The Highlander's Secret(9)
Jain remembered being a wee lass and completely in love with the open sea. The smell of salt in the air and the wild bowing of the ship as it crashed against the waves. She loved gazing out into the open water and seeing new land rise in the distance. It was always an adventure and that made life exciting—the thrill of the unknown.
The days of sailing with her family were gone, but the memory of it kept her dream alive.
“I want more to my life than to be married and settle down here,” Jain told her cousin. “If that happens … I’ll never get the chance to leave.”
Aileen raised an eyebrow and asked her, “Why do ye have to leave?”
Jain sighed. “It’s not that I want to leave, but I long to ken what else is out there.”
Her cousin smiled, glancing back at the roof where Alan and Rodrick tended to the thatching. “Ye ken, Jain…sometimes ye spend so much time looking outward that ye forget to appreciate what ye already have.”
“What are ye saying?”
“I’m saying that mayhap what ye’re looking fer has been here all along.”
Jain’s mouth fell open at the truthfulness of Aileen’s words and she glanced up at the roof again.
“I’m not telling ye how to feel,” Jain’s cousin assured her. “I just dinnae want ye to miss out on something wonderful because ye’re too distracted to realize it was there.”
Before she could respond, Jain heard the sound of people talking and the rumbling of wagon wheels down the road. She turned to see who it was, squinting her eyes against the noonday sun. Heather Gordon and her father rocked on the seat of their wagon as it rolled along, their old mare trudging the familiar path. Jain smiled at them and knocked her cousin lightly on the shoulder to get her attention. When Aileen looked up and saw their friend coming as well, she waved to them in hopes of catching their attention.
“Heather!”
The dark-haired girl riding on the wagon turned at the sound of her name and waved to them enthusiastically. “Hello, Jain!” she called. “Aileen, so good to see ye.”
Heather’s father, Boyd, stopped the wagon and gestured for her to go to them. With his leave, she hopped off the wagon and ran over to the garden where Jain and Aileen were working. Heather’s curly black hair was pulled back into a scarf like Jain’s, above a gorgeous pair of deep blue eyes.
“Oh, look at all the carrots,” Heather gushed. “Ye have a wonderful crop this year.”
Jain nodded, looking down at the carrots she’d been collecting in her basket. “Aye, that we do. Where are ye off to?” she asked them curiously.
Heather smiled, glancing over at her father. “We were dropping off some crops ourselves at the clan storage,” she told them. As part of their autumn harvest, everyone in the village was expected to contribute to the communal supply food and goods to take care of their people in the winter months. “Da’s made three trips so far. I promised to go with him this time and lend a hand. Are ye going to make it to the festival tomorrow? I'd love to see ye at the fires.”
Jain nodded at the mention of their yearly celebration. “Aye. Of course we will. Aileen and I will look fer ye by the fire side.”
“Wonderful, I will see ye tomorrow then,” she exclaimed. “Oh, I just ken it’s going to be lovely.”
“Heather!” Boyd called to her from the road. “We’d best be getting back now.”
The girl offered Jain an apologetic smile and skipped back towards the road where the wagon and her father were still waiting for her to return. Jain waved goodbye to them and Heather climbed back onto her seat. She and her father continued up the hill that would take them towards the village.
Jain watched her go and exhaled a tired sigh when the wagon creaked away. Aileen had been gushing about the harvest festival for weeks now. Jain was excited too, but nervous at the same time. She reached down to pull a few more carrots when a low, pleasant humming of Alan’s singing came floating down from where he was working on the roof.
The edge of her mouth curved up into a smile and Jain’s thoughts inevitably went back to her conversation with Aileen. Maybe her cousin was right about him. Maybe she did have feelings for him.
She’d never allowed herself to think on it before. Next to her cousin, Alan was Jain’s favorite person in the world and she didn’t want his affection to be taken for granted. He deserved better than that.
The only question was: how could she be true to herself and still hold a place for him in her heart? Could Jain ever be truly happy with a simple life—or would broken dreams eventually turn to resentment? She wanted not to be so restless, but her heart was a wild thing that could not be caged.
Chapter Four
Conrad cleared his throat when he approached the chicken coop, running his fingers through his hair. He saw Eamon kneeling outside, cleaning up blood and feathers. It looked as if one of the hens had been killed. The smell of poultry and residual filth wafted up towards his nostrils in an offensive aroma, but thankfully, the old man had not yet noticed his arrival and Conrad didn’t have to hide his obvious disgust.
Jain’s father poked his head out from the damaged remains of the coop that he’d been working on and glanced up at him curiously. “Conrad, how good to see ye. Is everything alright?”