Healing the Highlander (16 page)

She broke her gaze as quickly as she could, but it wasn't soon enough. She'd already leaned toward him, without even realizing she'd moved. Her breath hitched in her lungs for a second and she could swear her heart beat so hard the ties on her shift bounced with each beat.

One long, deep breath and she took her seat, her hands locked together in her lap to stop their trembling before someone noticed.

Before he noticed.

Stupid, stupid girl. So what if he was drop-dead gorgeous? So what if he had the ability to melt her insides with a single look? He'd accused her of being a Faerie and then gotten angry at her when she wouldn't admit to being that which she hated most in the world.

She lifted her hands to the table, placing them flat in front of her. This was ridiculous. She needed only to make it through one meal before excusing herself to go back upstairs to rest for continuing their journey tomorrow. Soon enough she'd reach Dun Ard and then wouldn't have to deal with Andrew MacAlister ever again.

Dun Ard, where instead of being accused of being a Faerie, she'd be surrounded by them.

Drew seated himself next to her and placed one large hand over hers, his fingers curling around hers before he turned to chat with Sallie's husband.

She stared at his hand holding hers, willing herself not to start the trembling anew as the heat of his touch flowed into her body. The move shouldn't have
surprised her. He was playing the part of attentive new spouse for the benefit of everyone present.

Exactly the role she should to be playing as well.

If she were truly meeting her husband's family for the first time, she'd likely feel an overwhelming curiosity about who they all were. She'd want to learn all she could about them. About him.

That was it then. That was her role to play.

Straightening her shoulders, she lifted her head to look out over the room, demonstrating, she hoped, a casual, natural curiosity.

Her plan came to a screeching halt as her eyes met the unabashed stare of Sir Peter Moreland seated only a few chairs down from her. The smile he sent her direction felt as false to her as did his lifting his cup in acknowledgment.

Crapola. She could hardly wait until he and his men set off to make some other people's lives miserable.

Showing much more confidence than she felt, she nodded his direction, forcing a little smile as if she actually appreciated his attentions.

When the serving maid brought the trencher she and Drew would share, he surprised her yet again. Though he released her hand to make room for their meal, he captured it again almost immediately, bringing their joined hands to rest on his thigh.

Touching him so intimately reminded her vividly of waking up wrapped in his arms this morning, and heat filled her face, unbidden, uncontrollable.

"Tell us all how you came to meet."

Although Sallie addressed the question to Leah, it was Drew who answered.

"Pure happenchance, little sister. The work of the Fates.- Leah had fallen into a loch where I was passing by and I pulled her from the waters."

The truth? An absolutely brilliant move on his part.

"It was as if I'd found my own golden selkie."

"More like a drowned rat," she added, smiling in spite of herself as she remembered the moment he described.

"Never." He corrected her quietly, gazing into her eyes as if no one else were in the room, before he continued his story.

"I knew from that first moment she was special, and before long, I came to realize she held the whole of my future in her hands."

So much for sticking to the truth. Damn him, but he'd made her heart race again with that stupid story of his.

"Is that where you've gone?" Sallie smiled first at her brother and then at Leah. "All these times you've taken off with no word to any of us. Left us to think yer out carousing and gaming, and the Fates only know what else, when in truth you'd gone courting."

Drew only chuckled in reply, scooping up a bite of porridge with a piece of bread.

"If yer life with Leah is only half so full as yer sister has made mine, then yer a lucky man, indeed, Drew." Ran caught and held his wife's gaze for a moment, his love for her shining on his face. "Lift yer cups as we toast our brother's marriage. May you both have an eternity of happiness together."

Tears threatened, pooling just behind Leah's eyes. To hide her reaction, she grabbed for her cup, swallowing a great gulp of the unfamiliar ale. How stupidly r
idicu
lous of her. She never fell for this mushy stuff. Of all the things life had taught her, the biggest lesson was that there was no such thing as a fairy-tale happily-ever-after.

As if to prove her point, Moreland chose that moment to speak.

"Will you resume your journey to your home on the morrow, MacAlister?" Moreland lifted his cup to his lips, his eyes boring into Drew.

"I canna say. We've no yet made our decision as to when we'll continue on. After so many days of travel, I suspect my lady would be best served with a break in our journey."

"Besides, you canna go yet," Sally interrupted. "Leah and I have no even had the chance to sit and talk, let alone to bond as sisters-should."

And they wouldn't have such an opportunity, if Leah had anything to say about it. Even if time wasn't of the essence for her grandfather's survival, as far as she was concerned, that bonding opportunity Drew's sister sought was reason enough to leave as soon as possible. Drew might have skated through the story of their meeting tonight, but Leah had no doubt his sister would want plenty more details. Details she didn't have. Details that didn't exist.

Moreland nodded thoughtfully, that now familiar insincere smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Take your time, my good man. I've decided that we'll remain here as long as you wish."

Drew's fingers tightened around hers. "Pardon?"

"I have decided that my men and I will wait here until you're ready to travel, so that we can see you safely to your home."

Would they never be rid of the man? Leah stuffed a bite of bread into her mouth, her stomach churning at the idea of spending the rest of her days under Moreland's scrutiny.

Surely Drew would do something, say something that would convince the knight to change his mind.

"As I said, we've made no decision as to how long we'll remain at MacPherson Hall. I canna ask you to set aside yer quest indefinitely to accompany us on a journey that holds no danger. Should we feel the need, Ran has men who can ride along with us."

If anything, Drew's grip on her hand had grown tighter.

"But I'm afraid I must insist, MacAlister. It seems the least we can do to repay everyone's kindness to us. Besides, you told the prior you planned to wed properly in the church when you reached your home. My men have all agreed it's been far too long since we've had the pleasure of attending a wedding feast."

From bad to worse. Leah somehow managed to stifle the groan bubbling in her throat. Barely.

"There's to be a wedding, you say?" Anabella piped up from her spot at the table. "Must we pry every single detail from you, Andrew? You'd said no a word to any of us about a formal wedding."

"There are many things I've no said to you, my lady," Drew replied stiffly.

Leah had no doubt he felt as trapped as she did at the moment.

"Well, Sir Moreland, I can only hope yer men are quite comfortable in their accommodations because, wedding or no, I've every intention of keeping my brother and his wife here for as long as possible."

Leah forced down another bite.

Where had all her choices disappeared to? It wasn't even like she could sneak out of here and make her way to Dun Ard on her own. She had no idea where she even was, let alone where Dun Ard was in relation to this place.

She had only two options: Stay here wasting precious time her grandpa Hugh didn't have, all the while risking being found out, or leave with Moreland's men in tow. The soldiers would expect to end up at Drew's home, but she needed to travel to Dun Ard as quickly as possible and he'd promised to take her there.

Two options—stay or go. No matter which she chose, she wasn't getting any closer to finding help for her grandparents.

Neither option was acceptable.

"Are you ready?"

Leah all but toppled her chair when Sallie touched her shoulder. So lost in dissecting her dilemma, she hadn't even realized the woman had moved from her spot.

"Ready?" she parroted back, at a complete loss as to what she was supposed to be ready for.

Crapola. She should have been paying attention to the conversation.

"To retire to my solar for the afternoon with me and Anabella. Even a mending basket holds more interest than watching these men attempt to prove their prowess in the lists."

Drew gave her hand one final squeeze before releasing his hold. Apparently he was ready to have her go.

Without another word, she rose to her feet and followed Sallie out of the hall and up the stairs.

"Lady MacPherson?"

Leah looked up as one of the maids hurried toward them carrying a small child in her arms.

"Ah, lovely, Patsy!" She held out her arms to the child and the little girl laughed and reached for her. "Come to Mama, my sweetling."

Inside the solar, Sallie offered a chair to Leah just before she plopped herself down on a large rug, placing the little girl in front of her.

"I do so look forward to this part of my afternoon. AnaMairi is trying to walk and while it may be work for her, it's play for me. She gives me the perfect excuse to leave the mending to Anabella." Her laughter seemed to fill the room with joy as her daughter awkwardly pushed up to her feet.

A red-haired porcelain miniature of her mother, the child had a laugh that echoed Sallie's.

"You're fortunate to have such a wonderful mother-in-law."

Again Sallie laughed. "Anabella? Wonderful? Oh, no. Not at all. She's actually a horrible, hateful old woman, and you'll do well to ignore almost everything she says to you. Still, I freely admit, I'm quite fond of her."

Leah leaned forward in her seat as she watched Sallie play with her daughter. The woman's comments made little sense to her.

"You like horrible and hateful?"

Sallie laughed, head back, the sound tinkling off the

Stone walls like musical notes. "No, my dear sister, I dinna enjoy those things in the least. But here's the secret to that. There's good and bad all around us. What you find depends on what you expect to find. I see beyond the bad with Ran's mother because I choose to find the good. In the beginning, I simply enjoyed having an equal to match wits with me. But now, after years of looking for the good? Every single day I see a woman who would walk through fire for each and every one of my children and that, more than anything, has ensured my love for her."

A spark of envy twinged through Leah's heart. This was a family as it should be. It was what she'd experienced with her sister so many years ago, what she'd enjoyed for over a decade as a MacQuarrie. It was what she risked losing if she couldn't find a way to Dun Ard to ask the help of the MacKiernans to save her grandpa Hugh and Grandma Mac.

"Yer love for who?" Anabella swept into the room, a small basket of yarn tucked under her arm, an imperious frown wrinkling her brow.

"Quit yer eavesdropping, Anabella. Yer setting a bad example for Baby Ana." Sallie still smiled, cuddling her daughter to her. "Want to go to yer meme, do you?"

The child clapped her hands, together and Anabella bent to pick her up, her expression completely changing as she swept Baby Ana into her arms.

"You see what I mean?" Sallie asked quietly, taking the seat next to Leah by the fire.

Leah did indeed.

She selected a garment from the basket and took the needle Sallie offered, quietly starting to work.

"We are going, are we no?" Anabella spoke from her spot on the rag, Baby Ana grasping her fingers while her little legs wobbled back and forth.

"Going where?" Sallie looked up from the stitching in her lap as she questioned her mother-in-law.

Leah held her breath in that instant, already sure she knew what was coming.

"To the wedding, of course. My first thought when I heard the news was how much I'd like to be there when Andrew arrives home with a wife."

"Now, Anabella. It's no a good thing gloat over what happens to yer friends."

The older woman snorted derisively, spurring a fresh spate of giggles from the child at her side.

"She may well be yer mother, lass, but she's no my friend. Never has been. No even when I was married to her brother." Anabella snorted again. "Most especially not while I was married to her brother."

Her back to Anabella, Sallie rolled her eyes for Leah's benefit. "I'll speak to Ran on it, to see what he thinks about our going."

Leah clamped her lips together to keep from telling the two of them what a bad idea it would be for them to travel to the wedding. Awful, horrible, bad idea. Because there wasn't going to be any wedding. It would be inexcusable to drag this entire household heaven only knew how far, for absolutely nothing.