Even In Darkness (Between) Read Online Free PDF Page A

realm in between and the way he’d looked at me while we’d danced at the palace of Versailles, like everything he’d ever wanted in life, he’d found in me. Guilt over how I’d treated him since last night washed over me in waves. Yes, I was hurt and scared, but I was acting like he’d purposefully cheated on me. Sitting next to him at breakfast, I’d refused to meet his eyes. I didn’t even say goodbye when Mom and I left this morning. He’d called out for me to be safe as we were leaving, but I’d pretended not to hear. None of this was his fault and I’d completely cut him off.
    Suddenly, all I wanted was to see him again, to apologize, to feel his arms around me. Whatever happened, we would face it together. He needed to know that I still loved him.
    The reporter’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “It remains to be seen how this tragedy may be linked to the other deaths, but either way, Christmas won’t be the same this year for the MacDonald family. I’m Jane Moore, reporting from Edinburgh. Back to you, John.”
    “We have to go.” Swiping my mouth with a napkin, I stood up.
    “What? Why?” Mom still had half her lunch to finish.
    “I need to talk to Aiden.”
    With a dramatic sigh, Mom glanced longingly at her food and picked up her purse. I resisted the urge to tell her she should eat faster.
    By the time we got back to the MacKinnons’ castle, I was nearly bursting with tension like a shaken soda can. I raced around, asking everyone if they knew where Aiden was. No one had seen him. Taking deep breaths to calm down, I tried to put myself in his shoes. Where would I go? And just like that, I knew.
    Borrowing Mom’s rental car, I drove like a maniac through the winding Scottish roads to Eilean Donan, praying that I wouldn’t get in an accident with some semi-truck on the treacherous, skinny path. As the familiar stone castle came into view, I let out the breath I’d been holding. Aiden was there. I felt it in my bones. Everything was going to be okay.
    After parking the car and grabbing a ticket for entry, I stepped quickly through the castle, which was mostly deserted. My heart was in my throat as I went from one room to the next, hoping I would find him. When I got to the main hall and still didn’t see Aiden, I let out a growl of frustration. He wasn’t there. Where the hell had he gone? Slumping into one of the chairs along the wall, I indulged in a little pity party, glad there were no tourists around to witness my mental breakdown.
    “Lindsey?” Aiden’s voice floated down to me from the small balcony overlooking the room. Relief surged in my chest at seeing him, knowing I had found him and would have the chance to tell him how I felt. But I didn’t need to. Our eyes locked and everything I needed to say was already there : grief, fear, guilt, forgiveness. We didn’t say a word—out loud or in our minds—and a sense of peace settled deep in my soul.
    He turned and descended the stairs while I got to my feet and moved toward the corner where I knew he’d emerge. I didn’t need to say “I’m sorry” but I did it anyway.
    “I am as well. I love you,” he said before he pulled me into his arms. His heart beat fast against my cheek. The gaping wound in my heart that had separated us since the night before quietly mended while I took deep breaths, filling my senses with the warm scent that was so Aiden. When we pulled away to look at each other, instead of talking, he lowered his mouth to mine and we kissed in the great hall.
    Nothing else matter s. Only this.
    Afterward, we wandered through the castle, stopping to look at tapestries and artwork on the walls , Aiden commenting here and there how things differed from his childhood memories.
    “Mrs. Fitzgibbons, the cook, would smack my knuckles with her wooden spoon whenever I tried to sneak a bit of bread before supper,” he said with a soft smile as we headed into the kitchen.
    “Have you had any lunch?” I asked.
    He