Highlander Most Wanted (38 page)

Eveline and Rorie fussed and worried over Genevieve’s appearance in between bouts of Rorie raging that Bowen had no right to interfere and send word to Genevieve’s family.

“ ’Tis because he wants what’s best for Genevieve,” Eveline said gently. “ ’Tis what you should want as well.”

Rorie’s face crumbled as Eveline put the finishing touches on Genevieve’s hair.

“But I shall miss her. ’Twas like having another sister, and a lass can
never
have too many sisters.”

Genevieve hugged the younger woman and squeezed her tight. “We’ll always be sisters. Of the heart, if nothing more. I’ll not forget you, Rorie Montgomery. Or your kindness.”

Rorie gave her a teary smile as she pulled away, and then Genevieve hugged Eveline, holding her fiercely. She waited until she’d stepped back before she spoke to Eveline, so that the other woman would understand her words.

“You’ve an understanding heart, Eveline. I was sore afraid to face you after all I’d done. I would not blame you if you’d insisted I leave your keep. But you welcomed me and you were kind. You’ve been a friend,
even in the short time we’ve been acquainted. Thank you for that. I’ll not forget you either.”

“You must stop,” Eveline choked out. “The three of us will all be weepy messes when you greet your family. You are a special woman, Genevieve McInnis. Never lose sight of that. What you endured would break a weaker woman, but you’ve become
stronger
for it.”

“Promise me you’ll visit,” Rorie said fiercely. “I’ll worry until I know you are happy and settled. And if you ever have need of anything, you’ve only to send word.”

Genevieve hugged them both again, then took a step back to smooth the dress she’d dug from her trunk. It was one that her mother had lovingly sewn as part of her wedding dowry, and one of the few that remained of her trousseau.

“Do I look all right?” she asked anxiously.

Dread and fear crowded her heart at the thought of the upcoming reunion with her family. She could not bear to see disappointment in their eyes. It would kill her to bring shame to their name.

“You look beautiful,” Eveline said softly.

Rorie leaned from the window and then ducked back in, her eyes wide, her voice hushed in awe. “ ’Tis time, Genevieve. Your clan approaches. They stretch as far as the eye can see. I vow they’ve brought the might of their entire army.”

Genevieve hurried to the window and stared out, seeing, for the first time in a year, her father’s banner, unfurled and flowing in the wind.

’Twas an impressive sight, and one that brought a lump to her throat.

He’d come for her.

Bowen and Graeme rode with a small contingent of Montgomery warriors to meet Laird McInnis just outside
the walls of the courtyard. Laird McInnis called a halt to his men and shifted on his horse as he eyed the Montgomery brothers.

Beside him, an ornate litter pulled by two horses came to rest beside the laird and Bowen could see a woman sitting, but the moment the horses stopped she sat up, her expression anxious and expectant.

“Where is my daughter?” the laird demanded.

His features were drawn into a warrior’s mask. ’Twas evident he did not know if he came to fight, but ’twas equally evident he was prepared for any outcome.

“Laird,” Graeme said respectfully. “I am Graeme Montgomery, laird of the Montgomery clan.”

“I know well who you are,” Laird McInnis said impatiently. “I want to know where my daughter is and if she is well.”

“Your daughter fares well,” Bowen spoke up.

The laird’s gaze fell on Bowen, his eyebrows drawing together.

“Are you Bowen Montgomery?”

“Aye, I am.”

“You are the one who sent the missive.”

Bowen nodded.

“Your missive was detailed enough, but there is still much I would know. The story was too fantastic to be true.”

“I assure you that everything within the message I had delivered to you is true,” Bowen said soberly. “Ian McHugh attacked Genevieve’s escort on its way to her betrothed and slaughtered everyone save Genevieve. He was obsessed with her and kept her imprisoned at his keep until the Montgomerys and Armstrongs attacked and killed him.”

The woman beside Laird McInnis gasped and put her hand to her mouth in horror.

“And you?” the laird asked, looking sharply at Bowen. “What role do you play in all of this?”

“I saw a woman sorely abused,” Bowen said quietly. “I bore her back to Montgomery Keep, where I could be assured of her well-being and care, and I sent word to you so that you would know that she lives.”

“Lachlan, ’tis enough talk,” the woman said sharply. “I would see my daughter at once. It’s been a year since I last held her, and I’ve spent the past year in hell thinking her dead. Surely you can converse with the Montgomerys once we’ve seen for ourselves the welfare of our daughter.”

Lachlan sighed. “You are right. I am anxious to see her as well.”

He glanced up at Graeme. “With your permission, Laird, I would enter your keep so that I may be reunited with my daughter. We’ve traveled hard these past days. We left the moment we received word that she was alive.”

Graeme inclined his head. “Of course. I would extend an invitation to you and your lady wife for rest and refreshment.”

Lady McInnis climbed from the litter, and Lachlan extended his arm to assist her. One of his men aided her and she was boosted into the saddle with the laird.

Graeme and Bowen turned and led the way through the gate into the courtyard, Laird McInnis and his wife close on their heels.

Graeme and Bowen dismounted, and Bowen went to assist Lady McInnis down from the horse. Laird McInnis’s feet hit the ground, and the air practically vibrated with expectancy.

Bowen was about to send word to Genevieve that her parents had arrived when he looked up and saw her standing in the doorway to the keep.

Her face was deathly pale, and her eyes large in her
face. The scar was even more pronounced against such paleness, and it made her look even more fragile.

“Mama? Papa?” she whispered.

Lady McInnis and the laird whipped around at the sound of her voice. Lady McInnis went as white as Genevieve, and to Bowen’s surprise, a look of anguish filled the laird’s face and tears gathered in his eyes.

“Genevieve!” Lady McInnis exclaimed.

And then they were both running, Genevieve and her mother. They met at the bottom of the steps, and Lady McInnis enfolded Genevieve in her arms, holding her as if she’d never let go.

The laird joined them, folding them both in his beefy embrace. He held them so tightly that Bowen wondered if either could breathe. There was such joy that it permeated the air around them. No one could look upon them and not be deeply moved by the emotional reunion.

“You did a good thing, Bowen,” Graeme murmured.

Bowen sucked in his breath and then turned his stare on his brother. “If I did such a good thing, why does it feel as though my heart has been torn from my chest?”

Graeme grimaced and put his hand on Bowen’s shoulder, squeezing in silent sympathy.

Genevieve stood surrounded by her mother and father, her heart nearly bursting as they hugged and kissed her. Her mother openly wept, and the big gruff laird, her father, looked as though he battled his own tears.

She clung to her mother, soaking up the warmth that only a mother’s embrace could provide. How long had she grieved for her mother? She thought never to see her again, or to see her smile. Or to simply enjoy the love and affection that flowed so freely within her clan.

“Oh Genevieve,” her mother whispered brokenly. “My heart has been restored.”

“Come here and give your papa a hug,” her father said in a gruff voice thick with emotion.

She went into her father’s embrace and he picked her up, just as he used to do when she was a child, and spun her around.

“My daughter is returned to us!” he shouted.

Just outside the walls, a roar went up from the assembled army and echoed across the hillside. It went on and on until Genevieve laughed as he spun her around again.

“My baby,” her mother said, pulling her once more into her embrace when her father set her down.

Her father turned to where Bowen and Graeme stood, while her mother held her tightly, as if afraid Genevieve would disappear if she let go.

“I owe you a debt of gratitude,” he said gruffly. “ ’Tis one I can never hope to repay.”

“Make her happy,” Bowen said simply. “ ’Tis all the debt you’ll ever have to repay.”

“Come,” Graeme said. “You’ve journeyed long and you must be tired and hungry. A feast will be prepared this night to celebrate the return of Genevieve to your clan.”

Genevieve’s mother stroked her hair and tenderly patted her scarred cheek.

“ ’Tis the most joyous moment of my life next to the day you were born. I’ll long hold this day in my memory. The day my only child was returned to me.”

Genevieve hugged her, burying her face in her mother’s neck as she’d done so many times over the years. Her scent was the same, soothing and so much like home.

“I love you, Mama.”

“And I love you, dearling. So very much.”

Genevieve hastened from the keep as the earth was bathed in the light of a new sun. She’d not slept the night before. Too much excitement. Her mother had slept in her chamber, not willing to be parted from her for even a moment. And today they would make the journey back home to McInnis land.

They’d feasted the night before, and Genevieve hadn’t had one moment in which to speak to Bowen alone. She could not leave without seeing him one last time.

She’d searched his chamber, but found it barren. Nor was he within the keep.

She found him standing on the hillside, staring over the vast expanse of Montgomery land. She slowed her steps as she neared him, suddenly hesitant.

He heard her approach and turned, his eyes flickering as his gaze found her. Wordlessly, she flew into his arms, holding him tightly as they embraced.

“I would not go without saying farewell to you,” she said.

“I’ll be there when you ride out,” Bowen assured.

Still, she hesitated. “I said terrible things to you, Bowen. I was angry and afraid. Mostly afraid. I was so fearful of facing my family after all that has happened. It was foolish of me to ever think they’d turn their back on me. I want to thank you for sending word to my father.
’Tis not something I would have had the courage to do, and that
shames
me.”

He put his finger to her lips. “Shhh, lass. There is no reason to be sorry. What you endured is unthinkable. ’Tis understandable that you had fears.”

“I’ll never forget you, Bowen Montgomery,” she said, her voice nearly breaking as she tried to say all that was in her heart. “I did not think a man such as you existed.”

He smiled and lowered his mouth to hers. “And ’tis the truth I did not dream that a lass such as you existed. I do not want to let you go, but ’tis my selfish desires that fuel my reluctance. Your family has been deprived of you in a most horrible way. I cannot imagine the grief they’ve endured all this time.”

She kissed him back, a kiss filled with heartbreak and desperation. She was torn between the impossible. A reunion with the family she loved above all else, and a man who had rescued her from the very depths of despair. A man who had looked beyond the scars on her face and soul to the very heart of her.

“Be happy, Genevieve,” he whispered against her lips. “ ’Tis all I ask. I can live and die a content man as long as I know you are happy and well cared for.”

She clung tightly to him, his arms wrapped around her as the sun rose higher in the sky. There was naught to say. Their hearts were heavy with the knowledge of what could not be—and of what was.

Finally, Bowen gently pulled her away and stroked a hand over her face. “ ’Tis time for you to go. Your father and mother will be looking for you.”

He went blurry in her vision as her eyes swam with tears. “I love you, Bowen. I would not leave without telling you so. I will never love another. You will always hold a place in my heart and I’ll think of you often, in my dreams and in the waking.”

He palmed her face and kissed her fiercely, his lips moving with heated desperation over hers.

“And I love you, Genevieve. For all my days will I love only you.”

No longer able to bear the look in his eyes, she turned and ran back toward the keep, leaving him on the hillside, a lone figure outlined by the rising sun.

Bowen watched as Rorie and Eveline noisily said farewell to Genevieve. They wept and clung to her as though they’d known her forever.

Graeme hovered close to Bowen, his expression worried and grim. ’Twas obvious he wanted to offer sympathy but had no idea what to say to his brother.

It was just as well, because Bowen had no desire to open the wound further. He offered his farewell to Laird and Lady McInnis and assisted Lady McInnis into the litter that would bear her and Genevieve back to McInnis Keep.

When it came time for Genevieve to take her leave, he stood stiffly to the side as she gave her farewell to Graeme. Then he offered her his hand to assist her into the litter.