Page 58

Chapter

H e wanted nothing more than to go inside the inn and be with Maisie.

But on their ride back, she told him it was not possible for her to leave so soon to accompany him home.

Yet he was unwilling to leave her alone after what happened with MacBrannigan.

The bastard might be dead, but no doubt his clansmen would be out for revenge.

It was Lina who provided the solution.

She and Niall would stay at the inn while Kieran returned with the others. He could not even wait until morn. Niall told him of some clan troubles he hadn’t wished to burden Kieran with earlier.

“We will ride through the night,” he told Maisie, dismounting only long enough to speak with her. “I will return posthaste.”

“There are things I wish to tell you,” she said, glancing at his clansmen, who waited for Kieran to mount and ride out. “But not this way.”

His brows furrowed. “What sort of things?” he asked, clearly curious.

Maisie thought of declaring her love for him just then.

Telling him that she was still uncertain of marriage, but perhaps in time she could reconcile with the idea.

And in the meantime, if he would have her, she’d be glad for him to stay at the inn.

Perhaps aid her in its running, though the son of a clan chief, a warrior such as him, might not wish to do such a thing.

But if he were willing, she was as well.

Being with a man openly, one not her husband, may not be ideal, but Maisie cared little for others’ opinions.

After what she’d endured, that some may judge her was of little concern.

“We will talk when you return.”

“Do you wish for me to return, Maisie?”

She smiled. “I do. Very much.”

He would not dishonor her by showing affection openly, but Maisie had no such qualms. Soon enough, all here would know.

She stepped toward him, raised her arms, and placed them on his shoulders. In response, he leaned toward her. When their lips touched, Maisie closed her eyes and forgot others watched them. She knew only Kieran was leaving, and she wished for him to stay.

“Mmmm,” he murmured.

When they broke apart, his look was unmistakable.

“Save it,” she said, “Until you return.” When she would tell him she loved him too.

“I will be back as soon as possible.”

“Go easy on them,” she said as Kieran mounted. “Think on your ride home of all they’ve done for you. For my part, I am grateful you are the jovial, kind man and well-trained warrior that they’ve raised.”

“Perhaps ‘twas the influence of my twin aunts.”

She laughed, for he clearly jested with her. With a wink, he spurred his mount forward.

As Maisie watched him ride away, an unease settled into her.

“He will be back soon.”

She turned to Lina. “Aye,” Maisie agreed.

“He loves you.”

Niall had taken the horse to the stable, and though Maisie should return without delay to the hall, she could not find the effort to do so at the moment.

“He does,” she said. “He told me so.”

Lina’s smile could not have been bigger. “Did he? Oh, that is wonderful.”

She forged ahead. “He asked for me to marry him,” she said, almost shyly. She hoped Kieran did not mind her telling Lina so, but she desperately wished to speak with someone, and not only was she his sister-in-law, the woman was also one of the kindest she’d ever met.

“You and Kieran? Married?”

That she seemed genuinely happy warmed Maisie’s heart.

But she did not wish to give Lina false hope.

“I dinnae agree. Or tell him I loved him, since Kieran stopped me. He wishes for the two together, and though I do love him”—the words spilled from her lips—“I vowed never to marry. As I’ve told you. ”

“Vows are meant to be broken.”

Maisie cracked a smile. “Are they?”

“Nay.” Lina laughed. “My words make little sense,” she admitted.

“But neither does your concern. Kieran is not the sort of man to control you, Maisie. Surely you realize that by now. He is one of the best men I know and would treat you as kindly as you deserve. That is a vow I make”—she smiled—“and will never break. I assure you ‘tis so.”

“I should have told him how I felt before he left,” Maisie said, staring at the road as if he might reappear. “I wanted to do so in private. But I will, when he returns,” she said, certain of it.

“You will tell him you love him? Or that you will marry him? Or both?”

Maisie thought she knew the answer to that question, but now was not so certain. Lina’s conviction that she should marry her brother-in-law was both welcome news and not surprising, given what she’d said in the past.

“I will think on it.” She turned to the inn. “In the meantime, I really should see to my duties.”

Lina looked up at the inn with her. “It would seem a man like Kieran could be useful as a partner in running such a place.”

Another problem between them. “Surely he would not wish to do so.”

“If he could find training partners in the clientele? I should think he would consider it, as close to Duncraig land as we are.”

Maisie remained skeptical. “There are many things he might do,” she agreed. “But becoming an innkeeper? I am not certain.”

“Maisie,” Lina said as they entered the front door of the inn. “For you, I am certain. Kieran would do anything.”