HIGHLAND GAMES, CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Out in the field-The Festival-Present Day
“Now what?” I asked, pulling my jacket closer against my body, to ward off the chill.
“We wait,” Gavin said, turning away and leaning back against the tree in the designated area the gypsy had instructed. He crossed his arms and stared out into the darkness. He was still a mite put out with the way the lass had yelled at him in the tent. Granted, he probably deserved most of what she said but it still pricked his ego. And that damnable witch, or gypsy, whatever she was, only added fuel to the flames with her commentary. He barely made it out of the tent in one piece. At least that is the way it seemed to him.
After he and the lass had gotten into a shouting match at one another, and gearing up for another battle, the gypsy informed them both that the time was nearing to go back, if that was what they intended.
He didn’t want ta take the lass back but he wasn’t left much choice in the matter because she informed him under no uncertain terms that she was going with him whether he liked it or not.
And that was the end of that.
I looked over at Gavin. His face barely visible in the darkness was still an unreadable mask. Fine. Unreadable was a bit mild since I knew he was upset with me, but that was too bad. He would get over it, eventually, or at least I hoped he would.
After we had bickered for a good half hour the gypsy woman slammed her hands down on the table, which shut us both up rather quickly and informed us that we better get before the mist came.
The Highlander, the big one, that was even taller than Gavin had lifted the tent flap and showed us the door, so to speak. After he explained where to go, he sent us on our merry, or miserable, way, depending on how one looked at it.
I was merry.
Gavin was apparently miserable.
And for the first fifteen minutes of our departure, I was good with that. Now, however, the longer we stood under this stupid tree in the darkness, I began to wonder why in the hell I wanted so badly to go with Gavin in the first place, especially when he didn’t seem to even want me with him. At odds with myself, my gut said stay while my brain was telling me to go. Irritated at my contrary emotions, I pulled my bag back on my shoulder and walked over in front of him.
“Gavin,” I said, looking up, the outline of his barely visible face.
He exhaled. “What do ye want?”
“I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“Good.”
“That’s it!” My temper flared again.
“What do ye want from me, lass?”
“I want you to tell me that you are sorry too, and that you want me to go with you.”
“I am sorry for raising my voice with ye lass, but I can no do the other thing ye want from me.”
“Why?” A sudden burst of hot tears sprang to my eyes and my throat constricted, making it hard to speak.
“I’ve already told ye why?”
“Do you even care about me at all?” I sounded like a croaking frog.
Gavin could hear how upset she was and it pulled at his heartstrings, making his chest feel tight. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but he also didn’t want her to come back with him because of the deal he made with the witch.
He just didn’t know how to explain that to her.
“Aye, I do.”
“Then why?” I sniffed, trying hard not to cry.
Gavin knew what he had to say to get her ta leave even if it was not the truth. The problem was, he knew once he said the words, she would hate him. And he wasn’t sure if he could bear that.
“Och, lass, do not cry.” Unable to stop himself, he reached out, pulled her pliable body tightly against his chest, and held her in his arms. Up and down, he caressed her back with his hand.
I blubbered into his shirt, letting my tears finally flow freely from my eyes. There was no measuring of time when I was with him, and I tried not to think about him leaving—and especially what I knew I needed to do—which was to let him go. I loved him enough for that. Another old saying from my Grans bubbled up unbidden. “If you love someone, set them free, if they come back they are yours, if not, it was never meant to be…” Stupid saying, get out of my mind, I wanted to scream, but deep down, I knew what I had to do. Pulling back just a bit, I lifted my tear stained face up to his. “I won’t go.”
The words were like a spear to his heart and his breath caught on itself. “Ye do not want ta go back with me?”
“Not if you don’t want me too.”
Gavin closed his eyes and tried to garner the strength he needed and finally said, “It is for the best.”
“Yeah, I guess.” The tears that I thought had dried up were coming back in full force. I let out a self-deprecating laugh that was more of a sob, sniffing. “God, sorry. I hate crying.”
“I hate ta see ye cry as well.” And he did. It was twisting his innards ta see her thusly. He pushed her back, setting her away from him. He had too before he changed his mind and begged her to come with him.
Of course, I had no idea what he was thinking and took him pushing me away as another mortal blow to my already dwindling self-esteem.
“Safe travels,” I said, trying to sound cheery, unfazed, but ended up choking on the words as another sob escaped my throat.
Gavin grabbed hold of the tree, digging his fingers into the bark. “Aye, I will endeavor ta try.”
“Tell Callum, Muir, Graham and Alec, that I said hello and to be…” another sob erupted from my throat, “safe,” I forced out.
Gavin’s throat constricted as wetness gathered behind his eyes. “Aye, I will.”
Forcing my leaden feet to move, I took another step away from him. “Don’t forget to eat. You’ll need to keep your strength up.” God, I sounded like an idiot.
“Aye, I will try ta remember that.” His innards twisted again.
Stalling for more time, I said, “Hey, do you want to bring my bag with you?”
“The goodie bag?”
“Yes. The goodie bag.”
“Only if ye want ta give it ta me.”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to give it to you.”
“Aye, then, I would appreciate that.”
Even though it had taken me ten minutes to get ten feet away from him, it only took me seconds to run back to him. I dropped the bag on the ground at his feet and threw my arms around his neck.
Gavin didn’t expect the intense reaction that he felt once she was against his body again. It was like the wind was knocked from his lungs. He let go of the tree and jerked her body against his.
“Lass, what ye do ta me,” he half moaned/sighed as he lowered his mouth and kissed her with all the pent-up emotion he was feeling.