The Promise (Highland Lairds of the Crest #4)

Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

Whatever reckoning Aidan had imagined, he had not expected it to be rendered at the hands of Callum. Yet, in those few seconds after Callum’s proclamation, he remained stunned, watching a series of emotions cross Brianna’s face—confusion to disbelief to something that went far beyond hurt the longer he remained silent—the gravity of his mistake suddenly at the fore. He wanted to say something, jump to his own defense, but he found himself unable to speak, for in truth, he had none. What did it matter that the Fitzgeralds had demanded that he wed Judith? Aye, it amounted to no less than extortion, yet he’d kept it from her as if it held some sort of real value. The remorse he felt was so deep, as if someone had reached inside his chest and clutched his heart, squeezing out what so recently flourished and thrived there. It was so painful, this sensation, paired with the look in her eyes as she stumbled over a barely audible yet simple, “Oh… oh .” It nearly felled him .

And still, words would not come forth. Brianna gave him one last pleading look before she turned to leave the room, Gwen rushing after her. He turned his stare to Callum, who had also not moved, perhaps realizing what he’d just done. In fact, save for the women, everyone within Grey’s study remained completely still and silent.

“’Twas not my intention to wound her feelings,” Callum said, and the look in his eyes told Aidan that he hadn’t intended to wound Aidan either, not truly.

Aidan knew this, and frankly, had no one to blame for what had just happened other than himself. He’d never broached the subject with Brianna. Not once. He’d thought—like a fool—that holding his ground, merely focusing on a formal end to the agreement was enough, but the anticipation building in his chest should have told him otherwise. He knew now that he could have— should have—found the time to tell Brianna about Judith and her brothers, given her at least some sort of roundabout explanation or another so she wouldn’t come by the news…like this. By surprise that is.

Shaking his head at his senselessness, he faced Callum squarely, offering his friend the apology he deserved, tripping over each other’s words when they spoke at the same time. Aidan held his hand up and stopped him. “Nay, allow me, please. I owe you an apology, Callum. I can see now why you …you?—”

“Saw fit to kick your arse,” one of the men said almost under their breath.

Aye, that. It took only a moment for him and Callum to smirk, and both nodded in agreement as chuckles sounded about the room. They were brothers first—especially in cases such as this—and in the end, all else mattered naught.

“May I offer some advice?” Callum asked once everyone had recovered. When Aidan nodded, Callum pointed toward the door and said earnestly, “Go after her. Now.”

Aidan needed no more convincing. With another round of boisterous agreement behind him, Aidan turned and hastened after her. As he rounded the hallway and headed toward the stairs, he found Tristan perched atop the steps of the great hall. Aidan didn’t stop but caught his eye and cast a sheepish smile his way, putting a hand to his ear as he started up the steps.

“Never be too proud to admit your mistakes,” the lad called out readily, reciting one of the many lessons of their brotherhood creed.

“And?” Aidan said without looking back.

“Even if it pains you… especially if it pains you.”

Though Aidan had little to cheer about, that brought a grin to his face, one that was wiped clean in a blink when he nearly ran into Gwen on her way downstairs, stopping him in his tracks. Not literally, per se, but out of respect, he remained still so she could swat his arm.

“Ooh, what’s wrong with you,” she said, apparently needing the use of both hands to exert her frustration upon him. Seemingly satisfied with his punishment, she took a deep breath seconds later, then looked at him contritely. “Sorry, I know you already got an earful. I just, I just really like her, and?—”

Aidan grasped her by the shoulders, cutting off her speech. “I love her, Gwen.”

“Oh,” she sighed and melted instantly. “I normally wouldn’t say this, but it’s just so obvious she loves you too.” She pulled a face, darting her eyes to the side, and confessed, “Which is why she’s waiting for you in your room. Go already.”

Aye, he was trying.

He nodded and gave her a smile. Before he continued up the stairs, he pointed to the balustrade when he let go of her. “Have a care.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but reached for the railing as he continued to his chamber… their chamber. The chamber he was sharing with his wife at Seagrave. He knew he’d much to repair, but for a moment, he was struck at the degree his life had changed since he’d last been here. When he reached the door, he knocked first, unsure what to expect. He was buoyed by her ready call, and quickly stepped inside, momentarily puzzled because she didn’t seem to be anywhere within.

“Brianna?” he said, his eyes sweeping the chamber. He was about to call out to her again when he saw her on the floor in the sitting area before the hearth, her legs tucked beneath her, Kitty on the cushion behind her head.

When they locked eyes, she made a face. Her unhappiness with him, the situation, or both, was clear. “If I ever wondered what bringing home someone to meet my parents would be like, I just found out,” she snapped.

Right, spitting mad it was, then. He could not really be surprised, given what she’d just learned—and how she’d learned it, but still, he wondered: “Why are you sitting on the floor?”

“I’m filthy,” she said sharply. “I’m not going to dirty anything in this chamber until I can bathe and change.” She paused for a moment, and he dared not challenge her. “How’s Callum?” she asked abruptly, and it wasn’t lost on him that her inquiry was meant as a show of familial loyalty.

“Formidable,” he said, leveling her with an equal stare. “Much like you right now— nay ,” he continued, holding up his hand as she opened her mouth to protest. “Callum’s reaction was appropriate and deserved. I should have expected no less from him, we are as close as true brothers could be.”

“I guess that’s a good thing, considering, he’s my family,” she returned, clearly unmoved by any of his words so far.

“And you’re my family, Brianna. My wife. Aye,” he said at her doubtful look, knowing that this too must be addressed. “We’ve not yet been wed in the church, but we will be.”

“It’s not even that!” she burst out. “It is, yes…but…you were engaged!…betrothed!”

Aidan made sure his words were clear when he said, “Never, Brianna, truthfully, we were not.”

“A technicality, then… Did you have feelings for ea ch other?” The turn in her tone and look in her eyes sliced through him, she was deeply hurt.

“Brianna, I barely know Judith, let alone ever had feelings for her…” his words trailed off at her look, his head tilted, begging her thoughts.

She looked at him a long time, and when she spoke again her tone had lost its edge. “Maybe there’s more and you just don’t want to say?”

“Do I strike you as a man who doesn’t say what’s on his mind?”

She made a face and raised her good hand in the air. “I mean…really, Aidan?”

Right. Since he’d no argument, he tried to remain silent and let her continue, though he did grumble which he obviously should not have.

“Oh, now you have something to share?” She accepted his contrite look, but after a moment, worry crossed her features again. “Did you though? Have feelings for her?”

Aidan suppressed a sigh. He could not be frustrated that she felt the need to ask him again, considering he’d been less than forthright about the whole subject. “I did not.”

“Did she have feelings for you?”

He wasn’t sure how that would even be possible, but his surprise at her query must have shown. “We were barely in each other’s presence. Mayhap twice, three times—ever.” He quickly explained how the suggestion of wedding Judith had come about, and its true nature, but she still seemed skeptical .

“Okay…I guess,” she added with a shrug. “But…if I hadn’t arrived, would you have gone through with it?”

“ Nay .” His answer was immediate, though he realized he wasn’t certain what he would have done. A look must have crossed his face when he realized that in the end, he had considered it. Her alarm was clear. “Nay, Breea.”

“You had to think about that.”

“I felt sorry for her situation.” That was the truth.

Her face fell.

“For the love of God, Brianna. I love you—YOU. I never once had to consider promising myself to you. I just did. Period. ’Twas an act in the moment that I knew was right. Providence. Our fate. Our destiny. There was no consideration involved when it came to you—the woman I know is my heart, and has my heart.”

When she looked at him, her gaze was still filled with love, but she was wounded by what she’d just learned, not to mention the trauma she’d endured only hours ago.

“I know, in here,” she took her fist and thumped her chest, “that you’re right, we are meant for one another. But,” her voice cracked. “Aidan,” she covered her eyes with her hand and wept.

“Breea.” He dropped to his knees and gathered her in his arms. He was equally grateful that she welcomed his touch as he was heartbroken by her sorrow. He held her for some time, uttering soothing sounds and rocking her gently as she sobbed in earnest. He felt no hurry, no need to rush her. She needed this cleansing release, this letting go of everything that had been building since they awoke this morning, and that he could provide her this safe haven, despite their confrontation just now, was all that mattered to him. After a few minutes, her breathing slowed, and as she started to calm down, she pushed away just enough to look at him. He wouldn’t have thought anything of such a small gesture before this morning, but now, just her being in his arms, looking at him this way, brought a rush of gratitude, love, and warmth. He brushed his lips across her forehead, to the corners of her eyes, and then, unable to stop himself, rubbed his entire face to hers. She seemed to understand that he was undone by it all too and sighed while nodding her approval.

He wasn’t sure how long they remained there quietly taking comfort from each other, but when she looked at him again, two things were so very clear: first, his poor Breea had been through hell, and second, to have her safely within the walls of Seagrave was a true blessing.

“I am so sorry for all that you faced today.”

Her fingers gently covered his lips. “No,” she said so softly he barely heard it. “I’m beginning to think…” Her mouth twisted and her eyes narrowed, but she wore a faraway look, lost in thought for a long moment before returning her focus to him. “What if it was always meant to happen? Some manifestation of what occurred today, I mean?”

That had his attention. “What are you saying?” he asked, sitting up straighter. This was no restorative musing on the day’s events as he’d thought.

“What if our coming together was never about us being together in the long run?” She cupped the side of his face as he slowly shook his head, still unsure precisely what she was getting at, but not liking what he was hearing. “What if this is all we have, Aidan? What if our union isn’t eternally viable?”

Her words stunned him. “ Wait …wha…why?”

“I need to work through this,” she said, shifting in his lap to straddle him. He could nearly see the thoughts churning in her head, and though he waited, she said nothing further.

After a minute of this, he could bear it no longer. “Why would you question the soundness of our union?” He asked, adjusting her slightly, but keeping her firmly in his grip.

She appeared startled by the question but then nodded slowly. “Well, I remembered something. With all this talk about family and lineage, and seeing Callum—and knowing I’d read his name before—I remembered this bible we have in my family that’s been passed down through the generations.”

He believed he knew exactly the book she was speaking of. If so, he’d seen it many times. He’d even watched Callum carefully record his and Margret’s name into it.

“It’s inscribed with all the names of those who’ve been married throughout the ages, and…our names are not in it.”

“Wait,” Aidan said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “ Slow down. Your concern is that our names are not written within the pages of a tome that would be nearly a millennium in age by the time you had your hands on it? Were all the pages even intact when you saw them?”

“It’s not a concern,” she said, somewhat affronted. “It’s a hypothesis, a theory routed in?—”

“Breea, I wasn’t making light of your premise.”

“I’m sorry, my thoughts are racing.” She shook her head. “They aren’t intact, not all of them, but hear me out. What if…if there’s something more to why things have unfolded for us the way they have?”

He could tell already, he would not like what she was about to say but gave her the breadth to express herself. In truth, he was happy just to be touching her.

“What if our names aren’t in it, aren’t included in the sacred family bible because…we don’t … because fate wasn’t fixing its mistake but was instead following a deliberate plan?”

He grunted. It was worse than he thought. “Brianna?—”

“No, please just hear me out.”

Although he did not like what she was saying, he smiled and nodded, tightening his grip as he said, “I will always hear you out.” Only a fool would dismiss her input, but despite her worries, he was beyond certain they would prevail in the end, regardless of her ruminations and where they might lead.

She told him then of everything that had led her to him, starting with her quest to retrieve her family’s sword. Aidan nodded, piecing together this new information with what he already knew from Maggie’s discovery of the sword in the first place and then Dar and Celeste’s encounters with it, after that. He took a sharp intake of breath when he realized that it had been Brianna’s grandfather who’d set the sword’s entire course in motion. He wondered about the letter Brianna said he’d left for her, one that seemed to intimate knowledge about his granddaughter’s destiny, and what it might mean, but said nothing, wanting to let her speak fully. He listened intently as Brianna spoke of her odd journey to Dunhill Manor, and her grief when she discovered that the heirloom letterboxes no longer graced the mantle there. Hearing her speak of these things, to realize they had deep and personal meaning to both of them, yet existed nearly a thousand years apart stunned him. When she told him what led to her hasty departure from her ancestral home, sharing in detail what she remembered of that last voyage with her parents—and the new information about the tragedy that she’d only just discovered from her aunt and uncle—he nearly wept for her tale and what she’d already endured.

“Och, Breea," he said, his heart breaking. “And I brought you aboard a ship.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Well, yes, but Aidan, you gave me back my sea legs, too, and happy memories I was never able to revisit before then, and so much more.”

She told him then of her stop in Carlisle, how she’d been gifted the leather satchel and dress he’d first seen her in at a town fair. The woman in the booth, who he was sure was none other than Esmeralda herself, meddler and peddler extraordinaire. Then she told him of Abersoch and even though he should have known this was of course ultimately leading there, it never occurred to him that…that?—

“You saw Lachlan, and Dar and Celeste? You supped with them,” he said, barely breathing, so overcome with emotion that he closed his eyes and let his head fall.

“I stayed with them,” she told him and began stroking his hair. “And their little boy, Griffin.”

She gave him a few moments to gather himself before continuing her story, right up to the moment she spied his medallion as if it suddenly appeared out of thin air.

“Can we just take a moment,” he said, standing and taking her with him.

She nodded readily and had just leaned into him when the door flew open. Both of their heads turned as Gwen hurried in, followed by Lady Madelyn and Anna as well as a parade of staff noisily preparing two tubs, all the while making no bones about their current displeasure with him. It was clear Gwen had failed to mention that he was back in her good graces, and so he threw a hand in the air still holding tight to Brianna.

Gwen pulled a face as she realized that it was her blunder that was the cause of his current distress, and quickly rectified the situation, alerting everyone of his restored favor. She shot him a look of apology and started to herd everyone out again. Aidan nodded his thanks as the staff bestowed him with smiles as they passed. He caught Brianna staring, her eyes widening in surprise, obviously impressed by the power Gwen wielded.

“You, too,” Gwen said, turning to him, “Out.”

“ What ?” he said, confused, and Gwen just nodded, her finger pointed to the door. He narrowed his eyes, none too pleased to have to put his conversation with Brianna on hold, but when he looked down at her, she gave him a small but reassuring smile. “I would have taken care of you myself,” he said, relieved that they were on solid footing again.

“And I would have let you,” she returned with a boldness that he’d not seen in her before—a boldness that was well-earned. Her smile broadened at the approval in his eyes. “We’ve become a good team, you and I,” she said, her hand moving from his chest up to the nape of his neck, where her fingers tangled in his hair.

Aye, indeed they had, and his heart swelled with his love for her. “Breea. We will figure this out, and prevail together as we’ve done thus far.” He leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers. “I love you. I…” he faltered as he realized how much he wanted, needed to hear the same words back. He knew to his bones that mere words mattered naught, not in the face of action. Yet after everything they’d endured, he was nearly ashamed to admit it was this that had him undone. “I?— "

“I love you, too,” she said, ending his misery, grasping his neck as if to strengthen her point.

He kissed her, then. The effect of her admission was so powerful, that it washed over and through him setting him to rights, and before letting go, said pointedly, “I’ll be back shortly,” turning to Gwen, Lady Madelyn, and Anna each in turn. When Gwen shook her head, he sighed but corrected himself. “Not so shortly, but not long either,” he stressed.

“We’ll see you at dinner,” Gwen called, her firm tone leaving no room for further interpretation.

He raised a brow as he leaned closer to Brianna. “I find her highly offensive at times,” he said, nudging his lips against hers, smiling at the chuckle he got from her.

“Aidan, out!”

And that was the end of that.