A Captain's Heart (Highland Heartbeats Book 5) by Aileen Adams

Author:Aileen Adams [Adams, Aileen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-12T05:00:00+00:00

17

The knock at the door was unexpected.

Broc and Derek exchanged a look.

“Yes?” Derek finished tying the laces at the top of his tunic, opening the door once he had them fixed.

The owner of the boarding house smiled in apology. “I’m sorry to bother you so early in the day, but Mr. MacBride has been asking throughout the village after you. I only received word minutes ago that he wants a meeting with you.”

Derek thanked him before closing the door, turning to Broc. “What do you think of that?” he asked.

“I think he’s a desperate man,” Broc surmised, sitting on the edge of his bed. “Why would he be looking all over for you, otherwise?”

“I have to agree. I only wish I knew what I was going to tell him.” Derek sat, too, running his hands through his hair.

He’d fought himself for days over the decision of whether to sell or maintain his business.

“You have to decide now,” Broc reasoned in his usual straightforward manner. As though it were that simple. “You built that business on your own, using your wits and your character. It would be a shame to see it go to a far lesser man than you.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard you string that many words together at once in the years I’ve known you,” Derek observed with a wry smile. He didn’t feel much like smiling just then, conflict and guilt making it nearly impossible to feel lighthearted enough to do so.

“I suppose I was waiting until something important enough came around.” Broc wasn’t smiling, either. “You realize how important this is to me, as well.”

“Why do you think it’s taken me so long to reach a decision?” he asked. “If it were only me, I wouldn’t have nearly as much to take into account. And it isn’t just you, either. It’s the other men, those who may be relying on me.”

“Then stay in business,” Broc suggested. “I’ve seen how you love it. I’ve seen how good you are at it. You can’t walk past the harbor without your eyes going over every last bit of activity there. As though you want to be part of it.”

“I wouldn’t have started the business if I didn’t enjoy the work,” Derek admitted.

Broc frowned. “That doesn’t mean you want to do it anymore. You want to settle down, be one of the landlocked. Like your brother and the rest.”

His contempt was obvious.

“You didn’t seem to mind very much when you were enjoying the laird’s generosity this past winter.”

“I didn’t enjoy it enough to give up everything that ever mattered in my life.”

“This is how you truly feel?”

“It is.”

The tension in the room was nearly unbearable, and unlike anything they had ever been through. While they’d butted heads from time to time, as any who worked closely together were bound to do, their arguments had never been over personal matters.

Until now.

“Thank you for your honesty,” Derek muttered, standing. “I’ll attend to Mr. MacBride and find out if he’s arrived at an offer for the ships.

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