Page 37 of A Promise Through Time

“Donal!” Logan’s voice called to him from the castle doors.

He didn’t move and didn’t respond. He could hear Logan striding up behind him and was ready for whatever might come his way.

“Donal, what was that all about?” Logan asked. There was no judgement or anger in his voice.

“I dinnae know,” Donal responded.

“It’s not like ye to do something like that.”

“My apologies,” he muttered, unable to face Logan.

“I’m nae the one ye need to apologize to. Tell me what Marcas has done.”

Donal sighed and turned to his friend. “There was nae need for my behavior. I was angry when I sat down and something Marcas said…”

Logan put an arm around his shoulders and got him to walk away from the castle. “So if it wasnae Marcas ye were angry with, then who or what?”

“Ye ken how yer always telling me I need a wife?”

“Aye.”

“I never believed it, but now there’s Elena. And she needs a Ma…”

“So this is about Elena?”

Donal searched his heart. Elena needed a mother, but he needed Tina more. More than someone to care for the bairn, she was someone that made him want to be better than he was. “Not really. I believed I’d found the woman I wanted, someone that I wanted in my life, but she was seated with someone else.”

“So ye were jealous?”

Is that what the tight feeling in his chest was? “I’ve never felt this way before. Never had cause to be jealous.”

“Then it must be love.”

Logan was not making this easier for him. First jealousy and now love? He had never been more confused in his life. “I dinnae ken if ’tis, but I feel things when I’m with her that I’ve nae felt before.”

“May I ask who it is?”

“Tina. The lass from the future.”

“Well, that makes sense then,” Logan mused. “Sara told me that Ashley and Jenna were looking for the right man for her. I believe ye think yer the one.”

“I thought so, but now after what just happened.” He turned and caught Logan’s eye, then shook his head in shame. “I saw the look on her face. She’ll nae want me now.”

“You don’t know that. You should talk to her,” Logan suggested.

“She’s with Tam tonight.”

“That shouldnae stop ye. Explain what happened. As Sara always tells me, ye need to use yer words.” He chuckled at this.

“Use yer words?”

“Instead of yer fists.”

Donal nodded his understanding. “That would have been useful to know before I tried to kill Marcas,” he chuckled. “Yer wife is verra wise.”

“She is,” Logan beamed. “’Tis one of the many reasons I love her so.”

Despite all of his faults and inadequacies, Donal knew that Logan was on his side. He’d been feeling of late that anyone who knew him thought him unworthy. Perhaps they thought he’d finally gotten what he deserved. In some ways maybe he had. It hurt that Lady Ashley and Jenna were trying to find a man for Tina. But if he was being honest, he might do the same thing in their position. Why would they want someone as kind and generous as Tina to be with someone so careless as to not even remember the names of women he had known. He was sure he couldn’t feel any lower than he felt at this moment, but he was more determined than ever to prove them wrong. He wasn’t that thoughtless man any more. He was trying hard to change. He could be a good da to Elena. He could be as good a man as any who resided at Breaghacraig and he could be the kind of man who was worthy of Tina’s love.