“I bring a message from your mother,” Bethane said with a smile. “Angus Bunnock has arrived.”
“He wasn’t due until tomorrow,” Cavan said and looked to Artair then Lachlan. “We need to greet Bunnock. I am sure he will want to speak with you, Lachlan. Then later we shall talk.”
Artair gave Lachlan’s shoulder a squeeze before he stood and followed Cavan out the door. Lachlan stood slowly, placing his tankard on the nearby table, and when he turned to leave he came face-to-face with Bethane.
She took his hand and with a smile said, “People aren’t always who we think they are, and yet upon a closer look you will see that she is the one you believed her to be.”
He felt a bit dazed when Bethane released his hand, and she slipped her arm around his to walk out of the room, which he sensed he couldn’t have done without her help.
She left him once they reached the great hall. He shook the dazed feeling from his head and joined his brothers as they greeted the burly man who had entered the room with two stout warriors on either side of him.
“Angus, you are most welcome to Caithness,” Cavan said. “I only wish the circumstances were different.”
“Aye, but I should have known Alyce’s stubbornness would be her demise,” Angus said with more annoyance than sorrow.
“It was illness not stubbornness that took your daughter,” Lachlan said, feeling the need to defend the dead woman.
Cavan shot him a look that warned him to watch his tongue then turned to Angus. “My brother Lachlan—”
“The one who made the journey for me,” Angus said and went to Lachlan and slapped him hard on the back. “I am grateful.” He sniffed the air. “You have had a feast prepared, Cavan.”
And with that they all settled on the benches to feast on the generous amounts of food on the tables. Angus sat with the Sinclare brothers, while his men didn’t even sit before grabbing for the food on the other table.
Angus wiped his dirty hands on his already grimy shirt then scratched at his thick beard. “How is your mother? You know she’s a good woman and deserves a good man to look after her.”
The three brothers exchanged glares, and if Angus knew them well enough he would have recognized this as a warning to go no further.
“I’m right here, Angus Bunnock,” Addie Sinclare said loudly as she emerged from the shadowy corner with a platter of sweet bread and handed it to Lachlan, who placed it on the table.
“You’re still a beauty, Addie,” the old man claimed.
And she certainly was. Fifty-three years had not robbed the woman of her natural beauty. She was tall and slim with red hair spattered with gray that she wore piled on her head, though several soft waves managed to fall around her face, and her brilliant green eyes continued to sparkle with the vibrancy of the young.
“But not foolish enough to shack up with the likes of you,” she said boldly, though with a smile.
“You’re breaking my heart, Addie,” Angus declared. “You know I always loved you. I’d make you a good husband.”
Addie’s smile faded. “I had a good husband and there is no one who can replace him.”
Lachlan smiled and saw that his brothers did as well. They were proud of their mother’s courage and the love she still carried for their father, though he had passed over a year now.
“I was sorry to hear about Tavish,” Angus said, offering his sincere condolence. “He was a good friend and a good man.”
“Thank you,” Addie said, “and I am sorry to hear about Alyce. She was a—”
“Shrew,” Angus said. “No one wanted her.”
“She was a beautiful woman just like her mother,” Addie defended. “I often envied the skill she had in braiding her long blond hair and how she had taught Alyce to do the same with her identical hair. And Alyce had the most beautiful blue eyes. They reminded me of the sky on a gorgeous summer day.”
Lachlan felt a punch to his gut. “Alyce had long blond hair and blue eyes?”
“That she did,” Angus said. “And your mother’s right, my daughter may have been a shrew, but she was a beautiful shrew.”
“Was she tall?” Lachlan asked anxiously.
Angus nodded. “A good eight inches over five feet.
Lachlan near growled his annoyance. “A born leader?”
“Like her father,” Angus boasted. “Could sit a horse as good or better than most men and could handle a sword like a man, though she had a mind of her own. She did and wanted things her way, always her way. Wouldn’t listen to me, wouldn’t obey me, fought me no matter what I said to her.” He slammed his fist on the table. “And had the gall to fight with me in front of my own men and tell me I was a fool.”
“You can be a fool, Angus,” Addie said.
He grinned. “See, you saying it doesn’t sound bad.” He cringed and shook his head. “But Alyce screeched it.” He mimicked her, his voice pitched high. “You’re a fool, an old dumb fool if you think I’ll marry a fool of your choosing. I’ll die first.” He shook his head again. “And she did, though it’s strange. Alyce was always strong as an ox, never getting sick.”
Lachlan felt a double punch to his gut. Could it be? Could Terese actually be Alyce Bunnock? It would explain so much. He didn’t know whether to be angry or relieved. Had she been trying that last night they spent together to confront him with the truth when she asked if he would help Alyce? Or had she simply wanted her way as Alyce always wanted and played him for a fool?
Lachlan braced his arms on the table and looked at Angus. “Tell me more about your daughter.”
Much later that night Cavan and Artair sat in the solar with Lachlan.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Cavan asked.
“I must,” Lachlan said.
“Not so,” Artair disagreed. “It is for Angus to deal with.”
“No,” Lachlan argued. “It is mine to deal with and my decision is made. I ask that you both respect and accept it.”
“As long as it is what you want,” Cavan confirmed once again.
“It is for the best,” Lachlan said, “besides we need to make contact with the mercenaries and see if they know anything about Ronan. How many men will I take?”
“Same as before, plus Bogg,” Cavan said.
Lachlan nodded realizing his brother’s plan. “Bogg was once a mercenary.”
“He will find out what we need to know,” Cavan said. “Are you sure you wish to leave so soon?”
“It took me two months to return home. I’ve been home for two weeks and it will take me two months to return again. I will miss the birth of your daughter.” Lachlan shook his head. “You’ve got me believing that Zia and her grandmother know that she will have a daughter.”
“It’s been that way for generations, but Zia assures me our next child will be a boy,” Artair said with a smile.
A gentle knock interrupted them and Addie entered. “I wish to speak with Lachlan alone.”
Though the solar was strictly the laird’s domain, Lachlan knew Cavan would not deny his mother, and he and Artair left, closing the door behind them.
“I miss your smile,” Addie said, taking the seat beside his and placing her hand on his arm. “Tell me this decision of yours will bring it back.”
“Oh mother, what I’m about to do will bring me so very much happiness,” he said and grinned from ear to ear.
Terese looked over the lush fields. The harvest would be plentiful this year. There would be enough to store for winter and more than enough to share with the mercenaries. In a couple of months, around November, meat would be cured and stored for winter and Septimus promised that his men would supply them with more if necessary.
Andrew and the other men were busy building more cottages, though Andrew worked most diligently on the one he and Megan planned to share. They spent all their time together and Terese had never seen Megan so happy. That they were in love was undeniable, and Terese was so pleased for her.
Piper and Evan were
inseparable and already had a cottage of their own. Piper had asked that she be able to confide in him about the mercenaries for it was getting more and more difficult to hide the tracks from him. And she didn’t want to continue to lie to him.
Terese had given her permission after they had all discussed it at a meeting, and though the women were concerned for Piper as to how Evan would react to the news, they needn’t have worried. He was more excited about Piper showing him how she had concealed the tracks from him, then the news itself. The two were meant for each other.
Rowena was also in the throes of love, Talon having returned time and time again to see her after he had healed and returned to the mercenary camp. His stays at Everagis grew longer than his returns to camp until finally Septimus threw him out claiming that a love-sick pup was useless to him. Talon now spent his day building a cottage for him and Rowena.
Terese grew melancholy, thinking about Lachlan. Actually, there hadn’t been a day that had gone by since his departure over four months ago that she hadn’t thought about him. She missed him terribly, especially at night when she crawled into an empty bed. She ached for his arms to wrap around her and to feel his body planted against hers.
She shook the thoughts from her mind or else she would cry. She had been doing a lot of that lately, and it annoyed her.
Terese turned hearing someone approach, and smiled. It was May, or at least that’s what the women had named her since she arrived in May in the throes of labor the last night Terese had spent with Lachlan. She’d had severe bruising around her neck and had been unable to speak. So far her voice had not returned. But she had given birth to a beautiful baby boy who everyone fussed over. Though only a few months old, the lad laughed and smiled and rarely cried.
Since May couldn’t speak, the lad had yet to receive a proper name so he was often called little darling, sweetie, sweet stuff or any other endearing name that came to mind.
May was good at using her hands to make herself understood, since she never attempted to write anything, Terese assumed that she didn’t know how.
“Is the little one sleeping?” Terese asked.
May nodded and then proceeded to communicate with her hands.
Terese watched and then asked, “Are you telling me people approach?”
May nodded vigorously.
That’s when Terese spotted Hester approaching her on a run, and a sense of dread washed over her.
“May’s told you riders approach?” Hester asked anxiously.
“Riders?” Terese repeated the sense of dread growing. “Do you know who?”
Hester reached out for Terese’s hand, but she pulled away. “No, don’t tell me…” She shook her head. “It can’t be. He told me he wouldn’t return.” She grabbed hold of Hester’s arm. “Tell me it’s not him.”
“I’m sorry,” Hester said. “Lachlan will be here any moment.”
Chapter 21
Terese’s hand went to her stomach. She had been able to hide the slight roundness thus far, the only ones who knew that she carried Lachlan’s babe were Rowena and Hester. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Megan or Piper, she just didn’t want to put them in the position of lying to the men they loved. And she supposed she had feared Andrew or Evan might decide to contact Lachlan. What did she intend to do when she couldn’t hide her expanding stomach any longer? She had no idea, though now she had a bigger problem to worry about.
Why had Lachlan returned?
May had gone her way and Hester walked with Terese to the center of the village.
“You cannot notice the bulge to my stomach, can you,” Terese whispered to Hester.
“The apron you wear does a good job of concealing the slight bump,” Hester assured her.
“Lachlan cannot remain here long,” Terese said with a tremble of worry.
Hester squeezed her hand. “I and the others will not let anything happen to you. You saved each of us at one time or another and now we will do the same for you.”
As if the women heard, they appeared one by one until Megan, Piper, and Rowena stood around Terese, waiting with her as the riders approached. Others in the village joined the women, all realizing friends approached and eager to greet them.
He was a bit of a distance away when she saw him riding tall and regal in his saddle. He didn’t have to get any closer for her to see that he was handsomer than she remembered him. The summer sun had sparked his brown hair with touches of gold and he appeared broader in the shoulders and chest, or perhaps he appeared more formidable because she felt vulnerable.
She remembered the babe then nestled safely in her stomach and knew she would do whatever was necessary to keep him safe, even resurrect Alyce Bunnock.
Lachlan came to a stop a few feet away from her, Andrew and Evan being the first to greet him and his men. His eyes strayed to her now and again, and she sensed his return had something to do with her.
“He knows,” she whispered for only the women to hear.
“Nonsense,” Rowena said.
“How could he?” Piper asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Megan said.
“She’s right,” Hester agreed. “It doesn’t matter. Your home is here and here you’ll stay.”
While he approached them with a lazy gait, his dark eyes told a different story and Terese knew trouble brewed.
She decided to take control from the start. “You told me you wouldn’t be returning. What brings you back?”
“No greeting, glad to see you, missed you?” Lachlan asked with a teasing glint.
“Speak your piece, Lachlan, for I have no time for your playful charm this day.” Though truth be told it was difficult not to smile at his teasing charm, or get lost in his good looks, or want to desperately melt into his strong arms.
“You’re sounding like a bit of a shrew there, Terese.”
“Is it a shrew you’re looking for?”
“So Angus Bunnock tells me and a beautiful one at that, long blond hair, blue eyes that match the summer sky.” He glanced up at the sky and then back at Terese. “And Angus tells me that Alyce never got sick and was a born leader. Sound familiar?”
“We all helped bury Alyce,” Megan said with a sharp tongue.
“I’m sure you did,” Lachlan said. “You buried her so good that no one would question.”
“There’s nothing to question,” Rowena insisted.
“I think differently,” Lachlan said and looked directly at Terese, “and so does her father. He’s sent me to confirm that it is his daughter who rests in the grave. Her height being a good indication if it is her, for Alyce stands at least eight inches over five feet.”
“This is church land,” Megan declared. “You have no right to disturb a grave.”
“This is no longer church land,” Lachlan informed the startled women. “And I have permission from the laird who now claims it.”
Terese was no fool. She knew exactly who the new laird was. “Everagis now belongs to the clan Sinclare?”
“Is this true?” Andrew asked with a smile as he approached from behind Lachlan.
“It is.” Lachlan nodded. “And Cavan has appointed you leader.”
Terese stopped Hester with a hand to her arm when she stepped forward to protest.
“This is wonderful news,” Andrew said excited, though tempered it once he saw how the women glared at him. He wisely remained behind Lachlan, his mouth clamped shut.
Lachlan looked to the sky. “There’s enough light left to dig up the grave.”
Terese pushed past the women to stand only inches from Lachlan. “You haven’t come to dig up the grave. You have come to confront me.”
“Tell me the truth,” Lachlan said.
“You already know it,” she challenged.
“I want to hear from you.”
She knew somewhere deep in her heart that she wouldn’t be able to maintain this ruse forever. Someday, somehow, someone would learn the truth and her charade would be revealed. She had t
aken a chance and for a while it had been good. Now she would face the consequences of her actions, and the only thing that mattered to her was the babe that she carried.
Terese tossed her chin up and with a spark of defiance said, “I am Alyce Bunnock.”
Andrew reacted with a gasp and Evan, who approached, stopped dead in his tracks. The women, however, closed ranks around Alyce.
“Your father wants you home,” Lachlan said.
“My father can go to hell,” Alyce said sharply.
Lachlan grinned. “Perhaps he should, but presently he has the power to order you home.”
“Why? To wed someone I don’t want to wed?” she asked, her tongue remaining sharp, mostly in fear of what would happen when her father discovered her pregnant.
“What has been decided is in your best interest,” Lachlan said.
Alyce laughed then assaulted him with a prickly tongue. “My interest is best decided by me.”
“You know you will return with me, so why fight it?” Lachlan asked, much too confident to her way of thinking.
Megan stepped forward. “Alyce remains here with us.”
“Afraid not,” Lachlan said.
Megan looked to Andrew.
Andrew appeared perplexed and torn. “Perhaps it would be wiser for Alyce to remain here.”
With a sharp snap of his head, Lachlan looked to Andrew. “Our mission was to retrieve Alyce Bunnock and return her home. Do you suggest that I ignore our laird’s edict?”
Andrew looked helplessly to Megan.
Megan turned sorrowful eyes on Alyce.
“Enough,” Alyce said. “I will not have you pitting people against each other.”
“Then what will you do to settle this?” Lachlan asked.
Alyce felt her heart grow heavy. What choices did she have? She certainly couldn’t wed another man when she carried Lachlan’s child, and yet Lachlan did not want Alyce. So what were her choices? She didn’t know.
“What does my father want of me?” she asked.
“For you to wed the man of his choice,” Lachlan answered.
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