Chapter Twenty-One
Emer knew what was coming when Alannah followed her back to the kitchen. She managed to pick up a sprig of rosemary before her sister started in.
“Talk,” Alannah demanded. “When I left here that man couldn’t stand to be in the same room as you, and you seemed to feel much the same. And now you’re what? Bedding him?”
“Not exactly.” Emer couldn’t keep the grin off her face.
Alannah flopped dramatically onto the counter. “Emer. I’m going to need more than that.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell her sister everything—of course she did.
That was how they’d always been. But Emer struggled to find an explanation that would both satisfy her sister’s understandable curiosity and keep Broccan’s personal struggles out of it.
She doubted very much he’d want her telling Alannah all the things he’d shared with her.
“We discovered that we had more in common than I thought,” she offered. “I had to order him about initially, just as you and Conan suggested. But Eoghan came by the new guesting house and Broccan about killed him. After that he took his post more seriously.”
The mirth fled her sister’s features. “Eoghan came by?” She sounded as though she, too, was prepared to do the man bodily harm. “I thought Conan dealt with him.”
Emer shrugged. “I imagine he saw you lot leave and thought it an opportunity.”
“Just the one time?”
“Aye,” Emer laughed. “And I doubt he’ll make that mistake again. Broccan threw him in the river.”
Alannah’s eyes shot wide. “He did not!”
“That’s what I said!”
They laughed over Eoghan’s well-deserved lesson for a while, Emer going back to her rosemary and Alannah telling her all about their journey through the north of Connachta.
“So you didn’t get to use your sword at all?” Emer asked, disappointed on her sister’s behalf. “You practiced so much.”
“I’m just as upset as you are, trust me. That’s why I want to go with them again. Well that, and I really would love to be there when they find the boys.”
“Something tells me that our brothers might take exception to you calling them boys after six years as warriors.”
“They’ll always be ‘the boys’ to me,” Alannah’s voice held a note of melancholy that Emer felt deep in her chest. “Just like I’m certain we’ll always be ‘the girls’ to them.”
“Why is it so dangerous for you to go along?” Emer hadn’t understood that bit. “Aren’t they just meeting with another king?”
“They don’t trust him. You know Conan’s brother, Diarmid?” She turned and pointed at a man who positively exuded charm with a grin that Emer thought might be permanent. “Aodh captured his wife after burning her village to the ground. That’s how they met—Brian sent the Fianna to rescue her.”
“How awful!” Emer couldn’t imagine such a thing, being captured by a man after he attacked your family and friends. She shivered at the thought. “Was she alright? He didn’t hurt her?”
Alannah nodded. “Aye, she was unharmed, but the Fianna don’t trust him to treat with them in peace. They don’t have the best history.”
So it would seem. Emer finished up with the rosemary and grabbed her parsley next. Behind her sister, several of the Fianna had left the room, including Broccan. Emer hoped Illadan let him stay with the Fianna, though she was more than prepared to speak on his behalf should it prove necessary.
“Cara lives in Cenn Cora now,” Alannah said at length.
“Then you’ll get to see her when you go,” Emer replied.
They’d already discussed Alannah’s plans to move there with Conan.
Before Broccan, they’d agreed that Alannah would live in Cenn Cora with Conan while he was there and visit with Emer in Ath Luain while he was away on missions.
Emer swallowed. Broccan hadn’t mentioned anything to her about joining him there, but the thought had crossed her mind.
The question was, had it crossed his?
“Will you be coming with me?”
Alannah’s question hung between them.
Emer set down the knife she’d been using to chop the parsley, giving her sister her full attention. “If only I knew.”
Alannah’s bright blue eyes softened, her brows knitting. “Do you want to?”
“I don’t want to leave Broccan.” She knew that much without question. “But I also don’t want to leave the Hart’s Rest. And what of our brothers? If they return only for us both to leave?”
“Emer.” Alannah grabbed her hands. “You do realize there’s a very good chance they’re not coming back, don’t you?”
Emer sighed, squeezing Alannah’s hands. “Of course I do. But I don’t want to plan on it.”
Alannah nodded. “So you haven’t spoken with Broccan at all about your future? Even though he’s leaving in less than a fortnight?”
“It took us most of the time you were gone to sort things out this much,” Emer told her. “I hoped to wait a few more days before pressing him on it.”
“I don’t think you have a few more days.”
Before Emer could respond to that unhelpful observation, Conan walked in and called Alannah over.
“Don’t worry,” her sister assured her. “I’ll see if Conan has any ideas. We’ll get this sorted out before they leave.”
Emer smiled at Alannah. Her sister had such boundless confidence, it was a wonder she hadn’t convinced the men to let her journey with them again. If anyone could help her figure out a solution, it was Alannah.
*
Alannah jumped up and down, clapping her hands in a manner that reminded Broccan of Emer. He saw the relation clearly now. “Are you finished?” he grumbled.
“She’s going to be so happy,” Alannah gushed.
He certainly hoped so. His chest collapsed like a sandy beach at high tide every time he thought of leaving her behind in Ath Luain. Broccan wasn’t ready to consider marrying anyone just yet, but he also wasn’t prepared to live without Emer. He only hoped she’d understand.
“And you’re sure you can manage the meal without her?”
Alannah waved away his question. “Of course. Folk will complain, but they’re going to have to get used to meals without her cooking, anyway.”
“Not a word to her about it,” Broccan warned. “I want it to be a surprise.”
The feisty brunette nodded her understanding, hurrying off to get started on her mission. Conan stared at him like he was looking at a ghost. Broccan swore the man looked about to cry.
“No.” He pointed a stern finger at his friend.
“It’s just good to see you so happy,” Conan defended. “You deserve this.”
“I don’t,” Broccan corrected him. Not yet, anyway, but he would work the rest of his life to deserve someone so wonderful as Emer. “That woman’s too good for me and you know it.”
Conan placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Normally, I’d agree with you for humor’s sake. But she’s not, Broccan. You’re allowed to be happy. Enjoy it.”
The following afternoon, Illadan and Cormac stole Emer away under the guise of needing to learn more about her brothers and Alannah being busy. Broccan could only imagine the fight she put up over missing her dinner preparations, but he needed her out of the kitchen.
Alannah, Conan, and Broccan shared the small kitchen space in her absence.
Alannah and Conan did their best to prepare the dinner Emer would normally serve their guests.
Broccan fumbled his way through cooking dinner for Emer, drawing on the handful of days he’d helped her in the kitchen for guidance.
By the time Emer returned, he’d managed to throw together something vaguely resembling one of her meals.
She burst through the open doorway, lighting up the entire room, with Illadan and Cormac flanking her. The moment she spied the three of them in the kitchen, her brows shot up. “What’s going on?” she asked, hurrying over and watching as Alannah finished chopping herbs to top the stew she’d made.
“You’re taking the night off,” Broccan answered, grabbing the basket of food he’d packed and taking her hand.
“I am?” She looked from him to Conan and then Alannah. “And you can manage? You cooked dinner?”
“It’s all taken care of,” Alannah assured her with a smile. “Now get out of here before the customers start asking questions.”
Emer practically skipped all the way to the river, barely able to contain herself. Broccan hoped that over time even an ounce of her joy would rub off on him, that he would occasionally see the world the way she did. When Emer spied the little fishing boat tied off near the ford, she beamed at him.
He timed it perfectly, reaching the river with enough time to settle into the boat before the sun set.
“As much as I enjoyed our swim, this is much nearer to my idea of fun,” she laughed, taking his offered hand as she climbed into the boat.
They ate the dinner he made as the sun set, watching the splashes of color light up the sky before the day disappeared entirely. As night took up its post and the stars came out, they lay down in the boat, Emer tucked into his arms right where she belonged.
This was it. Broccan steeled himself for the unknown, for that was the only way he could describe every moment after this one.
He didn’t know how to start over. He didn’t know how any of this was supposed to go.
But with Emer, he was ready to try. For Emer, Broccan would do anything, even if it scared him to death.
“You said your parents came out under the stars to talk about their future,” he ventured softly. “I hoped to do the same.”
He heard her breath hitch, felt her turn in his arms to look up at him. With more courage than he felt at the moment, he met her gaze. “When we return, will you come back to Cenn Cora with me?”