Page 98 of Highlander’s Captive

…the one man that ye truly love. The one ye change for.

Had she changed for Craig? She had found herself back on that mountain in the Highlands.

And, strangely, she thought of Dad. And instead of the resentment and contempt she’d felt for him her whole life, she felt pity. It probably hadn’t been easy for him, when Mom died. And then finding out what he had done to his daughter—that he’d almost killed her.

“How’s Dad?” Amy asked.

Jenny cocked her head, puzzled. “Dad? He’s fine. Why?”

“I think I’m going to go with you to North Carolina. To see him.”

Jenny’s face went blank. “Seriously?”

Amy nodded. “Yes. I think so. I haven’t seen him for a long time. And, I think, I’m finally ready.”

Chapter 35

Inverlochy Castle, January 1307

“Brooding, again?” Owen said.

Craig turned to him, one eyebrow arched. Owen was walking from the Comyn Tower onto the northern wall overlooking the river and the loch. The tops of the hills and mountains were white, the bottoms still brown and gray.

“Aye,” Craig said. “And ye’re disturbing me.”

Owen came to stand by Craig’s side and leaned against the parapet as well.

“Brood as much as ye want,” Owen said. “Mayhap I came to brood, too.”

“What do ye have to brood about?”

“The general absence of women in my life.”

“I hope Lachlan’s death taught ye a lesson about that.”

Owen looked at him out of the corner of his eye and said nothing.

“Ye ken I’ll never trust ye again.”

“Ye dinna mean that, brother, surely.”

Craig held Owen’s eyes for a long time. “I do mean it, Owen. I would go against any enemy with ye to fight, knowing well that ye’ll have my back in a battle. But other things… Ye kent well why ye shouldna seduce village girls. And ye did that anyway. How can I trust ye?”

Owen nodded. “Fair enough. But ye will still fight at my side in a battle?”

“Aye.”

“So ye ken I wilna betray ye to the enemy.”

“Aye. I canna imagine ye would. Why would ye?”

“Right. I wouldna. But if ye ken I wouldna betray ye, why do ye not allow Amy the same benefit?”

Amy.

The name slashed him across his abdomen like a sharp sword.

“Because I grew up with ye, that’s why,” he growled. “And she…”