Anna reached over and lightly covered his hand with hers. "You can tell me. I am your wife, but I hope to be your friend as well. I promise I will not be offended."
"I wanted sons," he admitted finally.
"And no other woman can give you sons?"
He was trapped, in a way he had never felt trapped before, and there was simply no way out of it. How could he tell her he loved another? Well, it couldn't be helped, she would find out eventually anyway. "I once saw a lass…," he began, trying to carefully choose his words.
"Did you think she was handsome?"
He couldn't help himself. "She was more than handsome, she was..." He stopped, wondering how the devil he was going to get through this.
"Please continue; I want to know all about her."
"She was on a horse."
Anna's heart leapt.
Katie could hardly believe what she was seeing. Kevin was Laird over hundreds and one little woman was making him squirm like a guilty child. She glanced at the two women standing behind him and noticed they were completely enjoying Anna's audacity, even though they couldn't understand a word of it.
Anna didn't look away and didn't move her hand, which prevented him from eating. "The lass was on a horse and what?"
He cleared his throat and decided not to elaborate on the woman's beauty. "It was not so much her appearance, as it was the love she and the horse shared. I have never seen anything like it."
"Go on."
"Nay, I have said quite enough. Talk of something else."
"Does everyone else know about this woman?"
"Aye."
"Good, then I will ask one of them."
Kevin slumped. "What more do you wish to know?"
"Well, what did the woman do to make you think she and the horse cared for each other?"
"Tricks, but it was not the tricks that impressed me, it was the way she trusted him with her life. The horse could have killed her, but somehow, I knew he would not." Once he got started, Kevin couldn't seem to stop himself. "And she used no bridle nor signaled with her arms. Instead, she talked to him and the horse knew exactly what to do."
Anna finally removed her hand, relieved him of his misery, and smiled. "Thank you for explaining. We will not talk of this again." She hoped no one could tell how fast her heart was beating. Kevin not only remembered her, he talked like a man in love. He had chosen an unseen woman, because he couldn't have the one he really wanted. If only he knew the woman in his heart was sitting right beside him. Someday, she might just tell him.