Sweet Southern Nights (Home In Magnolia Bend Book 3) (27 page)

Colin seemed to read her mind, too. He turned to her and kissed her then, straight on the lips. Fast and firm. With
conviction
, as her dad would say.

Her heart jumped a little, and she looked into his light blue eyes.

“I’ll never forget you, Rhiannon,” he said fiercely.

Her heart seemed ready to burst. August was much too far away.

“If I write to you, will you write back?” she asked him softly. Suddenly, she felt shy with him.

His face flushing again, he nodded. “I will.”

“If you see Colin, tell him I need him, now.” Below them, Daisie Lee had reappeared and was saying her goodbyes to Rhiannon’s mum. Daisie Lee was sniffling and she looked terribly upset. Rhiannon’s mum was doing her best to comfort her, but...

Colin stood. “I have to go now.” But his gaze was still on Rhiannon.

“Do you
promise
to write me back?” she whispered.

“Right away, as soon as I get your letter.”

Then he took her hand and squeezed it. He ran down the staircase toward his mother without looking back.

“Colin! Where have you
been
?” Daisie Lee wailed.

“Looking at swords up in Rhiannon’s room,” he lied neatly. “Her dad has a massive collection.” He gave Daisie Lee a huge grin as if nothing at all was wrong, as if he wasn’t upset about his father, as if he hadn’t just kissed Rhiannon.

Rhiannon touched her lips.

But Daisie Lee smiled at him, happier now, because who wouldn’t smile when they were with Colin? He was special. There would never be anybody else like him.

Rhiannon stood so that she wouldn’t be hidden anymore and watched Colin leave, ushered through the door by her mum.

Colin turned back to Rhiannon as he crossed the threshold, and he gave her a secret smile.

A lump formed in her throat but she forced herself to smile, doing for him what he had just done for his mother. She would not show pain or fear. She lifted her hand in a wave.
I
will
write to you,
she mouthed to him.

* * *

B
UT
R
HIANNON
NEVER
did write. Because shortly after that New Year’s Eve, her life changed, too.

Rhiannon lay in a hospital bed, her whole world turned upside down. She hated seeing people, because all they did was ask her questions and make her feel even more frightened. And even though she thought about Colin all the time, she wouldn’t want him to see her like this.

It wasn’t until weeks later that she was finally allowed to return to her castle. And once she was there, she never wanted to leave again. She never left the grounds of the estate, and she rarely saw visitors.

Staying in her own special world made her feel safe and in control. Everybody in Scotland knew that. She supposed Colin knew, too, and she took comfort from the fact that he would understand.

For years afterward, Rhiannon believed that Colin left her alone precisely because he understood her so well.

And she was grateful.

Copyright © 2015 by Cathryn Parry

ISBN-13: 9781460385333

Sweet Southern Nights

Copyright © 2015 by Amy R. Talley

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