Page 37 of Confessions of a Highland Assassin

“I ken that ye must miss him a lot,” Boyd said, referring to his father. “I am doing everything I can tae track them down. The men are out looking as we speak. It’s been a few months, but I’m sure they are out there somewhere, they cannae just disappear.”

She had turned to him with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Yes, I miss him a lot…” she said through her tears. “I’m sorry ye have tae go through all this, Boyd. Ye deserved so much better in life… I only ever wanted ye tae be happy and loved.”

“Please, dinnae talk like that…” Boyd had said as he kneeled in front of her and took her cold hands in his. “We will find them, all of them. Father, Cora, and her family.”

His mother had looked at him sadly and stroked his face. She was still wearing her night dress as she no longer had the energy to change anymore. Boyd had told the servants to leave her be, that she would come out of it as soon as they found his father.

“Ye look just like yer father. The same blond hair, the same green eyes… Yer smile, and yer kind heart tae. Yer father had the kindest heart.”

“Ye will see him again, mother,” Boyd said as he kissed the inside of her palm. “Come away from the window. Yer hands are as cold as ice.” He had loved the way his mother saw the good in his father. To everyone else, Tavish Cameron was a harsh man. It spoke of the feelings they shared for one another when nobody else saw him in this light.

“Dinnae worry about me, Boyd. I made me choices in life and have tae live with them now. Just promise me that ye will mak’ better choices. That ye will marry for love and nae let anyone ever force ye intae marriage. Pleasing others is nae worth the heartache that follows,” she said as the tears ran down her pale cheeks. “The cost of hiding yer feelings is too high.”

“I dae love Cora, mother,” he said, frowning in confusion. “I ken that our marriage was arranged, but I dae love her very much.”

She had cried even more at his sentiment and kissed the top of his head. “I am so sorry, Boyd…”

Boyd thought he had known how his mother was feeling at the time. He assumed that she was devastated that her husband had gone missing.

The servants had found her body later that afternoon. Looking back on the memories now, Boyd felt like he’d never truly known her. Her conversation had taken on a completely new meaning now, after reading these letters. The ‘him’ she was referring to was probably not his father at all. Did the plans somehow go wrong? She couldn’t have meant for Malcolm to go missing with the rest of his family.

The realization dawned on him that his mother had been grieving, not for the disappearance of her husband, but for the man she truly loved… It was unlikely that she had anything to do with the disappearances. She would have gone with Malcolm if the plan was to disappear forever.

Boyd lifted the letter and stared at it again.

What is real and what is nae? Boyd asked himself as he struggled to come to terms with his life. It felt as if everything had been a lie up until now.

“My Laird! Are ye in there!?” a voice called frantically, interrupting his thoughts.

Leaping into action, Boyd jumped from his chair and run to the door, yanking it open while holding the letter in his other hand. “What in God’s name is going on?” he quickly asked the maid who stood in the hall with a frantic look on her face.

“We need yer help, my laird,” she said, panic-stricken. “Me lady is stuck in her dressing room and I cannae get the door open,” she pleaded. “Please, can ye come and see if she’s all right? She’s been in there for a while now.”

“Which lady?” Boyd asked hurriedly, looking past the blond maid down the hall.

“Ava Sinclair. She’s in the room right by the stairs in the lady’s corridor,” the maiden Skye explained as quickly as she could. “I’m scared she’s fallen and cannae get up. There was nae response when I knocked and called out. Please hurry!”

Not wanting to waste any time, Boyd sprinted down the hall with the letter still in hand.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Boyd burst into the room, panting from his long sprint across the hall. “Are ye hurt?” he shouted as he flung open the door that led into the adjoining dressing room. “Where are ye?” he called frantically.

Boyd was met by a stunned lady staring back at him from her tub of soapy water. Her smooth leg was raised halfway in the air as if she were pointing at something on the ceiling. The slight pout on her full lips made her seem as though she’d just been sucking on a piece of delicious fruit.

Boyd was struck with passion but hurriedly turned his back on the comical scene and muttered an apology. “I’m so sorry, Lady Sinclair,” he said and shook his head, trying not to laugh at the image burned into his mind. “I didnae see anything, I swear,” he suppressed a chuckle despite himself at the way she’d looked laying in the tub.

“My Laird…” Ava breathed softly just below a whisper from the tub.

“Are ye hurt?” he asked with a frown, thinking that she’d perhaps fallen and injured her leg, rendering her unable to speak from the pain. “Did ye fall? Should I call for the healer?”

“I…” she stammered. “I dinnae fall, I was just nae expecting ye tae come bursting intae the room and see me exposed like this..."

Boyd heard the water splashing in the tub as her voice remained just below a whisper. “Are ye feeling ill? Why is yer voice like that? Have ye caught a cold?” Boyd wondered aloud.

Ava cleared her throat and spoke a little louder. “I am well, my Laird. I’m just surprised tae see ye here. Can ye hand me the robe behind the door, please…” her voice was breathy and soft once again.

Boyd thought it an odd request but did as she asked and reached for the silk robe hanging behind the dressing room door. “Here,” he said as he held the garment over his shoulder.