Iona’s eyes stung unexpectedly.
“It does nae feel earned,” she said.
“That is because ye are still measuring it against what ye have lost,” Erin replied. “Stop doing that.”
Iona turned her face into the pillow slightly, as though the motion might hide the way her throat tightened.
“I daenae ken how,” she admitted.
“Aye, ye do,” Erin said. “Ye have already begun.”
Iona frowned faintly. “How.”
“Ye came here,” Erin said simply. “Instead of lying awake in yer own bed, chasing shadows, ye came to someone who would tell ye that ye are being ridiculous.”
That drew another quiet laugh from her, though it trembled at the edges.
“I suppose that is true.”
“It is,” Erin said. “And ye are.”
Iona shifted closer without quite realizing she had done so, her shoulder brushing lightly against the older woman’s arm.
“Thank ye,” she murmured.
“For what?”
“For taking me in,” Iona said, her voice soft but steady now. “For being kind to me when ye didnae need to be. For… all of this.”
She gestured vaguely, though there was no need to name it.
Erin’s expression softened further, though she would never have called it that herself.
“I did what was needed,” she said.
“Nay,” Iona replied. “Ye did more than that.”
She turned then and wrapped her arms around Erin in a sudden, unguarded embrace, holding her tightly in a way that spoke of gratitude far deeper than the words she had chosen.
Erin made a low, startled sound.
“Well now,” she muttered. “There is nay need to suffocate me in the middle of the night.”
Iona laughed against her shoulder. “I am nae suffocating ye.”
“Ye are attempting to,” Erin said. “Release me before I am forced to complain properly.”
Iona loosened her hold, though her smile lingered as she settled back beside her.
They had only just grown quiet again when another small knock sounded at the door.
Both of them turned.
“Ma?” came Jamie’s voice, soft and uncertain.
Iona sat up at once. “Come in, mo chridhe.”
The door creaked open, and Jamie slipped inside, her hair loose around her shoulders, her eyes bright in the candlelight.