Page 63
27: WE ARE YER FAMILY
LENNOX WASN’T ENJOYING supper.
For one thing, Kyle MacAlister was present.
Usually, he liked seeing his friend, but these days, he suspected there was an underlying reason for Kyle’s frequent visits to Dun Ugadale.
He wasn’t just here to discuss rent collection with Iver—but to woo Davina.
The bailiff had arrived just in time for the noon meal.
And since he had a few things to discuss with Iver, he’d stayed on for supper.
And just like at noon, Kyle had seated himself next to Davina.
Casting a glance across at where Davina ate, her gaze downcast, Lennox wished she’d look his way—as she had in the barmkin earlier.
She’d taken him by surprise that morning.
His focus had been on ensuring the new guards didn’t accidentally cut off their own limbs when wielding an unbound blade.
But when he’d shifted his attention across the courtyard and seen Davina standing there watching him, the impact of their gazes meeting had driven the air out of his lungs.
He'd done his best to keep his thoughts elsewhere of late, yet all it had taken was a few moments to unravel all his good work.
He’d been out of sorts for the rest of the day.
“The dumplings in this stew are excellent,” Kerr commented then, his voice carrying down the chieftain’s table and intruding on Lennox’s brooding. “Cory tells me ye made them, Davina?”
Glancing up, Davina smiled. “Aye, under his guidance.” She paused then, her cheeks growing pink as all gazes at the table swiveled to her. “I’m glad ye like them.”
“An able cook too,” Kyle said, favoring Davina with a warm smile. “Ye are quite a woman.”
Lennox’s hand clenched around his spoon. Aye, she was, although if Kyle kept showering her with compliments, he was going launch himself across the table and blacken his friend’s eye.
Seated opposite him, bathed in candlelight, she was lovely indeed. Davina had bloomed in the past moon. The angular edges of her face had filled out, and her cheeks had a healthy glow to them. She’d once been rail-thin, yet her figure too had grown more rounded. This eve, she wore a grey-blue kirtle that matched her eyes, and her ink-black hair flowed over her shoulders.
It wasn’t surprising that the bailiff was entranced by her. But Kyle’s interest galled Lennox. Davina said she didn’t wish for a husband, but what if Kyle managed to change her mind? His friend had always been popular with the lasses when they were growing up—and Kyle had a charm that Lennox lacked.
Davina might decide she liked him well enough to take a husband, after all.
Jealousy cramped Lennox’s belly at the thought.
His gaze remained upon her, although unlike earlier in the barmkin, she ignored him. Lennox was seated directly in front of her, but she skillfully avoided his eye. He couldn’t blame her, for he’d carefully done the same of late. Yet as the light of the cresset on the wall next to her caressed her skin, he wished they would stop playing this cruel game with each other.
This evening, he wanted her to know he cared.
He was glad that she’d settled in well in his brother’s broch, and that everyone—even his prickly mother—had accepted her, but his longing for her was twisting him up inside.
Lennox lowered his spoonful of venison stew. Of late, he’d lost his usually robust appetite. Cory’s excellent dishes just tasted like ash in his mouth. He’d taken to drinking heavily in the evenings when he played at dice or knucklebones with the other guards. He trained hard too, pushing himself, but it couldn’t erase his longing for Davina.
And watching Kyle flirt with the woman he wanted was torture.
“I have yet to hear from yer father, Davina,” Iver spoke up then. His brow was furrowed as he met her gaze. “I didn’t tell ye, but I sent another missive over a fortnight ago. In it, I requested an answer, but Colin hasn’t responded.”
Davina stiffened at this news.
Iver’s gaze didn’t waver. “I fear yer presence here may have caused a rift between us and the Campbells … and since we’re neighbors, I must do what I can do repair it.”
Davina swallowed before reaching for her goblet of wine and taking a sip. “I don’t want to be the cause of problems between our clans.”
“Ye aren’t,” Lennox said, replying without thinking.
Everyone’s gazes, including Davina’s, snapped to him.
Heat rolled over Lennox, and he silently cursed his impetuousness. “I wouldn’t have brought ye here if I’d believed that,” he added roughly.
Iver’s frown deepened. “Be that as it may, Campbell’s silence is worrying. He should have visited us by now or responded to my last missive at the very least.”
“Perhaps ye should visit him , Iver,” Sheena suggested, viewing her eldest son with a sharp gaze. “Take charge of the situation before it worsens.”
Iver’s mouth pursed. “Maybe I will, Ma,” he replied, although Lennox caught the irritated edge to his voice. He didn’t appreciate his mother’s insinuation that he wasn’t already managing the situation well.
Davina’s eyes widened at this proposal, alarm fluttering across her delicate features. “There’s no need for that,” she said, lifting her chin as she held Iver’s gaze. “I will leave.”
Next to Iver, Bonnie gasped before throwing her husband a censorious look. “Ye can’t!”
Davina shook her head, even as her eyes shadowed. “Iver speaks true. My father’s silence is damning. Who knows … he may be rallying his men to attack.”
Farther down the table, both Kerr and Brodie’s faces tensed at these words, silence falling in the hall.
Davina’s expression grew pained. “Da has disowned me, but if I throw myself at his mercy and insist it was me who put ye all in a difficult position, relations might then thaw between ye.” Her face had gone the color of milk now. Lennox’s gut clenched; he knew she had no wish to return to Kilchurn.
Iver scowled. “That’s an extreme solution, lass,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I fear things could end badly for ye.”
“They would,” Lennox ground out. His gaze speared Davina’s then. “Ye aren’t going back there.”
Davina’s jaw tensed, and he caught the stubborn glint in her eye. “But I can’t stay here … not now.”
Lennox leaned forward. “Dun Ugadale is yer home, Davina,” he answered, his voice low and fierce, “and we are yer family now.”
Davina stared back at him, her gaze widening at his vehemence.
A brittle silence fell then. Lennox was aware that his family were all watching him as well. He could feel the weight of their gazes, yet he didn’t look away from Davina.
Satan’s cods, he’d said too much, yet he couldn’t help it. He wouldn’t have Davina thinking she wasn’t welcome here.
Davina retired to her chamber directly after supper.
Often, she’d go to the ladies’ solar, where she’d perch on the window seat, surrounded by soft cushions, and sip a small goblet of wine before retiring. She usually had the solar to herself in the evenings—Sheena retired early, and Bonnie joined her husband in the chieftain’s solar.
But this evening, she only wished to shut herself away.
Her mood, which had been subdued after returning from delivering bread to the villagers, was now dark.
I bring trouble wherever I go , she thought as she closed the door to her chamber behind her. I should never have accepted Lennox’s offer of sanctuary.
She had no idea that Iver had sent another missive to her father, one that explicitly requested a response. Colin Campbell’s silence now had a weighty edge to it.
Davina’s skin prickled. Her father had a temper and could be dangerous when roused. She hoped he hadn’t made the Mackays of Dun Ugadale his enemies.
Davina halted in the midst of the room, dragging in a deep breath. As always, her chamber was cozy. Maggie, the chambermaid, had been up and lit the hearth. A lump of peat smoldered, casting the small room in a warm glow. She’d also turned Davina’s bed down and placed a basin of fresh water and clean drying clothes on the nightstand.
The folk here had been so kind, she didn’t want to bring trouble to this broch.
We are family now.
Lennox’s words whispered to her, and tears stung her eyes.
His midnight-blue gaze had ensnared hers across the table as he’d spoken those words. His vehemence had shocked her—and it also reminded her of what they’d shared. From the moment they’d left Kilchurn, Lennox Mackay had been her defender in all things. Even now, when they barely spoke to each other, he was looking out for her.
Lowering herself onto the edge of her bed, Davina covered her face with her hands. Tears still prickled at her eyelids, yet she blinked them back. She wouldn’t weep. She’d shed far too many tears over the past years, and it had done her no good. She didn’t want to start feeling sorry for herself again. The memory of the melancholia that had once dogged her steps, that had drained the world of color, crashed into her.
Suddenly, Davina couldn’t breathe. It was as if the walls were closing in on her, as if the pungent peat smoke were choking her.
She had to get out, to suck fresh air into her lungs. She had to find a way to push down the despair that was clawing at her throat.
Davina launched herself to her feet and crossed to the door, plucking her woolen cloak off the hook behind it. Then, slinging the mantle across her shoulders, she hurried from her chamber.
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