He turned to Isabella. “This is Rowan and Eva’s daughter, Anne. She is six years old.”
The little girl plopped her hands on her hips and her frown darkened. “I am not. I’m seven now.”
Gerard laughed, the action causing the fine lines around his eyes to deepen. “Aye, so you are, Anne. My apologies.” He tugged Isabella forward. “This lady is Isabella. She will be a guest here.”
Isabella said hello to Anne, but the girl only studied her before dismissing her with a shrug. She watched as the little girl skipped off to play with a group of children at the far end of the Great Hall.
A faint smile played about Isabella’s lips. Gerard had called her a lady. As if she were on equal footing with him. In truth, she was as far from being a member of the nobility as was the serving maid who had been watching them before ducking out of sight.
“Gerard!” A dark haired man strode up to him and slapped him on the back.
Isabella instantly knew that this was the laird. He had an air of confidence about him. He was a man who knew his place in the world and the role he played in it.
The man grinned. “It is about time you decided to come back home. The training in the lists has been far too easy without your arse to kick.”
Gerard roared with laughter. “I believe you are confused, cousin. I seem to remember things a bit differently.”
The man laughed along with him and then shifted his gaze to Isabella. His dark brows arched. “Who is this pretty lady?”
Gerard grinned down at her and tugged her closer to his side. “This is Isabella. She is a healer.”
Something flickered in the man’s eyes, but then it was gone just as quickly. “Welcome to my home,” he said, with a slight incline of his head. “My name is Rowan. I hope you are comfortable here.”
Isabella looked into the man’s eyes. She knew from instinct that he didn’t trust her. That he didn’t trust anyone with the title of healer, but he would be kind to her just the same.
A seasoned warrior, Gerard could sense the tension in the air. Rowan hadn’t particularly liked the castle’s former healer, but he knew his cousin to be a fair man. Rowan would give Isabella a chance to earn his trust.
Isabella thanked the laird. She had heard stories about the previous lairds. Stories about cruelty and murder that had been passed down through the years. But the man in front of her didn’t look harsh and she began to think that maybe the stories weren’t true.
“I found Gerard outside of my cottage,” she said. “He was unconscious and his clothes were soaked from the rain. I brought him in out of the cold.”
Rowan arched his brows, but amusement twitched his lips. “Well, then,” he took Isabella’s hand and inclined his head, “I owe you my deepest gratitude. It isn’t easy putting up with my cousin on his good days. I shudder to think what it must have been like nursing him back to health.”
The two men stepped aside and quickly became lost in conversation. “So, what happened, really?” Rowan folded his arms as he studied his cousin. “She is a pretty thing, I will give you that. She should keep your bed nice and warm this upcoming winter.”
Gerard stole a glance at Isabella. She looked lost and alone standing in the middle of the Great Hall and he fought the urge to pull her into his arms and reassure her that everything was going to be alright.
“I was caught in a thunderstorm a couple of nights ago.” Gerard’s gaze was steady as he spoke to his cousin. He frowned as he remembered. “My horse was spooked by the thunder and I was thrown and knocked unconscious. Isabella found me and brought me inside her cottage.”
Rowan grinned. “You always did have a touch with the ladies. I’m sure you spent a pleasurable night or two.”
Gerard’s frown deepened. “No.” He gave his cousin a harsh look. “Isabella isn’t that kind of woman. She nursed me back to health, but nothing improper happened between us.”
Rowan shot him a look of surprise. “Nothing? I find that hard to believe. She isn’t a mere slip of a girl, but a woman. I’m certain she is used to having a man share her bed.”
“Rowan,” Gerard growled, not liking the way his cousin was speaking about Isabella. “I’m telling you, she isn’t that kind of woman.”
A slight grin twitched the corners of Rowan’s lips as he tried hard not to laugh. “I’m sorry, Gerard. I didn’t realize you have feelings for the lass.”
Gerard glowered. “I don’t,” he said shortly, as an image of Loran floated through his mind. Dear, sweet Loran. What he wouldn’t give to have just one moment with her. But death was a cruel thing and didn’t discriminate. It came for the evil people as well as the good and didn’t hesitate to extinguish a life as one would a flickering flame.
Rowan studied him. “Aye, cousin, I believe you do care about the woman and it is about time. We were beginning to worry about you. Years have gone by since Loran’s death, but you still remained deep in mourning.”
Gerard thrust a hand through his thick hair as he thought once again about his late wife. Loran had been his heart and soul. His reason for living and he had cursed God for taking her from him. There had been days he wished he could follow her to the grave and a time or two he had come to the brink of taking his own life, but he had not given in to the deep sadness that enveloped him.
His gaze traveled to Isabella. She was a spark of light in the darkness that had been his life ever since Loran had passed from this earth. Did he care about her? He certainly cared about her welfare and would have spent many nights worrying about her if she had stayed behind.
Gerard shrugged. “Isabella is all alone. Her husband, the worthless cur, left her. I couldn’t leave her in the middle of the forest with no one to watch over her.”
Rowan nodded in understanding. “Aye, you always did have a big heart, cousin. I just hope she doesn’t take advantage of your kindness.”
“Isabella wouldn’t do that,” Gerard said softly. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew that they were true. Isabella was honest to her core. Maybe that was part of what drew him to her. She wasn’t scheming to try and get him to spend money on her. Unlike most women who, once they found out he was wealthy, devised ways to separate him from his coin.
Rowan chuckled. “I would tell you to guard your heart, but something tells me it would do no good. She has already won you over.”
Isabella watched the men as they conversed. At times they spoke quietly and she wondered if they were speaking about Gerard’s wife and her untimely death. And at other times, they both looked her way, as if judging her. It was these times that caused her to squirm and fervently long for her cottage and its familiar four walls. She didn’t belong here and that fact was becoming increasingly obvious by the minute.
The laird didn’t appear to be the kind of man who looked upon healer’s favorably. Perhaps he had been harmed by one in the past. By the frown on his face when he looked in her direction, she knew she had guessed correctly.
Would he turn her out of the castle? He had welcomed her to his home, but maybe he was having second thoughts. Isabella thought about her cottage. She missed it dearly, but knew that Gerard had been correct. She couldn’t stay there during the upcoming months. Food would be scarce and most days she would have to go without. She would be lucky if she survived the winter.
“Would you like some tea?” A beautiful auburn haired woman appeared by her side. By the manner in which she was dressed, Isabella wondered if she was the laird’s wife and Anne’s mother. She didn’t have to wait long for her answer.
“My name is Eva,” the woman said, as they sat down at a table. She signaled to a serving maid to bring them something to drink and then turned her attention back to Isabella and smiled. “I am Rowan’s wife.”
Isabella didn’t know what to say to the woman. What could she say that would possibly be of interest? “You have a nice home,” she said softly.
The woman laughed. “Aye, that I do, but from what I hear, this is to be your home n
ow too.”
Isabella frowned slightly. I believe you husband his having second thoughts. He has taken a disliking to me.
Eva’s delicate brows arched. “Rowan?” she said, as she cast a puzzled glance in the direction of her husband. “I’m certain you misunderstood. My husband wouldn’t turn away a person in need.”
Isabella was certain the woman’s husband thought differently, but she didn’t want to argue. It appeared as if she was going to have to make the best of it for the time being.
“You will enjoy living here.” Eva reached out and patted Isabella’s hand.
“I can’t even imagine it,” Isabella said, as her gaze took in the large room. She could see a set of stairs through a doorway that must lead to the upper floors. Her cottage could easily fit twice over inside the Great Hall. She had been born in the small cottage and raised there and would have been content to spend her entire life within its four walls.
“You will get used to it,” Eva said kindly. “I did. At first the castle with its many passageways and rooms seemed daunting, but now it just feels like home.”
She hesitated, but then her smile brightened. “Home is where the heart is. As long as you have love, it doesn’t matter where you live. But the absence of love can make even the grandest of homes seem cold and empty.”
It could make the smallest home seem cold and empty too, Isabella thought. A picture of Owen flitted through her mind and she willed it away. He was in her past and it was best if she left him there. His presence had brought nothing, but pain and heartache to her and he had done her a favor by leaving.
She self-consciously smoothed her hand over the skirt of her well-worn dress, acutely away that compared to her Eva’s attire, hers was sadly lacking. “You didn’t grow up in a large home?”
Eva’s expression clouded for a minute, but then cleared. “No, far from it. I didn’t grow up wealthy.” She hesitated. “And I didn’t grow up here. There is a lot about this place that seemed strange when I first arrived, but now I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Her gaze looked across the room and fastened on her husband. “Or loving anyone else,” she whispered.
Isabella’s eyes widened in shock. The woman in front of her appeared cultured and refined. Someone who moved with ease within the confines of the upper class.
Eva laughed softly. “You appear surprised?”
Their conversation halted as the serving maid arrived with their tea and a tray of pastries. It wasn’t until the maid left that Isabella answered. “Aye, I am surprised. You appear as if you belong here.”
She jumped as Gerard sat down on the bench next to her and snitched a pastry from the tray. The smile was still on his face and he appeared relaxed. A man at ease in his surroundings. Happy to be home.
“It is good to see the two of you getting along.” His gaze missed nothing as it moved between Isabella and his cousin’s wife.
Eva smiled. “Why wouldn’t we? It will be nice having someone to talk to. My sister-in-law, Grace, is busy with her own family and it has been ages since she paid us a visit.”
Gerard leaned close and whispered in Isabella’s ear. “Grace is Rowan’s twin sister.” He straightened and addressed Eva once more. “Surely there are other women to talk to? The castle seems quite crowded, more so than when I left.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “Crowded, aye, but not with the kind of people I want to associate with. Too many of them are taking advantage of Rowan’s kind heart. I suspect the castle won’t begin to clear out before spring.”
She rose from the table and looked down at Gerard. A soft smile curved her lips. “I will show our guest to her room and I will have the maid air out your old chamber. It is the same as when you left it.”
“You can put Isabella in the room next to mine,” Gerard said casually, only to receive a stern look in return.
“I most certainly will not!” Eva huffed, as she gave him an indignant look. “I will put her at the end of the corridor. As far away from your room as possible. That way, if you get it into your head to sneak into her room in the middle of the night, you will have a long cold walk.
She turned to Isabella. “The bedchamber I am placing you in is one of the nicest rooms and provides a stunning view of the lake.”
Isabella followed Eva out of the room, but when she reached the doorway, she turned. Gerard was where they had left him and her heartbeat stuttered and then resumed its normal beat. He was a fine figure of a man and would no doubt be warming some woman’s bed tonight. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be hers.
As if he could read her mind, he grinned. A soft look entered his eyes and his gaze traveled over her like a caress.
She flushed as she turned away and hastily began to climb the stone steps leading to the upper floor. She wondered if he meant what he had said. Did he expect her to share his room and his bed? Maybe that had been the only reason he had invited her to come with him and she had mistaken his gesture for kindness.
Isabella’s thoughts were focused on Gerard as they reached the second floor. She followed Eva down the long corridor to a large wooden door at the end.
Eva opened the door and ushered Isabella into the spacious bedchamber. “This is to be your room during your stay here.”
She laughed. “But something tells me if Gerard gets his way, your stay here will be permanent. He appears to be quite taken with you.”
Isabella couldn’t suppress a gasp as her gaze took in the large four poster bed. A fireplace dominated one wall and a window, with shutters thrown open to circulate the air, beckoned for her to come closer.
She crossed the floor to look out the window. The view, just as Eva had promised, was of the lake and her heart warmed at the sight of the sunlight sparkling off of the water. “It is beautiful,” she breathed.
Eva joined her at the window and smiled. “Isn’t it? This was my bedchamber before Rowan and I were married. As long as I live, I will never grow tired of seeing the beauty Scotland has to offer. It is far different from my homeland.”
Isabella turned to her in surprise. “You’re not from Scotland?” She thought she detected a strange accent in Eva’s speech.”
Eva’s smile faltered and her expression became shuttered. “No. I grew up far from here.”
Isabella opened her mouth to ask Eva where she was from, but her hostess turned and busied herself straightening the cover on the bed and it was obvious she wished to speak no further on the subject.
Eva turned back to her. Her smile was firmly in place, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking, and how did you meet our Gerard?”
“My cottage is in the forest not too far from here.” Isabella stopped, waiting for the look of distaste that such information would bring. It was obvious to everyone she wasn’t a member of the nobility and she wondered if they thought she had no business stepping foot inside the castle.
Eva smiled softly. “It sounds lovely. I have long wanted to walk there, but Rowan insists it would be far too dangerous. He doesn’t like letting me out of his sight,” she added.
“But you didn’t answer my question about how you and Gerard met. Gerard is an adventurer, but it sounds as if your cottage is located well off the beaten path.”
Isabella smiled as she remembered that night. “Gerard and I met when he was thrown from his horse during a rainstorm. I brought him inside out of the storm to see to his injuries.”
Eva nodded as she listened. “You will be the envy of many women, I can tell you. Gerard has always been quite popular.”
Isabella knew the woman spoke the truth. Gerard was handsome and in her opinion, better looking than most. She had seen the admiring glances thrown his way since they had arrived at the castle and knew that other women found him alluring.
“I’m certain Gerard has no interest in me,” she protested. Even though they had shared a kiss, she had been the one who had initiated it. She had convinced herself that he was only bei
ng polite by sharing the kiss, not wanting to hurt her feelings by pulling away.
She knew now that they were at the castle there would be other women to capture his attention. She had witnessed a stunning brunette admiring him in the Great Hall. Lust had shown in the woman’s eyes and she had licked her lips as she watched him.
Isabella wondered if this was one of the many women who had warmed Gerard’s bed. She certainly looked at him as if she owned him. A feeling of jealousy sparked within her and she pushed it away. She had only known Gerard Mackenzie for a short time and certainly didn’t own him. Who he decided to take to his bed was his business and of no concern of hers.
“Gerard was just being kind when he invited me to accompany him,” Isabella said, as she met Eva’s steady gaze.
Eva laughed and shook her head. “You have a lot to learn about men, my dear. Trust me, Gerard has more than a passing interest in you, otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered to bring you to the castle.”
She laid a cream colored dress on the chair next to the bed. “You can wear one of my old dresses when you come down for the evening meal. I will have my maid bring more dresses to your chamber later.”
Isabella began to protest as she looked at the fine garment. It was made out of a soft cream colored fabric and was finer than anything she had ever owned.
She looked down at her own scratchy garment that was tattered and worn and knew it was much better suited to her. Her grandmother had always said that people who wore fine clothes were puttin’ on airs, that they considered themselves to be better than ordinary folk.
“Oh, I couldn’t.” Isabella attempted to press the garment back into Eva’s hands.
Eva waved away her concern. “Nonsense. I would be delighted to have you wear it. It has been hanging unused in my wardrobe for the past few years.
She smiled. “I am not as slim as I was before I had children. I’m not complaining. I love my children dearly, but it would be nice to have the figure I had before the pregnancies.”
Loving A Highlander Page 4
