Page 31 of The Highlander’s Hellion Wife (Legacy of Highland Lairds #1)

31

T he trio began making their way through the castle. It was slow-going. Malina was small in stature, and Alison was tall and curvy, so she was unable to lean on her the way she would have been able to do with Duncan, but they managed.

Her husband followed closely behind them. At one point, Alison risked a glance over her shoulder and saw him following so closely that she thought he would step on her dress.

“Ye’re hoverin’ like a maither hen again,” she hissed at him.

“And ye’re bumblin’ like a baby calf that hasnae gotten its legs yet,” he shot back, without increasing the space between them. “Someone will have to catch ye if ye fall, and I’ll be right here if that happens.”

She rolled her eyes, returning her attention to remaining upright as they approached the top of the staircase. Pulling her attention away from him did nothing to disguise the flush of happiness that rose to her cheeks at his words.

What if he goes runnin’ off again?

It was the same sentiment she had shared with him the night before, the same fears that she had used against him. She recalled him sleeping on the chair in her room, how he constantly hovered and cared for her, and could not help wondering if that was what he meant when he promised he was not going anywhere.

As they approached the dining hall, Rosie’s voice drifted toward them. The closer they got, the clearer her words became.

“… I think he could slay the Cailleach,” she mused, causing the three approaching adults to stop.

They exchanged confused glances, listening to her as she continued to prattle.

“Do ye now?” Effie’s voice was filled with amusement, and it was not hard for Alison to picture the scene in the dining hall.

“Aye.” Rosie’s voice was suddenly serious. “Have ye seen his size? That lady giant would have nothin’ on me faither. He’d be stronger than her and hit her with her own boulders.”

Alison could not help it. She snorted a laugh, turning to look at her husband. His face had lit up with pride.

“Well, ye surely did a good job of convincin’ the lass that ye are our greatest protector,” Alison muttered under her breath. “Next, she’ll try to convince everyone that ye hung the moon.”

Duncan’s blue eyes sparkled as they resumed walking, but he said nothing. Turning the corner into the dining hall, the scene was exactly as Alison had expected.

Rosie was standing on her chair, brandishing one of the clean serving ladles. She swung it in the air as if she were wielding a sword, making a powerful arch.

“He would swing his great axe like this!” she yelled, her dramatic antics further encouraged by the maid’s unwavering attention. “And that giant’s head would fall right off! She wouldnae even have a chance to fight!”

“I think she might be able to at least get in one good swing,” Duncan said, interrupting her demonstration.

Rosie spun toward him, the ladle still raised in the air. Her blue eyes landed on her father and widened with glee.

“Ye wouldnae get beaten by the Cailleach,” she argued.

Duncan strode forward, ruffling Rosie’s auburn curls with his large hand.

“’Tis beaten,” he corrected. “And I didnae say that she’d beat me. Only that she’d get one good punch. I still think I could beat her.”

Alison rolled her eyes but smiled at their exchange as Malina guided her to her chair. The breakfast spread was magnificent—a feast of eggs, berries, spiced buns, and fragrant roasted sausages.

As she settled in, listening to her husband and Rosie rambling on about how he would defeat the legendary giantess of their stories, she felt eyes boring into her. She stiffened, swiveling her head to see Effie standing a few paces away.

The maid’s kind face was creased with worry, and Alison tried to give her a reassuring smile.

“Are ye all right?” she asked softly so she did not interrupt Rosie and Duncan’s rather lively conversation.

“Are ye all right, Me Lady,” Effie returned. “Ye had us all scared, ye did. We were afraid that we were about to lose ye.”

“I’m doin’ much better,” Alison assured her.

She was happy to note that what she had said to Effie was partially true. The tonic that Malina had given her earlier was starting to take effect, the sharpness of her earlier pain already beginning to dull into a more manageable ache.

“Malina wouldnae let me suffer,” she continued. “Ye ken that. She’s too much of a busybody.”

She heard her friend’s scoff of defiance.

“That doesnae stop us from bein’ worried,” Effie retorted. “Ye’re sure ye’re goin’ to heal all right? Nay problems to report?”

“Ask the healer,” Alison said, gesturing to Malina, who had remained in the dining hall with them.

“Aye,” Malina chimed in. “She’ll heal just fine, as long as she listens to me instructions. And she’s as stubborn as a mule, so ye ken how that’ll likely go.”

The maid and the healer shared a pointed look, and Alison was happy to see some of the worry fade from Effie’s face.

Effie said that they were all worried about me.

At that thought, Alison took a moment to look around the hall. One servant was bringing in the final platter for their breakfast. As Alison watched him, she saw the concerned way he glanced at her.

His eyes roamed over her body, but not in a lecherous way. No, there was care and consideration in his glance. Once he had looked her over and reassured himself that she was faring well, his worry seemed to abate.

Alison turned her attention back to Effie, the woman clearly torn between needing to leave so she could go about her chores and wanting to remain close to tend to her.

“I will be fine,” she assured her softly. “I promise, Effie. It will take much meaner men to kill me.”

“And I’m the meanest of them all,” Duncan chimed in. “I’m nae lettin’ her out of me sight again. Nae for the rest of our lives. They’ll have to go through me to get to her. And there is nae one man who can do that.”

Alison turned to Duncan, surprised by his words. She had not realized he had been listening to their conversation. She had been caught up in reassuring Effie and had not noticed that he and Rosie had stopped speaking.

His intense blue eyes fixed on her and made her want to squirm. Effie, however, bowed her head, seeming appeased by her Laird’s words.

“Enjoy yer breakfast,” she said, giving them both a quick, hesitant smile. “If ye need me, just call. I willnae be far.”

Alison thanked her and turned to Malina, but her best friend was already moving toward the door.

“Ye’re nae joinin’ us?” she protested.

Suddenly, the thought of being left alone with her husband and their daughter felt daunting. Her chest felt tight, and her breathing became labored. They had not yet had breakfast, and for some inexplicable reason, it felt much more intimate than any meal they had shared thus far. Sitting across from one another after they had spent the entire night in the same room…

The words that he had uttered to her that morning, about how he was a patient man and would bide his time to fully take her, echoed in her mind and caused her skin to tingle.

“Nay,” Malina answered with a shake of her head. “I need to make me rounds and check on a few people in the village. Been brewin’ up a tonic for Sal McFadden’s cough that I want to get to him. We also received news that some of the men returned home today.” She gave Duncan a pointed look. “Some of them will also need to be treated.”

Alison nodded, knowing that she could not argue with that.

“I’d like a report on all the men who return,” Duncan said calmly as he stared at Malina. “I want a full account of their injuries, if and how they’re goin’ to heal, and how they’re adaptin’ to life now that they’re back.”

Malina nodded, assuring him that she would seek him out the moment she returned to the castle, and then she was gone.

Now, it was only the three of them.

How has it been mere days since he returned?

So much had happened since the day Duncan had barged in like an avenging angel and dispatched the men who had captured Alison.

She fixed her eyes on the serving platters before her, making a good show of shoveling ladles of food onto her plate. All the while, she could feel Duncan’s eyes on her.

“Do ye think ye could battle a selkie?” Rosie asked, oblivious to the tension crackling between her parents.

“Why would I be fightin’ a selkie?” Duncan replied, still not taking his eyes off Alison.

Alison steadfastly refused to look at him, at least not directly. Her mind had become a terrible, jumbled-up mess.

Will he really stay?

That was the question plaguing her, the answer to which she was becoming increasingly unsure about. Two days prior, her answer would have been an easy one. She would have said that Duncan would leave as soon as he had an opportunity to do so.

Now, based on the way he had been tending to her needs and speaking, and the promises that were currently dancing in his eyes, she was no longer as certain that he would abandon her.

She was quiet throughout breakfast, listening to Rosie chat about the various creatures she thought her father could fight and defeat. Duncan, to his credit, entertained every one of her ideas. Never once did he tell her to be quiet or seem to tire of her constant babbling.

Moreover, once they had finally finished breakfast, it was Duncan who suggested they sit outside in the rose garden, so Alison could get some fresh air. He had even gone so far as to go into the library and retrieve one of Alison’s books, so she could read while she rested in the sun and their daughter played.

Nearly an hour after going outdoors, Duncan sat down on the bench next to Alison, and she placed her book on her lap.

“Ye’re bein’ very patient with her,” she mused, nodding her head to where Rosie sat on the grass, braiding a crown of daisies.

Duncan waved his large hand dismissively.

“’Tis nothin’,” he grunted. “Ye were right about her imagination, though. She’s a wild one.”

Alison smiled at him. “I seem to recall that ye have a wild imagination.”

For the first time, her husband seemed to be at a loss for words. He studied her, his eyes sparkling as they roved over her face.

“I meant it,” he said abruptly, catching her off guard. “Everythin’ I said afore.”

Alison was unsure why her heart had suddenly begun to race. She tilted her head and wondered what he was specifically referring to.

“What part of what ye said did ye mean?”

“All of it. But mostly that I’m stayin’. I’m nae goin’ anywhere. And I’m hellbent on provin’ that to ye.”

Alison nodded, turning her attention back to their daughter. The questions she had pondered during breakfast all came rushing back to her.

She still did not know if she could trust him. Duncan had stormed into their lives only a few days ago, and already he had upended everything that she and Rosie had known.

But would it nae be a good thing if he stayed? ‘Tis what I want, for meself and Rosie.

She stared at her daughter, a rush of affection flooding her heart. She did want that for Rosie. She wanted her daughter to know and admire her father, which already seemed to be well underway.

She wanted to see the two of them bond. She wanted to see him lead their people. She even wanted to help him protect the people she had come to know and love so much over the past five years.

So, what’s stoppin’ me from acceptin’ it? Why can I nae just trust him to keep his word?

Alison had no answer to that question, and she stared straight ahead as she spoke, “I guess we’ll have to see.”