“Aye, that it would, and thank you… for everything.”
“I will see you then.” She turned and walked off, thinking… one day. One more day.
Sorrell turned every time the door to the Great Hall opened. She and her sisters sat at a table closest to the hearth, the night having turned cold. They were the only ones in the room. James was taking supper in his solar, insisting he had work to do.
Willow and Snow ate, but Sorrell didn’t touch anything on the table. Her stomach was troubling her. It had been since she had left John.
One more day.
That’s what was left. One more day.
The food had been on the table for a while and there was no sight of John.
“Perhaps something detained him,” Snow said, having felt her sister’s concern the many times she shifted on the bench beside her.
“Or perhaps he was exhausted from finishing the storage shed and fell asleep,” Willow suggested.
Sorrell’s eyes went from the door to her sister Willow in a flash. “He hadn’t finished it when I saw him. There was still some work to be done.”
“Melvin complained to me about how John practically yanked him out of his cottage to continue work on the shed after they had been finished for the day. Melvin told me that John insisted the shed be done today and that he’d have time to rest tomorrow. But Melvin says John will work him just as hard tomorrow,” Willow said.
Sorrell stood. “I’m going to go see what’s keeping him.”
She ignored her sisters’ attempts to stop her and hurried out of the keep, grabbing her cloak off the bench where she had dropped it as she went. John had returned to work on the shed after she had left him. That he had finished it and not joined her and her sisters for supper, meant that he intended to take his leave. She should have known it when he had thanked her for everything. He had been saying farewell.
With determined steps, she all but marched through the village toward John’s cottage. No one was about, the night too cold, a fine snow falling. She hoped she wasn’t too late and he had already left. She wanted to see him one last time and what?
That was the question. What did she want from him before he left? She didn’t know, but she’d find out soon enough. She picked up her pace.
He better not had left or she just might hunt him down.
Worry and anger consumed her thoughts and she didn’t hear the footsteps that rushed at her, but she felt the blow that knocked her off her feet.
John had delayed long enough. He needed to leave. It didn’t matter that a light snow fell. It was actually helpful since the snow would cover his tracks if anyone thought to search for him. Something he wouldn’t put past Sorrell to do.
Part of him had to smile at the thought, since he wouldn’t mind her tracking him down, but the other part of him was practical and knew that wouldn’t be good. He supposed he also delayed his departure as long as he did in hopes that she would come looking for him and he might get to kiss her one last time, but that wasn’t a wise thought either.
He simply couldn’t believe how difficult it was for him to leave Sorrell. He worried what might happen to her without him there to look after her. He also worried how Seth MacCannish would treat her. The thought alone of that man becoming Sorrell’s husband sent a burning rage rushing through him. The man didn’t deserve her and Sorrell certainly didn’t deserve the likes of Seth MacCannish.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the position to do anything about it. He had his own problems to solve before he was free to do anything. He wanted to rant at Fate for throwing Sorrell in his path. It was not the time or place for a woman in his life. He had to see this matter settled with his father, once and for all.
“Enough,” John warned himself, wasting time thinking on it wouldn’t get him anyplace. He had to leave now and be done with it.
He gathered what little he had, his sword already in the sheath attached at his back. The wrapped cloth containing food lay in wait on the table. Dorrit had been generous in the amount of food she had given him when he had told her how tired and hungry he was after finishing the storage shed. It would last him several days if he were careful.
He was all set. All he had to do was walk out of the cottage and keep going.
He went to reach for his cloak draped over a chair when he thought he heard someone or something at the door.