Page 35 of Love Beyond Reach (Morna’s Legacy #11)

J erry

G rier stood in the doorway of my cottage as I approached. While her smile was warm, her eyes were entirely unreadable.

“Did ye know this was my home for many years? ’Tis fitting it should be yer home now.”

She gave no greeting and led our conversation with no apology.

“Ye are alive, then?”

“O’course I’m alive. Ye must have known such a fire couldna kill me unless I wished it.”

The grief I’d felt at arriving back to see our home destroyed came rushing back to me, flooding my veins with an anger I’d not known I felt toward her.

“I knew no such thing. Do ye not care about the pain ye put me through in the months following what I believed to be yer death? I missed ye, Grier, and the guilt I felt for leaving ye was unbearable.”

While my words were true, I realized the moment I said them what a mistake I’d made. Her eyes glistened with hope. My confession made her believe I cared in a way I did not.

“I only meant to help ye. I know Morna has told ye why ye are here. I know that ye know I lied to ye.”

Her candor surprised me. I’d expected her to dance around the truth, to spin a tale that would leave me questioning what I knew to be true.

“Aye, I know what ye’ve done, and I know why.”

She stepped inside the cottage as if it were still her home and not mine. I followed her inside. Once the door was closed, she faced me.

“Ye doona know why, lad. How could ye?”

“Ye love me.”

Silence didn’t bother Grier. She could sit in the company of others surrounded by silence and never feel uncomfortable. I settled into the silence and forced myself to relax inside it as I waited for her to decide how she wished to respond.

“I hope ye know I never intended for things to happen as they did. Ye were not meant for me, and I know it, but ye own my heart anyway.”

I couldn’t imagine her pain. If I could’ve eased it, I would have. Had Morna not returned my feelings, it would’ve killed me. I was doing the same thing to Grier now.

“It honors me to know that ye find me worthy of such affection. Ye are the bonniest friend I’ve ever known, but aye, I was meant for another, and she holds my heart completely.”

The hope in Grier’s expression vanished and replaced itself with a cool, collected gaze that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“I know, Jerry. Ye needn’t tell me where yer heart lies. Ye still canna see, can ye?”

She didn’t wait for me to answer before continuing.

“As I told ye, I never intended for things to happen as they have, but they happened all the same. When our home was set aflame, I saw it as my path to redemption, as an opportunity to correct the wrong I did to ye. I intended to stay away, but I could not.

“I lived a life alone and ’twas misery. I canna do it again.

I willna do it again. Morna will hate what I’ve done to her, but she willna be doomed to the same life I’ve lived.

Now that her father is gone, her brother will protect her.

He will see that her magic is tended to.

He will make certain that her days are never lonely.

She will have every chance of having a happy life, and in time she will forget ye. ”

Panic surged inside me, and I turned to run for the door, all the while knowing it would do no good. I couldn’t outrun a spell. I could feel it swirling around me with every step.

“Ye may not love me in the way I wish ye to, but to ye ’twill feel as if ye do. For me, that is better than a life spent alone.”

I fought against the pressure in my mind, but I was powerless against her magic. The sound of her words slurred together as my mind went eerily blank.

M orna

I heard sounds coming from Jerry’s cottage—primitive, animal-like sounds—but my mind rallied against them. I didn’t feel the alarm I should’ve felt, and I suspected nothing as I knocked on his door.

When no one answered, I pushed it open. As I looked inside, my entire world fell apart.

I should’ve looked away, but I could not. My brain couldn’t believe the sight in front of me.

I’d expected to find Jerry alone.

Grier was still there.

They were wrapped in each other’s arms.

With her back pressed against the wall of his cottage, Jerry stood naked before her, driving into her with an abandon that broke my heart. He was entirely unaware of my presence, but Grier saw me the moment I opened the door.

She locked eyes with me, smiled, and threw her head back and laughed.