Karen Michelle Nutt (30 page)

"Have no’ seen much of ye, Leighton.” Keldon nodded his greeting.

"Aye. I havenae cared for the company of late.”

Keldon's eyes narrowed. "Ye best be careful," he warned.

"I will.” He sighed with a heavy heart. “If ye will listen with an open ear."

"Speak what ye must and be done with it."

"She was caught with Sherborn.” Leighton decided not to mince words.

"Who was?"

"Doonae play me as a fool, Keldon Buchanan. Do ye think it is easy for me to tell ye of these things. Yer like a son to me. I would never want to hurt ye, but that woman ye took as yer wife isnae good. Ye use to know that, yet ye somehow have forgotten."

"Leighton, I wish ye would give her a chance. I doonae know how to explain it. She isnae as she was before. She's a different person."

"Ye’re a love sick fool to be believin' that. Doonae be takin' my word on the matter. It be better she hang her own self. Ye ask her what she be doin' with Sherborn on the eve that he stole the long boat and disappeared. They were holdin’ hands like lovers. I never knew why ye trusted Sherborn. Be it here or back in Scotland, he is still Sassenach.”

“Stop.”

“Ye stop. Higgins saw them together. If that doonae look suspicious all by itself, then ye tell me why would a man leave his share of the booty behind and sneak away in the middle of the night no less?” Leighton could see the doubt cross Keldon's face. "What man does that? A guilty man,” he answered his own question. “Do ye ken, now?"

"I ken nothing.” Keldon pushed himself away from the barn wall. He didn’t want to hear anymore, but Leighton wasn’t finish.

"I hear she's carryin' a wee bairn.”

Keldon stopped cold.

"Now, I would be askin' myself, just whose babe she be carryin'. Remember she made sure she dinnae carry yer first born. Why would she want to now?"

Keldon didn’t look back. He couldn’t for doing so would mean he believed what Leighton was insinuating. He kept walking toward the house, but his mind raced. Could Leighton be right? Could Arianna be carrying Nicholas Sherborn's child? He didn't want to believe it. He didn’t want to believe she would betray him, not now, when he had opened up his heart to her.

He went inside the house and took the stairs two at a time, frantic to have the answers. He threw open the door to the room they now shared and forced himself to walk over to the bed.

Arianna didn’t stir from her slumber as he watched her sleep. It was difficult to believe she would delude him yet again. She looked so sweet and angelic, but with Leighton’s accusing words, it dug up the memories he thought he’d buried. There could be a hundred reasons why she met with Sherborn, only he couldn’t think of a single reason why she would need to hold his hand. A cynical inner voice brought another question to mind:
Why did she try to hide her pregnancy?
Why didn’t she tell him the moment he arrived back from New Orleans? It had been Vincent who slipped, revealing the truth.

Keldon pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed, willing her to open her eyes, so she could explain away his suspicions. He clasped his hands, trying to remain calm, but like an awakening giant, anger rose in him. In a heartbeat their stormy past began to cloud his judgment, making him forget the way she had felt in his arms, the way she had looked at him when they made love.

She had deceived him before and without a qualm. She knew how to play the game and she always seemed to hit where it hurt. Only this time he had been so sure she was sincere. He had been so sure she loved him.

Arianna rolled over, her eyes fluttering open. "Keldon?” She sounded so tired that he almost told her to go back to sleep, but desperation stopped him. He couldn’t go another moment without knowing the truth.

"Aye," he said so calmly that it surprised him.

"What are you doing? Why don't you come to bed?”

Arianna closed her eyes and would have probably gone back to sleep, but he hovered over her. She opened her eyes. “Keldon?”

He didn’t answer.

"Keldon?" she asked again concern lacing her words.

If only she’d have as much concern with his heart. "I had an interestin' conversation with Leighton.” His voice held an ominous inflection, forcing her take notice.

She sat up. "What's wrong?"

Keldon needed to see her face when he asked the question. He didn’t want shadows hiding the truth. He moved away, only long enough to find the flint box and light the candles. He then looked at her trying to keep his emotions in check. He managed to keep his voice low, but his words whipped like steel. "Whose bairn do ye carry?”

For a moment all time seemed to halt, as the fine line that held their lives together seemed to unravel. As he watched her face pale and her lower lip tremble, he felt as though a cutlass had severed him in two, his essence slipping away. Without her saying a word to him, he knew she’d betrayed him.

"Why would you ask such a thing?” She breathed. Fear touched her eyes and she clutched at her nightdress.

"Tell me, I doonae have a reason to doubt ye and I'll no’ ask ye again.” He prayed she would say the words that would make this nightmare go away. He prayed she would tell him she had been with no other, even if it was a falsehood. However, the words that could have saved their happiness failed to leave her lips.

Arianna knew his heart was breaking and she could do nothing to stop it. She had been untrue to him and she refused to fabricate another lie on top of it. Not anymore because she knew the deceptions would never end. She lowered her head, feeling the shame she had been living with wash over her. The fragile ground they had gained in starting a new relationship slipped away as though she stood in a pit of quicksand. "I can't.” She choked on the words, feeling trapped with no escape.

They were both silent for a long time, neither one wanting to break the quietness, for doing so would mean they would have to deal with the shattering reality.

Keldon leaned against the nightstand. "Is the bairn ye carry, Sherborn's?”

How could she explain herself to him, when she didn’t understand the betrayal herself? The heaviness she felt pressing on her chest made it difficult for her to breath. "I don't know.” A sobbed escaped her, filling the room with a deafening echo.

"Ye doonae know!” Keldon whirled on her his guttural burr thickening as anger took over. His green eyes bore into hers. “Ye mean there were others?"

"No! God no! I mean I don't know if the baby is yours or..." She just let the sentence trail off to silence because she didn’t want to admit the horrible possibility that the child wasn’t his.

"Tell me this," Keldon asked as he took a seat in front of her. "Did ye lie down with me because ye thought ye might be carryin' Sherborn’s bairn?"

Arianna shook her head frantically. "I wouldn't do that to you.”

“Ye wouldnae do that to me! Yet ye are willin’ to admit that ye have been with another! What would stop ye from goin’ a step further!”

“I didn't know I had been with Nicholas, until he told me. I don't remember having the affair. It happened before I received the bump on my head.” She tried desperately to defend herself, but the words sounded hollow even to her.

He stood so abruptly his chair flew behind him. "It's gettin' to be a wee bit too convenient that ye keep usin' the bump on yer head as an excuse.” He began to pace.

“I'm not making this up. As soon as I knew of Nicholas, I made him stay away from me. I have been faithful to you ever since. I swear to you. I swear to God."

Keldon stopped pacing and swung around to face her. "Doonae be takin’ the Lord’s name in vain in this matter of adultery.” He stood at the edge of the bed looking down at her with a harrowing expression as he witnessed her tears streaming down her cheeks. He wanted to believe the affair was over and that it had meant nothing. He wanted to trust that she had been faithful since they declared their love to each other, but he was too hurt. He wanted to lash out. He wanted to hurt her as much as she had hurt him.

He questioned everything now—Sherborn’s interest in joining up with his crew and then his sudden disappearance. “Sherborn took ye from me, yet he dinnae leave with ye. He wormed his way into my house and worked with me. What else was he after?” He was upon her then. He grabbed hold of her shoulders with a squeezing grip, the black rage blinding him. "Tell me."

"Keldon, you’re hurting me."

"Tell me! Was he after my life as weel? Dinnae he know that takin’ ye away from me would have been enough to make my life worthless? Tell me, I say!" he repeated, squeezing even tighter.

"Keldon, please.” She sobbed.

He finally realized what he was doing and released her.

She moved away to the far side of the bed.

He dragged in a breath his nostrils flaring. She’d betrayed him. He looked down at his trembling hands then to her huddling in fear. His gaze clashed with hers startled and upset. He was mortified at his actions. He lost control and he could have killed her. “What am I doin’?” He ran his hand through his hair as he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the ache that had settled behind his heart. He had never raised a hand in violence toward a woman and he wasn’t going to let his anger toward her cause him to do something he would regret for the rest of his life.

He couldn’t stay, not when the old pain shimmered deep inside him resurfacing to choke him. He wanted desperately to trust she spoke the truth, that what they had was real. He wanted to believe Nicholas meant nothing to her, but he’d forgiven her so many times before he had lost count. How could she expect him to exonerate her for betraying him? How could she expect him to raise another man's child?

With one smooth motion, he turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Arianna dozed in and out of sleep where haunting dreams plagued her. She dreamt of people she didn’t know and yet they seemed close to her. She dreamt about a fortuneteller with a desperate warning,
"Trust the Scotsman. He may feel mistrust for you because of the other woman's black heart.”

"Miss Arianna, Miss Arianna.” Maeve shook her.

Arianna tossed and turned, screaming out.

Maeve shook her, again.

She sat up in bed with a ragged intake of breath. "Where am I?"

"Dear, dear chile. You's home.” Maeve patted her hand.

"Home?” Her voice broke and she put her head back down on the pillow and closed her eyes. "Please leave me alone.”

"Miss Arianna, you slept past the mornin’. I's worried about you."

"I'm fine.” She told her.

"No's you ain't. I's not blind. I know dat dere be somethin' terrible wrong with you and Mista Keldon. Him mopin’ and you hidin’ up here. Why don'ts you tell me?"

"There's nothing to tell.” She hugged her pillow to her chest, rocking back and forth. Her resolve wore thin and she broke down. “I've lost him and it's my fault. I betrayed him.”

"How did you betray him? You ain't hurt no one."

"Oh Maeve. I don't know whose baby I’m carrying?” Tears spilled down her face and she wiped them away.

Maeve sat down on the bed next to her and gently patted her back. "You poor, poor chile. You never gone and betrayed him. I told you. Miss Annabelle did. Dat dere chile you carry be Mista Keldon's."

“Maeve I can’t believe your fantastic story of how I switched places with the evil Annabelle like there was some twist of fate at work. Please leave me alone," she pleaded.

Maeve knew there was no convincing her, especially in her present state of mind. With a heavy heart, she left the room. If only Arianna would believe who she really was, all this could be resolved. Maybe she could shake some sense into Keldon. It was worth a try.

She found him in the study, nursing a glass of whiskey. He hadn’t been to bed and still wore the clothes he had on yesterday. His hair was unbound and wild as his bloodshot eyes. Maeve took a deep breath for courage. "Mista Keldon, kin I say somethin'?

He acknowledged her with a nod.

"You have ter trust your heart.” She ventured a little closer. "You know dat Miss Arianna loves you. She not hurt you fer nothin'."

His eyes narrowed to where they were just slits below two dark eyebrows. "Oh but ye are wrong, Maeve. She's already hurt me more than ye will ever know. I willnae trust her again.” His green eyes flashed, revealing his tormented soul. “Now leave me. I want to be left alone.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Arianna hadn’t seen Keldon for days. He rose early and took his meals late. When he refused to sleep in the same room, Arianna moved her belongings back to the other room.