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Highland Hearts
Eva Maria Hamilton


BACK FOR HIS BRIDELogan McAllister survived years of indentured servitude in America to reach this moment. Now he’s returned to Scotland, ready to redeem the secret promise from Sheena Montgomery’s father—that five years as a servant would earn him Sheena’s hand in marriage. But when he arrives home, he learns that Sheena’s father has died, his contract has been lost…and Sheena is engaged to another man.Sheena has spent the past five years trying to forget Logan, the man who abandoned her with no explanation. She won’t listen to his protests that he loves her—has always loved her. It’ll take more than empty promises to win her back…and to prove that his highland heart is hers forever.










“I am well aware of what Glasgow is like, Mr. McAllistair, and I am sure I will be given opportunity to come and go as I please.”

Logan took her hand and slid it through his arm, keeping his hand over hers as they walked to the inn. Nothing out of the ordinary escorting a lady like this. He truly longed to make her more than a friend. Having her to hold pulled at his heart.

How would he watch her with another man? He tightened his grip on her arm, as if he could stop her from leaving him. Sheena was betrothed to Mr. Mackenzie; that fact never left his thoughts. Betrothals equaled marriage. Only the formalities remained. How could God’s plan for them come to this? Logan stopped, making Sheena stumble backward a bit.

“Sheena.” Logan looked at her with an intensity he felt surge from his core. “You cannot marry Mr. Mackenzie.”




About the Author


EVA MARIA HAMILTON found true love online. She has been married for over twelve years and has a beautiful daughter. An enthusiast for lifelong learning, Eva’s studies span diverse fields of academia in both Canada and the United States. With a diploma in human resources management, a bachelor of arts degree in psychology, an honors bachelor of arts degree in history, and a master of science in education, Eva realized her studies focused on one thing: the human condition. What better way to share this knowledge of and passion for humanity than by writing about it? Part of a close and loving family, Eva would like to embrace her readers as friends. With computers playing such an important part in Eva’s life, you’re invited to connect with her on her website at www.EvaMariaHamilton.com.


Highland Hearts

Eva Maria Hamilton


















www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


I dedicate this book to my immediate and extended family, especially my mother-in-law, Josie, father-in-law, Joe, sister-in-law, Yvonne and the Tomasevic and Perri families, with a special thanks to my husband, Jason, daughter, Michelina, parents, Lina and Bob, brother, Bill, and grandmother Angelina for all their help, encouragement and support writing this book.




Acknowledgments


Thanks to the Toronto Public Library for hosting Deborah Cooke as their Romance Writer in Residence extraordinaire. Deborah, thank you. And thanks to Missy Tippens who introduced me to the lovely F.A.I.T.H. Girls and talented writers and friends of Seekerville. Your camaraderie, along with friends at Harlequin.com are invaluable. To my wonderful editor, Emily Rodmell, and everyone in the Love Inspired family at Harlequin, including Tina James and Krista Stroever, you have my gratitude. Plus a special thanks to Carolyn Graziani and everyone in the art department, including Sam Montesano, for creating a beautiful cover. And to God, whom I thank daily for all my blessings, thank you for always filling my life with such outstanding people.


My lover spoke and said to me, Arise my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See!

The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come. The cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.

—Song of Solomon 2:10–13




Chapter One


Callander, Scotland 1748

Sheena Montgomery stood completely still at the top of Bracklinn Falls. The sound of rushing water filled the gorge. The rock underfoot felt hard and cold, a mirror image of her heart.

Alone, she looked past the tip of her toes dangling dangerously over the edge of the steep cliff. Several yards down the water crashed against the soft pudding stone, wearing it away. With all its fury, the water fought, eking out a way through the world. Pushing forward, not caring what it hurt in its path.

“Sheena?” a man’s voice leapt out of the silence behind her, making Sheena whirl around so fast she lost her footing. In shock, she waved her arms frantically trying to regain her balance.

The man raced forward. His strong arms pulled her away from a certain death. “There now, I’ve got you. You’re all right.”

Sheena stood staring at the man’s face, his raggedly long brown hair and beard unfamiliar to her. But his eyes, those deep brown, soul-piercing eyes. Unforgettable.

Sheena’s voice caught in her throat for a fleeting moment. “Logan?” Her eyes surely fooled her. She envisioned herself succumbing to her father’s mental illness. Because Logan McAllister had left Scotland five years ago. He couldn’t be here. She never thought she would see him again.

“I hoped to find you here, lassie.” Sheena just looked at Logan. In all the years he’d lived in the Americas, he’d never sent word. Not one letter saying he was still alive.

But she wasn’t losing her mind and wouldn’t die the same way her father had this past autumn. Logan’s arms cradled her against his warm chest. Her senses heightened. His smell, his touch, his very being, raced through her with dizzying speed. She stared at his lips, remembering their warmth.

“In our special place,” he told her, and Sheena couldn’t deny the meaning this place held for them. She remembered only too well all the times they had come here hand in hand, talking about the day they would wed.

Since the day he’d left, she’d hiked miles up this crag. Like a pilgrimage site, it became a shrine to their relationship. A place where she felt close to him again, like being in his presence, even though he was in another country.

But weeks stretched into months and then years and Sheena gave up on her silly girlhood dream, forced to acknowledge that Logan never meant to ever come back to Scotland. And yet, he stood in front of her now, grinning as if no time had passed and nothing had changed. Anger welled up in Sheena.

“Mr. McAllister.” She pulled away from him. She couldn’t say his given name as she always had before—he stood before her now almost as a stranger. Calling him Logan would show closeness, something she could no longer attest to. Besides, she would never give him the satisfaction of knowing how much she had pined for him during his absence or how much he had hurt her when he chose to leave.

He apparently didn’t agree with her logic. “We’re a little past formalities, aren’t we, lassie?” Logan’s lips formed a wry smile under his thick beard. A spark lit up the light golden flecks in the brown eyes Sheena had once adored.

“Nay, Mr. McAllister. I don’t think so.” A gust of wind sent Sheena’s auburn hair into an annoying flurry that blocked her vision. She raised her hands quickly to get control of it.

“You are a sight for sore eyes.” Logan’s wry smile turned into a full grin. “Five years left you even more beautiful.”

“Five years,” Sheena repeated, her irritation erupting, as she pulled roughly on her unruly locks to keep them in place.

“I still remembered how to get up to our waterfall.” Sheena furrowed her brow at Logan’s words, but Logan didn’t seem to acknowledge her anger. “It’s just as I remember.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She didn’t move, hardly dared to breathe as she watched him to see if he did indeed look just as she remembered him.

He still wore the same socks that didn’t slouch an inch lower than his knees where green ribbons held them up, but instead of his kilt he now wore brown breeches. The color had faded somewhat, and they looked as well-worn as his brown shoes.

His buttoned-up brown vest could do with some mending, not to mention how much scrubbing the collar of his white shirt needed.

Maybe in another time and place she would have offered to do such work. But not now. Not as she watched him draw in another seemingly peaceful breath. The pleasure he derived from his surroundings radiated from him and it infuriated Sheena all the more. Especially his apparent oblivion to her feelings.

“That’s wonderful that your memory didn’t fail you,” Sheena said in an uncharacteristically sarcastic tone. “But this waterfall is one of the only things left that didn’t change in your absence.”

Logan’s eyes opened and she looked directly into them only to hear, “God has the ability to change everything, lassie, and yet keep it the same.”

“Maybe in your world, but surely not in mine.” Since Logan left, not one single thing in Sheena’s life had remained the same. “Let’s start with the year you left Scotland, Logan. In 1743 the military built a road right through Callander, just in case they needed to use it to pacify any Highlanders who sought to rebel.” And in 1746 when the Jacobites did rebel, a bloodbath ensued.

This example stood as only one of many things that had changed in Sheena’s life over the past five years.

But surely Logan knew about this. It was only Sheena he didn’t know anything about anymore. He had made it very clear by his absence that he could live without her.

“Besides all this political nonsense, what else has changed in your life? From where I stand, everything looks the same to me as it did in the past.”

“Logan, you don’t understand. Everything has changed. The past is just that and I live in the present.” She bent down and snatched up her black shoes.

“And what of that?” Logan stepped closer, giving Sheena no recourse. She couldn’t back away from him, unless she wanted to meet her Maker. And as tough as life got, she would never succumb to that.

Sheena pushed her way around Logan. “I am sure the details of my life are of no interest to you.”

“Let me be the judge of that, lassie.” Logan followed her away from the edge of the waterfall to a rock she leaned against for support to put on her shoes.

She scowled at him as she walked away, jutting her chin high into the air. “Do as you wish, Logan. You always do anyway.” Her underlying contempt for him and his actions snapped through the chilly air. She never wanted him to leave Scotland, but he had done so anyway.

“And you don’t?” Logan kept up, even with her brisk pace.

“We both know that a man is given that privilege, while a woman is not.”

“Since when have you not lived and breathed for yourself?”

“Since you left.” Sheena stopped dead and faced him.

“Then you must tell me what happened to you in the past five years, lassie, so we can reverse it.”

“I already told you, it no longer matters. Events are set in motion. Forces beyond my control and even yours, propel me toward a future that no longer resembles the past.” Sheena held fast to her skirts and walked on.

“Sheena.” Her even stride faltered at the sound of her name coming from his lips. “Whatever has happened can be undone. Nothing is ever final, not even death.” He came up beside her again. “I am here now. We can fix this.”

But Sheena couldn’t argue any longer. Being livid, she didn’t trust what would come out of her mouth. She knew cementing her new path in life after he left meant she couldn’t turn back time now. If she felt gracious, she could thank God he lived to tell of his journey, but she wouldn’t listen to his tales.

It hurt too much seeing him.

“My life is no longer any concern of yours.” Tears welled in Sheena’s eyes. If only he’d loved her enough to remain in Scotland. But he ignored all her pleading. Did what he wanted. Left. And now that he had returned, nothing remained the same.

“You are wrong. It is. It always has been and it always will be.” Logan reached out for her hand, but she pulled away.

“Nay.” Sheena turned swiftly. “Nay, it isn’t.” She ran from him.

Logan could see over the whole village of Callander with his feet planted on the crag. He knew exactly which path Sheena was taking to her house, but he couldn’t follow her.

He sighed. He wanted the separation from Sheena to end. Already spending five years away tortured him enough. But evidently, she needed time to get used to the idea that he had returned. That took him completely by surprise.

He’d dreamed about his homecoming every day since the day he left the Highlands. He’d amassed so many versions of their reunion and yet none of them played out like this. In his dreams, Sheena ran to him, wrapped her arms around him and professed her undying love. Somehow, he needed to figure out a way to make her react like that.

If only he could tell her why he’d left Scotland five years ago. But he couldn’t. To do so would go against her father and the secrecy he’d sworn Logan to uphold.

And Logan knew, if he breathed a word to Sheena about what had transpired five years ago before his departure, her father would never allow Logan to marry her. Not then. And not now. Not ever. And Logan couldn’t let that happen.

So he never told Sheena he’d met with her father to ask his permission to marry her. And he never told Sheena that her father had demanded that Logan prove his worthiness to marry her by risking his life to accept an indenturement in the Americas. Nor did she know that as a measure of good faith, her father had given Logan a Montgomery family heirloom. It was a wooden box with leaves carved all over it that housed a letter her father had written, telling Logan he could marry Sheena after he made the treacherous voyage back to Scotland.

But tearing himself away from Sheena to accept his indenturement in the Americas had ripped Logan apart. The shock and betrayal in her darkened amber eyes had agonized him. Hearing her plead with him to stay, seeing her tears, watching her anger develop had pained him. But he couldn’t see another option. Not when he had been dirt-poor and had nothing to offer her besides his love.

He had hoped they would wed. And yet there he had stood at the top of their waterfall, their most special place, telling her he would leave Scotland for an indenturement in the Americas.

He knew it didn’t make any sense to her. He knew he’d hurt her. He only prayed the situation didn’t turn into something irreparable. He would go and talk to her father right after he made amends with Sheena and, of course, after he dug up that wooden box containing the hidden letter he kept to remind her father of the promise he’d made.

However upset Sheena was now, after his explanation she would know he’d never meant to hurt her. She would understand that everything he’d done he’d done to secure their future together. She would forgive him. At least he prayed it would be so.

Turning his attention toward the countryside where he grew up, he walked down the treeless crag, to the barren land beneath, with his life’s meager belongings hardly filling the slim bag he flung over his shoulder.

Logan’s shoes sank into the damp earth as he walked home, their wet sound his only accompaniment. Not even a bird greeted him. If only his reunion with Sheena had turned out differently, with her love the same as it had been their whole lives. Maybe then the five years he’d spent away would seem like nothing more than a bad dream. But he couldn’t ignore or wish away the reality of the situation. She despised him for leaving. And his return marked the beginning of atonement, rather than triumph.

Sheena came down the crag like a woman running from an attacking poisonous adder snake. Gasping for breath, she leaned against a rock at the edge of the village to steady herself. Glancing back up the crag, she saw nothing but the steep cliff. Logan hadn’t followed her.

The tears she ran from stormed out. She fell to her knees in the soggy moss, not caring when the cold wetness soaked through her skirts. Logan’s unexpected homecoming caused too much pain. He thought they could just pick up from where they’d left off five years ago. Not possible.

Reliving all the hurt he’d caused her, she cried until she completely exhausted herself and couldn’t shed another tear. Taking a long, deep breath, she turned her face up toward heaven and wiped her tear-streaked cheeks with her hands. Standing slowly, she forced her mind to focus on the here and now. The supper hour loomed, and her attendance would be mandatory. Duty and obligations beckoned her. As they always seemed to do.

After shaking her green, sodden outer skirt several times, she gave up. The chances of her drying those skirts before reaching home stood as high as the skirts themselves coming to life and saving her from her impending engagement. An impossibility.

Walking as if an executioner awaited her arrival, she spied her white two-story house far too soon. Smoke wafted up from the chimneys on opposite ends of the house, signaling the use of all the fireplaces therein. The numerous windows on each floor winked at her in the sunlight, mocking her foul mood.

Sheena stopped outside the main entrance and took another deep breath. The walk home had returned her breathing to normal, but her mind remained in turmoil with every thought of Logan. She needed to stop thinking about him. To compose herself.

She hesitated longer, not wanting to go in. She didn’t know if she could maintain her composure. Although, she reasoned, no one would see the inner workings of her mind if she just kept her expression calm. Not that she would get any sympathy anyway. That, she knew only too well.

Moving forward, she shoved Logan out of her mind. And not just for supper. She needed to push him out of her life for good. Her future didn’t include him.

She thrust the door open. “Well, it’s about time,” her aunt Jean shouted, even before Sheena closed the rest of the world out.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Jean,” Sheena called automatically as she quickly took off her dark blue woolen shawl. She forced one foot in front of the other, propelling herself to the drawing room.

“Where have you been for this long?” Jean continued.

“No doubt out roaming the countryside,” Sheena’s mother piped up in her usual tone of resentment, not even bothering to look up from her embroidery.

Sheena hastened over to her mother’s chair. “I’m sorry, Mother.” She kissed Tavia on the cheek.

“And what about your aunt? Do I not deserve the same respect as …”

“Aye,” Sheena interrupted Jean’s tirade, kissing the woman’s cheek as well, then crossing the room to sit close to the fire, hoping her skirts would dry before anyone noticed.

The chair’s hearth location served an extra purpose in keeping her at a more guarded distance from them. Dealing pleasantly with the pair of sisters on a good day took every ounce of concentration. After seeing Logan mere moments before, Sheena highly doubted she was up to the task today.

If only she could run straight upstairs to her bedroom, but what a verbal lashing she would receive for behaving in such a way. Best to try and sit quietly until supper got served momentarily, and then she could spend the evening alone, as she did every night.

“Why do you persist in going out in the countryside, child? What a filthy place,” Jean said, scrunching her face as she took in Sheena’s green skirt. “Just look at yourself.” Sheena tried laying her hands over her knees, but she couldn’t cover the stains taking hold of the woolen fibers. Just as she couldn’t hide from herself the scar Logan had stained onto her heart.

And to her annoyance, Tavia picked that moment to feign interest and look up from her needlework. “Sheena, do you know how long it’s going to take the maid to scrub that out of your skirt?”

“I can do it myself, Mother.”

“I know that,” her mother clucked her tongue. “But you will not. You cannot behave like a servant. How many times do I have to tell you that?” Tavia wagged the needle at her. “And now the maid must waste unnecessary time on your clothes, when she could be doing other, more important chores.”

Her mother always insisted on Sheena acting like a lady and keeping company with her own wealthier landowning class, even though no one else in the region did and Sheena didn’t even hold the title of Lady. Nevertheless, Tavia had always hated Sheena’s friendships with Logan and his brother’s sister-in-law, Cait. Even when they played as mere children. And it all came down to money. Logan and Cait lived a poor life in the countryside, farming the land. Thus, Tavia considered them useless, due to their inability to help raise Sheena in society. A goal Tavia now neared fulfilling.

And Sheena remembered well enough her mother harboring ill thoughts toward Logan for constantly “being about” as she put it. But Sheena and Logan always remained careful never to let her mother, or anyone else for that matter, know how much more than just friends they had become. Her mother would never stand for such a match and Logan and Sheena agreed to wait for the perfect time to break the news that they loved each other. Although Sheena knew only too well now that the time had never come. And never would.

Logan had wanted to do everything properly back then. He never asked Sheena to marry him, because he said he must ask her father first. But instead of following their plan and meeting with her father, Logan had met with Sheena and told her he’d accepted an indenturement in the Americas and would come home in three years, so instead of a wedding band, Sheena received a green moss agate stone to remember Logan by before he boarded a ship and sailed away.

Sheena’s head had spun for days trying to understand why Logan hadn’t followed their plan to ask her father for her hand. If Logan had, they would already live as husband and wife now. But it didn’t matter. Not now that she had turned twenty-three and Logan twenty-four. It was all so very long ago. When she still believed in fairy tales and love and Logan with all his promises.

Now, however, she knew better. She wore the scar Logan etched onto her heart. But try as she might to throw away that green moss agate stone, she never could. She’d convinced herself she didn’t hold on to it as a reminder of him, rather for the protection people believed the stone brought to the carrier.

Sheena looked to Jean, knowing she needed to clear her thoughts, and she couldn’t endure another lecture from her mother right now. The shock of seeing Logan had exhausted her.

She couldn’t love Logan now. And not just because she didn’t trust him anymore. Her future didn’t include him. He’d left and hadn’t even returned as he promised after three years. For all she knew he’d married another woman during his time away. He’d forfeited all rights to be included in her future plans and that is exactly what happened.

“Aunt Jean.” Sheena got her attention. “Walking in the countryside is very good exercise. You should try it, at least once.” Jean’s facial expression gave every indication Sheena wouldn’t persuade her.

“Nothing good ever comes from the countryside, child. Oh, just thinking about some of the people who live out there makes me want to call for my smelling salts.” Tavia laughed at her sister’s theatrics before turning her eyes back down to admire her handiwork. But Sheena only half listened. She succeeded in getting Jean on another tangent, but the fight within her own mind raged.

“Just take that terrible MacDonald boy who is always spitting. Why didn’t his parents teach him any manners? And just yesterday, I ventured as far as the village and had the misfortune of running into that Murray woman and she just about talked my ear off. Don’t people know when they’ve said enough?” Jean looked to her sister for confirmation, and began again when she met with her sister’s acceptance. “Then there was that McAllister fellow. Remember him? Terrible lad. Good for nothing.” Sheena flinched, her insides tense. Why did her aunt have to bring up his name? All she wanted to do right now was forget about him.

“Now, Jean.” Tavia laughed. “Even I would say that’s not very charitable.”

“Maybe not, but true nonetheless.” She held her embroidery tight in her hands, but from what Sheena could see, her work didn’t possess many new stitches since this morning. “I said good riddance to him and I will say the same to all the rest of the poor Highlanders who get cleared out of Scotland.”

“Then, Aunt Jean, you may have to add a welcome home when they return, as well.” Sheena couldn’t bring herself to say Logan’s name, but she would defend her fellow clansmen. Poor or not, they were her brethren.

“Really? That lad made it home?” Jean scoffed, raising her eyebrows.

“He is well past the age of being referred to as a lad. But aye, he returned.”

Sheena held her temper in check as her aunt spewed forth her distaste of Highlanders. “Why on earth would he come back? There is nothing for his kind here. Just goes to prove my point about those people. No sense. Do you know how much it costs to travel by sea? No wonder his people are so poor. They have no idea how to make or save money. Dreadful waste. It is like a different world up here in the Highlands. I so miss Glasgow. And civilization.”

The sound of a servant entering the room diverted their attention. “Supper will be served now,” the parlor maid said as she curtsied awkwardly, fleeing the room the second her words escaped her lips. Sheena didn’t blame Cait for rushing away—she only wished she could, as well.

“See what I mean.” Jean pinned her needle into the cloth. “You must be thankful your fate is tied to a notable house Sheena. You will only have to suffer these people as your servants. You shall be forever grateful to me for that, child.” Jean laid her embroidery aside and rose with an air of dignity to lead the way to supper. Sheena didn’t argue. Her aunt wouldn’t understand why Sheena considered Cait her best friend.

“Aye, Jean, we are very thankful to you and Kyle for finding such a suitable match for Sheena.” Tavia took her sister’s arm, creating a wall in front of Sheena that made her unable to sidestep them. “Arranging your betrothal to Ian Mackenzie was the best thing your uncle and aunt could have done for you Sheena. Ian is the son of one of the richest tobacco lords in Glasgow—you will be set up in the nicest house …”

“Estate,” Jean corrected her.

“Aye, estate.” Tavia grinned. “And Sheena, you will have all the finest things. You will want for nothing.”

Maybe one day Sheena would feel gratitude for Jean and Tavia’s interference into her life, but not today. Not after seeing Logan at their waterfall. And surely not after he stirred all those old emotions she’d painstakingly buried inside the locked chambers of her heart.

Yet with her dowry bestowed upon Ian, to whom did that heart belong?




Chapter Two


Weary from his long journey home and his ensuing argument with Sheena, Logan finally smiled as the thatched roofs from huts came into view ahead of him. His family didn’t even know he walked these moors. Logan almost laughed aloud; his surprise appearance would surely bring rejoicing. And he could use some of that.

“Uncle Logan?” A lad with the same brown eyes and hair as Logan jumped down from a rock after a moment’s hesitation.

“Aye.” Logan waved, his heart swelling.

“Uncle Logan.” Ewan’s shriek sailed across the moor. Logan dropped his bag and scooped up his ten-year-old nephew. “Uncle Logan, you’re home.”

“Aye.” Logan laughed, noticing how much his nephew had changed in five years.

“As I live and breathe.” Nessia stood before them wearing the same married-woman’s kertch upon her head and looking nearly the same at twenty-seven as she had at twenty-two when Logan had last seen her. “You’ve come home.” She embraced Logan. “Angus is out back. Come, you have to see your brother.” Nessia grabbed Logan’s hand and rushed him around their one-room dwelling.

Ewan ran ahead of them. “Da, Uncle Logan has come home.”

“Logan?” Angus rose slowly from the mucky soil he farmed, even though at age twenty-eight he could no doubt easily jump to his feet. Angus’s apparent shock as Logan approached changed into a facial expression that mirrored Logan’s thoughts. It had been too long; coming home felt right. “I don’t believe it. This is a great day.” Angus hugged him. “Praise the Lord Almighty.”

“You must be famished, Logan. Come inside. I’ll get you something to eat.” Nessia ushered them around to the sole entrance at the front of the hut.

The walls, nearly three feet deep, held an open wooden door swinging in welcome. Logan stepped through, seeing only black as his eyes adjusted to the dimness. Even though the spring sun shone at seven at night and wouldn’t go down for a couple more hours, the one small window in the dwelling didn’t seem keen to let in the sunshine.

“Duncan, this is your uncle Logan.” Angus knelt down on the earthen floor to his youngest son’s eye level. “You were just a wee lad when he left.”

“This is the brother you always talk about?” Barefoot, Duncan eyed Logan and Angus nodded.

Logan didn’t like that his nephew didn’t remember him. Wee Duncan wouldn’t even recognize him if they walked right past one another. But what did he expect? A lot had happened in five years. Only a fool would think it a short time. Look at all he’d missed.

He definitely missed taking care of Sheena. And he understood her anger toward him. But he didn’t share it. Not given what her father had forced him to do. He had needed to go to the Americas to secure their future.

He’d obeyed her father and taken the only step he could that would allow Sheena to one day become his wife. And he would never regret that. He returned worthy to wed her. But he also accomplished a lot more than what he’d set out to do—he’d amassed the means to offer her a decent life, something he couldn’t have done five years ago.

But what if she wouldn’t accept him now? Even after he explained. Without her … Nay. God saw him home safe and for that he should celebrate. He’d win Sheena’s love back. With God’s help. Somehow.

Logan held out his hand and Duncan took it. “You look like my da when he’s ill and doesn’t trim his beard and moustache for a very, very long time.” Duncan’s innocence made the room erupt in laughter. Despite the age gap of two years, eight-year-old Duncan could be mistaken for Ewan’s twin. McAllister men evidently shared a striking resemblance.

“Come, sit.” Nessia ladled broth into a wooden bowl from a black cauldron over an open flame. “Eat.” She put a wooden spoon in the bowl and handed it to Logan.

He didn’t need to be told twice. “Thanks. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten a good meal.” His compliment produced a grin from Nessia before she turned to dish out the lads’ meals. “Is there cow’s meat in this?” Logan knew his clansmen hardly ever ate meat.

“We lost another cow a couple days ago.” Angus downed his drink from a large pewter tankard before refilling it and handing it to Logan. Logan smiled. One drinking vessel for the whole household. Could his family cope with a richer life outside Scotland?

“So tell us everything.” Angus leaned toward Logan.

“Let him eat first, Angus,” Nessia chaffed. “He’s starving.”

“All right, but I’m excited. I want to hear all about the Americas.”

“You’d like it, Angus,” Logan said. But he didn’t elaborate after receiving a stark look of warning from Nessia.

He wanted to tell Angus everything though. His travels had opened his eyes to the larger world. Scotland lagged behind in many ways. He could benefit his brethren by sharing all he learned. Like telling them to end this nonsense of fearing trees and stop digging them up as soon as wealthier men planted them.

The farmers here would never produce good crops until they learned to block the wind and let trees and other plants with deep roots dry up the soil. He wished he could show them. The Americas grew acres of trees and yet the land also yielded bountiful crops. Food that people here didn’t even know existed. Food that could fatten up their chronically skinny cows and sheep. Food that would stop the starvation.

“Would you like more?” Nessia offered after Logan finished his last spoonful of broth.

Sitting back, Logan patted his stomach with both hands. “As delicious as that was, I’m full.” And yet, even if his stomach still growled from hunger, he would never take more than his share. Nessia and the lads came first.

“Great, then. Now that he’s finished, it’s high time for talking.” Angus winked at Nessia, who shrugged off his playfulness.

“Just make sure Logan gets to bed soon. He’s had a long journey and needs his rest. His eyes look like he can barely keep them open.” Only three years his senior, Nessia never could help acting like his mother.

“Aye,” Angus agreed and Logan couldn’t argue as he put his hand over his mouth to cover a yawn. “Let’s sit nearer the fire, Logan.” Angus stood and kissed each of his lads on the head, wishing them a good night. Logan grinned. His brother didn’t care about the criticism he received for acting affectionate, even when told by his clansmen that his behavior would ruin his children.

And Logan didn’t, either. His nephews didn’t seem the least bit spoiled. He watched as Nessia ushered the lads toward the end of the room with one on each side of her full brown skirt. The lads crawled through the opening of a high-sided wooden box that housed a straw mattress and lay down beside each other as Nessia placed one blanket after another on top of them.

Logan didn’t wait to watch Nessia pull the curtain closed. Instead, he picked up his stool and followed his brother a couple feet nearer the fire that burned up from the floor where Nessia had just stood cooking. “It’s nice to be home again.” Logan watched the sparks dance to their own crackling sound as the peat moss burned.

“You should’ve never made the journey back.” Angus lowered himself onto his wooden stool with a slow exactness. “It was far too dangerous.”

“You knew before I left I had every intention of returning.” Logan unbuttoned his brown vest.

“Aye. You did say that. But there was always a chance that you would change your mind.”

Logan paused in his undressing. “Nay Angus, there wasn’t.”

“Then it is true. You really love her.”

“Aye. I’ll always love her. I just saw her now. She’s upset at me, but with God’s help that will change.” Logan finished taking off his vest and laid it across his lap before stretching out his arms to feel the warmth on his overworked, calloused hands. “I would face the darkest evil and travel to the most decrepit of places if that’s what it took.”

“I imagine you have.” Angus turned from the flames to his brother.

“Aye, I worked hard in the Americas, and crossing the sea is not easy. We lost Gordon McDougall on the voyage home.” Logan closed his eyes and said a quick, silent prayer. “Gordon was ill before he boarded the ship. I told him not to make the journey, but he wanted so badly to come home.”

“Gordon was a fine man.” Angus joined him in a brief silence. “A tragedy.”

Logan rubbed his brow, remembering the pain and despair surrounding Gordon’s death. “I couldn’t bring Gordon’s body back. I could only bring what little he had with him and I’ll take it to his family first thing tomorrow with the news.”

“Logan, it wasn’t your fault he died. God has His own plans for each one of us and it’s not for us to understand.”

“Fair enough.” Logan eyed his brother. “But I have plans of my own, as well.”

Angus shot a look at him as Logan stood to stretch. “Before you go to sleep, Logan, tell me about these plans.”

“Let me save that until tomorrow. Nessia was right, I am tired and in need of sleep.”

Angus pursed his lips but consented. “Aye, tomorrow after you take Gordon’s belongings to his family we’ll talk about these plans of yours.”

“Thanks.” Logan held his brother’s shoulder. “It really is good to be home.”

Sheena rubbed her right eye as she walked into the village. Lack of sleep and tears shed over Logan last night irritated more than just her eyes.

Her whole body felt off, as if it wanted to shut down. But she had promised to bring a basket of food to the McDougall family today.

At church last Sunday, she found out Ailsa McDougall had fallen ill and the women of the church picked days to bring whatever they could over to help the family. Today was Sheena’s day, on behalf of the Montgomery household, because her mother wouldn’t dream of walking into the countryside herself and already declared they couldn’t spare a single servant for such matters, either.

Switching the basket from her left hand to her right, Sheena looked down as she rubbed her other eye. The cool breeze made her eyes tear up and sting. If this kept up, fairly soon they might refuse to stay open altogether. Sheena couldn’t live like this. She needed sleep and to do that she needed to banish Logan from her mind and let the past go.

Sheena turned around the corner of the last building that stood on the village of Callander’s main dirt road. Shutting her eyes tight to try to stop the stinging when another cool breeze assaulted her, she bumped into something and jumped back, startled and alarmed.

“Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Sheena knew that voice—she didn’t need to feel his hands holding on to her shoulders or see him clearly to know who stood before her. “Sheena,” Logan’s voice sounded full of concern. “Why are you crying?”

Sheena wiped at her eyes harder this time. “I’m not crying.” She pulled back from him.

“Then why are there tears running down your cheeks? Here.” Logan handed her a handkerchief.

“I didn’t sleep well last night and my eyes hurt. There. Does that answer your question?” Evidently, it answered more than that as a grin spread over Logan’s lips.

“Does that have anything to do with me?” Sheena didn’t answer. She handed him back his handkerchief with a “Good day” before marching off. Never would she own up to him about that truth.

“Not so fast, lassie,” Logan spun around and caught up to her. Patting his clean-shaven cheeks and chin, he asked her with a wink, “How do I look?” Her lips curled slightly and Logan didn’t miss the nuance. His grin broadened, even as she hurried past him. “Where are you going?”

Sheena stopped and stared at him, her chest tightening with annoyance. Better to tell him and get rid of him now than allow him to follow her all over the countryside as he seemed likely to do.

“I am bringing this basket to Ailsa McDougall. She’s ill.” Logan’s smile fell from his lips and he ran his hand through his brown, shoulder-length hair. He looked away for a moment into the distance at the crag that led to their water fall.

She didn’t mean to hurt him, but what could she say now?

“I have to visit the McDougalls myself, lassie.” The light golden flecks in Logan’s eyes no longer shone brightly and worry furrowed his brow.

“Logan, I do not need a chaperone.” But what she really did not need involved Logan standing near her and playing havoc with her emotions. Her future belonged to Ian Mackenzie.

“Be that as it may …” He seemed impatient, as if he wanted to tell her something, but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

And even though Sheena knew that as Ian’s future wife she needed to distance herself from Logan, she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Logan, what is going on?”

Logan’s gaze met hers and the intensity with which he looked at her made her hold her basket tighter. But she couldn’t look away. She knew Logan, even after all these years. And as much as he’d hurt her, she could still read every one of his expressions. And something definitely ate away at him.

The fact that he’d left her instead of marrying her should eat at his innards, but something else troubled him. And as angry as she felt toward him, she would help him now if she could. Any Christian would. At least that’s what she told herself.

“I have to tell the McDougalls their son Gordon died.”

Sheena’s hand flew to her mouth. “Gordon,” she murmured. She needed to sit down. Gordon was too young to die. Everyone expected great things from him. The community would be crushed. His family would be devastated. She felt Logan’s arm drape around her shoulder.

“He died on our ship, traveling back to Scotland.”

“Why did he try to come back here? Why didn’t he just stay in the Americas?” Sheena heard the note of irritation in her questions. Yet she didn’t expect any answers.

But Logan didn’t know that. “He must have had a good reason to risk his life. Just as I did.”

Sheena looked up into Logan’s face and searched his troubled brown eyes. Had love motivated his departure? Or did he just find he hated living in the Americas? She pulled herself away from him. It didn’t matter now. Not since her mother had betrothed her to Ian.

“We’ll tell them together.” Sheena’s voice achieved a calmness she had yet to feel.

“I am truly sorry,” Sheena told the McDougalls before she hugged them all one last time. What else could she say? After Logan told them all about how bravely Gordon faced his illness at sea, that phrase was all he could utter, as well.

Logan smiled at Sheena as she approached him, standing by the wooden door. How kind of Sheena to help him break the news of Gordon’s death to his family and stay to comfort the family as they let out their shock and grief.

“God bless you,” Sheena turned to say one last time before leaving the McDougalls’ hut—an exact replica of the one-room dwelling where Logan’s family lived.

Logan stepped out into the sunshine beside her. “Thank you, Sheena.” She stopped to look up at him. Her unsmiling face showed signs of stress and she simply nodded, folding her arms around herself, before turning and walking away from him again.

Logan desperately wanted to walk Sheena home. To gain even an extra few minutes to talk with her and remain close by her, but he couldn’t. The McDougalls still needed answers to questions about Gordon that only Logan could provide.

Alone and ready to retire for the night, Sheena rubbed her green moss agate stone as she walked up the wooden staircase to her bedroom. Being with the McDougall family as they learned about Gordon’s death brought her own heartrending emotions to the surface.

Yesterday, Logan’s return and today the news of Gordon’s death had left her emotionally distressed. Too much to handle in such a short time.

She sent up a prayer, not only for herself, but for Gordon, the McDougalls and Logan. How difficult for Logan to tell the devastating news to Gordon’s family earlier. She could barely listen to him choke out the words. And Gordon’s mother’s screams still reverberated in her ears.

Sitting on her bedroom chair, Sheena tucked her distaff under her arm. She knew her mother hated her spinning wool like the servants, insisting she do embroidery instead. But Sheena preferred this type of work. And, as she repeatedly told her mother, everyone, whether rich or poor, spun wool. So her mother couldn’t consider this activity beneath Sheena, even if her mother chose not to do it herself.

By now Sheena usually picked up her drop-spindle to hold in her left hand, but something stopped her from picking it up and transforming that wool into yarn.

She just couldn’t put the green moss agate stone down. Rolling it over between her fingers, the smooth rock usually soothed her. But tonight she grabbed it tight within her fist, squeezing it as if she meant to crush it into powder.

Forget spinning wool, she needed to talk to Cait.

Finding Cait finishing up her parlor maid’s duties for the night, Sheena calmed her temper enough to ask her to join her in her bedroom for a cup of tea.

Did servants usually share tea with their employers? Nay. But to Sheena, Cait became her best friend as a wee lass and would always remain her best friend, so she never saw any problem with it.

“It is so nice to relax after the day I had.” Cait dropped into a chair.

Sheena began pouring their tea. She didn’t want to belittle Cait’s complaint by putting her own problems ahead of her friend’s, so she listened to Cait voice her troubles, before broaching her own.

“Cait, do you know why my aunt Jean came here on Monday?” Sheena stirred the sugar that settled to the bottom of her teacup.

“Aye, to bring the news that your dowry to Ian Mackenzie has been paid and you are now officially betrothed to him.”

“Aye. But there’s more to it than that.” Sheena set down her spoon as Cait sat up to listen more intently. “My aunt Jean also brought the news that I am to visit the Mackenzies in Glasgow to meet Ian and his family before the wedding ceremony that they agreed would take place in two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” Cait stood to take off her white apron, before sitting back down more comfortably. “Everything is happening so fast, Sheena. Just last week I knew nothing about any of this.”

“I know.” Sheena’s teacup rattled in her hands. “When my mother first told me about Ian, I didn’t even mention it to you, because I didn’t think anything would happen until I met him. But according to my mother there was no need for that, because Jean met with him and thought he was perfect.”

“No doubt because he’s swimming in riches.” Cait picked up her teacup and eyed Sheena over the rim as she took a sip.

Sheena stared down into the steam rising from her own teacup. “There is something else I never told you, Cait.” Sheena glanced at her best friend now. “Yesterday, Logan came home.”

Cait nearly choked on her mouthful of tea. “Logan? My sister Nessia’s brother-in-law? Here in Callander?” Sheena nodded at each question, watching the smile lift Cait’s entire expression. “I have to go and see him.” She put her teacup down and sprang to her feet. “But wait. Logan’s home …” She sank back down slowly into her chair, not bothering to fix her skirt into place beneath her as she should. “And you’re betrothed to Ian now.”

Sheena nodded. She knew Cait assumed Logan had come home because he loved Sheena and wanted to marry her, but Logan had never told Sheena that. And now it was too late, Sheena thought.

“Oh, Sheena. What are you going to do?” Cait reached across the empty space and put her hand on Sheena’s knee. And Sheena put her teacup down, too, fighting back more tears as she unknowingly rubbed her green moss agate stone.

“I haven’t told Logan about my betrothal to Ian yet.” Cait opened her mouth to speak, maybe to offer to tell Logan for Sheena, but Sheena kept talking. “Please don’t tell Logan. I want him to hear it from me.” If Logan could tell the McDougalls that Gordon died, Sheena could tell Logan about her betrothal.

Cait nodded and Sheena straightened her skirt, forgetting she even held the green moss agate stone in her hands; it slipped out and fell onto the hardwood floor with a clunk before it rolled away from her.




Chapter Three


“How are the McDougalls?”

Angus handed Logan the family’s only pewter tankard as Logan sank onto a stool beside him.

Logan took a long, slow drink. He felt numb inside. “As best as can be expected. They’re devastated.” Angus clapped Logan on the back, but said nothing. What could he say? No one could bring Gordon back to the McDougalls and that is all they truly wanted. “Angus, you must understand one thing.”

Angus folded his hands in his lap, moving his eyes to watch the fire burn down lower on the floor. “Even though Gordon met with a tragic end at sea, healthy people can and do make that journey. Gordon was just too sick to attempt it.”

“Why are you telling me this, Logan?” Angus’s glare fell on Logan now.

“Because I’m going back to the Americas. And I want you to join me.”

Angus nearly fell off his stool. “What?”

Logan reached out to steady him. “You heard me. Your lads are old enough and if you’re all healthy, there shouldn’t be a problem. Not with all of us going together and looking out for each other.”

“Even if that’s so, Logan, how on earth would we pay for that? I am not about to sell myself as an indentured servant.” Angus’s face reddened. “I will not be a slave to another man.”

“You won’t have to.” Logan remembered the earful he’d received from Sheena about becoming an indentured servant; hearing it now from his brother made him a trifle annoyed. “And by the way, not all indentured servants are treated so unfairly.”

Angus scanned Logan protectively. “I’m hoping you’re speaking from experience.”

“Aye. There are opportunities in the Americas that we don’t have here.” Angus sat quietly, no doubt thinking about everything Logan had just told him. “I don’t want to scare you by what I’ve heard.”

Angus stared at his brother. “What do you mean? I have no enemies.” Logan watched his brother fume.

“Nay, of course not, but Scotland is changing.” Logan leaned over and threw some more peat moss into the fire. “I was on board with some in the landowning class and you cannot rest assured that the land you live on today will be the land you live on tomorrow. You are a tenant farmer. Your landowner can and will—trust my words—take this land away from you. And then what will you do, change how you earn a living? Relocate your family to the coast and become a fisherman?” Logan poked at the fire with a stick, sending sparks flaring into the darkness.

Angus wrung his hands, staring down at them. “This is very grave indeed. But you’re right. The government did seize the Duke of Perth’s estate.”

“Aye. You may face a very bleak future here, but after all you’ve done for me, I want to help you. I want to offer you hope for a better life. A place where you own your own land and no one can throw you off it.”

Angus turned toward Logan again. “You speak of the Americas as if they were the Promised Land.”

“I speak from experience.” Logan leaned forward to rest the stick against the dirt wall beside the fire. “I worked as an indentured servant for three very long years.” Logan breathed in the heavy air, letting the smoky scent he missed at sea fill his nostrils. “I was blessed with a good master and I thank God for that every day. But I never took it for granted. When I was freed, my master kept his promise and gave me some money. However, that money wouldn’t have been enough to come back with, so I spent two additional years guarding the town of New Inverness, in return for a land grant.”

A smile overtook Angus’s shock. “You own land?”

“Aye. Out of the darkness, my brother.” Logan smiled back. “And I want to share it with you. Together we can farm the land and live a good life.”

“Logan that’s all very well, but I have no money to pay for our voyage.” Angus stood to add even more peat moss to the fire.

“I may be the little brother by four years, but you must give me more credit. I wouldn’t have returned without a means to get us all back. I’ve already taken care of that. Without family in the Americas, I did little else besides sleep and work.”

“No doubt.” Angus sat down again. “You must put some meat on your bones before you attempt to cross the sea again.” He leaned over and squeezed Logan’s arm in assessment. Logan smiled, knowing Angus had changed his mind about the perils of leaving Scotland. And Logan moved one step closer to making his dreams a reality.

“Any spare time I found while in the Americas, I spent making extra money however I could—farming, stable work, jobs that no one else wanted to do.” Logan laughed. “But I had a purpose and that got me through it.”

“And now you’ve come home to offer me and mine all of this?” Angus stood again and this time Logan stood to meet his brother.

“You are my family.” Logan hugged him. After his day with the McDougalls, it felt good to look toward the future.

Life may remain unpredictable. And only God knew why things turned out the way they did. But with whatever time God gave Logan to live, he wanted to make sure he made his life count for something. He needed to start living his dreams, instead of just thinking about them.

“We must take care of each other, Logan.”

“That’s what you always told me. And I’m happy to finally be able to pay you back.”

“Logan, you don’t have to.”

“I know.” Logan squeezed his brother’s shoulders. “I want to.”

Angus laughed. “Let me talk things over with Nessia.” He took hold of Logan’s shoulders now and brought their heads close. “Thank you for your offer,” he told him solemnly.

Logan smiled. “You can thank me when you see your new home. They’re made differently in the Americas. There’s wood aplenty—no importing it from Norway for huge sums of money.” A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

They looked at each other and then at the door. Angus dropped hold of Logan and strode over to it. Who would come knocking at this late hour? Logan watched Angus carefully for any sign that he needed assistance. But none came.

“Cait, this is a surprise. Please come in.” Angus stepped aside to let his sister-in-law into his dimly lit home. “We only ever get to see you on Sunday at church. And here it is well past ten on a Saturday night. How did you get out of the house to come all this way?”

“I finished my duties and then I snuck out.” Cait took her soaking wet, brown shawl off her head and unwrapped herself from its woolen security before handing it to Angus. “I couldn’t help myself. I heard Logan was home and I’d rather see him than sleep.”

She let out a gasp of delight when she spotted Logan standing by the only light source in the hut—the fire. Without a moment’s hesitation, she hurried over and embraced him.

“Look at you, Cait. All grown up.” Logan surveyed her at arm’s length.

Cait blushed uncontrollably, as she gave him the most awkward curtsy he ever saw. He stifled a grin. Some things didn’t change. “That’s right. I’m not the little girl who used to pester you day and night.”

“Cait is in training to be a parlor maid.” Angus laid her brown shawl near the fire to dry.

“Is that so?” Logan couldn’t help teasing her. As Nessia’s little sister, Cait felt like his little sister, as well.

“Aye,” Cait nodded proudly, her straight brunette hair shaking off droplets of rain where the wetness had managed to evade her shawl.

“And how is it to be a parlor maid?”

“Most of the time, pretty scary.” Cait rolled her eyes. “Except when I get to cater to Sheena. She’s always very nice to me.”

“Sheena?” Since when did Cait work for Sheena? Surely in the time since Logan’s homecoming Angus might have mentioned something that important. He shot his brother a look.

“Aye,” Cait answered.

“The two older women can be a bit brutish.” Angus wrinkled his nose as if their behavior bore a foul odor.

“But not just to me.” Cait looked from Angus to Logan. “They’re pretty horrible to Sheena, too, when it suits them.” Logan’s face fell.

“What two older women?” His brain tried to put the puzzle together, but he couldn’t without all the pieces. And apparently, after five years away, he couldn’t assume anything anymore. Not even something as simple as Sheena still living with her parents in the house where she grew up. Sheena told him everything had changed. But what exactly did that entail?

Angus’s voice brought Logan’s thoughts back to the present. “The two older women are Sheena’s mother, Tavia, and her aunt Jean.” That only brought to light more questions. If she lived with her mother and aunt, where had her father and brother gone?

Cait spoke up then. “I’d like to give Tavia and Jean a good tongue lashing one of these days.”

“You’d better not.” Nessia wrapped a floor-length shawl around her nightgown as she moved into the circle. All the commotion had awakened her. “You mind your place in that house, Cait. It is a good station for you.”

“Aye,” Cait replied, as a reprimanded child would to her mother.

“Logan, may I have a word with you?” Angus nudged his head in the direction of the door and Logan nodded.

“But I’ve just come,” Cait pouted.

“We’ll have time together.” Logan pinched her cheek. “You don’t think we’d let you go anywhere alone at this hour, do you?” Logan stepped toward his brother. “I’ll take you back. So we’ll catch up then, right?” Her good humor resurfaced before she turned to face her older sister.

“I know this is asking too much, but what about Cait?” Angus whispered, safely out of earshot. “We could never leave without her. And we have practically nothing to sell to raise money.”

“Angus, I’ve made arrangements for seven of us to go. I would never think of leaving Cait behind. I’ve always considered her my family, too.” Logan squeezed his brother’s shoulder, but Angus looked strangely discomfited.

“I don’t understand.” Angus stared down at his fingers, using them to calculate something. “I count one extra person. We’re only six.” He looked up at Logan, his face full of confusion. “You, me, Nessia, Ewan, Duncan, and Cait. Six.”

Logan smiled at him. “You’ve forgotten Sheena.”

Angus took a small step back in bewilderment. “You expect her to go with you?”

“I expect a lot from her, and marrying me is at the top of that list.”

“Logan, Sheena’s mother never thought of you as a good match for Sheena. You’ll have a difficult time convincing them otherwise.” Angus shook his head.

“Aye. So I’ve come to find out since being back.” Logan’s mind floated to his meeting with Sheena at their waterfall. “More than you know.” Logan lowered his head toward his brother to make sure he would hear him even in his hushed tone. “I might as well tell you now. We’ve only got two weeks left in Scotland before we set sail.”

Angus’s jaw dropped, but Logan kept talking. “A few of us promised the other men we’d bring letters back to their families, so we divvied them up and I took the bunch for Glasgow. I should have already delivered them, but with Gordon McDougall’s death, I had to come straight home to Callander. Now we have just about a week to say goodbye to this village before we head to Glasgow. Our ship departs from there and I need time to deliver these letters.”

“A week. Only a week?” Angus raised his eyebrows. But Logan didn’t even know if Angus could keep up a coherent conversation anymore, because he just kept mumbling, “a week.” Nevertheless, Logan nodded once to Angus’s rhetorical question before Nessia broke into their huddle.

“I don’t know what you two are talking about, but Cait must be returned to the Montgomerys’ house immediately. She’s only allowed a limited amount of free time on Sundays. I can’t believe she risked her job to come here on a Saturday night. She should have just waited to see you in church tomorrow, Logan. If someone finds out she is missing, she will lose her post. Then what will she do?”

Angus and Logan exchanged a knowing look. They knew exactly what they wanted Cait to do.




Chapter Four


“So what are the Americas like, Logan?” Cait asked as they made their way to the Montgomery household.

“I stayed mostly in a place they originally called New Inverness, and even though it shares the same name as Inverness, not much else is the same as the Highlands. For one, it’s a lot warmer there.” Even on this spring night, he hugged himself against the wet chill soaking into every inch of his body. “Anyway, now they call it Darien, and it’s in one of the most southern colonies in the Americas, known as Georgia.”

“I can’t even imagine it.” Cait shivered as she sighed. At least it had stopped raining. “I wish I could envision it all.”

Logan looked over at her. “Would you like to go there?” He broached the subject carefully.

“Are you joking?” Cait rolled her eyes. “I’d give anything to be able to live life the way I want to. Have my own home with a husband and children, instead of working in someone else’s house as a parlor maid.” Cait blushed. “Like Nessia.”

“Aye, Nessia and Angus are lucky.” Logan looked straight ahead into the darkness—he wanted the same blissful life with Sheena. “You’re still young, Cait. Do you even have a young man?” Immediately Cait looked down at her shoes, shaking her head. “You don’t?”

“I think I would know if I did, Logan.” She crossed her arms. “Please don’t tease me about it. I already feel terrible that in all my twenty years no man has ever seen me the way Angus looks at Nessia.”

“Cait, I didn’t mean to tease. The right man will show up someday.” Logan smiled at her. “But I am happy to hear that you’re unattached.”

“Logan, you are not the type of person to take pleasure in the unhappiness of others.” Cait still didn’t look at him.

“Nay. You know me well enough. But you do not know my plans.” Logan let out a whistle into the quiet night air.

“Please tell me.” Cait grabbed his arm, making Logan unable to keep her in suspense any longer.

“I want us all to go to the Americas together. Angus, Nessia, their wee ones, you and Sheena. I’ll pay your way, Cait, if you want to come with us.”

Logan watched Cait’s expression and she beamed. “If Nessia’s going, so will I.”

“Perfect.” Logan’s face shone, too. “Angus still has to consult with Nessia, but hopefully she’ll see it as we do. It will be a better life for all of us. And there are lots of unattached men in the Americas, so you’ll have your pick of eligible bachelors.”

Cait shot him a less-than-amused look, but perked up quickly enough. “This is like a dream. It just doesn’t seem real.” Logan thought she might actually break into a jig. Not that he would stop her.

“We’re leaving Scotland.” Cait giggled. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Logan’s spirits lifted. “Not the sleeplessness—that’s not what I meant.” He laughed, but Cait didn’t even notice, as she seemed deep in thought about something else.

“I can’t believe Sheena never told me anything about these plans. It was only too kind of her to tell me that you came home, but she left this part out entirely.”

“That’s because she doesn’t know yet. I haven’t actually been able to talk to her about my idea.” Logan lowered his voice. “It seems a lot has changed with her since I’ve been gone.”

“Aye. You hurt her so much when you left. But you must not give up on her. Get her to forgive you. You have loved her your whole life. And I know she loved you, too. You must get her to love you again.”

“So you know she does not love me anymore?” The words tasted bitter coming out of his mouth.

“Nay, I think she still loves you. Even if she may argue differently.” Cait stopped and grabbed hold of Logan’s shoulder. “Logan, I must let her tell you herself what has become of her, because she swore me to secrecy. But I can tell you this, on Monday her aunt Jean came from Glasgow to visit for a week or so. Jean’s been doing this on and off for almost a year now. But this time Jean brought Sheena some news that changed the course of Sheena’s life.”

Cait let go of Logan’s shoulder, shaking her head. “If only you had come a month earlier, Logan. Then maybe none of this would have happened to her.”

Logan couldn’t bear waiting to find out what news Cait withheld. But he couldn’t ask her to break Sheena’s trust. He knew what keeping a secret entailed. He’d kept one all this time at Sheena’s father’s behest.

“Don’t look at me like that, Logan. I can’t tell you. But Sheena will. Just give her a chance, and remember—when you do find out, nothing has been done that can’t be undone.”

Logan nodded unenthusiastically. Winning Sheena’s love back seemed harder than he ever imagined. Was this change the one Sheena had alluded to at their waterfall? The event that had changed her whole life? He must find out.

“Don’t despair, Logan.” Cait squeezed his hand. “God will help you. I know He will.”

They fell silent as they neared the quiet two-story house. Creeping up behind a mound of rocks several feet from the white house, they sought to avoid peering eyes, if any existed.

“Cait? Is that you?” a whispered voice called out from the darkness.

Cait called back just as quietly, “Sheena?”

“Aye.” Logan heard Sheena’s footsteps making their way toward the sound of Cait’s voice. He kept silent. He didn’t want her running away again. He wanted so badly to get near her. To talk to her, see her smile, hear her laugh. He missed her so much. Why did the sight of him at their waterfall send her running away, crying?

As Sheena’s footsteps grew louder, Logan grew more tense. He desperately wanted things to work out between them. He needed to explain, to do whatever it took to win back her love.

He kept still and listened to her talk to Cait, waiting for the right time to make his presence known.

“I’ve been standing guard ever since you slipped out. I left the door open for you to get back in.” Logan smiled to himself. Finally, the Sheena he knew and loved.

“Sheena, you didn’t have to wait out here. You’ve put yourself in peril for me. But I won’t let my foolishness be the cause of you getting into any trouble,” Cait told her.

Sheena shrugged off Cait’s concern. “Not to worry. We could stay out until dawn and no one would be the wiser.”

“If that’s so …” Logan’s voice startled Sheena and she let out a squeal. In a fraction of a second, Logan grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth so that her sound wouldn’t carry to the windows above. His whispered words came out calmly, even though he hardly felt serene. “I suggest you and I take this opportunity to talk, lassie.”

“I’ll stand guard by the door.” Cait didn’t give Sheena a chance to refuse her offer.

“Harrumph.” Sheena’s exclamation sent heat into Logan’s hand and he released her mouth instantly.

“Sorry.” He remained close to her. It took all his willpower not to kiss her. He’d wanted to from the moment he saw her standing on the edge of their waterfall and now with her so close, he wanted her even closer.

“It’s all right.” Sheena tried to gather her auburn hair and Logan wished she wouldn’t. He liked it hanging loose. “I didn’t know you were here. You could have said something earlier.”

Logan could see the muscles on Sheena’s face tighten in the moonlight and it made him smile. “So far since I’ve been back, lassie, I’ve stopped your heart two or three times.”

“Aye.” Sheena pulled her dark blue woolen shawl taut. “You need to learn how to introduce yourself properly.”

“Apparently.” Logan laughed, even though he did so alone.

“Thank you for bringing Cait home safely.” Sheena stretched out her hand. But Logan didn’t take it. Even though an excuse to touch her held tremendous appeal.

“Cait thanked me herself. No need for you to, lassie.” He wouldn’t let this fortunate circumstance end so quickly. After five long years away from her, he never wanted to be away from her again. Not even for five minutes.

“You must stop calling me lassie. I am not your sweetheart.”

He leaned toward her. “Since when Sheena? You have always been my lassie.”

“Since you left. I’ve already told you—everything changed when you left. We can’t keep revisiting the past.” She gave him her back.

“We can, and we will, until I change your mind.” Frustrated at her rejection of him, he knew he sounded too harsh, but he couldn’t help himself. She’d never talked to him like this before. Never treated him with so much contempt. Had he lost his best friend—the soul mate he felt God had put in his life?

“You can’t just come back here and expect that nothing changed in five years. There have been battles and death, and so much else.” The wind picked up again and Sheena whirled around trying to tame her hair. It looked as fiery as her temper and just as unmanageable.

“You left, Mr. McAllister. No one made you. You just left.” Sheena pointed at him and then shook her head. “Nobody comes back from the Americas. Once you left, you were as good as dead to me.” Why didn’t she just stick a dagger in him? It would hurt less.

But he wouldn’t slink away and give up on her. He would fight for her. He just needed to figure out what exactly to fight. “Sheena, I told you I would come back. Did you not believe me?” Logan inched ever closer to her, fearing she would dart away at any moment.

“I didn’t receive anything from you. I didn’t know if you were even still alive.” So his absence had scared her, and that angered her. At least she felt something. He could use that, push further.

“There was no way of sending you information,” Logan pleaded. He couldn’t waste any money writing a letter her mother would probably rip up before it even reached Sheena. He had to stay in the Americas and work an extra two years past his three-year indenturement to be able to save enough money for seven sea voyages to the Americas.

“But you were only indentured for three years. After that, why didn’t you come home?” Sheena looked impatient with him.

“I couldn’t.” He knew how bad that sounded.

“You couldn’t or you wouldn’t?” Sheena crossed her arms, shifting her weight to rest on her left leg, waiting for his answer. If she tapped her right foot, he didn’t hear it.

Logan hesitated, knowing she wouldn’t like his answer. “Both.” He didn’t lie to her. He’d never do that.

Sheena’s arms dropped and she shouted, “You could have come home, but you didn’t.”

“Keep your voice down. Do you want to wake up the whole house?” Yelling in the face of possible detection from her family proved just how deep Sheena’s feelings ran. If she didn’t love him, his indenturement and extended stay in the Americas wouldn’t have bothered her this much.

But then why did she keep pushing him away?

“Logan, why are you doing this?” Sheena lowered her voice to a snarl.

“Why am I doing this? What do you mean? Why did I keep my promise to return? You know me, Sheena. You know I always keep my promises.” He reached out his hands and this time she didn’t step away.

Touching her gave him more confidence. She let him in. He moved another step closer, pulling her to him. “I’m sorry. It took longer than I thought before I could return. But I never forgot about you.” He brushed a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear, as he lowered his voice. “Don’t turn your back on me.”

Logan saw emotion flicker across her face. She fought with herself. He didn’t know what she fought, but he knew he somehow got through her barrier. She softened. “Logan, you left before all the fighting broke out. I expected you home in three years. But instead, the year you should have returned, I lost my brother. He died at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.”

“I’m sorry.” Logan rubbed her arm, but she shrugged it off, turning away.

“Nay, it’s not your fault my brother died. He supported Bonnie Prince Charlie’s claim to rule Britain and died trying to regain the monarchy for the House of Stuart. But whether he was right or wrong to give up his life for a cause that failed, he was my parents’ only son and his death killed a part of my father.” Logan saw Sheena’s hand reach up toward her face, wiping tears away. “My father never recovered.”

Logan stepped forward. He wanted to hug her. To hold her and make all her pain go away, but he knew he couldn’t. Too early. He needed to win her trust back. So he gently clasped her shoulders with a caressing gesture.

At first, he felt her shoulders rise and stiffen, but then they relaxed and he rubbed them both, trying to comfort her. “Is that why your aunt is here?” He spoke quietly, his face inches from the back of her head. He almost couldn’t stand the sweet smell of her hair. How many times did he dream about this closeness to her? He loved her so much that holding back hurt.

“Aye. Nay.” Sheena shook her head as if confused. “After my brother’s death not even our livelihood mattered to my father anymore. It’s progressed to the point now where we only have enough to run our household to the end of this month. We have no money left, Logan. My father just kept sinking deeper and deeper into his own world and we lost everything, along with him.”

Sheena turned back to Logan, hugging herself snug in her dark blue woolen shawl against the encroaching mist. Logan let his hands drop to his sides. “This past autumn he fell ill and we tried everything to make him better. We even bought him spa water to drink from Bath in England, but it didn’t help him. He died.”

Logan couldn’t believe that Arthur Montgomery had died. When Logan left five years ago, Arthur ran the Montgomery household as efficiently and astutely as any great man. By now his age would accumulate to fifty years—surely everyone had expected him to enjoy many more good years.

And yet, Arthur’s death had other repercussions, as well. Only he and Logan knew about what they’d discussed at that meeting when Logan had asked to marry Sheena. And only they knew about the Montgomery’s heirloom box that housed the secret letter Arthur had given Logan, promising that Logan could marry Sheena if he returned to Scotland after his indenturement in the Americas.

What would become of Arthur’s promise to Logan if he was no longer alive to enforce it?

Maybe it didn’t matter anymore. Logan loved Sheena and as soon as she forgave him, perhaps they could go back to the way things stood between them before he left. Maybe Logan could convince Sheena’s mother that he would take good care of her. Logan had by now amassed enough money to satisfy Tavia’s wishes for her daughter to live a good life. He just needed Sheena to love him again.

“I’m sorry, lassie. And I’m sorry you had to witness the McDougalls’ grief today. It must have brought back many of those painful memories. If I had known, I would have spared you that experience.”

Logan knew that pain. Having lost both of his parents at a young age, he was aware that nothing ever filled that void again. Try as they might, Angus and Nessia never could.

“Today did bring it all back, Logan, but I can’t hide from death. It’s a part of life and, besides, the McDougalls needed us to comfort them.”

“Your comforting words meant everything to me today, too.”

Sheena gave Logan a little smile. “I’m glad.”

Her opening up to him eased the pain in his chest, giving him some hope for their future. “I hope your father, brother and Gordon are at peace in God’s home.”

Again, Sheena wiped a tear from her cheek. “Thank you. I pray for that every day.”

Logan hated seeing her unhappy. “I’ll pray, too. Just as I pray you forgive me for coming back two years later than I planned.”

Sheena’s expression changed. “Logan …” She said his name with the sparkle he remembered seeing in her amber eyes before he’d left Scotland five years ago. In that moment, he knew he had a chance. She couldn’t hide that spark. He took hold of her shoulders and leaned in even closer to talk with her.

Tenderly, he whispered his words to her, “I wish I could have been here to comfort you through your brother’s death and your father’s illness. But I had to stay on in the Americas.”

Sheena interrupted him before he could tell her about his plans to take everyone to the Americas. “You wouldn’t have been able to change anything anyway.” Sheena tilted her head down toward the soggy ground. Her head almost touched his chest. It wouldn’t take any effort to deepen their embrace. And his muscles flexed as he fought the urge to do so.

“Maybe not, but I could have made it easier for you to live during the difficult times.” Logan reached out and gently pushed up her chin to level her eyes with his. “I’ve always been poor. I know how to make do. I could have shown you,” he said, smiling.

She opened her lips to say something, but then closed them. He felt her sweet breath against his face and fancied smelling her delicate scent. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her and be her protector.

“I could show you which weeds won’t kill you.” He made fun of himself, knowing just how many times his family did eat weeds at mealtime. But Sheena turned her head away from his hand.

“My mother is not about to admit that she’s poor, let alone live like the poor.” Sheena drew in a long breath as if she wanted to apologize for Tavia.

But her words didn’t shock Logan. They didn’t even hurt him. He knew very well what Tavia thought. Some things never changed and Tavia’s dislike of the poor would always be one of them. Indeed he knew Tavia’s hatred so well that five years ago, his only option in ever marrying Sheena included selling himself as an indentured servant.

The scariest and most humiliating thing Logan ever did, and hopefully would ever do in his life, involved letting someone buy him. But he did it. And he would do it again, because he now possessed the means to offer Sheena a decent life as his wife. He just needed her forgiveness.

“Logan, just after my father died, when we still looked like we were wealthy …” She looked up into Logan’s face, her amber eyes filled with worry. No sparks now. In their place Logan saw a look of pity. What had caused such a quick change in her demeanor? “… my mother spent the last of our money on my dowry and betrothed me.”

The news hit Logan with the force of a fist. And all too soon, rage ran through his blood. “You’re betrothed?” he shouted. “To whom?”

“Logan, your voice.” Sheena grabbed his hand and pulled him down toward the ground.

“You can’t be betrothed to someone else.” Logan took hold of her arms.

“It’s true,” Sheena whispered softly, and Logan just stared at her. He couldn’t understand what she’d just told him. Did she mean to hurt him, out of revenge or simply to break his heart for good?

Her insistence that he quiet down came too late. A light shone out from one of the rooms upstairs. Someone had woken up.

“You must go. Now. No one can find you here. Not out here at this hour.” Sheena pried his fingers from her arms, talking as if seized by anxiety. “Go, Logan. Please.” She sprang away from him, jogging toward Cait.

Logan tried to reach for her again, but didn’t catch her in time. Impulsively, he thought about chasing her and carrying her away. She couldn’t love another man. She couldn’t want this betrothal.

God, why did this happen? It couldn’t truly be Your plan to let me live through two sea voyages and five long, hard years of labor, just to lead me to the knowledge I gained tonight.

The light from many more candles began to shine through the windows on the main floor, interrupting Logan’s thoughts as he realized people from within the household were approaching. He ducked farther behind the rocks. He didn’t think he could remain still. His insides beat hard against his skin, trying to burst out. Life as he knew it had ended. And he couldn’t do anything about it.




Chapter Five


Sheena just reached Cait’s side when the door of her family’s home flew open. She grabbed Cait’s hand quickly to reassure her. But Cait’s hand shook and Sheena knew the chilly damp night air didn’t cause her trembling. Sheena felt her insides churn with guilt; she hated putting Cait in such a predicament.

She thought of pulling Cait to hide, but Tavia and Jean would send servants to look for the source of the noise. Someone would find them. And then, what if they discovered Logan, as well? That would make the situation even worse. Her family wouldn’t welcome Logan, even in daylight.

Sheena inched in front of Cait to shield her as light from too many candles shone out through the darkness. Sheena and Cait stood motionless. Waiting. Someone obviously had set off quite an alarm, because everyone who slept in the Montgomery household now stood outside on the soggy grounds in their nightclothes.

“Cait? Sheena?” Jean’s voice shattered the quiet of the night as soon as she spotted them. “What is going on out here?”

Tavia came around to her sister’s side. “Sheena, what on earth are you doing out of doors at this hour?”

Tavia didn’t even finish her words before her sister broke in. “Cait, you foolish girl. You are not to be out of the house. You may as well stay out.”

“Aunt Jean,” Sheena rushed to Cait’s defense. “Please, you cannot send Cait away. She was out here because of me.” Sheena couldn’t let Cait take the blame. Her inability to resist talking with Logan caused all this. Why couldn’t she just walk away from him? He’d hurt her too deeply and her life had shifted course.

She shook her head, putting her thoughts at bay, as her mother pointed a finger at her. “Cait’s out here because of you?” Tavia’s voice hit a high note of accusation.

“Aye, Mother.”

“Sheena, I am out of patience with you. It is not even dawn yet. I need my sleep. Instead, I am standing outside in the dampness. I could catch my death.” She tugged at the red woolen blanket that almost swallowed her tiny frame whole.

“I’m sorry, Mother,” Sheena said, only vaguely listening to her mother’s lecture. Her attention remained fixed several feet away. She prayed God would help Logan stay hidden behind those rocks. Her mother would go crazy if Logan appeared. And then what would she do to Sheena?

Tavia already thought little of Sheena. They’d never nurtured anything resembling a close mother-daughter relationship. Sheena always seemed to disappoint her mother. They thought and acted as opposites in nearly everything, and though she knew her mother wanted nothing more than for Sheena to behave just as she did, Sheena never could.

“Explain yourself, child,” Jean bellowed and Sheena panicked. What explanation could ease the situation? She couldn’t lie and yet she couldn’t tell them the truth, either. “We’re waiting.” Jean stamped her foot.

“Why are you not speaking?” Tavia raised her right hand and slapped Sheena firmly across the face. “Such insolence. Answer your aunt.” The blow knocked Sheena off balance.

Touching her flaming-hot cheek, Sheena felt tears swell at the sting and pain, but she stood bravely to face her mother and aunt. She had endured worse. A slap would not stop her from seeing to Cait’s well-being.

“I needed some fresh air.” Sheena didn’t lie. Leaving a rock to keep the door ajar for Cait didn’t quench her need for the open air. It beckoned to her, making her go outside to sit and think about Logan. Forcing her to confront her upside-down life.

“Is the air in the house not fresh enough for you, child?” Jean pressed. And Sheena had barely glanced at her aunt before her mother started again.

“Why didn’t you just open your window?”

“I’m sorry. I will do that next time.” With spring advancing she would need to, because soon enough the midges would come out in droves and make it impossible for people to sit still outside in the dark, unless they wanted to get bitten repeatedly by those annoying insects.

Sheena looked around at everyone’s faces. “I apologize for having caused such commotion and awakening you all.” Some servants looked too tired to care, obviously longing for their beds, while others seemed full of sympathy. But a few, all of whom belonged to Jean, seemed completely amused, and that callousness irked Sheena.

“Can you imagine what would happen if news of this incident reached Ian Mackenzie? I will not have him thinking you are a wild Highlander who runs about in the night. Until you are married to Ian, this foolishness of yours must stop. I will not tolerate it. Then I don’t care what you do. Ian will have to deal with you on his own. However he sees fit.” Tavia’s words stung, just as much as her slap.

“Aye, Mother.” Sheena bit her lip. “I’m sorry.” She bowed her head not wanting to look at anyone. The only person who mattered couldn’t see her face anyway. Even though he likely heard every word. And although she wished she could, she couldn’t prevent that. She knew she’d hurt Logan deeply only moments before and now her mother forced him to hear about her betrothal again.

Her insides felt as if osprey hawks dove into them. Logan’s stricken face flashed in front of her eyes and would likely remain permanently etched into her memory. He had looked utterly devastated. For him, for her, for the future they’d planned so many years ago that now lay in ruins.

As angry as she was, she never thought she would be the one to deal such a savage blow. Tears pricked at the thought.

But hurting Logan served a purpose. Maybe now he would understand she could never love him again. He needed to know she belonged to another man. She couldn’t hide that from him. He needed to forge a life for himself without her. Just as she did when he hadn’t come back two years ago.

She’d begun to believe that Logan had never intended to marry her in the first place. That he’d never planned to come back to Scotland at all. Maybe his guilt in telling her lies had caused him to flee the country.

“Let us all go back to bed and not talk of this ever again. I will not have word of this incident getting out.” Tavia eyed the staff, much of which were on loan from Jean to keep their house functioning.

“If word of this does get out—” Jean stared them down “—all of you will be dismissed. You are all replaceable.” At that, Tavia grabbed Sheena’s arm and dragged her into the house, as Cait scurried into the throng of servants.

Hastily, Sheena wiped tears off her cheeks. Tavia would never know the true cause of those tears.

Logan remained painfully still. He knew if anyone saw him, Sheena and Cait would face a much more brutal fate. Crammed against a rock, his anger raged, steaming into the cold night air.

When Tavia hit Sheena, he almost ran to her defense, but something held him back. Even if it killed him to stay hidden, he’d rather give up his own life than sacrifice her future status.

Not being able to defend Sheena filled him with hate. As a Christian, he shouldn’t feel that way toward anyone, but he couldn’t help it. Tavia slapped Sheena when Sheena did nothing to deserve such punishment. What kind of mother behaved like that? One who didn’t care whether her daughter’s husband beat her or not. And one who seemed to welcome that fate for her daughter.

Logan remembered Tavia being cold toward Sheena her entire life, but never to this extent. At least Tavia had never conducted herself in public this way before. But maybe she couldn’t in front of Sheena’s father. He wouldn’t have allowed it. But now with him gone, Tavia’s true feelings were revealed, and Logan feared them for Sheena’s sake.




Chapter Six


As the door to the Montgomerys’ house closed, Logan thrust himself from the rock to stand at his full height. Only then did he realize his hands bled. He stared at them for a moment in disbelief. He’d injured them on the jagged edges of the rock that separated him from Sheena as he leaned against it, pushing with all his strength to maintain his self-control.

The bloody cuts annoyed more than they hurt, serving as a reminder of the hate coursing through his veins. He held his hands up trying to stop the bleeding, using his sleeves to dab at the blood as he made his way home.

“Logan?” Angus’s voice whispered from the dim light of the fire when Logan came through the door.

“Aye.” Logan went over to his brother’s side by the dying flames and sat on the wooden stool next to him. He welcomed the solitary walk home, for it had given him time to calm down.

But in place of the anger came despondency. He felt like a soldier on the losing side of a battle. “I’m sorry if I woke you Angus.” He leaned forward, putting his head into his bloodstained hands and closing his eyes. He kept his head down. Did he make everyone’s life more miserable? It certainly seemed that way.

“Nay. On the contrary. I’ve been too excited to sleep.” Angus’s enthusiasm glowed brighter than the flames. “Nessia was in complete shock when I first told her of your plans, but after I explained everything you’d said, she agreed. She sees the advantage. It’s an opportunity for a better life. Did you talk to Cait about it? Is she coming? Because we can’t leave her behind.”

Despite himself, Logan’s lips twitched slightly upward at the pair of opposites they made: Angus, with his hope for the future and Logan with his belief in a future devoid of anything worthwhile.

Resting his face on his weathered hands, because he couldn’t summon the energy to lift his head, he answered, “I spoke with Cait and she will be onboard.”

Angus just about jumped off his stool. And that made Logan look up. “Angus, you must contain yourself.” Irritation tinged Logan’s voice, even though he would never begrudge his brother his happiness.

Hopelessness wrapped itself around Logan’s heart, leaving him more fatigued than any day of hard physical labor had ever left him.

“Aye. Did Cait make it home all right?” Angus’s solemnity touched Logan. He didn’t want his brother to set his own happiness aside for him. And he surely did not want anyone to pity him.

“Aye, no harm came to her. I wish I could say the same for Sheena, though.” Logan shook his head as if he could somehow shake away what happened.

“Sheena?” Angus looked at Logan without understanding. “What did she have to do with Cait tonight?”

“Sheena was looking out for her and got herself into trouble.” Logan stared off at the dark sod wall. “Actually, I got Sheena into the whole mess.” How could he forgive himself for being the cause of Sheena receiving such torment?

“You?”

“Aye. It’s a long story. One I don’t want to relive.” Logan stretched out his legs and then his arms. “Angus, why didn’t you tell me Sheena’s father and brother had died?”




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