Page 6 of Her Forbidden Highlander Husband

She didn’t like it at all. She especially didn’t like the way her father had treated Liam when he’d come all this way to offer for her. The laird had hardly given him a shred of the respect Liam was due.

Liam was a kind man. He’d been wonderfully patient with her when he’d escorted her home, going out of his way to bring a smile to her face. In those days, she didn’t think she’d ever smile again.

Not just because of what had happened, but for what she faced when she arrived home. She didn’t know if her father would take her back or send her away.

Her father was going to marry her off to the Morgan heir at the end of the summer.

Evelyn paced her room a few times, thinking over her options. She didn’t know much about the Morgans, though she’d heard a rumor the laird had killed his wife and she worried they could be monsters like the McCurdys. She didn’t think her father would agree to marry her to such a clan, but he’d changed since she’d returned to him. He’d barely been able to look at her, let alone offer a kind word.

At least with Liam she knew she’d be treated kindly. And the MacKinlay clan had been friendly when she’d been there. She remembered Marian and her husband Cameron who had ended her torment by killing the McCurdys.

The laird’s wife, Kenna, and even the laird himself, had been gracious hosts during her short, traumatic stay.

Another thought flitted through her mind, a dream she hadn’t dared to dream in such a long time. The possibility took her breath away and helped make her decision.

She looked down to see the few things she’d collected from her room to take with her before she’d even finalized her plan. Her heart must’ve decided before her mind had a chance to catch up.

Tossing a few gowns and the only thing she had of value—her mother’s necklace—into a bag, she rushed out of her room. Checking the corridor, she practically ran out of the keep toward the stables. She needed to hurry before Liam left without her.

She’d been waiting for an opportunity to avoid marrying the Morgan heir. It was a pity she couldn’t avoid marriage entirely, but at least she had a choice of husband.

And she chose Liam MacKinlay.

…

In the stable, Liam kicked the stall door, startling a few horses with his outburst. Their disgruntled whinnies and snorts had him apologizing to the beasts he’d upset.

It wasn’t that he’d expected anything but another rejection; however, his heart was still reeling with disappointment and loss. He’d dreamed of a life with Evelyn Stewart as his wife. But, as it was with the dreams he’d had as a lad, it wasn’t to be.

He often wondered what he’d done to be punished so. And from the time he’d heard the stories of God’s wrath he’d tried to atone for whatever sin he still paid for. Being a warrior piled on the debt with the lives he’d taken, but he hoped killing to protect his clan was redeemed in some way.

“What did I do?” Liam’s question was for God, but he spoke it to the white mare that had come to stare at him accusingly over her stall door. She didn’t have an answer. Instead, she lifted her head a few times and snorted before pulling back inside to leave him alone once more.

Alone.

It seemed he’d been alone all his life. He had snippets of memories from a life he didn’t know, a faceless man who’d lifted him on his shoulders. An older woman who fell asleep in the woods and didn’t wake up when he called for her.

As a boy, he’d spent a lot of time on the battlements watching for his parents to come for him. He didn’t know what direction they’d come from so he wore himself out moving from one end of the castle to the other. Occasionally, he’d fall asleep and Roderick, the old laird and Lachlan’s father would come gather him up and carry him to the hall or the solar to sleep.

No one ever came for him.

He’d made sure never to cause a fuss or a bit of trouble so he wouldn’t be turned out of Dunardry. While he’d known he didn’t belong, it was the only home he’d ever had.

“I must’ve done some terrible sin in another life to deserve all the trials of this one.” He held out a bit of apple to the mare he’d insulted and thought maybe she forgave him.

His own stomach growled, and he took a bite of the apple. The laird had offered him a meal, but he couldn’t think of eating in the hall. What if he saw Evelyn? He didn’t think he’d be able to stand it.

“Liam?”

He turned to see her standing before him as if he’d conjured her with his thoughts. His heart picked up and his stomach twisted. It was an unsettling feeling, one he felt each time he thought of her.

“Evelyn.”

“Are you leaving already?” she asked.

“I—yes. My meeting with your father didn’t go as expected. Or rather, it went as expected, but I had been hoping for a different outcome.” He couldn’t stop babbling. Where was his easy charm that had the maids at Dunardry eager to drag him off behind the kitchens? “Yes, I’m leaving.”

She adjusted a cloth bag on her shoulder. It looked full to bursting. He reached for it, wanting to ease her struggle if only for a short time. It was a small thing he could offer during their last moments. She waved his gesture away and repositioned the bag.