Caledonia

Distance

Everyone was relieved to see Callie safely home and she was ready to get back into her daily routine of managing the keep with Glenna. She had missed sleeping in their bed, having her own clothes to wear, and the privacy allotted to the laird pf the clan and his lady wife. There was only one big problem standing in her way and she was married to him. Alex stubbornly refused to let his wife do a single thing that could be considered strenuous. He issued an order to the clan at the very first moment they returned home to say Callie needed to rest and not stress herself by working, otherwise they'd have to answer him. He also forbade her to go alone outside the keep. Knowing her uncle was still out there, Alex was determined to keep her safe at any cost.

His sister, Bella, had knitted her a lovely scarf while she had been away. It had the Campbell colours and it perfectly matched her favourite shawl which she dropped during the kidnapping in the stables. The only trouble was Callie barely got to wear the new scarf since she was never allowed to go anywhere outside of the keep and it was driving her up the wall. The first month she was at home, Alex didn't even want Callie going outdoors. It didn't matter if she promised to use an armed escort. She begged him each night for them to take a walk after their evening meal until he finally relented one clear, cool night, more than six weeks after they'd been back home. They walked side by side, not touching each other. Callie had felt him physically withdraw from her since she lost the babe, not knowing it was because he feared to injure her further. It started the day after the attack on the Murray keep and it worsened once they were back home on Campbell land. He didn't kiss or cuddle her any longer, such as their habit was before her uncle's men kidnapped her. Callie started to worry that he had changed his mind about being married to her and then she grew concerned he might prefer to be married to another lass when weeks went by with Alex continuing not to touch her. They walked along the gravel path until they could see the barn and stables up ahead. She was busy looking around and didn't see a root sticking up on the path before she tripped over it.

Instinctively, Alex's arms reached out to stop her falling to the ground. "Careful there, lass!"

"Thank you." She felt a frisson of heat from his large, steady hands on her arms through her shawl, as he held onto her momentarily.

Alex noticeably swallowed before he spoke. "You are all right? I need to let you go."

"Must you? Do you simply not want me any more, Alex?" She said the hushed words in a rush for the paralysing fear of hearing his answer in the affirmative. It was something she knew would utterly break her heart. She sighed and then spoke again before she lost the nerve all together. "Is that why you never touch me any longer?"

His expression was one of intense pain and he raggedly swallowed again before looking away from her into the distance at the tall mountains looming beyond the keep walls. His deep voice was gruff when his answer finally came. "It'd be easier if that was the way of it. I just happen to think you'd be better off without me for a husband."

"What? Alex, no! Dinna say that! You saved my life." She leaned into hug him closely, but he visibly stiffened at the moment she touched him and she felt a crack deep in her heart. It felt like any moment it would unravel completely and she'd lose him forever. "Twice, counting the day we met."

"It's all my fault. How do ye not see that, lass? Those bloody bastards took ye from my keep." His deep voice fully broke, as his anger and shame consumed him. Alex shook his head forlornly. "I let my bloody guard down and couldna keep ye safe. I'm the one who let ye down!"

"Alex! Nay, ye canna blame yourself, it wasna your fault!" Callie tightened her hold on his waist, as he remained there unmoving like a stone. Her heart broke into a thousand pieces to know he had felt this way about her kidnapping all this time and never told her.