Tess and the Highlander Page 4

  Something about him drew her attention, for she lowered the cup and caught him watching her. Her entire body became tense.

  “Good morning. Or is it the night?”

  “Morning…nay, ’tis night falling.” She quickly corrected herself while cautiously laying the cup aside.

  He propped himself casually on one elbow, hopeful that she wouldn’t feel threatened. “Did you sleep well?”

  She gave a curt nod and glanced nervously toward the door.

  “You were so cold, and I was truly concerned that you would have caught a chill or fever after spending so many hours outside.” He sat up on the bedding. She took a nervous step toward the door.

  “Please don’t go.”

  Her wary look shifted to him. From the narrow windows, he could see that night had already spread its thick blanket across the island. The howl of the wind through the openings was indication enough that the brutal weather was continuing.

  “I shall go, if you like,” he said quietly. He straightened the blankets around him and started pulling on the boots that he’d taken off earlier in the day. They were still wet. “This is your house. You need not spend another night out in this storm.”

  She glanced at him, then at the door, and without another word she started for the door.

  Colin was on his feet and had put himself in her path the next instant. “You do know that there is a storm still battering this island,” he asked shortly.

  She gave a small nod and tried to go around him. He blocked her path again.

  “Don’t you think I deserve an explanation?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. “By St. Andrew, I must tell you I am tired of these silly games you women enjoy playing.”

  “What games?” she asked in bewilderment.

  “These games of pretense—of acting coy and hard to please.” He held up an accusing finger before she could speak. “And don’t give me that innocent look like you don’t know what I am talking about. By now, you know perfectly well that I can be trusted. How many men do you think sail these waters who would not have taken advantage of this situation?”

  “What does the behavior of sailors have to do with me going out?” She had a very expressive face, and it was showing her perplexity.

  “What is your name?”

  She successfully stepped around him. “I have to go.”

  “Wait. We need to talk about this. Considering everything, we can both stay the night here, warm and dry, like two civilized people.” He managed to put an arm in the doorway to block her path again. “I shan’t bother you…”

  Obvious frustration creased her brow. “I have to go outside.” She went under his arm.

  “Wait!” As Colin turned to go after her, more shells crunched under the sole of his boots. He cursed the annoying clutter the woman lived with.

  She was fast. He caught up to the stubborn creature again halfway down the dark stairs. Before he could grab her by the elbow, she turned sharply to him, her hands out to hold him off.

  “Do not come after me,” she snapped impatiently. “I told you, I have to go outside.”

  “But why? I have already offered…”

  “Look, I was brought up with the understanding that there are some things people must do for themselves. Do I need to say any more?”

  Suddenly, Colin felt like a complete idiot. “Ah. You could have explained this to me before...”

  She shook her head and hurried down before he could finish what he was saying.

  “You are coming back, aren’t you?”

  Colin noticed that in her rush she didn’t even stop to grab her cloak from the bottom of the stairs before going out. He didn’t move, though, wondering if this had been all a ruse and the headstrong woman was running across the island this very minute. Not that he would stop her forcibly if she was determined to go…er, hide. But it would be nice to know his honorable conduct was somehow appreciated. It wasn’t too much to ask her to trust him until this storm was over, was it? He was still waging this silent argument with himself when the door opened, and she blew in amidst the wind and rain.

  Her steps were much lighter. Her attitude much less tense. She climbed up couple of steps toward him but then stopped.

  “I guess ‘twould be better if we started all over again.”

  She continued to study him as if she was trying to make up her mind about whether it was really safe to come up the stairs, or not.

  “My name is Colin Macpherson,” he announced. “You found me yourself yesterday on the rocks.”

  He realized that her gaze was focused on the dirk that he had once again put back in its sheath at his belt. He understood her fear. She went down a step when his hand went to it.

  “You can have this, if it makes you feel any better.” Even in the darkness of the stairwell, he could see her watching his every movement as he took out the weapon and held the handle in her direction. “I will be appreciative though, if you promise to not use it on me.”

  Colin waited patiently while she studied him some more. “I will also be grateful if you decided to spare my clothes, as well. I know they are not in very fine shape, but they are all I have here and, considering the weather...”

  Finally, she climbed up and hesitantly reached for the preferred weapon.

  “Will I be safe?” he pressed in a lighter tone, hoping to ease her nervousness.

  After she gave him a quick nod, Colin started backing up the steps. He couldn’t understand it, but somehow winning her trust really mattered.

  “I see you have a very interesting collection of things upstairs.”

  She tucked the weapon in a pocket of the dress and started climbing up, too.

  “In case you are interested in adding my dirk to your miscellany…” As he backed into the large chamber, the sound of crunching shells drew a curse from his lips. “By the devil…”

  “This is better.” She was biting her lips to hide a smile.

  “What is better?”

  “Saying what you think and feel, instead of playing these games with words.”

  “Games with words?”

  She shrugged. “I know what you were trying to do. But I am not afraid of you.”

  Colin extended his hand at her. “Then can I have my dagger back?”

  “Nay, you cannot.” She went around him and walked toward the fire.

  He turned, managing to crush more shells. “Why, in the name of St. Andrew, MUST you keep these bloody…?”

  “Colin Macpherson.” She glanced over her shoulder at him and actually smiled. “A little restraint is good, too.”

  She was even more beautiful when she smiled, he thought. “Who are you?”

  “Tess.”

  “Tess,” he repeated, liking the sound of the name. Colin tried to pay attention to where he was stepping as he followed her. “Do you live here alone, Tess?”

  “Nay…there are others.” Despite her immediate answer, she couldn’t hide the shade of color staining her cheeks. “My father…and my…my older brothers…”

  He glanced about the room. As he’d noticed before, everything from the sparse furnishings to the few utensils indicated that only one person lived here.

  “But they are on the mainland now,” she blurted out, reading his thoughts. “They were out fishing when the storm swept in. I assume they must be on the mainland.” She shrugged and moved toward the hearth. “They are very good water folk. They’ll be worrying about me out here alone. Aye, I should think they’ll be getting back anytime.”

  She was lying and Colin knew it. And she was nervous again. He’d seen the two recently dug graves last night. And he’d never heard any sailor speak of anyone other than the keeper and his wife living on this island. But, of course, there never had been any talk of Tess, either. He decided to let the subject rest…for now.

  She was attempting to stir the contents of the cauldron. “Did I destroy your food last night by moving it from the fire?”

  “This is not food
.”

  “Then what is it?”

  She pulled out the spoon and let the congealed mixture drop back into the pot. “Some of the sheep have foot rot…from the wet.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “You didn’t try to eat this, did you?”

  He swallowed hard. “Not successfully.”

  She smiled, and Colin was enchanted again. She hefted the cauldron aside and pushed herself to her feet. “So I assume you won’t be hungry for awhile.”

  “I am starving.”

  “So am I.” She pulled down a piece of smoked fish hanging from the beams overhead.

  “Can I be any help to you?” The crunching sound of shells under his boots made him wince.

  “Aye. You can stop crushing my shells with every step you take.”

  Colin glanced down at the hundreds of annoying items spread everywhere. He had managed to grind a good many of them into dust already. “Why do you need so many, and why can’t you pile them all in one place, so they are not underfoot…”

  “Why can’t you watch where you step?”

  He took the broom that she handed him. “I asked my question first.”

  “Aye, but this is my place. I can do as I wish. You asked to help. I am giving you a chance. Why don’t you start?”

  He planted his hands atop the handle of the broom and watched her move around the room, preparing their meal. “I thought you said you live here with your father and brothers.”

  “I do.” She avoided looking at him.

  “Then why did you say…my place?”

  “I was speaking for all of us.”

  “How many brothers do you have Tess?”

  “Two…three.”

  “And did your sister go with them too?”

  “She did.”

  “But you didn’t say anything about your sister before, Tess.”

  “You keep talking, and you shan’t finish your job. And the way I was brought up, if you don’t work, you don’t eat.”

  “Tell me, Tess. Why is it that you haven’t the accent of the folk who fish these waters?”

  “That does it!” She turned sharply on him, a frown darkening her fair features. “You are going out this instant.”

  “Not so fast, lassie. You can see I’m working.” With a smile, he started sweeping the broom across the floor. As she returned to her own tasks, Colin also started sweeping up undamaged seashells along with the shards of broken ones. He glanced up at her back. “I never thanked you properly for saving my life.”

  “Well, you might thank me by not getting rid of things that I value.”

  She hadn’t turned, but she’d known what he was up to. “Are you sure you are not a faerie, lass?”

  Tess turned slowly where she stood and shot him a mysterious look. “Perhaps I am. And perhaps you should leave off your talking and not rile my temper.”

  “I see.” He contained the smile that was pulling at his lips. “And what will you do if I don’t do as I am told?”

  Tess scooped a spoonful of the hoof medicine out of the cauldron.

  “I feed you this for your supper. Any more questions?”

  CHAPTER 4

  The dying fire in the hearth cast an amber glow over the chamber, sparking and crackling from time to time as a knot of brine-soaked driftwood crumbled into the embers. Sheets of wind-driven rain battered the stout walls, and crystalline mists drifted into the room though the narrow windows. Sometimes, a gust of wind would chase the acrid smelling smoke back down through the chimney, but Tess—lying contently on her bedding—was oblivious to all but the Highlander as he slept across the room.

  Until tonight, she hadn’t realized how much she missed the company of another human being. She had her animals, her gardens, her weaving, her fishing…all the tasks of living that needed to be done if one were to survive alone on an island. She had her shell collecting to keep her busy, as well. She had only occasionally thought about having no one to talk to, but now she realized that she missed hearing another human voice. And even more than that, Tess realized that even when Auld Charlotte and Garth were alive, she’d never known what it felt like to have a companion who was interested in her, who challenged her…and who tested her patience every other minute.

  And, to be truthful, she loved the feeling.

  Garth and Charlotte had been patient and kind, but very quiet compared to this stranger. They rarely spoke to each other, and for the most part, they would only speak to her to instruct. And though they had genuinely cared for her, Tess had always felt a barrier. Once, while she was helping Garth clean some fish they’d caught in their nets, he’d looked out across the water. A great ship with billowing white sails was moving southward. Without looking at her, Garth said that one day a ship would come and take her away from them. He’d said nothing else—and it had never come to be—but she’d realized that day that they were protecting themselves and their feelings. They knew they could lose her at any time.

  Tess could only remember bits and pieces of her lost family, but what she could recall she had never revealed. She knew Charlotte and Garth always assumed that most of her family had died in the same shipwreck that had placed her on their island. But the knowledge that there might be others who wanted her back had made the couple hide her away any time a fishermen or sailors or pilgrims appeared on the rocky shore.

  She knew she had been a welcome addition in their lives. To be sure, they had been a godsend for her. And she missed them.

  The Highlander made a noise in his sleep. Tess sat up and watched him across the way. Restless. Tonight, the two of them had argued more than they’d talked during their meal of smoked fish and dried bannock bread. He was so full of questions about who she was and who her parents were and what she was doing on this island. Tess had taken great enjoyment out of continually changing the topic and turning the questions back on himself. Naturally, he wouldn’t answer anything unless she did. Alternately funny and angry, Colin had been entirely attentive to every word she said and every movement she made. So they had gone round and round, and she’d enjoyed every minute.

  Tess tucked her knees against her chest and admired the glow of the fire reflecting off the handsome planes of his face. He was not like any of the sailors or pilgrims from the Highlands that she had spied on over the years. He was not loud or rude. And he had not tried to handle her with any of the roughness that Charlotte had warned her of.

  As Tess considered him, Colin murmured something aloud in his sleep. She scrambled from her bedding and stood watching him move his head from side to side. He was struggling against something in his dream.

  “STOP!”

  She moved quickly to his side. He was still asleep, but his face was covered with sweat, and he continued to thrash about. His arms and legs were moving, too, as he struggled. Tess crouched down and placed a hand on his brow, wondering for a moment if he had caught a fever.

  His blue eyes opened instantly. She immediately drew her hand back, but stayed where she was.

  “I think…you were having a nightmare.”

  He blinked a few times, trying to clear his head.

  “I died in my dream.” His voice was raspy and hoarse. “I have never before died in my dreams.”

  The vulnerability in his voice tugged at her heart.

  “Have no fear. You’ll live a long and full life. The sea cast you up, so your life thread is that much stronger.” She used the corner of the blanket and ran it gently over his brow and wiped his face. She brushed back his hair. He still had the dazed look of one who hovered halfway between sleep and waking. “That’s what Charlotte used to tell me when I would have bad dreams.”

  When she started to pull her hand away, he reached up and caught it in his own. “Stay.”

  Her hand seemed so small wrapped in his large one. Tess stared at the contrast of their skins—at the strength that was so pronounced in his sinewy arms and yet the gentleness with which he held her.

  “Tell me about the dream,” she managed
to say. “Sometimes it helps.”

  His eyes were so blue that Tess thought she could drown in them. “I had forgotten how to swim. My legs and arms were not mine to command. And every time I thought I could catch some air, another great wave would crash over me and take me deeper.”

  She edged closer to his side and sat on the bedding. Their hips were touching through the blanket, and she was very conscious of the contact.

  “That is just a scare held over from your struggles during the storm.” Her fingers moved of their own accord and touched the roughness on his chin. She touched the cleft and hesitantly traced his lips. The difference in texture was so interesting. “You are safe here.”

  Tess watched as his expression changed. Shocked by her own behavior, she guiltily withdrew her fingers. His eyes focused on her face in a way she could not identify.

  “You said you had bad dreams,” he said softly.

  “Aye. Many times. Sometimes I still do.”

  “Were you ever caught in waves like that, too? Washed ashore?”

  “I was.” Tess knew she had made a mistake the moment the words left her mouth. She tried to pull away, but his grip on her one hand held her where she was.

  “Tell me about it, Tess.”

  She shook her head and looked away. “There is nothing to tell. I…I almost drowned swimming off the western bluffs.”

  “You blush when you lie.”

  She turned sharply to him. “I blush when I am considering murder, too.”

  He had the nerve to laugh for a moment. She shivered as his thumb moved slowly back and forth across her palm.

  “How old are you, Tess?”

  “Seventy-one this month! Far too old for you to be looking at me like that.” She pulled her hand free and practically ran across the room.

  His laughter followed her as she crawled beneath the blankets. She tried to close her eyes and ears to his charm.

  If the filthy dogs find a young and bonny thing like ye on this deserted island, they’ll all be thinking the same thing, lassie… Charlotte’s warnings were losing their bite. The fact that he was a Highlander wasn’t even enough to worry her.