ll confess to everything I have done, everything that gives me guilt. But I canna confess to something that I didna do.”

“Then what was the letter from John to Sutherland all about? He said he had finished something fer him.”

“Aye, we delivered his letters for him. Sutherland had written a whole pile of ‘em by the time he left here. Once ye all left, John and I rode as fast as we could to Strathbogie to deliver them and then wrote to Aberdeen to let him ken that we had done as he had asked. He told us not to say anything specific in any letters we wrote, just to be safe. Of course, now that I think about it, that was likely so that he could use the letters to pass the blame onto us fer anything that crept too close to him. Bastard just wanted something with our hand on it so he could save his own ass.”

Kenna felt her stomach twist, and she cast a wary look over at Rob, who was staring out the window now, his brow furrowed. Thomas had made an excellent point, for that did seem exactly like something Sutherland would have done. When she had found the letter from John, Sutherland had just coaxed her into coming to a conclusion on her own, allowing Kenna to match her knowledge of the events and of her brothers together. She had been the one to come up with the accusation, not him. The letter had served the purpose he had intended, and Kenna felt foolish now for not seeing that before.

Kenna reached down and began to finger the blue of her skirt, pinching and twisting the fabric between her two fingers.

“But, if it was not ye, then who was it?”

Thomas shrugged and took another long draw of ale. “Dunno. A ghost?”

Rob reached out, touching Kenna gently on the shoulder before she could say anything more. “Kenna, lass, I’m sorry, but we canna stay any longer. We’ll never catch up if we don’t go now.”

Kenna felt like a boat at sea without any wind left to carry her. This wasn’t how the day was supposed to go. She was supposed to have answers, not more questions.

Rob stood, reached across the table, and clasped hands with Thomas. “Apologies fer the quick departure. ‘Twas good to see ye again.”

Thomas gave him a captivated look. “Aye, I am sure. I’ll call upon ye when they tell me Strathbogie is secure once more. I’m sure ye’ll wish to test it fer yerself. I’ll be of half a mind to join ye.”

Rob laughed, big and booming, and Kenna almost hated him for it. Didn’t he want answers as much as she did? He reached out and took Kenna’s hand, helping her to her feet, though she was internally screaming that she wanted to stay.

Thomas reached into his belt and pulled out a parcel of letters and passed them over to her.

“From Elizabeth and a couple from John and me. She has written to ye every day that she has been able to do so. We didn’t think it would be wise to send them ‘til the rebellion was settled. I haven’t given her yer letter yet, but I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”

The chill in Kenna’s heart softened at the sight of her sister’s small, tidy letters. “Give it to her with all of my love.”

Kenna followed Rob to the door but hesitated before crossing the threshold, turning to look back at her brother once more. He looked so small sitting there, swirling his cup with a blank expression on his face. She strode back to the table and bent to give Thomas a quick peck on the cheek. He relaxed a bit under her touch.

“Thomas, I am sorry that I accused ye of it.”

He winced. “I am sorry that I made ye think I was capable of it.”

“‘Til next time, brother.”

“Aye, try to stay out of trouble.”

Why does everyone tell me that?Kenna thought as she left the inn and took the reins of her horse from Rob.

The pair rode in silence out of the city, navigating the hordes of people with care until, finally, they were surrounded only by the silence of the Highlands. The midafternoon sun beat down on them both, contradicting the cold, winterish breezes that were snaking their way through the hills.

“What do we do now?” Kenna dared to ask when the silence grew too unbearable. “About the archer?”

“We put it behind us.”

“Will that work?”

Rob pulled his horse up alongside hers and reached over, entangling his fingers in her curls and pulling her a bit closer to him so he could kiss her softly. “It has to.”

Kenna nodded and kissed him again. It wasn’t the answer that she wanted, but it was the only one she would get. That would just have to be enough.