Page 38 of Highlander’s Dangerous Love

“So…yer not angry wi’ me?”

“I wish ye’d told someone where ye were. But…” she reached across the table and covered Gemma’s hand with hers, “I understand.”

“Goodness,” Gemma whispered. Guilt crept up the back of her neck and began to settle itself in the hollow of her throat. If her mother actually knew where she’d been, she was sure the reaction would be different. In all honesty, she felt a little bad for lying to her, but she would have to explain so much more if she told the truth.

“However, I am makin’ ye housebound for two weeks. I dinnae want tae see ye leave this property, ye understand?”

Gemma swallowed the invisible lump in her throat and nodded.

“Braw. Oh, an’, if there happens to be a bairn ‘afore nine months, ‘tis no scandal! What’s important is that you’re betrothed and will marry,” her mother explained.

“Mama!” Gemma shouted, her cheeks reddening at the implication.

“I’ve had five o’ my own. I ken how these things work,” she said with a wink.

As her mother talked on and on about the inner workings of marriage, Gemma rather tuned her out. She was still pondering her own guilt, as well as Colin’s words. What had he meant when he said he couldn’t tell her the truth until he had all the answers? Was there a greater plot afoot?

She didn’t have much longer to ponder it. After she and her mother enjoyed a spot of tea and some shortbread, she immediately put her to work around the house.

After the first week,Gemma suspected her mother was just fabricating things that needed to be done. Every square inch of the wooden floors had been shined, same with the silver cutlery and candelabras and tea sets, the carpets had been aired out and the dust beaten away, all linens washed, all mattresses flipped…and many more. This was usually the kind of cleaning her mother did at the start of spring, but they were into early October now. Still, she supposed it was a kinder punishment than being flogged. In her opinion, she’d rather outgrown that, but her parents still saw her as a little girl, even though they were marrying her off.

When night fell on the seventh day of her punishment, she was relieved to finally go to bed. Her entire body ached from the sheer amount of scrubbing she’d done on her hands and knees. What was worse, it would all happen again the next day.

She’d just pulled on her nightgown when she heard a tap at her window. It was such a small sound — enough to make her notice, but not enough to make her care. That is, until it happened again. And again. And once more, in rapid succession.

“What in hell’s teeth,” she muttered to herself, crossing over to the window and drawing back the curtains.

Nothing could have prepared her for the source of the sound.

It was Colin, looking up at her, pebbles in hand. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. She scrambled to unlock and open the window.

“What are ye doin’ here?!” She whispered loudly.

“I came tae see ye!” He loud-whispered back.

“Christ! Well…hold on! Dinnae move!”

If he’d made the journey all the way over there, it must have been important indeed. Perhaps he was finally ready to talk. She pulled on her boots — her slippers were still muddy from the first time she’d made the journey through the tunnel — and wrapped a shawl tight around her shoulders. Thankfully, it was late enough that no one was up, but she still did not want to test her luck. She snuck quietly through the house, mindful of every creaking floorboard and each squeaky hinge. Finally, she was out in the back garden, where Colin was waiting.

“I cannae believe yer here,” she breathed.

She was such a mixture of emotions, she did not know upon which to act. Her heart ached for him, and longed to be with him again, but he’d been so callous in the village. She wasn’t quite ready to forgive him for that.

“Aye. I told my father ‘twas time tae take back our lives. An’...hopefully, that means ye, if ye’ll still have me,” he said earnestly.

Gemma was utterly confused by his words.

“Wha–I, I thought ye were tae marry someone else.”

Colin looked up at the house again, as if checking to see if their conversation, hushed though it was, had awoken anyone else.

“Let’s go down tae the beach. There is much I need tae say tae ye.”

He grabbed her hand and led her down to the shoreline, a modest walk from her home.

The sand, silvered by the bright moonlight, shimmered like a vast blanket of diamonds stretching out towards the horizon. The waves lapped gently against the shore, as if whispering secrets to the sand, and the air was thick with the salty scent of the sea. The occasional call of a seabird echoed across the beach, adding to the serene ambiance.

In the distance, the outline of a rocky cliff jutted up into the sky, casting a dark shadow across the beach. Its rugged surface, weathered by centuries of the elements, added a sense of wildness to the already untamed beauty of the beach. The moon, full and bright, cast a silver glow over the scene, illuminating the countless tiny shells scattered along the sand. It was a truly magical sight, and Gemma wished she were appreciating it under better circumstances.