Page 188 of The Defiant Curse

After giving his wife a kiss and telling her he had to set her free for a second, Ethan took the pasta from the stove, and drained it.

“And he ended his life without seeing Callum grown?” he asked. “He bailed on his child?”

Gabby nodded.

Elizabeth knew what he was thinking.

“EJ, if I died, and you were left alone raising our kids, would you exit like that?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“Absolutely not! I’d know they needed me. They’d lost their mother, and I couldn’t leave them to fend for themselves. I’d have to stay until time ran out for me—meaning old age or a meteor hit the house."

Yeah, her either.

“And everyone else?” she asked.

They all considered it.

“I mean, I wouldn’t,” Finn admitted. “If I was all my babies had left, I’d stay no matter what. It would be horrible, but I’d do it for Gabby and the kids.”

Elizabeth didn’t think any of them would check out.

That Duncan had…

“So, my gut says that’s off, too, and there’s a reason he checked out and didn’t give a shit about his son. Did we find out how old Callum was when he took his life?” he asked. “You said when he was old enough to take over, but what was it, exactly?”

Gabby nodded.

“He was nineteen.”

Maybe she was overthinking it.

But it was off.

“So, he leaves his nineteen-year-old son, who yes, could be considered an adult back then, alone to deal with the political and religious battles going on here during that time? Scotland was in a tug-o-war with the King at the time.”

They listened.

Elizabeth made her case.

“The same son he threw the mother out before coming back here? I’m not buying that either. I’m not buying a single thing said in a letter, since NONE of that can be verified as real. What I can say is something happened to make Duncan tell Ceit to go, and for him to be willing to bail on his child. Something went down, and it spiraled into the mess that followed. I don’t think we have the full picture.”

Honestly, Gabby wasn’t sure what that could be.

“We didn’t find anything in the destroyed journal that gives us an answer.”

She stopped her.

“Again, in a journal that someone was filling with letters that weren’t sent to the battlefield, or they might have been destroyed there. Even if it was in the journal, I’d be hesitant to take it with more than a grain of salt. I think everyone was hoodwinked, like intended.”

There was a mix of disappointment and disbelief.

“Son of a bitch,” Gabby stated. “I can’t believe the journal was bogus and we all fell for it.”

Elizabeth shrugged.

“Ceit said, don’t trust the words. So…”