Page 83 of A Highland Bride Disciplined

“I’ve nay intention,” Kian said, too quickly.

“Mm.” Tam’s eye twinkled. “I dinnae say ye would. I said ye cannae. Different thing.” He shifted again, serious now. “If there’s nay kin claimin’ her, it’s nae just bread and blankets. It’s… ye.Andher.Andthe lady. That’s a home, Kian. Not a ledger.”

The thought knocked the breath a little out of him. Elise’s soft weight against his chest, Scarlett’s laugh under lanterns, and the three of them like a picture he would never have dared to draw. He had built his clan like a fortress. The idea of a home made his hands go oddly useless.

“I’m nae a cruel man,” he said, rough. “But I’m nae built for… softness.”

Tam snorted. “Aye, that’s one way to put it. But here’s the thing about softness, it’s just strength ye havenae named yet.” He let that sit a beat, then ruined the poetry with a grin. “And in yer case, it’s got red hair and a temper, so God help us all.”

Kian barked a laugh before he could stop himself. It startled a flock of larks out of the gorse.

They rode on, the keep now a smudge ahead, the road narrowing to the familiar cut between hills. Tam shifted his reins, as if settling the last of his thoughts.

“One more bit o’ counsel, if ye’ll have it,” he said.

Kian sighed. “I’ve had a bellyful already.”

“Too bad.” Tam’s mouth quirked. “When ye tell her, daenae speak like a laird. Speak like a man who was there. She needs yer experience. Women ken the difference.” He paused, then added, wicked light back in his eye, “And if that fails, remember how far an apology goes… also that flowers can never hurt… and she cannae be mad at ye for long if yer tunic is off.”

Kian shook his head, but the corner of his mouth lifted despite himself. “Yer wisdom continues to astonish.”

“Aye,” Tam said, delighted.

Kian fell quiet again, but this time the silence didn’t gnaw. He let Tam’s words rattle around and make themselves at home.

Speak like a man, not a laird.

Admit the fear.

Open the letter before it opens me.

And accept that some pieces of me life would never again be held in a single, steady hand.

They crested the last rise. Crawford Keep lifted out of the haze, banners tugging in the wind, smoke rising from the kitchens. The letter pressed one more time against his heart, begging to be read.

“Right,” Tam said, settling his cloak. “Time to be brave, then.”

Kian snorted. “I’m always brave.”

“Aye,” Tam said, cheerful as sin. “Just new at the kind that matters.”

16

The hours stretched long. Scarlett sat in her chamber, arms wrapped around Elise as though someone might try and pry the bairn from her if she so much as blinked.

“I ken ye like when Kian talks to ye. Ye like the sound of his voice, do ye nae?”

The bairn looked up at her and blinked.

“Aye, I reckon that I like the sound of his voice sometimes too… when he’s nae irkin’ me somethin’ fierce.”

Elise’s mouth curled into what might have been a grin…or perhaps trapped wind?

“I ken ye like it when he insults me behind me back, aye? Probably tells ye that me feet are too oafish or I smell bad, aye?”

Elise let out a cheerful coo.Nae wind… just joy — such a sweet wee lass.

Scarlett started to bounce the lassie on her knee, lifting her up above her and then back down playfully.