The Groom Wore Plaid by Callen Gayle

Author:Callen, Gayle [Callen, Gayle]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, General, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780062268006
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2016-02-23T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

The gravel gave way before Maggie, and directly in her path were two small boulders that hadn’t been there before. Trying to avoid them, her feet slipped from beneath her. She cried out, desperately flinging both arms wide, but could find nothing to hold on to. She slid sideways down a rocky slope, rather than following the path that hugged the hilltop. She came to a halt hard against a boulder, and she felt her ankle twist with a sharp pain. But she didn’t let go.

As she panted and tried to see how far away the path was, she felt rocks and dirt raining down on her.

“Maggie!”

Owen’s voice from above her was urgent, but she wasn’t fool enough to think he cared about her except as a pawn between their clans. Then his arm smacked her hard on the back as he tried to catch himself on the same boulder. He came to a stop beside her, while gravel continued to fall all around them. With his arms he shielded her from the worst of it. Her ankle throbbed dully, but that faded compared to the worry that someone might have placed those rocks where she and Owen wouldn’t see them until it was too late.

But they were rocks on an incline, she scolded herself silently. They could have shifted because of their earlier passing. She was letting this unknown villain make her paranoid.

She remembered Martin had lingered at Euphemia’s cottage, and she shivered. But the man was old—surely they would have heard him attempting to climb the steep path?

When the last pebble had fallen and the silence was unbroken, she lifted her head to face Owen. His face was streaked with dirt, brow furrowed with what could be anger or concern.

“Are ye all right, lass?” he demanded.

She heard the brogue in his voice for the first time, and she didn’t like how it warmed her. She felt a cacophony of emotions, from unease to need to desperation to confusion.

“Maggie, answer me.”

The brogue was gone, but she knew she’d heard it. “I’m fine. I turned my ankle, but nothing serious.”

“You should not have rushed down the mountain like that,” he said sternly.

“Nay, I shouldn’t have.”

He opened his mouth as if to continue lecturing her, but she’d already given him the answer he wanted to hear. “Then come, let us see how your ankle is.”

He rose to his feet, and she allowed him to lift her by the hands. Gingerly, she set weight on her ankle, then tried to hide her wince. He started to put his arms around her, and she put a hand on his chest.

“Nay, ye won’t be carrying me or we’ll take a tumble. I’ve hurt myself worse. Just let me hold your arm.”

She could see his jaw clench, but he had no choice except to go along with her. They moved slowly through the gorse and bramble back to the main path, then she tried to keep as little weight on her foot as possible.

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