there was no way she could be his daughter was the least she could do. She didn’t want him to suffer more than he already had, and she knew he’d keep her secret. He’d never al ow anyone or anything to hurt her.
“Al right, I’l tel you, but I think you had better sit down and close the door.”
He frowned, but did as she asked. Once he and Fiona had brought their chairs round to sit in front of her, she began her story. She told them everything she remembered of her mother and life growing up without her, without anyone. At times she depended on the memories of the old neighbor she’d tracked down on one of her many searches for her family, to fil in the blanks. It was how Ali learned about the man her mother married when Ali was too young to remember, a husband who had been abusive, and aban
doned them less than a year after the marriage. Her mother had cleaned houses, barely managing to eke out a living. But most painful of al was the memory of the car accident that had taken Anna’s life and left Ali an orphan. Alasdair sat stiffly in his chair, the expression on his face unreadable. Absently he handed Fiona his handkerchief. 310
Her aunt sniffed as she asked, “How is it ye came to be a Graham, Aileanna?”
Ali closed her eyes before answering. “After the acci
dent I was put in foster care. Just before my seventh birth
day, I was adopted. The family’s name was Graham.”
“But ye didna’ remain with them?”
Ali shook her head, determined not to cry. She’d buried that particular hurt a long time ago. “No, Mrs. Graham died eighteen months after I was adopted, and Mr. Graham sent me back to foster care. He . . . he said he couldn’t manage to care for another child, especial y as I wasn’t his own. He hadn’t wanted me in the first place.”
“My poor wee poppet,” Fiona cried.
Ali cleared her throat and told the rest of the story, about the fairy magic, and how she came to be at Dunvegan. She hesitated before she said to Alasdair, “Rory raised the fairy flag the day you took me from the trial. That’s why I asked you to bring me to Armadale. I couldn’t bear to be there waiting for the magic to take me away. And now when it does, I . . . I’m going to cause you more pain, and you don’t deserve that.”
“Nay, no one wil take ye away from me again,” he said fiercely.
Ali gave him a sad smile. “I don’t think there’s any way to stop it, Alasdair. But now, despite al the coincidences, can you see how it’s just not possible that I’m your daughter?”
“They aren’t coincidences, my dear. Ye are Aileanna Mac
Donald. Think on what ye’ve told us. What Duncan Macin
tosh told ye that day at Dunvegan. The MacLeods raised the fairy flag in fifteen seventy and defeated the MacDonalds.”
Fiona held her gaze with a gentle confidence.
“They won because yer mother and ye went missin’, Aileanna. I was too busy searchin’ fer ye to lead my men into battle.”
LORD OF THE ISLES
311
“’Twas over twenty-seven years ago, Aileanna. How old are ye?” Fiona asked.
“Twenty . . . I’l be twenty-eight on my birthday.”
Alasdair pul ed her from the chair and folded her into his warm, protective embrace. “Aileanna, ye can doubt it no longer. I’l no’ let you go, my pet. They’l no’ take ye from me.”
Fiona and Alasdair were right. There was no denying the facts. The MacLeods’ fairy flag had stolen Ali and her mother from their home over twenty-seven years ago, only to return Ali on the day Iain raised the flag to save Rory. It was true, al of it. She had a father, a family, and she didn’t know what she’d do if the fairy magic took her away from them again.
“I don’t want to leave, Alasdair. I can’t tel you how much I want to stay. How can I go back when everyone I love is here?”
Fiona gave an unladylike snort, swiping at her own tears. “And at times ye’l cal him an old goat like I do.”
Ali laughed, then hiccupped. “That’s what Rory cal s him.”
A wave of intense pain arched through her body at the thought of Rory. She wanted nothing more than to go to him, but didn’t have the strength to be ripped from his arms. It hadn’t taken her long to come to the realization Rory raised the flag to save her. And she wouldn’t make him suffer with the knowledge there’d been no need for him to do so. She’d managed to save herself. Although in the end, her father’s presence had swayed the sheriff more than she ever 312
could. In his attempt to save her life, Rory had destroyed their one chance for happiness.
“That one has a lot to answer fer, and the first question wil be what possessed him to raise the bloody flag in the first place. A man who professes to love ye then sends ye away to be lost to him forever,” Alasdair growled, tighten ing his hold on her.
“’Tis because he loves her, Alasdair. Mayhap he thought
’twas the only way to save her. Did ye no’ say it was the last wish, Aileanna, and he’d no’ send ye back
