by Liz Talley
“Do you promise to write me back?” she whispered.
“Right away, as soon as I get your letter.”
Then he took her hand and squeezed it. He ran down the staircase toward his mother without looking back.
“Colin! Where have you been?” Daisie Lee wailed.
“Looking at swords up in Rhiannon’s room,” he lied neatly. “Her dad has a massive collection.” He gave Daisie Lee a huge grin as if nothing at all was wrong, as if he wasn’t upset about his father, as if he hadn’t just kissed Rhiannon.
Rhiannon touched her lips.
But Daisie Lee smiled at him, happier now, because who wouldn’t smile when they were with Colin? He was special. There would never be anybody else like him.
Rhiannon stood so that she wouldn’t be hidden anymore and watched Colin leave, ushered through the door by her mum.
Colin turned back to Rhiannon as he crossed the threshold, and he gave her a secret smile.
A lump formed in her throat but she forced herself to smile, doing for him what he had just done for his mother. She would not show pain or fear. She lifted her hand in a wave. I will write to you, she mouthed to him.
*
BUT RHIANNON NEVER did write. Because shortly after that New Year’s Eve, her life changed, too.
Rhiannon lay in a hospital bed, her whole world turned upside down. She hated seeing people, because all they did was ask her questions and make her feel even more frightened. And even though she thought about Colin all the time, she wouldn’t want him to see her like this.
It wasn’t until weeks later that she was finally allowed to return to her castle. And once she was there, she never wanted to leave again. She never left the grounds of the estate, and she rarely saw visitors.
Staying in her own special world made her feel safe and in control. Everybody in Scotland knew that. She supposed Colin knew, too, and she took comfort from the fact that he would understand.
For years afterward, Rhiannon believed that Colin left her alone precisely because he understood her so well.
And she was grateful.
Copyright © 2015 by Cathryn Parry
ISBN-13: 9781460385333
Sweet Southern Nights
Copyright © 2015 by Amy R. Talley
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