Page 19 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Hellion (Auctioned Highland Brides #4)

“Set it down over there,” Callum said as Alexander placed the telescope into the corner of the tower.

The night sky stretched before them for miles, and Callum marveled at how dark it was across his lands, the torchlight from the courtyard barely penetrating so high.

Lady Bentley had cried off from stargazing, telling her daughter that she was too tired to stay up any longer after her extensive journey.

Callum had made his way to the top of the tower ahead of the girls, waiting for Lydia to join him.

Alexander settled the telescope and stepped back, looking up at the night sky. There was a new moon tonight, and the twinkling vortex above their heads was something to behold.

“It is funny, is it nae?” Alexander said, his voice quiet on the still night air.

“What’s that?”

“How ye can nae see the world until someone comes along and opens yer eyes to it?”

Callum turned to his man-at-arms, about to ask what he meant by that, but what greeted him was a sly smile. Alexander slipped through the door and away, leaving Callum alone in the dark.

He breathed in a lungful of the Highland air and went to stand against the edge of the stone.

The inky blackness around him was closing in, and the lack of moon made his lands even darker and more mysterious than they usually were.

He found himself searching the horizon, the soldier in him looking for lights on the ground, not in the sky.

Are ye comin’ for these girls, Moira? And if nae, what are ye waitin’ for?

He pictured spots of light appearing in the trees like wisps, and then more would appear, Moira’s father sending an army to destroy him.

Let him come. He isnae takin’ me nieces from me without a fight.

“What a beautiful night.”

Callum turned to find four shadows behind him.

Lydia had bundled the girls up into their coats against the cold wind that blew in all weathers on the ramparts.

Tommy had a blanket around his shoulders, and Lydia looked beautiful in a thick coat of her own, her eyes shining in the darkness.

“Well, girls, what do you think?” Lydia asked.

“It’s very dark up here,” Eilis said.

“It has to be. You can’t see the light in the sky with light on the ground.”

“There’s no moon,” Tommy exclaimed, spinning in place as he looked upward.

“No,” Lydia said, laughing. “All the better to see the stars.”

She walked across the space beside Callum, who was content to watch her, fascinated by the ease she had with the children.

Lydia bent over the telescope, closing one eye as she fiddled with the dials and screws on the side. After a minute or so, she tutted loudly.

“Is the sky nae to yer likin’, M’Lady?” Callum asked.

Lydia looked up, an irritated expression on her face as she pouted at him.

“How long has it been since this lens was cleaned?” she asked, and sounded so peevish that Callum found himself chuckling softly.

“I dinnae ken, likely decades. Angus and I certainly didnae use it.”

“Well, then, lend me your handkerchief. I must clean it.”

Callum blinked at her. “Me handkerchief? ” he asked. “And what would a laird do with one of those? Dab his brow when he’s swoonin’?”

Lydia snorted. “Fine, I shall use my sleeve, but it is very important to keep the glass clean on a telescope, or the view is not clear.”

Callum nodded but looked down as he felt a tug on his kilt. Tommy was standing next to his leg, staring up at him.

“You’re very tall,” the boy said. “Could you lift me up? I want to see over the side.”

“Tommy,” Lydia admonished. “You are too old to be lifted about by Callum like a small child.”

“But I want to see the lake!” Tommy protested and then squeaked in dismay as Callum grabbed the back of his coat and lifted him effortlessly onto his shoulder with one arm.

Tommy clapped his hands in delight. He was a very slight child and barely weighed anything at all.

“That’s me closest neighbor,” Callum said, pointing, enjoying being able to show off his lands. “That’s Laird McFarlon’s place, right across the hills there. Ye can see the tiny lights glistenin’.”

“It’s so far!” Tommy exclaimed in wonder.

“Can ye see the lake?”

“Yes, it looks like a shield!”

Callum smiled as Tommy’s little hand landed on his head, steadying him as he looked around in excitement.

“Girls?” Lydia called. Amy and Eilis shuffled toward her. They were getting tired, and the cold night air wasn’t helping. “Have a look in there if you can see.”

The two girls put their eyes to the telescope, taking it in turns, but Callum could tell they were too little to fully appreciate what Lydia was showing them.

“Is that the moon?” Amy asked.

“Not quite,” Lydia replied. “That is the North Star. Sailors use it to navigate across the ocean.”

“Uncle Callum, come and look,” Amy said, and a lump rose in Callum’s throat at her desire to include him.

“Come, Tommy, we are needed for stargazing,” he said, lowering the boy to the ground and going over to the telescope.

In his usual thoughtful way, Alexander had set the telescope up, so it was low enough for the children to see into it without standing on anything.

Callum, however, had to crouch on his knees to look through it.

The girls yawned in unison, and Amy lay her head on Eilis’s shoulder as they both rested against the stone wall behind them.

Callum looked through the lens at the bright distant speck far up in the blackness above.

It looked like a tunnel ending in a circle of light, or a pinprick in a huge blanket of black cloth.

Callum rose, staring upward in amazement at the world that had been exposed to him.

Lydia stood with her hand on Tommy’s head as he hugged her skirts, watching Callum expectantly.

“Did you see it?” she asked him.

“I did. Will that star lead me to a faraway land?”

“Are you saying you’ve never used stars to navigate before? I do not believe it.”

Callum smirked. “I ken me way around these lands with me eyes closed, lass, I dinnae need any stars to tell me where to put me feet.”

Lydia sighed, looking out at the land beneath.

“You know, I thought London was beautiful in its way. It is a mess of buildings and mud and people, but I always liked living there.”

Callum held his breath. “And dae ye miss it?”

“Sometimes. I miss my family. But I don’t think I could return now. I have been spoiled with the Highland views. I wouldn’t wish to wake up without the hills to greet me.”

She turned back to him, the faintest light from the castle behind lighting one side of her face.

Callum had an absurd thought that he tried to banish, but it persisted at the back of his mind, lingering like a loose thread he couldn’t catch.

There has never been a more beautiful view from this tower than there is lookin’ at her.

He looked down to find that the girls had fallen asleep, huddled against the cold wall, embracing one another.

“I dinnae think we are goin’ to get much stargazin’ done with these tonight,” Callum said softly. “Looks like ye have lost yer audience.”

Lydia ruffled Tommy’s hair. “Let us go back to your room before you catch a cold.”

“I want to see more stars,” Tommy protested, but even as he said it, a wide yawn chased the words.

“Another day, perhaps, you have had a long journey,” Lydia said, and she took his hand, leading them down the stairs as Callum bent to pick up the girls.

The little space was even darker than usual, and Callum had to watch his step to keep from tumbling down the narrow flight.

He followed Lydia through the torch-lit corridors to the thick oak door of the girls’ bedroom. She opened it for him, as Callum’s arms were occupied, and settled Tommy on a chair just inside the door to wait for them.

She turned, holding out her arms, and Callum passed Amy’s sleepy body to her as Lydia carried her to bed.

The girls slept in a large room that had once been Moira’s. Callum had removed all of his sister-in-law’s belongings as soon as he had arrived. It was just like Moira to take the largest room in the house for herself, while the girls were in a tiny back bedroom in the west wing.

He had had two beds installed on either side so they could see each other when they woke up. He had loved being able to wake up to Angus in the morning in his youth.

“There you are, sweet girl,” Lydia said, laying Amy down. “You sleep and dream of beautiful things.”

Raven was lying at the end of the bed, curled up and sleeping soundly as Amy settled down into her pillows.

Callum laid Eilis down, too, and they both tucked the girls in.

“Do you miss being tucked in at night?” Lydia asked, her green eyes on Amy’s sleeping form. It was a whimsical question, but Callum felt a throb of heat at the idea.

“Why, are ye offerin’, lass?”

Lydia gasped, glancing back at her brother, who had fallen asleep in the chair.

“I just meant, is this where you and your brother slept?” she said gently, her look of outrage turning to understanding.

Callum shrugged a shoulder. “Nay, we were in another room. Me braither liked to be able to see the courtyard when he woke. Me faither always told us we needed to ken where the guards were at all times.”

Lydia nodded, stepping aside as if to leave the room, and Callum held out a hand, looping his thumb and forefinger around her wrist.

She is so tiny.

“I wanted to thank ye, lass,” he said earnestly, letting her go when she paused.

“What for?”

“For all ye have done for these wee girls since ye came. Ye dinnae ken them before, but they have changed a lot since you arrived. I think they feel safe with ye, and ye’ve made sure to spend time with them. I kenned ye would be good for them, but I didnae ken how much.”

Lydia’s heart soared at that praise. It struck her then that it wasn’t common for anyone to tell her she had done well.

Her father was never happy with anything she did, and to know that Callum felt she had been a positive influence on the girls was wonderful.

“You’re welcome,” she said, her smile faltering a little. “That is what you brought me here for after all.”

Callum nodded, his expression hard to read.

Does he really never wish us to be close again after all that we have shared together?

In order to distract herself from her wayward thoughts, she turned back to the door and walked over to Tommy.

The little boy was slumped down in his chair, dead to the world.

Lydia put her hands on her hips, sighing.

“You should go to bed,” she said to Callum as he stepped up beside her. “I’ll wake him and take him to his room.”

“No need,” Callum said, stooping and picking Tommy up as though he were made of paper. “He is only a wee thing, dae ye nae feed him?”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “My father believes in abstinence. The meals in our house were always small. His weren’t, but my mother and I had to make do with less than the Duke would allow himself.”

Callum frowned, his eyes darkening as his jaw clenched. “Well, we shall feed him up while he’s here, then. If ye ever wish to eat outside of meal times, ye speak to the cook. There is no rationin’ in this house. Nae for me bride.”

Lydia gave a little lilting laugh. “I’ll remember that, thank you.”

They walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind them as the girls sank deeper into sleep.

Callum walked down the corridor in front of her, with Tommy in his arms, and Lydia entertained herself with a fantasy of another life where they had been married for many years, and this was their son.

Would we be happy together? I suppose I will never know.

Once they were inside Tommy’s room, Callum lay him down gently on the bed, and they tiptoed out, so as not to wake her mother, who was sleeping in the adjoining room.

As she reached her bedchamber door, Lydia turned to Callum. His huge body cast a giant shadow in the dark, but his eyes twinkled in the torchlight from the bracket on the wall.

“Goodnight, Lydia,” he said, her name a soft breath between them that sent a shiver through her body.

He gave a short bow and slipped silently into his room without a word.

Lydia lingered in the corridor for some minutes after, staring at his closed door in wonder.

The Laird she had met in the gardens, the scarred beast who had whisked her away to his castle in the Highlands, was no more. Now, she knew the softness in Callum’s soul, the love he had for his nieces as they had fallen asleep on his shoulders and he had cradled them in their beds.

Nothing about this man is as it seems, and I can feel myself beginning to care for him more and more.

The wedding was only a few days away, and now she found that she did not dread it. In a strange way, it felt like the beginning of a new life.

Lydia smirked as she went into her room.

What would my mother think if she knew how fixated I am on the wedding night…?