Rogue Highlander: Surrendered Love

by Sondra Grey

  “Why didn’t you tell me when you came to work for me?” Nic asked Franco pitifully.

  “You were so crazy about her back then. I was afraid you would abandon Dr. Rhymer,” he said not looking up at Nic. Elizabeth was stunned by his loyalty.

  “You knew,” Nic said, turning to Vincent. Vincent nodded.

  “When did you know this?”

  “Recently,” Vincent said looking away.

  “How recently?” Nic persisted.

  “That evening I came back from the roundup and found you sleeping in the barn? Well, I saw her on the moors with Franco that day and guessed what must have happened.”

  “Then why did you not tell me?” Nic asked aghast. Vincent stole a look at Elizabeth and said, “Elizabeth was scheduled to arrive the next day. I was afraid you would send her away and go back to Jessica. She used you, deceived you. She was bad for you right from the beginning. I did not want you to end your life with Elizabeth, before it even had had a chance to begin.”

  “Elizabeth…Elizabeth…Elizabeth.” Nic shouted bringing down his fist hard on the table. “It’s my life you people have been trying to run. I have a choice here damn it. I have a say.” Elizabeth looked up sharply at his outburst. What did he mean by that? What choice was he talking about? Would he really have sent her back then?

  “Nic…” Vincent started to say, but Nic stopped him.

  “Don’t say another word…just leave!” He said looking at Franco and Vincent. Then pushed himself up from the table looking defeated and lumbered out of the room, his head hung low.

  Elizabeth stood nodding at the men with understanding as they regarded her with sympathy before turning to walk out of the room. Just as they were about to leave, Elizabeth called out to them.

  “Vince…Franco…. bring the girl. Bring her to me right now.” The two men looked at with wide eyes, nodded and went out to do as she bid.

  Elizabeth finally allowed the torrent of tears to pour forth from her. It was too much for her to take that Nic was once so deeply involved with another woman. Another woman whom he claimed to have loved, and thought had died in his arms. But the fact that he might have still chosen that woman on the eve of her arrival was something she just could not bear.

  She loved this man! No matter what, she loved him, Elizabeth suddenly realized. Of course, she had loved him from that moment she saw him at the railway station leaning against that pillar looking at her. But today was the first time she understood the depth of her feelings. How foolish she had been.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  E lizabeth stood up straight and wiped at her tears with determination. She knew what she had to do. She walked up the stairs to their room and saw Nic sitting on the bed, facing the window, his back towards the door. A soft fire burned in the hearth to one side of the room and a big red moon hung outside.

  The sight of that moon brought fresh tears to Elizabeth’s eyes. It was red and huge just like the day Nic had brought her home and taken care of her after her arduous journey to Jacksonville. And this was the bed, she thought looking down, that she shared with him. This was where the deepest of their passions had come alive and where they had reveled in their veneration for each other.

  “Leave me alone Elizabeth,” Nic said, and her heart sunk within her chest. He had never used that tone with her before, harsh and cold. At that moment, Elizabeth would have readily chosen death than the detached indifference of her husband.

  “I just came to tell you, she spoke to me.” He did not turn, but he did not order her away either and encouraged by that, Elizabeth continued.

  “Today at the Alvarez house and that day on the moor, she said something to me that now makes complete sense. If I had known about her before, I would have told you this right then. But since I had no knowledge of your association with her, I did not understand what she was trying to say to me. Now I do.” Elizabeth paused, still standing in the door. She somehow felt inadequate to enter. Nic sat perfectly still, his head hung low, and she continued speaking to his back.

  “She asked me to tell you that she did not deceive you. She came to you that day. She did not betray you. I think her brother must have somehow known and gotten there before her.” Elizabeth said, and it tore at her insides when she saw Nic sobbing, his shoulders shuddering with the effort of it.

  He still had not moved from his place, and Elizabeth ached to go to him. She wanted to take him in her arms and wipe away all the tears and make all that pain he was feeling go away. But something still stopped her from entering the room. This was a moment in his life where she had no part. It was sorrow she could not share. He wouldn’t let her in, so she only stood there trying to soothe from a distance.

  “It’s going to be all right Nic. I will make it all right darling. You will see.” Then she turned and went down the stairs, walking slowly and taking each step carefully. She was tired. They had been at it all night, and she had no clue of what time it was. She approached the table and slowly lowered herself on the bench.

  That was when she heard it. The hauntingly forlorn music of the harmonica coming from above her head. It broke her heart into a thousand tiny pieces and each one of them throbbed with the wretched helplessness she felt in reaching out to the man she loved. She wondered how it was at all possible to be connected so acutely to the sentiments of another person. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and she hurried to open it.

  Vincent and Franco stood there, Jessica between them, a lost and clouded expression on her face. As they entered the kitchen, the sad tune of Nicholas’ melody flowed down from the stairs and Jessica’s eyes were suddenly focused in that direction.

  “Nicky.” she sighed audibly and Elizabeth had to gulp hard at the lump that had formed in her throat. She nodded gently at the girl before her.

  “Yes, he is up there. You wanted to say something to him? Well, go on then.” She motioned towards the staircase. A shuddering sigh escaped the girl’s throat, she looked at Elizabeth as if for confirmation and Elizabeth nodded once again. Then the madness, the fever she had always seen in Jessica’s eyes suddenly disappeared and pulling up her skirts slightly, she ran towards the sound of the music.

  The others stood in the door for a few more seconds as Jessica disappeared up the steps and the noise of the harmonica suddenly stopped.

  “You need to sit down Elizabeth.” Vincent said suddenly and he and Franco nearly carried her to the table, limp with distress.

  “What have you done, woman? Aren’t you the biggest fool in the world?” Vincent said under his breath when they heard firm angry footsteps coming down the stairs and Nicholas came striding towards her.

  “Elizabeth! What in the Lord’s name are you doing?” he said holding her upper arm in a vice like grip and shaking her hard.

  “I…I thought…I…she…” she stammered as he glared down at her with fury.

  “You send a maiden girl, the sister of a neighboring rancher who hates my guts, to my bed chamber, alone and unattended?” His voice raised with each word. Nic turned to the two men and for the first time ever, Elizabeth saw the two men cowering.

  “How did you get her here? You kidnapped her? Forced her? Threatened her?” once again his voice rose with every word.

  “I came on my own accord.” Jessica said, her eyes lowered. “Vincent just told Juan that they would bring the sheriff and the magistrate to show them how I was treated, and that Franco and Paloma would testify about the false burial. Juan knew that he could not stop me from coming after that.”

  “Well then, the two of you will go outside and await further orders from me. Miss Alvarez and I have things to talk about. And you my dear wife, will stay right here as the young lady’s guardian.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  W hen Franco and Vincent had left, Nicholas turned to Jessica.

  “Sit down Jessica, I am sure you have already met my wife Dr. Elizabeth Rhymer.” He said nodding to Elizabeth who was standing right next to him.

 
Jessica sat at the head of the table and nodded as Nic and Elizabeth took seats further down the bench, the large table between them.

  “It was a shock for me Jessica, when Franco told me that you were alive earlier today. Myself and everyone else in Jacksonville had been made to believe that you were…well…killed in that accident,” he said not breaking eye contact.

  “They sent me away. After a while I lost all track of time.” Jessica said softly as tears streamed down her face. When Nicholas did not move from his place, Elizabeth went to her and folded her in her arms. The girl felt frail and breakable in her embrace.

  “You poor dear.” she said gently stroking her hair.

  “So, my wife tells me that you had something to say to me.” Jessica nodded. Nic waited in silence as seconds passed. Elizabeth sat now on the side of the bench, nearer to Jessica. She held her hand, stroked her hair and nodded in encouragement.

  “I just wanted you to know Nicky, that …”

  “Don’t call me that Jessica. I am not your playmate anymore.” he admonished and Elizabeth was startled at the harshness in his voice. Wasn’t her husband in love with this girl? He dreamed of her and spoke her name in his sleep. Then why, when she was in front of him now, did he behave so unkindly?

  “I wanted to tell you what happened that day. I was telling Paloma about us, that you had asked me to come and meet you at the shack so that we could run away, get married and come back only when we were husband and wife so that Juan could not do anything to stop us.” Jessica stopped suddenly and wet her lips.

  “And…” Nicholas prodded.

  “Juan heard us and he went wild with rage. He shut me up in my room and said he would take care of you for good. When he was gone, Franco and Paloma let me out and I came as fast as I could. But, he was already there, with all those men and they were hurting you…I got scared and I hid outside the shack.”

  “They nearly killed me that day Jessica. You could have gone and gotten me some help instead of hiding outside and watching the show.”

  “I told you…I was scared.” She suddenly snarled at him.

  “No, you weren’t. You did not help me because you thought it was a good way to end it all. Let your brother rough me up and put all the blame on him for something that you had been wanting to do yourself for days… split up with me.” He said and his tone was dead calm.

  Jessica looked at him now with pure loathing and Elizabeth suddenly withdrew herself from her. She was not at all sure if what she was witnessing was indeed reality or a nightmare, it was so surreal.

  “I have been hearing this thing, that you came that day. You did not betray me. So, tell me Jessica, if you had come to the shack to go away with me, then where were your things? Why did you not have any baggage, a small bundle of something, anything.” he said forcefully. When Jessica failed to explain Nic continued.

  “I wondered about that back then. I wondered why you did not get me any help. I wondered how come you got caught twice by your brother so easily that day when he could never catch you before. I wondered why you had come to the shack empty handed. I had been sensing a coldness in you for some time before that, you know. But once you had that horrible accident, I thought it to be unkind to think ill of you in death, and so I just pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. Never let them surface.”

  “You were an emotional fool back then Nicholas Rhymer, and I see you have not changed a bit. Now what should I have done? My father had offered to buy your ranch and offered you a job to work for him. If you had done that and then asked for my hand he would have accepted easily, even allowed us to stay at the Alvarez Mansion. But you wanted to play in the dirt. You wanted to work your own ranch and even if you earned nothing, you wanted your independence. Foolish notions, if you ask me!”

  She jeered at him then stood up and paced along the table. Elizabeth got up quickly and went and stood behind her husband looking at the scene unfolding in front of her in disbelief.

  “So, it was all for money? Because I did not have enough of it to merit you?”

  “I was not going to come to this shack and cook for those men of yours, Nicholas.”

  “You could have said so, clear and straight, without all this drama.”

  “A smart man would have known.”

  “You are right. I was a fool. And I paid dearly for it. Today when Franco told me that you have been staying in Denver with your relatives, it really struck me. I thought carefully about all those facts I had avoided thinking about back then. If you had really loved me Jessica, you would have reached out to me, contacted me. At least let me know that you were safe. I have been having nightmares for the last five years, thinking that I somehow caused your death.”

  “I told you that you were an emotional fool. Even now I am sure you expect me to fall at your feet and beg for forgiveness.” She said suddenly stopping her pacing and stood in front of him, looking down, her eyes narrowed, her hands folded across her midriff.

  Nicholas let out of wistful smile.

  “I don’t expect anything from you Jessica, least of all remorse. You are not capable of it. Besides I would have forgiven you of my own accord for all your indiscretions. But there is one thing I am not going to either forget nor forgive. And that is, the way you used my wife. You tried to scare her, feed her false information, tried to put a wrench in our relationship by acting like a victim. But let me tell you Jessica. Nobody messes with my wife. I will not tolerate it.”

  “Really? What are you going to do?”

  “I am taking my story to the Magistrate. I will tell them how your brother and his men beat me up, how they left me there to die, how they faked your death, how they have been harassing me and my men by cutting our fences and stealing our animals. I will tell them how you have been harassing my wife.”

  “Yes, and they will listen to you.” Jessica laughed out in derision.

  “Of course, they will. I am an outstanding citizen of this town; my wife is the only physician in the region and she has helped people. One of my men is the minister of this town and he will vouch for my exemplary behavior. Besides Franco and Paloma will tell them your side of the story.”

  “You ….” Jessica muttered a string of expletives and rushed to the door. Before she went out the door she turned and snarled at them.

  “You will pay for what you have done to me Nicholas, you will pay.” she spat and slammed the door behind her.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  E lizabeth stood rooted to her place in shock as Jessica left. Nic turned on the bench, throwing his legs over to the other side so that now the table was behind him and his wife in front. But he still did not stand.

  “Come here, Elizabeth.” he said making a beckoning gesture with his hand. She approached him tentatively. He held her wrist in his and pulled her nearer until she stood nearly in-between his legs.

  “You were ready to give me away to that woman today?” he asked softly.

  “I thought it was what you wanted, that you loved her.” Elizabeth trembled from the effect his touch was having on her rather than anything else.

  “Considering for a moment that you did not know the true nature of Jessica Alvarez, you were ready to give me up?” He asked again in his softest tone. Tears flowed down Elizabeth’s cheeks as she nodded and he pulled her down gently on to his lap.

  “When Franco told you earlier that she was alive, you were devastated. I did not want to impose myself upon you nor come between you and your true love.”

  “And what made you think she was my true love, my pet?” he asked, taking her in his arms as she clung to him and sobbed harder.

  “The way you played the harmonica, it was so sorrowful.”

  “Well that’s what happens when you order a bride out of a catalogue. She knows nothing about you. My mother and Vince can both vouch for this my love, that when I am thinking hard, I play the mouth organ. I don’t play it to serenade my love. Otherwise I would have been playing the organ under your wind
ow every night.”

  “I love you too much to see you in pain. It was not easy for me. It scared me to death. I had to face the possibility that you might want Jessica back in your life and would send me back to Cleveland.”

  “I might still have to.” he said gently pushing her down on to the bench beside him.

  “What do you mean?” she asked as she was suddenly deprived of his warmth. Nicholas strode to the chest on the other side of the big table and from one of the drawers pulled out a fat envelope. He brought it back to her, sat down beside her again and handed it to her. It was addressed to her, at the ranch, and it mentioned her name as Dr. Elizabeth Rhymer. Elizabeth looked up at him puzzled.

  “Go on. Open it. It’s for you” he prodded.

  She tore the envelope with her steady doctor’s hands. The first thing that fell out was a round medallion made of solid gold tied on a thick long silk ribbon. Elizabeth turned the medal to see the logo and name of the Cleveland Medical College and Homeopathic Institute engraved on one face and on the other was her name and the year of her graduation.

  She looked up at Nic in surprise. He shrugged, rising his eyebrows and giving out a single cluck of his tongue in his usual manner.

  “Go on, there’s more.” he said and she suddenly tore the envelope in a frenzy to see what more was inside. There was her diploma, with the Dean’s signature and the institute’s seal on it. The next was a letter, handwritten, by the Dean of her college, apologizing for their previous refusal to issue her degree.

  “How did you manage to get all this done?” she asked in disbelief, looking in turn at Nic and then the documents in her hand.