“That wave.” Kendra’s voice shook with memory. “It was like a mountain. It came down, and you disappeared for a moment, then I saw you go over the side. It looked like you were riding a waterfall. I’ve never been more scared in my life.”
“I know the feeling,” he soothed, remembering the sight of her with a knife at her throat. “Rhona and Gregor? Did you see them, too?”
“No,” she said. “We never saw them at all. They were there, they and the boat, and then they weren’t. By the time I got you aboard, there was nothing where that ship had been but an eerie calm patch on the surface, along with some bits of debris.”
Slowly he nodded, feeling an overwhelming weariness suddenly swamp him. Losh, she’d saved his life. Because she’d disobeyed him—because, in spite of his protests, she’d flown into that boat like an avenging angel—she’d stayed with him, and she’d saved his life….
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
But Trick was already asleep.
FIFTY-NINE
IT WAS NEARING midnight by the time they arrived at Duncraven, cold, hungry, and—at least on Kendra’s part—exhausted.
Trick’s long sleep in the wagon bed seemed to have gone a good way toward restoring his strength, and Niall clearly found his second wind as they neared the castle, itching to tell his father all about the adventure of a lifetime. But she hadn’t slept a wink on the bumpy ride, too caught up in wonder that they were all alive, tempered by a wrenching regret that her own part in the day’s events had led to its tragic end.
While Trick and Niall went straight to fill Hamish in, she begged off and dragged herself upstairs, wanting nothing but a hot bath and a good night’s sleep.
She’d almost accomplished the first when Trick came in, a platter in one hand and two goblets in the other. Quickly she slid deeper into the water, crossing her arms over her chest. No matter that he’d seen all of her before—no man had ever seen her bathe. It seemed different. Private somehow. And too intimate, considering what she’d put him through today.
He shouldn’t want to see her at all.
“I can take over from here.” He nodded a dismissal at Jane, and she left, quietly closing the door behind her. “Hungry?” he asked matter-of-factly.
“Not really.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Trick, for ruining your plan. If I hadn’t arrived and tipped them off as to who you were, none of this would have happened.”
“You cannot know that; we cannot know what would have happened.” He set the food on the desk, his gaze filled with concern. “Maybe you ruined our plan, but you also saved my life. I thank you for that, sweet Kendra, from the bottom of my heart.”
Her own heart hurt. Oh, if only she could forgive herself as easily as he seemed to forgive her. Then he ran a hand back through his hair, and she blinked, staring, so stunned her own guilt fled her mind.
“You cut it,” she breathed. “Your hair.”
A wry grin twitched at his lips. “Mrs. Ross cut it. There I was, telling Hamish all about what happened, her fussing over Niall and me both. Moving chairs near the fire so we could warm, pushing hot drinks into our hands. As we talked, she stripped off Niall’s coat and ran a comb through his hair. And the next thing I knew she was standing over me with scissors.”
“You didn’t stop her.”
His only answer was a shrug. But he was no longer hiding, not from her. The heart that he’d spoken of thanking her from was right there in his amber eyes.
He came close and knelt by the big wooden tub, setting the goblets on the floor beside him. “No more tears. I hold you blameless for anything that happened today. You must believe that.”
When he drew her hands from her body, she forgot to be embarrassed. She squeezed his fingers, gazing into those unguarded eyes. “You blame yourself instead, don’t you?”
“Aye,” he admitted, toying with the amber on her wrist. “But Hamish—Da”—a fleeting smile curved his mouth—“did his best to set me straight.”
“What did he have to say?”
He kissed her fingertips and sighed. “He thinks it’s just as well that Niall and I didn’t manage to keep his friends from drowning, since it saved him the trouble of having them hanged. As for the Royal plate, he believes it’s fate…and only fitting that it ended up where it was thought to be all along.”
She heard very little conviction in those words. “You don’t agree.”
“It’s difficult to avoid feeling like a failure when you lose an immense fortune and two lives into the bargain. But I’m working on it.”
She’d been working on trying to better herself, too. “I wanted to stay here like you told me to—truly I did—but then when I realized they were murderers, and thought of you out there not knowing that…your lives at risk…” Remembering, she felt her heart pounding all over again. “I tried to obey, but I’m not made that way, Trick.”
“I know.” He sighed theatrically, but the smile in his eyes told her it was only for show. “I expect I’ll have to get used to that.”
“I’m so glad you’re willing to try.” Though she still didn’t hold herself blameless, relief flowed through her in heady waves. He was accepting her for who she was. More than anyone ever had in her life. “I was only trying to warn you of their wicked ways, but it all went wrong.”
“Your heart was in the right place.” His lips brushed her knuckles, and his breath on her hands warmed her somewhere deep inside. “I’m not used to anyone wanting to take care of me,” he told her in a husky voice, “but I do appreciate it. And I’m hoping we can make a fresh start,
