by Maya Banks
And then they were both running, Genevieve and her mother. They met at the bottom of the steps, and Lady McInnis enfolded Genevieve in her arms, holding her as if she’d never let go.
The laird joined them, folding them both in his beefy embrace. He held them so tightly that Bowen wondered if either could breathe. There was such joy that it permeated the air around them. No one could look upon them and not be deeply moved by the emotional reunion.
“You did a good thing, Bowen,” Graeme murmured.
Bowen sucked in his breath and then turned his stare on his brother. “If I did such a good thing, why does it feel as though my heart has been torn from my chest?”
Graeme grimaced and put his hand on Bowen’s shoulder, squeezing in silent sympathy.
Genevieve stood surrounded by her mother and father, her heart nearly bursting as they hugged and kissed her. Her mother openly wept, and the big gruff laird, her father, looked as though he battled his own tears.
She clung to her mother, soaking up the warmth that only a mother’s embrace could provide. How long had she grieved for her mother? She thought never to see her again, or to see her smile. Or to simply enjoy the love and affection that flowed so freely within her clan.
“Oh Genevieve,” her mother whispered brokenly. “My heart has been restored.”
“Come here and give your papa a hug,” her father said in a gruff voice thick with emotion.
She went into her father’s embrace and he picked her up, just as he used to do when she was a child, and spun her around.
“My daughter is returned to us!” he shouted.
Just outside the walls, a roar went up from the assembled army and echoed across the hillside. It went on and on until Genevieve laughed as he spun her around again.
“My baby,” her mother said, pulling her once more into her embrace when her father set her down.
Her father turned to where Bowen and Graeme stood, while her mother held her tightly, as if afraid Genevieve would disappear if she let go.
“I owe you a debt of gratitude,” he said gruffly. “ ’Tis one I can never hope to repay.”
“Make her happy,” Bowen said simply. “ ’Tis all the debt you’ll ever have to repay.”
“Come,” Graeme said. “You’ve journeyed long and you must be tired and hungry. A feast will be prepared this night to celebrate the return of Genevieve to your clan.”
Genevieve’s mother stroked her hair and tenderly patted her scarred cheek.
“ ’Tis the most joyous moment of my life next to the day you were born. I’ll long hold this day in my memory. The day my only child was returned to me.”
Genevieve hugged her, burying her face in her mother’s neck as she’d done so many times over the years. Her scent was the same, soothing and so much like home.
“I love you, Mama.”
“And I love you, dearling. So very much.”
CHAPTER 44
Genevieve hastened from the keep as the earth was bathed in the light of a new sun. She’d not slept the night before. Too much excitement. Her mother had slept in her chamber, not willing to be parted from her for even a moment. And today they would make the journey back home to McInnis land.
They’d feasted the night before, and Genevieve hadn’t had one moment in which to speak to Bowen alone. She could not leave without seeing him one last time.
She’d searched his chamber, but found it barren. Nor was he within the keep.
She found him standing on the hillside, staring over the vast expanse of Montgomery land. She slowed her steps as she neared him, suddenly hesitant.
He heard her approach and turned, his eyes flickering as his gaze found her. Wordlessly, she flew into his arms, holding him tightly as they embraced.
“I would not go without saying farewell to you,” she said.
“I’ll be there when you ride out,” Bowen assured.
Still, she hesitated. “I said terrible things to you, Bowen. I was angry and afraid. Mostly afraid. I was so fearful of facing my family after all that has happened. It was foolish of me to ever think they’d turn their back on me. I want to thank you for sending word to my father. ’Tis not something I would have had the courage to do, and that shames me.”
He put his finger to her lips. “Shhh, lass. There is no reason to be sorry. What you endured is unthinkable. ’Tis understandable that you had fears.”
“I’ll never forget you, Bowen Montgomery,” she said, her voice nearly breaking as she tried to say all that was in her heart. “I did not think a man such as you existed.”
He smiled and lowered his mouth to hers. “And ’tis the truth I did not dream that a lass such as you existed. I do not want to let you go, but ’tis my selfish desires that fuel my reluctance. Your family has been deprived of you in a most horrible way. I cannot imagine the grief they’ve endured all this time.”
She kissed him back, a kiss filled with heartbreak and desperation. She was torn between the impossible. A reunion with the family she loved above all else, and a man who had rescued her from the very depths of despair. A man who had looked beyond the scars on her face and soul to the very heart of her.
“Be happy, Genevieve,” he whispered against her lips. “ ’Tis all I ask. I can live and die a content man as long as I know you are happy and well cared for.”
She clung tightly to him, his arms wrapped around her as the sun rose higher in the sky. There was naught to say. Their hearts were heavy with the knowledge of what could not be—and of what was.
Finally, Bowen gently pulled her away and stroked a hand over her face. “ ’Tis time for you to go. Your father and mother will be looking for you.”
He went blurry in her vision as her eyes swam with tears. “I love you, Bowen. I would not leave without telling you so. I will never love another. You will always hold a place in my heart and I’ll think of you often, in my dreams and in the waking.”
He palmed her face and kissed her fiercely, his lips moving with heated desperation over hers.
“And I love you, Genevieve. For all my days will I love only you.”
No longer able to bear the look in his eyes, she turned and ran back toward the keep, leaving him on the hillside, a lone figure outlined by the rising sun.
Bowen watched as Rorie and Eveline noisily said farewell to Genevieve. They wept and clung to her as though they’d known her forever.
Graeme hovered close to Bowen, his expression worried and grim. ’Twas obvious he wanted to offer sympathy but had no idea what to say to his brother.
It was just as well, because Bowen had no desire to open the wound further. He offered his farewell to Laird and Lady McInnis and assisted Lady McInnis into the litter that would bear her and Genevieve back to McInnis Keep.
When it came time for Genevieve to take her leave, he stood stiffly to the side as she gave her farewell to Graeme. Then he offered her his hand to assist her into the litter.
She slid her fingers over his and lifted her gaze to his. They stared at each other for a long moment, their hearts in their eyes. Then she whispered her thanks and a farewell and climbed up beside her mother.
“Be well,” Bowen said as he took a step back.
“And you,” Genevieve murmured softly.
He took another step back. And then another. He had to put distance between them, else he’d haul her from the litter and never let her go.
Laird McInnis gave the order to move out, and the procession of horses began the journey from Montgomery Keep.
Bowen stood watching until the last of the horses disappeared in the distance. His heart was heavy, and a part of him died as Genevieve McInnis rode out of his life and back to her own.
“Be happy, my love,” he whispered. “Be happy.”
CHAPTER 45
“ ’Tis so good to have you home, Genevieve,” Sybil exclaimed as she bounced onto Genevieve’s bed.
Genevieve smiled. “ ’Tis all you’ve said these past weeks.”
“It
can never be said enough. I missed you so.”
A look of sadness crossed her friend’s face, and Genevieve reached to squeeze her hand.
So much had changed in the time Genevieve had been gone. Sybil had married and remained on McInnis land with her new husband, who acted as Laird McInnis’s second-in-command.
Grief had altered her mother and father. They both looked older than Genevieve remembered. There were new lines on her father’s beloved face, and wrinkles around her mother’s eyes.
Not a day went by that her parents didn’t cosset her endlessly. They worried over her comfort, her happiness, whether she was plagued by unpleasant dreams or memories of her time with Ian McHugh.
Genevieve didn’t discuss the matter much, and her parents respected her wishes, not prying when she didn’t volunteer information.
There was no point in their knowing all Ian had subjected her to. It would only make them grieve more, and there was naught to be done about it now. It was all in the past, and she was determined to leave it there. It was a part of her life best forgotten.
The only good that had come out of all of it was … Bowen.
She lay awake at night, aching for him. It carried over into her days. She wasn’t herself. She was tired and lethargic, and she tried her best to exhibit enthusiasm, because she didn’t want to worry her parents.
“Do you like being married?” Genevieve asked, knowing this would turn the conversation to Sybil’s husband.
As expected, Sybil’s face lit up and she fairly glowed. It filled Genevieve with jealousy and longing.
“I love him so,” Sybil said wistfully. “He’s strong and honorable. The perfect warrior. And he spoils me shamelessly.”
Genevieve laughed. “ ’Tis a good thing, that.”
Sybil grinned. “Aye, it is.”
A knock sounded at Genevieve’s chamber door, and Sybil bounded up to answer. Genevieve’s father stuck his head inside, his gaze seeking Genevieve.
“I thought you might want to go out hunting with me. Your mother has a taste for rabbit stew, and we make a good pair. Let’s see if your archery skills are still up to par.”
Genevieve smiled, warmed by the fact that he sought her out to spend time with her. Both her mother and her father had kept her close ever since their return. She couldn’t walk for bumping into one of them.
“Aye, I’d like that. Give me but a moment to change into something suitable for hunting.”
Pleasure lit her father’s eyes and he smiled back. “I’ll wait in the courtyard. I’ll ready your mount while you dress.”
“They grieved for you so,” Sybil said in a quiet voice when the door had closed. “Your father was desolate for months, and not a day went by that your mother didn’t weep for her loss. I thought never to see them smile again. When they received the missive stating you were alive, it was as if they were given new life. They were so afraid that it was false news and someone was playing a cruel jest. Your father packed up and they left in the dead of night to make haste to fetch you.”
“I grieved for them too,” Genevieve murmured. “I thought never to see them again.”
Sybil patted Genevieve on the cheek. “You are their only child, beloved beyond measure. The entire clan rejoiced when they heard the news, for it was painful for all to see how broken they were over your disappearance.”
Genevieve swung her legs over the side of the bed and went to her wardrobe to fetch the leggings and tunic her father had given her for their hunting excursions. No lass could properly hunt in a dress, according to him, so he’d outfitted her in men’s garb.
She ran her hands lovingly over the worn clothing. Not a single thing had been changed in her chamber the entire time she’d been gone. Everything was as it had been when she’d left. Though she’d taken most of her clothing with her, she’d left the hunting apparel, since she couldn’t be sure that her new husband would approve.
In the time since her return, her mother had worked feverishly to replenish Genevieve’s wardrobe. She had a contingent of women working around the clock, sewing new dresses and undergarments.
Genevieve slipped out of her dress and pulled on the leggings and tunic, noting that they were larger on her than they had been before. She was thinner and didn’t have as much flesh on her bones as she had a year ago.
It wasn’t a surprise. She’d been treated little better than a dog, tossed a few scraps and the occasional meal during her imprisonment. But somehow seeing the clothing on her now brought home the realization of just how much she’d changed.
Her hand went to her face, and her fingers slid down the puckered flesh that marked the vivid scar. Her mother had been horrified and tearful when she learned how and why Genevieve had been disfigured so. Though Bowen had told her father of the event, his face had purpled with rage in the retelling of the story.
It was then that Genevieve had decided not to impart any further details of her captivity. She hated to see them so aggrieved.
She retrieved her bow and quiver of arrows and then motioned for Sybil to accompany her down the stairs. She met her father in the courtyard, where he stood beside two horses, holding their reins.
He smiled when he saw her, and then assisted her into the saddle. After mounting his horse, he took out in the direction of a section of dense forest on their lands.
Genevieve breathed deeply of the air, soaking in the feeling of home. She’d spent her entire childhood running wild over these hills. From a very early age, she’d tagged along on her father’s hunts. He’d taught her skill with a bow and arrow, and she was adept with a knife as well.
They traveled a path well trod, a familiar trail into the wooded area where they’d hunted for years.
The first rabbit took her unaware and skittered across her path before she could react and draw her bow. Shaking off her sluggishness, she drew her bow and nocked an arrow. Her sharp gaze studied the bush for movement.
A moment later, one of the horses spooked a rabbit and it ran down the path. Genevieve took aim and pierced the rabbit with an arrow, pinning it to the ground.
Her father jumped down from his horse to retrieve the animal, grinning at her.
“Well done, lass. I see you’ve not lost your skill at all.”
She smiled back, and then nocked another arrow.
By the time the sun began to sink in the sky, they had a dozen rabbits tied to her father’s saddle and he turned them back toward the keep.
They rode into the courtyard, where their horses were taken by one of the McInnis men, and she followed her father around to where they skinned their bounty from hunts.
It wasn’t an unusual thing for Genevieve to take part in the cleaning and preparation of the animals, but at the very first cut into the hide her stomach revolted and sweat broke out on her forehead.
Nausea coiled in her belly and she swallowed, desperately trying to control her reaction.
When her father peeled back the skin of a rabbit, Genevieve lost the battle and bent over, retching violently onto the ground. The smell offended her. The sight of blood made her stomach recoil. Her eyes watered from the force with which she heaved.
Her father’s arm came around her, and he shouted an order to one of his men to take over the care of the rabbits. Then he led her inside the keep and to her mother.
“Elizabeth, do something,” her father said in desperation. “The lass is sick.”
“Hush now, Lachlan. I’ll tend to her. You go on and finish with the rabbits. ’Tis woman’s work to be done here.”
“She’s my daughter,” he growled. “ ’Tis nothing womanly about my concern.”
Still, Lady McInnis waved her husband off and helped Genevieve up the stairs to her chamber.
“There now, lass, lie down a bit and catch your breath,” her mother said as soon as she’d tucked Genevieve into bed.
“Tired,” Genevieve said faintly.
The bout of sickness had left her exhausted, and all she wanted to do was sleep
.
Her mother ran a cool hand over her forehead. “I know, lass. Rest, now. I’ll check in on you later.”
“Love you, Mama,” Genevieve said in a drowsy voice.
Her mother smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “And I love you, my darling. Sleep now.”
CHAPTER 46
“How is the lass?” Lachlan asked when Elizabeth entered his chamber.
His expression was anxious and worried, and Elizabeth wished she could say something to ease him. But there was naught to do but tell the truth.
“She is with child. I’m sure of it,” Elizabeth said bluntly.
Lachlan blanched, his face going white as he stared agape at his wife. His huge hands curled into fists, and he looked as though he wanted to strike the wall.
“The bastard!” Lachlan seethed. “Never have I wished for a man to be alive so that I could do the killing. May Ian McHugh rot in hell for what he has done to our lass.”
“What are we to do, Lachlan?” Elizabeth asked in a worried voice.
Lachlan sent her a puzzled look. “Do? There’s nothing to do, Elizabeth. Except what we’ve always done. Love her and offer her our support, no matter what may fall. ’Tis not the lass’s doing that she is with child, and even if it were, I could never turn away from her.”
“Oh nay!” Elizabeth cried. “I did not mean that! I only mean that my heart bleeds for her. Just when we think she can start anew and put the past behind her, ’tis evident she is carrying a bairn, and now she’ll live with a constant reminder of all Ian McHugh made her suffer for the rest of her life.”
“Talk to the lass,” Lachlan said gruffly. “ ’Tis a matter for a mother to discuss with her daughter. A father has no place in such a conversation. But let her know that I love her and that she will always have a place here with us. As will her bairn. Do not let her think we are shamed by her. Indeed, I’m prouder of her than I could ever be of a son.”
Elizabeth laid her hand on Lachlan’s arm. “ ’Tis a wonderful thing you say. I am the most fortunate of women in her choice of husbands. I could never ask for a better protector for my only child, and yet you’ve never once held it against me that I could not bear you a son.”