Page 66 of Highlander’s Forbidden Fruit

“Please, dinnae talk to me of heaven and seeing Ma. I still need ye here with me,” Evanna said, squeezing his hand back. Any thoughts she had had of talking to her father and calling off the engagement vanished when she saw the small spark in his eyes.

“I’ll try me best,” he laughed. He sopped some gravy with a piece of bread and ate it. He offered a piece of gravy-soaked bread to her like he used to when she was a little girl. Evanna ate it, a tear pooling in her eye. What wouldn’t she give for a day trip back to her childhood.

Once the food was finished, Evanna kissed her father on the head and left with the tray. She then took herself to her parlor where Sarah Creed was waiting for her. Evanna had forgotten all about Sarah and her arrival.

“I wanted to thank ye for what ye did yesterday.”

Yesterday? To Evanna it felt like a lifetime ago. Had it really been only yesterday that she had been the happiest woman for a few hours?

“What shall I do?” Sarah asked. Evanna noticed her clean clothes and scrubbed face. The girl had made an effort to be presentable on her first day of work.

Pushing her own troubles to the side Evanna gave Sarah the attention she needed. “Would you please fetch Mrs. Lane and Mrs. MacTavish for me? After that you can help me with my needlework.”

Sarah smiled, pleased to be of use.

When the housekeeper and cook arrived, Evanna spent twenty minutes with them deciding the menu for Christmas day. Bolts of cloth were commissioned for the staff at the castle, and baskets of sweets were ordered to be distributed among the tenants and farmers.

After Mrs. Lane and Mrs. MacTavish left, Evanna found herself with nothing else to occupy her mind. Needlework was great, but it did not quieten the voice of anguish inside her head. What she needed was to talk to someone about her woes.

With that in mind, she sat down to write a letter to Clara. But the words would not come. She tried a few lines, wasted a few scraps of paper, but it was hard to tell Clara of her engagement and then her doubts in the same letter. It felt silly when she read her own words back - she sounded like a whining child.

Scratching out her sentences she began a letter to Ashton instead, but this time it was hard to reconcile her regret with the fact that he had warned her not to accept. Somehow, she had closed off both avenues of communication with the only friends she had.

Frustrated with her lack of progress, Evanna gave up. Sarah, who was busy doing the needlework that Evanna had abandoned, looked up as Evanna slid her chair back and stood up.

“I could use a walk,” she said, reaching for her cape and bonnet.

“I’ll join ye.” Sarah jumped up and went in search of her things.

Evanna would have liked to be alone, but she didn’t want to disappoint Sarah. It was possible the little girl didn’t expect this to last. Evanna couldn’t imagine the uncertainty that Sarah must be feeling. It was no wonder she wanted to stay as close as possible to Evanna, her only source of security.

The hailstorm from yesterday had stripped the few remaining leaves off the trees. They now stood bare and vulnerable. Frost crusted the dead grass. It crunched under their shoes as they walked across the fields. The cold air scrubbed Evanna’s lungs clean. She enjoyed the chill on her skin. She had been so numb since yesterday, and it was good to feel something, anything on her skin.

Sarah was not her talkative self. Evanna could have used her steady chatter to keep her mind off her own predicament.

“Are you well?” she asked Sarah.

“Aye!” Sarah’s response was too quick and too enthused.

“Are ye certain? Yer usually talking faster than ye can walk.”

Sarah blushed. “I didnae want to annoy ye.”

Poor Sarah. The child had been punished for being exactly that—a child. Now she was second guessing her every action because being herself hadn’t been good enough for her family. Evanna couldn't imagine being rejected by her father just for being her.

“I like ye just the way ye are, Sarah.”

Sarah’s eyes widened then darted down to the ground, a shy, pleased smile on her lips. That smile improved Evanna’s mood a little. It stopped her wondering where Aleck was, what he was doing, whether he was safe, for at least a minute.

“Do ye suppose they’ll let me visit on Christmas?” Sarah asked, bending down to pick up a rock from the ground. It was black and smooth.

“Yer family? Do ye want to visit them after what they tried to do?”

“I’d nae be visiting my parents. I’d like to see me siblings, though. Tilda’s been nicer to me since yesterday. I doubt I’ll find any affection with me parents, but I’d like to stay in touch with me siblings. Family is important.”

“Then I suppose we can arrange something. They’ll be coming to the feast?”

“Oh! Can I invite them? They’ll be so happy to attend a feast at the castle. Tilda’ll have kittens!”