Isa’s fingers faltered the moment he uttered the words. “Yer daughter?” she repeated. “You made no mention of a daughter before.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Perhaps you’ll see fit to share it later,” she murmured as she rose to stand, moving out of the way to allow the two men to lift him to his feet and help him into one of the wagons.
Chapter 28
A daughter.
The lurch in Isa’s stomach had nothing to do with the wagon’s movement down the rutted path. No more than the heat or the cramped space might have to do with the pain in her heart.
A daughter waiting for Robbie at MacQuarrie Keep implied a wife waiting as well.
How could she ever manage to face that woman, his wife, after what she’d shared with him?
Unless...
Perhaps there was no wife. He’d never once spoken of one.
Isa might be willing to delude herself but her conscience had no desire to allow that.
He’s never spoken of a daughter, either.
And yet clearly he has a daughter.
He had made mention of a family often enough, but she had never stopped to consider that to mean a daughter and a wife. No wonder he had been so insistent that she accompany him to his home. He’d wanted to return to hisfamily.
His daughter and hiswife.
Isa curled into a ball, turning away from the child sleeping next to her. She buried her face in the woolens Editha had laid out for them to rest on, hoping their fragrant thickness would absorb her tears.
If only she could join Jamie in slumber so she wouldn’t have listen to her own horrible thoughts any longer.
The fantasy she’d allowed herself to construct, the cozy home with Robbie and Jamie and maybe even a baby one day—none of it would come to pass now.
He’d hidden a daughter and a wife from her.
Even in her misery, her conscience wouldn’t let her be.
Who was she to hold him accountable for keeping secrets when she hadn’t bothered to tell him her own? They’d walked for hours together on that long road. She’d had nothingbutopportunity to tell Robbie what she’d done.
And who was she to blame him for shattering the fantasy she’d never had any right to create from the beginning? She herself had done that by her own actions. Even if no wife waited for Robbie at the end of their travels, it made no difference.
A husband waited for her back at Castle MacGahan.
Her husband.
The bone-jarring movement of the wagon rolled to a stop, the lack of motion unsettling after so long a ride. As discreetly as possible, Isa wiped her eyes and then pushed herself up to sit. She might as well make herself useful because she certainly wasn’t going to get any more rest.
Beside her, Jamie stirred and opened his eyes. The bandage Esther had applied to his cheek earlier hung askew and Isa could see at once that the child’s injuries were worse. The skin was swollen and red.
“Have we arrived?” he asked, his voice hoarse with exhaustion.
“I dinna think so. No yet. I’d guess we’re stopping for the night, lad.”
“I’ll see.” Jamie turned over, crawling on all fours to the flap, where he slid out feetfirst.
Isa followed more slowly, heading for the second wagon the moment her feet touched the ground.