Chapter 27 #2
Alaina sniffed. “Well, I’m turnin’ over a new leaf. I’m goin’ to act like a proper lady. I’m goin’ to do better. I’ll be kinder to Ryder. I’ll be a better sister to Sophie. I’ll bide me time until I can wed Hamish. I’ll do better, ye will see.”
There was a short silence after that.
“I’m nae sure I’ll see ye do better, lass,” Megan said at last, her voice sticking in her throat. It was like she’d swallowed half-chewed bread, and now it was jammed somewhere between her mouth and her stomach, refusing to go down. It was a heavy, sickening feeling.
“I’m leavin’,” Megan explained when Alaina only looked at her blankly. “I’m sorry, I truly am, but this was always the way things were goin’ to be.”
She waited for tears from Alaina, or perhaps anger, bitterness, or blame. But Alaina only nodded, the corners of her mouth turning down.
“I’ve thought of this a lot,” she admitted. “I thought of what I might say to convince ye to stay. But I imagine that ye have already thought of it.”
“Aye. I reckon I have.”
Alaina swallowed, lifting her hand to dash away a tear. “I wish ye were nae goin’, Megan.”
“So do I,” Megan admitted.
There was a short, heavy silence, then Alaina drew in a ragged breath, patting her knees.
“Right, well, let’s nae waste our last hours together mopin’, eh?”
Megan chuckled. “If ye do ever marry a laird, lass, ye will make a fine lady of the Keep.”
“I concur. What’s that book, then?”
Megan laid her hand on Da’s diary. “It belonged to me faither. Just a diary, I think. It’s full of stories. Daily entries, musings, shoppin’ lists, doodles, things like that. Would ye like me to read ye somethin’ from it?”
Alaina brightened. “Aye, if it’s nae too private. I daenae want to pry.”
“Ye are nae pryin’. I read this just before ye came in, and it’s… it’s beautiful.”
She breathed in, picked up the book, and turned to the entry in question.
“Third of June,” she read aloud. “A wet and miserable day, considerin’ it is meant to be summer.
I hardly minded, because we stayed indoors, all of us.
I spent the day with me family—a rare treat for me these days—and the hours flew by.
I’m a lucky man, I think. Me daughters are the world’s best jewels, but me wife—ah, she is me treasure.
The greatest treasure I could ever have hoped to win.
“I’ve already heard the rumors that I have a great and wonderful treasure, stolen and buried somewhere that nobody will find it.
I’m inclined to laugh at such nonsense. Why, if I had that sort of treasure, would I not spend it?
I’m content to think of many fools engaging in pointless journeys to find Blackwood’s Treasure in years to come, not understanding the real value of what I have.
“My wife and my daughters are my treasure. Money is cold and careless, for all we need it. That’s what I’ve learned in my life. Real treasure is measured in those ye have around ye, and I am a rich man.
“I shall fill this book with stories of our lives, and when I’m old and tired, I’ll read through it again and remember the good times.”
There was silence after Megan had finished reading. The words hit her more powerfully the second time, or perhaps that was just because she had read them aloud.
“Well,” Alaina managed, her voice wobbling. “That is beautiful. He must have loved yer Ma very much.”
“Oh, aye, he did,” Megan sighed. “I never kent how lucky we were, growin’ up with parents who adored each other that much. It’s a rare thing in this world, it turns out.”
Alaina nodded. “Aye. Sophie and I were lucky there, too. Our maither loved our faither so much. That story Uncle Logan told ye—it was true.”
Megan’s skin prickled. “Yer maither threw herself from the Keep walls after yer faither died?”
“She died for love,” Alaina shrugged, a desolate look coming into her eyes.
“It was everythin’ to her. I remember the last days, how she floated around the Keep like a ghost. We were all afraid for her.
Ryder was away on a campaign, and I remember how he was hurryin’ back to the Keep as fast as he could ride, sendin’ messengers ahead every step of the way, tellin’ us that he was comin’.
But he was too late. Two days before he came home, Ma leaped from the Keep walls.
Nobody saw it happen; she was careful of that.
She wrote a letter telling us that she wanted to follow our faither and that she was happier. She asked us to forgive her.”
Megan pressed her lips together. “That’s…”
“Oh, it’s nae right,” Alaina shrugged. “She shouldnae have left Sophie and me. And Ryder, too. He was her son in all but name. I didnae ken that Uncle Logan had summoned her home—she never told us. I imagine he wanted her to remarry and to get control of us, too. Now, I cannae help but wonder if she would have climbed out of her melancholy if Uncle Logan hadnae summoned her home just then.”
“Ye cannae think of that.”
“I ken,” Alaina shrugged, still staring into the fire.
“Life is a precious thing. Ye must fight for it, as it’s a gift that willnae be given again.
I intend to fight for mine. Even so, I think I can understand how she felt, standin’ on that wall.
She said Ryder would care for us and be a better parent than she ever could be.
That wasnae true, but she kent without a doubt that Ryder would love us just as much as she did. And I suppose she was right.”
In the heavy silence that followed, a deep voice spoke at the door, making them both jump.
“Where did ye learn that story, then, lass?”
Megan glanced up, her eyes meeting Ryder’s. A flush of heat rolled through her, no matter how determined she was for it to recede.
“I learned it a long time ago,” Alaina shrugged, meeting her brother’s gaze evenly. “It doesnae matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“It doesnae matter,” she repeated softly. “Perhaps I heard ye and Ewan speakin’ of it. Perhaps I heard gossip. Perhaps I read me maither’s letter with me own eyes a few days after she… left. It’s in the past.”
“Ye are a bairn. Ye should nae have to grapple with such tragedies.”
Alaina rose to her feet, facing her brother. “I may nae be a full-grown woman, Ry, but I’m nay bairn. Nay anymore.”
He held her gaze for a long moment, then nodded.
“Nay,” he added. “Ye are nae.”
“What are ye doin’ here, Ryder?” Megan managed at last, getting shakily to her feet.
Ryder’s gaze fell on her like a weight. She forced herself to meet it, swallowing down anxiety and a traitorous fluttering in her chest.
“I came to speak with ye,” he said.
Alaina glanced quickly between them, her expression sharp and unreadable.
“I’ll take meself off, then,” she said at last. “Dawn is only a few hours away, and I want me bed. Ewan will oversee the guests leavin’. Goodnight, Ryder. Goodbye, Megan. I hope I will see ye again.”
“I hope for that too, Alaina.”
Ryder said nothing, only nodded, his gaze never leaving Megan’s face. Alaina slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her.
They were alone.