Page 24 of Bride takes a Scot

“Aye, come and get ready. We will leave. Lord, I am starving. We’ll have a morning meal first.” Declan finished fixing his tartan and belted it.

She watched him dress and scoffed at herself for ever thinking he was a barbarian. How could anyone who looked like him be a savage? Isabella realized how wrong she’d been in her assumptions of the Highlanders. She’d misjudged everything about him. He was a man with ordinary problems, family, and situations similar to what the men in her family experienced.

He stood by the bed and watched her with a grin. “Lass, get moving. Do ye need aid? I fear though that if I touch ye, we will not make it out of here until suppertime.”

She rolled to the side of the bed and sat up. He handed her gown to her. She slipped her feet into the opening and her arms through the sleeves. After, she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders. Once she was fully dressed, she tidied the bed and pulled the covers to each corner. That reminded her of the flowers Declan had left on her pillow.

“I meant to thank you for the flowers,” she said as she joined him by the door.

“What flowers?” Declan took her hand and led her outside.

The day had warmed, and she smiled because since arriving in the Highlands, she’d been cold. Perhaps this day, she’d be warm enough to forgo her shawl. “The flowers you left on my pillow yestermorn. I thought that was kind of you.”

He shook his head. “I did not leave flowers on your pillow. Perchance it was one of my family, welcoming ye. Ye see? They do not dislike you.”

From her viewpoint, she doubted if any of his family welcomed her. They had been rude to her at supper and forced her to avoid them. But she wouldn’t discount that one of them might have done such a kindness.

“We need to get ye warmer garments. May approaches and ’tis often one of the warmer months. The fair weather does not last long though. I will have our milliner come and see ye.”

“I would like that,” she said and took his hand. Wearing her gowns made her fit in with his clan as much as a fox amongst the sheep. Isabella didn’t want to appear as an outsider. This was her home now and she wanted to look like everyone else. Simple overdresses with fewer embellishments would help her to do so.

He guided her around the loch, and they reached the walls of his home. Declan kept walking, and they passed all sorts of buildings: cottages, shacks, stone buildings with heavily thatched roofs. Along the lane, hawkers bowed to Declan as he passed. He stopped at a cart that held all sorts of baked goods. The keeper, a thin man with little hair, greeted him and offered him whatever he wanted.

Declan took a round soft roll and handed it to her. For himself, he then took a longer, darker roll. After, he thanked the keeper and motioned her forward. They stood aside near a small elm tree that must have been recently planted. She took asmall bite of her roll and murmured a ‘mmm’ sound at the sweet taste of it. Declan tore a piece of bread and offered it to her. She opened her mouth, and he popped it in. Isabella moaned at the taste of the dark bread which was delicious and mollified her hunger after their night of exertion. It wasn’t as sweet as the roll he’d given her. She likewise tore a piece of bread from her roll and offered it to him.

They stood there unaware of the spectacle they created as the clan’s men and women passed. All smiled and either waved or bid them a good morning. As soon as they’d finished eating, Declan grabbed her hand and guided her along the lane. He stopped at a building made of logs that had a worn wooden bench beside its door and knocked.

An aged woman opened the door. Long strands of her gray hair fell over her shoulders. She was a hefty woman whose garments were a little snug, and she wore no shoes or slippers on her feet. Her scowl turned to a wide smile when she saw her grandson. “Declan, lad, oh, ’tis good to see ye. Come, lad, come inside.” She opened the door wider and allowed him to enter. “I’d heard ye returned.”

Isabella followed him inside the cottage. Her gaze shot around the small, one-roomed domain. It appeared unkempt because there was clothing strewn on the floor, cups sitting in a bucket, and a layer of dust covered every surface. It certainly could have done with a tidying. Noah sat in a corner, playing with a string and a rock. The lad needed a bath, his hair trimmed, and perhaps a little joy to bring about a smile on his little face.

When he raised his eyes, he noticed his father, smiled, and waved. He took his rock again and tossed it against the wall and it skidded back to him.

“This is Isabella, my new wife, Gran. She means to help ye with Noah,” Declan explained. “Isabella, this is my grandmother, Lady Marian.”

She curtseyed to the woman and smiled. “It is good to meet you, My Lady.”

Marian’s brows furrowed further. She appeared displeased to meet her. “Och, ye bring a Sassenach here to me home? Then ye tell me that ye married her, and she is to help with your son? My heart is paining me, aye ’tis.” She set her hand on her heart and feigned her malady.

Declan didn’t seem ruffled by her dramatic attitude. “Aye, I do. She might have lived near the Sassenach at one time, Gran, but since I married her, she’s now a Highlander. Ye will do well to remember that. Be kind to her and make her welcome because she is my wife and because I bid ye to.”

“Of course, I welcome her. I wouldst not disobey my laird.” She straightened and gave Isabella a once-over gaze. “Welcome, Milady. Och, ye married her? When were ye going to tell me?”

So, she wasn’t the only person he’d avoided. Isabella almost chuckled because he’d forgone telling her many things and it appeared he hadn’t told his grandmother that he was going to be married. That relieved her and Isabella realized that he hadn’t meant to purposely ignore her.

“That is why I am here. There was no time before now to bring my news. You have been overworked with caring for Noah and Isabella has kindly offered to help. Let her. That is a direct order,” his words weren’t spoken harshly, and his eyes showed affection. He seemed to be teasing the elder woman.

Marian swatted his arm. “’Tis pleased I am to accept her help. The lad is too much for this auld woman these days. I vow the older he gets, the more tiresome he is. Before the sun sets, I am plumb worn out and weary.”

“I shall begin on the morrow if that suits you, My Lady.” Isabella would spend the evening to come up with a plan to keep the lad entertained.

“Och, I hope you have plenty of vigor for that lad is hard to keep up with, and pray, lass, call me Marian. I am no longer the lady of the clan.” Her unhappy demeanor turned pleasant.

“Only if you call me Isabella. I will do my best by him.”

With that, Isabella approached Noah. He noticed her moving toward him and he scooted on the floor deeper into the corner in response. She smiled at him and waved in a friendly manner. He didn’t wave back or respond. She mouthed the word “greetings”, picked up his rock, and rolled it to him.

Noah snatched the rock up from the floorboard. He leaned to the side and appeared to want to escape. Indeed, the lad scrambled to his feet and then shot past her. He ran at his father, wrapped his arms around Declan’s legs, and held him tightly.