Yesterday's Promise

by Michele Paige Holmes

  “Katie, I’m sorry. I was telling the truth when I said Mhairi and I are just friends. I’m human and was lonely, and I never loved her like I love you.”

  “You loved her, too?” My voice escalated along with my efforts to break free of his grasp.

  “No! You misunderstand. Please, Katie. Listen to me.”

  I stopped moving and stared at his chest.

  “It was about a year ago— a good six months before your father’s letter arrived. Laird Campbell had died. I hadn’t seen you or heard any word from you in over thirteen years. I had only my faith to go on that we would be together again. And one day that faltered. Just for a minute. I felt remorse at once and told Mhairi it must never happen again.”

  No doubt Mhairi had felt differently.

  “Forgive me? Please?” Collin tipped my chin up, so that I met his gaze.

  “I’m not angry.” Not exactly, anyhow. “Just— hurt.” And oh, so jealous. How many years had Mhairi had with Collin, while I had been away?

  “I think it would be best if we were to each thoroughly convince the other that there is no cause for such emotion, that our commitment to one another is complete.” Collin caught me around the waist and pulled me close.

  “An excellent idea,” I agreed, though my heart wasn’t in it, as it had been a moment ago. Now I was the gloomy one.

  “It has always been you, Katie. Only you. From the very first moment we met, when you scolded me, it was as if I could see the future, the woman you would become and the love we would have. I’ve never loved any other.”

  At Collin’s tender admission, tears burst to the surface. I clung to him and allowed him to kiss me. It didn’t take long before I was convinced of all that he’d said.

  When we finally broke apart he moved back, an almost pained look upon his face, his breathing heavy. “We shouldn’t— we can’t—” He threw his hands up in surrender, then stepped forward again.

  I wasn’t certain who kissed the other first this time. I reached for him as he came to me, then once again we were swept away in consuming passion that left no room for anything but each other in the world. My castle, a hot bath, real food... it could all wait. Forever, if necessary. So long as I had Collin. So long as we had each other.

  When our kiss ended, he did not release me but held me tightly to him. I lay my head against his chest, over his heart, comforted once more by its steadiness. Every beat seemed to echo his declaration. I love you.

  And though this did not begin to solve all of our problems, it provided our strength. My home was where Collin was. And for now, it was enough.

  A collective gasp reverberated throughout the hall. Laird Campbell and I faced off, his expression a peculiar mixture of fury and relief.

  “Very well,” he said quietly after several tense seconds had passed. “If you don’t wish Katie to be punished, you may take her thrashing for her.”

  “Please, Grandfather, no!” She ran out from behind me, but I snatched her gown and hauled her back.

  “I’m sorry,” she wailed. “I won’t boast of what I see again. I won’t.”

  “I believe you, lass.” He snapped the belt once more. “But to make certain you understand, this has to be done. There are consequences...”

  I saw in the stoic resignation of Katie’s face that she was prepared to accept her punishment. I couldn’t allow it, couldn’t imagine anything worse than seeing her hurt. Wincing, I crouched down, grasped her slight shoulders and turned her toward me.

  “You must permit me to do this. After all, you saved me a beating the first day I was here. I’ve been in your debt since. And nothing is worse for a man than owing a favor to a lass.”

  “But you’re not a man.” Katie’s lip trembled, and a tear slid down her cheek.

  “I disagree,” Laird Campbell said quietly. “Tonight, Collin has proven himself worthy of that title.”

  It felt almost as if the compliment had come from my father. I thought of him as the next lashes fell. His approval made them easier to bear, as did the sight of the child on her knees before me, crying as if her heart would break.

  My backside stung, but my soul felt more peace than it had in the nights since the old laird and his priest had betrothed the lass to me. My father had sent me to this place, but it was she who would keep me here. Aligning my will to that purpose, to the higher power Who orchestrated it all, was my only hope, and hers as well.

  Next from Michele Paige Holmes

  A Hearthfire Historical Romance

  A Promise for Tomorrow

  **coming Fall 2017**

  Chapter One

  We didn’t have to knock. Liusaidh waited as I had seen her, standing in the open doorway of her small home, her face turning slowly to and fro, as if searching for someone. She was not watching but listening. Liusaidh was blind.

  “Hello,” Collin, my husband of two weeks, called out when we’d dismounted Ian’s horse and tethered it securely a short distance from her front door.

  Her mouth opened, but she said nothing at first, though she turned in our direction. “Collin? Collin MacDonald, is that you?”

  “Aye,” he called and strode toward her, into her open arms. I watched as she hugged him the way a mother might hug her grown child.

  “And who’ve you brought with you?” Liusaidh asked when they had parted and she wiped at her wet, sightless eyes.

  “My bride.” Collin straightened and puffed his chest out proudly, though she could not see it. I felt grateful she could not see me either, or she might have doubted his show of boasting. I was not looking my best.

  Avoiding the chickens pecking about the yard, I walked over to them, every part of my body aching with each step. Our unconventional wedding trip had consisted of traveling from my home in England to the Highlands of Scotland, to my mother’s people, the Campbells. Along the way I had come to understand the dangers my new life was to entail, including a brother-in-law who wished me dead, and my own clan chief who wished my husband dead. Collin and I had not had an easy time of it.

  In spite of this, or perhaps even because of it, Collin and I had grown close over the past several days. He held his hand out to me now, and I clasped it, grateful to be at his side, grateful to my grandfather who, years before, had the foresight— literally— to betroth me to Collin.

  “Hello.” I curtsied before Liusaidh, then straightened to find her reaching toward me. Collin nodded, and I stepped forward, allowing Liusaidh to run her fingers over my face.

  “Katherine’s lass,” she whispered.

  “Aye, It’s Katie. I’ve brought her home at last,” Collin said.

  “Bless you both. Bless us all,” she exclaimed, pushing past me to stretch her neck in either direction once more. “Come away in.” She ushered us inside, then closed and barred the door behind her.

  She stood there a moment, emotions flittering across her face with surprising rapidness. Her hands twisted with nervousness and perhaps fear, even as her face held a deep sorrow. But she seemed to push past each as she greeted us once more.

  “Goodness, Collin. It’s been years. And you, lass, why you were just a wee thing the last time you crossed my doorstep.”

  “It is good to see you again,” I said politely, though I had no recollection of ever knowing her.

  “Wish I might say the same.” She laughed at her own joke.

  I sent a despairing look at Collin. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  “Not to worry about it.” Liusaidh waved away my concern. “Collin knows I like to jest with people. I’ve been blind my entire life and don’t know anything else. It is no bother to me and no shame at all.”

  “The name Liusaidh comes from Saint Lucia,” Collin said. “The patron saint of the blind who was a fourth-century martyr, said to have had her eyes gouged out.”

  Liusaidh clasped her hands together. “You did listen during your lessons.”

  “Of course,” Collin said. “Laird Campbell would have taken the strap
to me if I didn’t.” To me he said, “I came here for my church learning. Seeing as I was a MacDonald, your grandfather feared services once a week weren’t enough to make me into a good, God-fearing, man. Liusaidh made certain I learned the name and story of every patron saint there is, along with the stories in the Bible, the commandments—”

  “And basic manners.” Liusaidh frowned at Collin. “Why have you not removed your muddy boots. Do you think I can’t hear them squishing across my floor?”

  Collin looked guiltily at his dirty boots while I directed my smile toward Liusaidh. “I have you to thank for gentling him, then.”

  “Och, aye. And what a task that was.” She boxed Collin’s ear as she walked past him. “I imagine the two of you are fair starved. I’ve some fresh fish the lads brought me today. I’d be happy to share with you.”

  Collin and I exchanged looks of dismay, and I covered my mouth to keep from laughing— or possibly crying. Fish again? We had eaten little else the past week, as we’d made our way through the wilds of the Highlands.

  “What I would really love is a bath, if that would not be too much trouble. I can heat my own water and—”

  “By the smell of you, you’re both in need of a bath and a change of clothes.” Liusaidh carried a tea tray over to us and placed it on the lone table in the room. “I’ve nothing much for you, Collin, but Katie, I’ll wager you’ll find something useful in that trunk over there.” She pointed to a large, ornate chest near the hearth. “Your grandfather brought it to me for safekeeping many years ago— said you’d stop by for it someday. It belonged to your mother.”

  * * *

  I sat near the fire, drying my hair, when Collin returned with an armload of wood. “I’ve enough cut to last a good month or more, assuming you’ll not need much in the summer.” He stopped abruptly, peering around the dimly-lit room for Liusaidh.

  “She’s gone to sleep,” I whispered, pointing to the blanket that hung across the room, dividing her bed from the rest of the tiny house.

  Collin nodded sheepishly, then proceeded to carefully place his load in the wood box near the fire. I rose to help, but he waved me away.

  “You’re all clean.”

  “You are, too.” He’d bathed after me but then, realizing Liusaidh had no wood, had gone out to cut some for her.

  “Yes, well, that never lasts long.” He smiled ruefully. I returned to my spot near the fire and continued brushing my hair, using the ornate, silver-plaited brush and comb set I’d found in my mother’s trunk. The trunk promised many more treasures, but for tonight I had located a sleeping gown only, happy to have something clean to wear. The bath itself had been heavenly, but equally divine was the thought of never wearing the filthy dress I’d arrived in again. Whatever else I found in my mother’s trunk, it would surely be better.

  Collin took one of the blankets from the pile Liusaidh had laid out for us, then handed me another. I took it reluctantly, feeling somewhat disappointed that circumstances would not force us to huddle together for warmth. The past few nights, while not the most comfortable sleep I had ever enjoyed, had been entirely pleasant in their own way. Collin’s chest at my back and his arm securely around me had been comforting. I loved listening to his deep and steady breathing as he slept. I enjoyed waking each morning, my first sight his face close to mine.

  Was that not to be now that we were on Campbell land? Would we even share a bedchamber? In the house I’d grown up in my parents had two chambers that connected to one another. The night before my sister Anna’s wedding we had all slept at her bridegroom’s home, while he stayed at his parents’ town home. Anna had shown me the room that was to be hers, also with a connecting door to her husband’s.

  Somehow I doubted the Campbell holding would be that sophisticated or modern. The castle itself was centuries old, and in need of repair in recent years, if what my cousin Alistair had told us was true.

  “Thank you.” I placed the blanket at my feet as my eyes met Collin’s. I recognized the inner struggle raging in his that I’d seen so many times in the previous days. “Thank you for keeping me warm all those nights and for bringing me safely here.”

  “There’s a bit of a question as to who was warming who,” he mumbled as he turned away.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” Collin spread his blanket out near the door, well away from me and the warmth of the fire. He removed his boots for the second time, then stretched out on his back, hands behind his head, reminding me of that first night we had slept under the stars together.

  It had been a terrifying night, between his twin brother’s attempt on my life and then an attack by a member of my own clan. But I would go through both again for the opportunity to relive the past week at Collin’s side. Something had changed between us during that time, and I feared losing it now that we were no longer alone.

  “It will be warmer sleeping here by the fire than near the door with its draft,” I suggested casually.

  “Near the door is where I must be,” Collin said. “Lest anyone tries to break it down.”

  I pulled the brush through a particularly stubborn tangle. “And did they, it could fall on your head and render you unconscious. What good would you be to us then?”

  “I would hear them before it came down, and I would be ready the second they tried to enter.” Collin sounded almost enthused about the possibility, as if he was looking for a fight.

  “Let us hope so,” I said, giving up the hope that he might sleep nearer to me. Finished with the brush, I knelt before the fire, leaning my head close so my hair might dry.

  The room grew silent, save for an occasional snore from Liusaidh on the other side of the partition or the crackle of the burning wood. I stared into the flames, wondering and worrying over what tomorrow would bring. I was here to claim my grandfather’s inheritance and to take my place as leader of the Campbells. The present laird favored neither option.

  “You’ve grown up bonny, Katie.”

  I turned to look at Collin. “Thank you. You cut a fine figure yourself. I cannot tell you how relieved I was when I realized it was you whom I was to marry— and not any of my Campbell relations.”

  Collin chuckled. “You’ve no preference for red hair, then.”

  “It is a fine color,” I said, thinking how well it seemed to suit Alistair. “But I prefer your dark.” I prefer you.

  Emboldened by his unexpected compliment, I decided to be direct and ask what I wished. “Will you sleep beside me, Collin? Or may I sleep over there by you?” My request tumbled out in a rush of words as I leaned forward slightly on my knees, exhilarated by my boldness and anticipating another night in Collin’s arms.

  He hesitated, then shook his head. “It would not be wise.”

  Why? I wanted to ask but felt too hurt. I turned myself from him, focusing my attention on the dying flames and trying to keep my promise to be done with tears. I could feel Collin pulling away from me again, and I didn’t understand or like it. I needed him. I thought he needed me.

  Grandfather had said we needed each other. The only way we were to succeed in our quest was together. But I was only a few paces away from Collin, and I felt the gap between us widening as it had been before.

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  A final note,

  Thank you for reading Yesterday’s Promise.

  I continue to appreciate those who take the time to read my stories and those who post reviews as well. You make it possible for me to continue doing what I love.

  If you would like more information about my other books and future releases, please visit www.michelepaigeholmes.com. You can also follow me on Twitter at @MichelePHolmes.

  Happy reading!

  Michele

  About Michele Paige Holmes

  Michele Paige Holmes spent her childhood and youth in Arizona and northern California, often curled up with a good book instead of out enjoying the sunshine. She graduated from Brigham Young Universi
ty with a degree in elementary education and found it an excellent major with which to indulge her love of children’s literature.

  Her first novel, Counting Stars, won the 2007 Whitney Award for Best Romance. Its companion novel, a romantic suspense titled All the Stars in Heaven, was a Whitney Award finalist, as was her first historical romance, Captive Heart. My Lucky Stars completed the Stars series.

  In 2014 Michele launched the Hearthfire Historical Romance line, with the debut title, Saving Grace. Loving Helen is the companion novel, with a third, Marrying Christopher, followed by the companion novella Twelve Days in December.

  When not reading or writing romance, Michele is busy with her full-time job as a wife and mother. She and her husband live in Utah with their five high-maintenance children, and a Shitzu that resembles a teddy bear, in a house with a wonderful view of the mountains.

  You can find Michele on the web: http://MichelePaigeHolmes.com

  Facebook: Michele Holmes

  Twitter: @MichelePHolmes