Emma pulled to a halt. “Aw, where did my fishies go?” she pouted, hearing the children giggle from under the table. “I guess I’ll have to go to bed without supper this evening.” Hanging her shoulders, Emma turned and walked back to the arched doorway she and Maggie had been working on before this impromptu chase.
Shaking her head at her children, Maggie laughed, her nimble fingers attaching yet another red bow to the evergreen branch decorating the doorway. “Those little rascals,” she said, a mother’s delight clear in her voice. “Always up to no good.” Then her blue eyes turned to Emma. “And ye are no better. Encouraging them like that.” Again, Maggie shook her head, and yet, the smile on her face spoke of neither reproach nor disapproval.
Emma laughed in return, feeling her heart grow lighter.
With both her parents passed on and no family of her own, the yuletide season always made Emma wistful and brought a deep ache to her heart, a longing for warmth and comfort, love and family.
As though to mock her, Finn walked into the hall in that moment, his tall stature drawing not only her eyes as he spoke to Cormag, now laird of Clan MacDrummond after his father’s passing three years ago. They spoke in hushed tones, and Emma felt her heart torn between pain and delight as it always was when her eyes caught sight of him. Although she had tried her utmost to forget about him, to silence the longing that lived in her heart, it refused to listen, yearning for a man who only ever glared at her.
Ever since that morning out in the glen when Emma had dared to steal a kiss as a young lass, everything had changed. Before, Finn had merely looked past her, his eyes barely seeing the young girl who noticed him the moment he walked into a room. After that day, he had begun to see her as well. Only, his green gaze had held nothing friendly or kind, but only disdain and a deep-seated anger that Emma could not understand. Had her kiss truly offended him that much?
And then he had left.
Over the past seven years, Finn had spent months at a time with Clan MacKinnear−again and again−and although Emma could not truly believe that she had been the one to chase him away, she could not help but feel as though he had left in order to avoid her.
Her heart ached at the mere thought of it.
“Why don’t ye speak to him?”
Jarred from her thoughts, Emma turned to look at her friend, finding Maggie’s gentle blue eyes watching her carefully. “I dunno know what ye mean,” Emma replied before clearing her throat. Then she reached for another bow, thus turning her attention to something safer.
Maggie chuckled, her dainty feet carrying her to Emma’s side as though they barely touched the ground. “Dunno pretend with me,” she whispered quietly. “I promised I willna share what ye told me with anyone, but neither can I pretend that I dunno know.”
Emma sighed, a part of her regretting that she had shared the events of that fateful morning with Maggie. Still, another part was glad to have found a friend she could confide in without fear that her innermost thoughts and feelings would be passed on throughout the castle. Maggie had indeed proved herself to be trustworthy and kind-hearted…and plain-speaking as well. Emma would forever be grateful for the day her friend had come to Seann Dachaigh Tower.
“There’s nothing to say,” Emma mumbled under her breath, the little hairs in the back of her neck telling her that Finn had not yet left the hall. How was it that she could all but feel his presence? Why would the Fates not allow her to forget about him? Was there anything more cruel than unrequited love?
Although Emma had spent a great deal of time on convincing herself that she did in fact not care for Finn MacDrummond, her obsession with him had eventually forced her to admit that she had been fooling herself. Unfortunately, that realisation had not helped in the least. If anything at all, it had served to seal her fate. Without any sway over her own heart, she would be forever doomed to yearn for a man who hated her.
“That’s not true,” Maggie objected in her usual direct way. “There’s quite a lot to be said. Ye will never receive an answer if ye’re too scared to ask questions.”
Turning to face her friend, Emma huffed, “Ye canna truly think it a good idea for me to simply walk up to him and ask why he hates me so?”
A teasing grin claimed Maggie’s face. “Ye once walked up to him and stole a kiss, why not ask a simple question?”
Heat shot into Emma’s face, and she could not help but glance in Finn’s direction.
He and Cormag had obviously finished their conversation and were now striding toward the back exit, which led out into the courtyard. They passed by the two women, and the moment Finn’s gaze veered to the side, Emma sucked in a sharp breath.
Their eyes met, and for a heart-breaking moment, the world seemed to stop in its tracks. The green in his gaze flared to life, and Emma felt the heat all the way to her toes. Still, the scowl remained on his face, telling her only too clearly what he thought of her.
Bowing her head, Emma turned away, relieved when the little hairs in the back of her neck finally calmed.
“Clearly, he affects ye as he always has,” Maggie observed rather inconveniently, “and I do believe there’s a reason why he would glare at ye so. Indifference doesna cause such hatred.” Shaking her head, Maggie held Emma’s gaze. “Nah, mind my words. There’s a reason for the way he looks at ye, and ye will never know it if ye
