Embrace the Highland Warrior Read Online Free Page B

doesn’t tell lies . Her stomach rumbled.
    “Hungry?”
    “A little.”
    “We have plenty of food at the house, unless Lach’s gone on a feeding frenzy.”
    “He still does that?”
    “Unfortunately.”
    “Thank you, but I’m sure there’s soup in the pantry.”
    He touched his shirt, damp from carrying her. “Don’t you have anything dry to wear?”
    “Just Nina’s sweater. I’ll throw my stuff in the dryer after I take a bath.”
    “I’ve probably got some old sweats at the house. And you’ll need something orange. Don’t want you getting shot. Bow season’s in.”
    Shay doubted she would be here long enough to get shot by a poacher. A poacher. Was that what she’d heard? Had she surprised someone looking for a place to hunt? Or had she just disturbed the owl?
    “Sit down. Let me see your foot.” Cody guided her to the toilet, took her swollen ankle in his hands, and eased her shoe off. For the first time, she noticed his boots, square-toed. A ribbon of fear curled around her spine.
    “You should have told me how badly you were hurt,” Cody said, breaking the spell. “I would’ve carried you back.”
    Precisely the reason why she hadn’t mentioned her ankle.
    “I should take you and get it X-rayed.”
    “It’ll be fine in the morning.” She had always healed quickly, physically. Emotionally was a different story.
    “Take a bath, then I’ll wrap it. You’ll need to stay off it for a day, at least.” He crossed to the large bathtub and turned on the water. “Want a bubble bath? You used to love that stuff.”
    Shay sighed. He wasn’t going to leave until she was settled. “Check under the sink. Nina may have left some.” Shay sat quietly, watching as he dug in the cabinet, muttering to himself.
    “Here we go.” He sniffed a bottle and then poured in half.
    He stood, watching the bubbles rise faster than the water. “Think I put in too much?”
    “A tad. Are you going to leave?” The bathroom wasn’t small, but it felt like a closet with Cody standing so close to the tub large enough for two.
    “Do you need help?” He cleared his throat. “Getting in, I mean.”
    “I think I’ll manage.”
    A spark of mischief lit his eyes. “I don’t know. For someone so agile, you don’t do so well with water. I’d hate to call Nina and tell her you drowned in the bathtub.”
    “Get out of here!” Without thinking, she swatted him playfully, as she would have in the past.
    “I’ll be outside. Yell if you need anything.”
    After he left, Shay removed her damp, dirty clothes and slowly lowered her body into the water. Her right arm stung. There was a long scratch at the top. Had the owl done that, or a branch? She leaned back and closed her eyes, letting the warmth seep into her bones. Her head slipped lower and lower into the water as she listened to the rain pattering at the window, the rhythmic sound reminding her of whispers and the brush of wings.
    Her throat tightened as she approached the three graves. What did she hope to find? Reconciliation? Closure? To make sense of the lies? A whisper brushed her ear, a fluttering sound, and she tilted her head, listening. Skin prickling, she turned. A statue stood in the corner, an angel watching over the dead? She didn’t remember seeing it the last time she was here, but it had been years before, and her head had been blurred with pain. A soft breeze ruffled her hair and stirred the dying October leaves. Just leaves rustling, not whispers. After the last few weeks, she jumped at every sound.
    She studied the names engraved on the larger headstones, then knelt before the tiny one cradled between them. Her finger traced the worn name—Dana Michelle Rodgers—under the angel’s outstretched wing, thinking she should have some sense of recognition.
    After all, it was her grave.
    Something flashed in her mind, a memory, a dream—fire and pain. Shay shook her head and frowned. Some guardian angel. The clouds shifted, and a shadow crossed