Chapter 37
L ydia felt duplicitous , but she was thoroughly enjoying Alec’s attention. Her parents would be outraged.
“Tell me more about yourself,” Alec said to her.
“Not much to tell.” Lydia had been taught since she was a young child never to lie, and yet the words came out easily. She was becoming a master of deceit. “You must already know that I’m Amanda’s nanny.”
He waited.
“And I do housecleaning. When needed. The Cooks’ house doesn’t get very dirty, other than Amanda’s messy room.” She felt her lids sliding shut. “I’m so tired.”
Mrs. Ross came over with the coffee carafe and poured Alec a cup. “If she lost consciousness, then she needs to stay awake,” she said. “I read about head injuries just last week.”
Lydia felt like falling asleep and letting her head slump against the table.
Mrs. Ross shook her shoulder. “Hey there, lassie, wake up.”
“But I’m so tired.” Lydia yawned.
Mrs. Ross spoke to Alec. “Keep her talking.”
“I want to hear about you,” Alec said to Lydia as he watched Mrs. Ross disappear into the kitchen. “Where are you from.”
“Why do you want to know so much?” Lydia asked. “If you knew how evil I am, you wouldn’t like me. Not even as a friend.”
“I doubt that very much.” His voice reflected humor. “Did you kill someone or what?”
The burden of holding in her secrets was too much. Suddenly she found herself spewing out the truth. “I’ve broken the teachings of the Ordnung —the laws Amish must obey—and the teachings of the Bible.”
“What could be so bad?”
She felt heat crawling up her neck and into her cheeks. “I’m a liar and a thief. And I pay money to a man who’s blackmailing me.”
“Who is it? What for?”
“A man caught me stealing shoes at his store, and he’s been blackmailing me ever since.” She shivered at the miscreant’s alternative to money.
“Blackmail is against the law. In some ways, it’s worse than theft.”
“Maybe so but I am guilty. And he will hold this over me for the rest of my life.” She forced herself through the layers of consciousness until she found Alec’s hazel eyes. “Perhaps I could move here and work at this hotel as a cook or a waitress and never go home.”
“I’ve found that running away from the truth is never the answer.”
She waited for him to chastise her. She deserved punishment, even if it meant punishing herself.
“I was falsely accused of cheating on a test in college and was expelled,” he said. “I was innocent, but my test disappeared. I didn’t try hard enough to rid myself of the stain of guilt. As a result, my father disowned me. I’m not even allowed inside our ancestral castle.”
“What? Your family owns a castle?”
“Yes.” He nodded without enthusiasm. “I am the first of Clan MacLeod for five hundred years to be unwelcome there.”
“I sure wish I could see it.” Lydia was fully awake now.
“I wish you could too. It’s the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland. It’s open to the public to pay property taxes. And my parents are in London.” He glanced to the window. “But we’re staying put with all this snow.”
Lydia yawned again, and her eyes slid closed.
“Promise me you’ll stay awake.” He sent her a grin. “Or I’ll ask Amanda to fetch a handful of snow to smear in your face.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” She giggled. “Would you?”