A Scotsman's Promise

Chapter 30

They didn't cut through the woods as they had before, but followed the path until it led them out of the trees and to the river bank. When they reached the river,  he pointed the way back to the cabin.

"If ye follow the river there, it'll take ye directly to the homestead. If ye don't mind, I'll leave ye here, as I've things to do."

"Alright," Cara whispered.

Calen nodded once. "If Mum worries, will ye tell her I'll be back by nightfall?"

Cara nodded.

Calen looked at her for a long moment, a hint of something showing through his emotionless mask. "Thank ye, Miss DeMonae,"

He inclined his head slightly to her, the mask slipping back into place, and then turned and walked back into the trees.

A second tear slid down Micara's face, but she brushed it away and began walking in the direction Calen had pointed to her. She made her way back to the Donelly cabin quickly, focusing ever ounce of effort into walking, distracting herself from the pain of her heart breaking inside her chest.

She almost kept herself together, almost. When the Donelly's tranquil cabin home came into view, she cracked. This is what she had just turned down.

A sob ripped through her and she stopped walking. She sat down right there on the river bank, pulled her knees to her chest, and cried. She cried for all the things she had lost, all the things she had discovered that she could not have, for all that she had been through in the past weeks, and all that she would have to face in the next to come.

She had almost said yes. She had almost convinced herself that what Calen had offered would have been enough. She did love the Donellys, maybe joining their family would have made her happy.

Even as she thought it, she rejected it. As much as she loved them, she had family in Trenton already. What he had proposed, a union for the good of their families, she had already turned down once in Dryden with Phineas. She would not enter such a union with Calen, either. She couldn't.

It took her a while to compose herself, but when she did, she made her way back to the cabin. Shannon was the only one inside, and from the look on the older woman's face, Micara guessed she had not been successful in hiding her red, puffy, eyes. When she dragged herself to Maggie's bedroom, Shannon did not try to stop her.

Needless to say, Micara's appetite was lost, so when Maggie tapped on the door at suppertime, Micara didn't bother answering. And when the door cracked open, she kept her eyes closed, feigning sleep until it closed again. She was emotionally exhausted. By the time the Donelly sisters retired for the night, she had already drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Cara saw little of Calen over the next three days. He was gone before she awoke, and did not reappear until the evening meal each night. If at any point they were forced to interact, he was civil, polite even, and it killed her each time.

By the fourth day, Micara was more than ready to leave. Maggie and Katrina helped her pack her things and she could tell they were as sorry to be parting as she was. Maggie lovingly folded and tucked the green plaid dress she had borrowed into the trunk, giving it one last caress. Micara took it back out and studied it for a moment.

"It never did quite suit me," she said. She pressed it back into Maggie's arms, "Keep it for me?"

Maggie's face scrunched up. She was clearly  fighting back tears. She nodded, clutching the dress to her chest.

Micara smiled halfheartedly. She was going to miss Calen's redheaded, pixie, sister. She saw Katrina wipe away a tear, so she focused on her. "I have something for you, too."