Enchanted Cottage (Avador Book 3, Books We Love Fantasy Romance) (16 page)

Happiness burst inside him.
“Alana, is it really you?”

She laughed.
“Last time I looked in the mirror, I saw myself.”

“But you
… you’re beautiful. How can this be?”

Frowning, she looked around at the crowds that surrounded them.
The noise swelled, so many people laughing and talking at once.

He took her by the arm.
“Come, let’s go where there is quiet. Unless you want to stay here longer?”

“No, I’ve seen all I want to see, even bought myself a ribbon and a brooch.
So, really, I’m ready to leave.”

“Good.”
He clasped her small hand in his, leading her away from the festival grounds and heading toward the inn. So many people pushed against them that he slipped his arm around her shoulder and moved slowly to ease them both away from the festival goers. Ah, the nearness of her, inhaling her lilac fragrance, her warm body beneath his fingers.

Although sorry he had to drop his arm from her shoulder, still he breathed a sigh of relief when they left the festival behind and headed for the inn.

Back at the Snow Leopard, he found a table for them, the inn not so busy now, with most people at the celebration.
Over a mug of mead, he asked her about herself. How lovely she looked in that green dress that brought out the peach-like glow of her skin. And her voice, just as he remembered, the soft tones, a hint of refinement in her speech. Her hair shimmered by the flickering candlelight, sometimes appearing dark, at other times, golden. Captivated by her hand movements, those delicate fingers, he wanted those fingers touching him, caressing him.

“I’m so happy for you, but your face
—how, why?”

She smiled, and for the first time, he noticed she had dimples.
“I don’t know how or why. I only know that shortly after you left, my face began to clear.” She sighed. “I never told you how I came to be ugly, and yes, ugly is the only word to describe my former appearance. A witch in the village placed a curse on me—“

“
Why would she do such a thing?” But he knew.
Jealousy.

“She had her eye on one of the villagers who cared for me.”
Alana waved her hand, as if she wanted to forget the experience. “She was later hanged for practicing black magic. So that is over and done with. I don’t want to think about that part of my life anymore. Now please tell me about yourself. What have you been doing?”

“First of all, I resigned my commission with the Elegian army.
After that I tended to estate business,” he said, relating his affairs at his family’s holdings. He said nothing about the loss of his brother—-it caused him too much pain—-and he omitted telling her of his aborted handfasting ceremony. “Enough about me. I want to hear more about you. What are you doing now?”

“Governess for a wealthy mine owner who lives not too far from here.
A widower, has a little girl of seven.” A brief hesitation as she looked down at the table. “He has asked me to marry him.”

The world stopped spinning.
His heart ceased its beating. To think after all this, waiting and wanting her so, she would marry another. “And are you going to … marry him?”

“Most likely, yes.
I respect him. He is a kind, pleasant gentleman. We get along well together.”

“Kind!
Pleasant! You get along well together! You didn’t say anything about love.”

Her eyes flashed with defiance.
“Love? What do you know about love?”

I know that I love you
, he wanted to say. How to tell her what was in his heart? He reached across the table and wrapped his fingers around hers. “Alana, I beg of you. Give me a chance to prove how much I care for you. I’ve wanted you, longed for you, all these moonphases since we’ve been apart.”

“Oh, yes, now I understand.
When we were together at the cottage and I was so ugly, you didn’t care for me—“

”Not true!”

“
—but now that I have my looks back, all of a sudden, there is this fierce passion for me.” Others looked their way and she lowered her voice. “Not once did you say anything about your feelings for me.”

“Don’t you remember my kiss?
Surely that meant something to you.”

“A kiss?
I was just a woman who had taken care of you. The kiss was your way of showing your appreciation.”

“More than that, oh, so much more!”
He heaved a deep sigh. “Recall that we were together for only a few short days. And even though those days came to mean so much to me, still I could hardly have declared my love for you then. You knew I had to ride home to see my family. Two years since I had last seen them!”

Again, she looked down at the table, and he saw tears in her eyes.

He squeezed her hand.
“Please give me another chance. I will woo you,” he said with a self-conscious grin, “court you as I have wanted to, as a man is meant to court the woman he loves. Will you give me that chance?”

She looked away, brushing the tears from her eyes, then turned back to him.
‘For now, yes. But no promises.”

He smiled, feeling as if heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
For now, she said. No promises. He would have to be content with that reply.
For now
.

Chapter
Seventeen

As Colin walked her back to the Forgaill mansion, Alana wanted to tell him all that she felt in her heart, happier than she’d ever been in her life.
To think they had found each other again! But a kernel of doubt troubled her mind. Did he really care for her? True, she reasoned, they had spent only a few days together at the cottage, and yes, she understood that he’d wanted to see his family again, after such a long absence. She had no misgivings about her feelings for him; she loved him and had from the first.

What about Malcolm and his proposal?
her conscience nagged. What to do then? And what about Morna? She would have to deal with these issues, no evading them.

Darkness was falling, the first faint stars and a waning moon glimmering in the sky.
A cool breeze tossed leaves in the air and bent branches of maples and oaks.

Colin’s voice broke through her thoughts.
“I must see you again, and soon—my reason for staying in Moytura.”

“Tomorrow is my last day off this nine-day,” she said, wishing it were not so.
“As I told you back at the inn, I’m a governess for a little girl.”

“What about your evenings?
They haven’t enslaved you, have they?” he asked with an attempt at humor. He stopped and looked down at her, and even in the dark, she saw his somber expression. “Surely you know I want to marry you. I should have made that plain before. You alone, Alana, no one else for me.” He held her hand close to his chest. “After all these moonphases, being without you, missing you so, I can’t let you slip away from me.”

She bit her lower lip.
“My time is my own in the evening. But Malcolm—my employer—would worry about my being out after dark.”

“Malcolm
—he’s the man who proposed to you?”

His face revealed his anguish, and she didn’t want to hurt him, didn’t want to hurt either man.

“Malcolm, yes, and he is a fine man.”
She sighed inwardly, realizing the task ahead of her.

“But do you love him?
Alana, I must know your feelings for me.”

Time for her to be honest, to reveal all the love she had for him.
“It’s you I love, only you. All these moonphases—“

“
Alana!” He drew her into his arms and kissed her as she had longed for, dreamed of for so long. Ah, his kisses, her heart beating next to his. Her hands roamed across his back, pressing him ever closer, wanting this passion they shared to go on forever.

After an eternity, he released her, leaving her bereft, as if the stars and moon had disappeared from the sky and all life had ended.

Too soon, they reached the Forgaill mansion.
She didn’t want to say ‘goodbye’ but knew she must. A tangle of emotions twisted inside her, such a desire to see him again, yet the dread of hurting Malcolm, the distress of leaving Morna. She must deal with these concerns in the coming days.

She squeezed his hand.
“Tomorrow, I can meet you at the Snow Leopard. That would be best, I think.”

He nodded, as if he understood her dilemma, and quirked a little smile.
“Early in the morning, then. It can’t be too early for me.”

She smiled.
“Well, let’s at least wait until it’s light. I eat an early breakfast, so I’ll meet you after that.”

“Tomorrow, then.”
He kissed her again, and then he was gone, disappearing into the night.

* * *

On his way back to the inn, Colin recognized that he must write his father a letter, explaining that he was delayed on personal business. No, he amended, he would tell his father that he had found Alana, no hesitation, no equivocation. He wondered if the Snow Leopard had a messenger service, as many reputable inns did.

Which they did, he found upon his return to the inn, telling Cedric his letter must go to Ulaidh.

“That far north will cost you three silvers, sir. The messenger will leave at dawn.”

“Very well.
Bring me writing materials, if you will, and I’ll have the letter ready for you shortly.”

Settled in his room, Colin composed the letter to his father.
“Honored Father,” he began, choosing his words carefully. He ended the letter by saying that Alana was everything he would want as a daughter-in-law.
And all I would ever want in a wife
.

After leaving the letter downstairs with Cedric, he went to bed, thinking only of Alana and counting the days until they were wed.

* * *

The long carriage ride from Ros Creda to Moytura, besides stopping at the many inns along the way, gave Malcolm much time to think. Should he have asked Alana to be his wife, he agonized. A lovely, intelligent woman such as she would make any man a good wife, but he greatly regretted that he didn’t love her. He wondered if he could ever love again, for his wife, gone from him these many years, still held a place in his heart. If truth be told, the moonlight and Alana’s beauty had bewitched him, making him throw caution and his normal good judgment to the wind. And also, he had to admit, he needed a woman in his bed. He could not, in good conscience, withdraw his proposal, nor would he want to hurt Alana’s feelings.

Might there come a day when he could love another woman?
He was only thirty-one and had many years to find someone to love. Yet he kept returning to the same certainty: he could not undo his proposal to Alana.

He looked out the window as the carriage topped a hill.
Off in the distance, he saw the spires of Moytura. He breathed a sigh of relief, gratified to be home again.

What he wanted, what he had needed for so long, was a few days free of work and business.
Last year, his father had taken one whole moonphase away from business and had stayed with relatives in Mag Bregha. One nine-day would not be too much to ask. He would take Morna with him, for he recognized the need to spend more time with his daughter; he had neglected her far too long. He would love to travel, visit other countries such as Galdina and Partholonia, spend a few days with relatives in Mag Bregha.

But what about Alana?
He reached his house and paid the carriage driver, no closer to a resolution.

* * *

I don’t like secrets and I don’t like sneaking around
, Alana mused as she prepared to meet Colin at the inn. She believed in honesty, above all, but she dreaded hurting Malcolm’s feelings. And Morna, her conscience nagged her, such a dear little child. How could she leave her?

On this day when she would meet Colin, her dilemma overshadowed her utter happiness at finding her loved one again.
But she would keep her problems to herself, never wanting to spoil their time together.

The air cooler now, she shivered on her walk from the Forgaill home to the inn, sorry she hadn’t worn her woolen cape.
However, a clear blue sky showed promise of a mild day, and the long walk warmed her. Just thinking about Colin and his kiss last night brought a rush of heat throughout her body. She counted the minutes until she would see him again, hearing his voice, as if he were with her now, this very minute.

Past the stores and fancy shops, she reached the inn and opened the door, blinking her eyes in the darkness of the room.
Soon enough, Colin approached and took her hand. “I’ve missed you so, just since last night.”

She raised his hand to her cheek.
“And I’ve missed you. I can never tell you how much.”