Page 1 of The Duchess’s Absolutely Delightful Dream (The Notorious Briarwoods #14)

Scotland

A best friend is a bonny thing indeed.

Elspeth and Hamish had been best friends since the moment of their births. Some might even argue they’d been friends before then too, for their mothers had been best friends. They had spent their entire pregnancies together, laughing, planning, and making baby clothes and baby blankets.

Now, some might consider this quite a shocking thing, for they were both ladies of high status.

Hamish’s mother was a duchess and so was Elspeth’s.

The lad and lass were the latest additions to two of the greatest families in all of Scotland.

The families had managed to survive terrible wars between England and Scotland.

Somehow, they had lifted themselves up and thrived, and the two mothers were determined that their families would unite and create one of the greatest dynasties that Scotland had ever known.

The children loved their bonny Highlands, the beautiful hills and valleys, where heather grew, the sun kissed the land, and one could still feel the ache and cry of the old Highland ways.

Still, the old Highland ways had slipped away, vanishing like a song into a glen. A whisper. An echo.

But as they grew, Elspeth and Hamish knew in their heart of hearts that they were supposed to carry it all on.

So as the two children aged and raced about the glens and chased up the bens, they were happy.

As they played along the dark streams, which nurtured the salmon that swam up from the sea, laid their eggs, and then found their eternal resting place only for the cycle to start once again, Elspeth and Hamish knew they too were part of an ever-revolving grand plan. A cycle of their own.

And they were thrilled to play their parts.

Why wouldn’t they be? Their lives were perfect.

Best friends. Nothing could get the two of them down when they were together!

Nothing could stop their laughter from ringing off the soaring bens or the halls of the Highland palaces that they called home.

Bouncing back and forth from one place to the next—a grand castle to a fairy-tale palace—they thrived.

Oh, what lives they led!

They were joyous, their bodies humming with the magic of the wild land. As childhood left them and they ventured into the years of their youth, they helped people.

They did not care if a person was highborn or lowborn.

For Elspeth and Hamish knew the traditional ways and that Highland lairds took care of their own people, that the clan system was meant to ensure that no one fell away.

But times were changing. Things were hard for the people on the land. The wars had destroyed Scotland. England was merciless in many ways. And people could still feel the echo of the butchers who had come and raided the land and taken so much away.

But it didn’t matter.

Not really, because hope was always there.

Hope that things would get better.

And so when Elspeth and Hamish married quite young, as their mothers had always planned, the people on their lands rejoiced.

But all was not so golden and perfect as one might have hoped.

Elspeth and Hamish were close friends, and Elspeth could see that not all was well with the bonny boy who held her hand, laughed wildly, but sometimes looked pale, even for a Scotsman.

One fine day, as they raced up the craggy hills, as they were so wont to do, she could see it on his beautiful face. Instead of ruddy cheeks, bright from exertion, his eyes were sunken, his face was pale, and there was a sheen of sweat on him that was not what she considered normal.

His hands were shaking ever so slightly. She pulled him close to her and kissed him on the cheek. They were not passionate together, though everyone said that one day that would come. She wondered though, for they were just friends, more like brother and sister than anything else.

“Are you all right?” she asked softly.

He gave a nod of his head, but she knew deep in her core that he was not.

Physicians were going to be part of their future. That thought whispered through her head. Physicians were going to be their guides, not these Highland hills. And the thought sent a wave of horror through her.

And a year later, when Hamish lay upon a chaise longue that they had brought outdoors so he could gaze upon his beloved Highlands, his body sweating and his face gaunt, his eyes were locked upon the purple heather, as if he was searching for a doorway out of hell.

Elspeth knew that her great friend, her bonny boy, was not long for this world. He had days, maybe weeks. Everything that she had clung to, everything that she had known, was about to be torn from her.

Her best friend, her only friend—for there was no need for many friends when one had a friend like Hamish—was going to disappear. She’d be alone. So very alone.

Oh, she had acquaintances, she had her brothers, and she had her mother and father. But dear God in heaven, her Hamish was her rock, her anchor, her person, someone she could be herself with. Always.

And now he was slipping away from her.

As she rested beside him, tucked against his frail side, he grabbed her hand and somehow managed to turn his fevered gaze to hers.

The physicians had said it was a tumor deep inside him that was stealing him away—inoperable, impossible to get out, for if they tried, it would kill him.

She swallowed. “I love you, Hamish,” she said softly.

“I love you too, Ellie,” he whispered.

And they did love each other. Oh, how they loved each other.

Maybe not like in the great grand stories of old.

No, their love was purer, stronger, truer.

It was a love of spirits and souls, rather than of bodies or romance.

And she did not know what she would do when he went onto the next great place without her.

“You must promise me, Ellie,” he whispered.

“What?” she asked.

“Lass, you must promise me that you will live when I am gone.”

She bit down on her lip and then said, “Don’t be silly, Hamish. Of course I will live.”

“Och, not like that,” he tsked. “I know you. I know that you will be tempted to be too sad, and you must promise me that you won’t be. It would break my heart, you know, if you are too sad.”

Ellie grimaced. “Of course, I’ll be sad, you great ninny. You are my best friend.”

He sighed. “And you are mine. And maybe that was a mistake. Maybe we shouldn’t have—”

“Cease,” she said, tightening her grip on his boney hand. “There were no mistakes. There are no mistakes. This is exactly what you and I were supposed to be.”

“I think it’s good,” he whispered suddenly.

“What?” she asked, trying to understand what could be good about this.

“Now you have a chance for a great love,” he began, as if he had given this considerable thought.

“Someone who will truly, passionately love you. Our friendship, our marriage, was never going to be that, Ellie. We were just going to slip through this world as friends and that would’ve been enough.

But you and I? We were never going to be a love for all time. ”

Tears filled her eyes. “I don’t need that. I just need you.”

“No, you don’t, Ellie,” he countered gently.

“You need more. You need all the world. And I could give you a beautiful castle, and I could give you friendship, but I was never going to give you a grand passion. So you must promise me, Ellie, that you’ll find it.

And when you do, you’ll seize it, and you must never let it go. Can you promise me that?”

She swallowed because she could not believe that such a thing might truly happen. Never ever could such a love really exist. Surely, their friendship was what love should be.

“Och, Hamish, please stop.”

“I will not,” he denied. “You promise me you’ll live with joy and fully.”

She nodded. Through tears, she promised, “I’ll live with joy, as you say. And to the fullest.”

He sighed, relieved. “Good. Now, I will be watching you, Ellie. And you must promise me this too. You’ll have the grandest, most fiery, most wonderful love that anyone has ever known.” His lips curved into a smile. “And somehow, I will bring him to you. You’ll know when he’s arrived.”

And just at that moment, an osprey dove down through the sky, skimming his talons along the loch. Her throat tightened as she watched the gorgeous bird hunt, then head back to the heavens.

“Hamish,” she managed. “Don’t say such a thing.”

“Why?” he asked, astonished.

“Because it hurts.”

“Life hurts, Ellie,” he said gently. “It’s a great lie that it doesn’t. No adults ever dare tell us the truth. Life hurts so very much, but that doesn’t matter because it’s worth it. Every bit of it.”

And then his hands began to shake a little more, as if the conversation had worn him out. His eyes drifted back to the Highland hills.

She longed to beg him to stay. But she wasn’t that cruel. Her beloved Hamish was in so much pain that now the only thing that could alleviate it was medicine the physicians brought in a small vial, warning of how dangerous a strong dose was.

She had to let him go. She would never wish him to stay when every day was agony for him now. In fact, though it hurt…she began to long for his release, for him to be at peace. Though she knew she’d never recover from the loss of her friend.

And when he did finally let out his last, shallow breath, still outdoors, where he always preferred to be, teased by the wind that swept down from the north, and surrounded by the land he loved so well, Ellie was resigned. Peaceful even.

After all, everyone always left.

Of course they did, because that was the journey of all humans. Some left early, some left late, but everyone always had to leave. And in that moment, Ellie knew that Hamish was right.

She was going live with joy and live fully, and she was going to find the great love that Hamish wanted her to have…because she would always do what Hamish wanted. Because a best friend? A best friend always knew what was best.