Her Highlander Choice by Fenley Grant

Author:Fenley Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Champagne Book Group
Published: 2020-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Angus tightened his hold on my leg, making movement difficult. I brushed his silky, dark hair away from his forehead, and he pressed his cheek tighter to my skirts. Oh, how your life’s upended, my new son.

As soon as we returned to the keep, Ranulf approached his father and explained the entire shoreline scene. The sheriff contacted his brother, Alexander, who promptly took Robert away. I didn’t get the sense Robert’s treatment of Angus and Mary proved the reason, more like the embarrassment he’d caused the family the true rationale, but I wasn’t sorry to see the back of him.

The sheriff gave Mary the option to return to her work in the keep. She elected to stay in her current state of employment, but appreciated his offer. I couldn’t understand her choice of profession, but I could recognize the desire for control of one’s own life.

Control of your own life. My heartrate accelerated. What of my own fate? The life I loved and lived here. The reality I would return to soon. I never expected to feel torn about the successful outcome of my mission. Two weeks elapsed since the wedding, and I wanted to savor these moments for as long as possible.

Our new version of family, Athair, Iona, Charles, Ranulf, Angus, and I, made our way to the Moray Firth, toward my special rock, where so many of my life’s recent changes occurred. We’d organized a picnic of sorts and planned to discuss our departure schedule.

Ocean’s scent wafted and beautiful red-beaked, black and white birds cried out as they circled overhead.

Athair snapped the blanket in the breeze and let the wool waft down like a magic carpet landing on the ground. Wind whipped at the edges of the cloth. He motioned to the flapping fabric. “We need anchors. Take a seat.”

We all took corners and edges. Angus commandeered the bag filled with bread and other transportable foods and pulled out the fare, placing items in the center of the blanket.

The bread, still heated, warmed me a bit from the cool edge of gusts whisking off the frigid water.

Charles shifted forward and accepted a bit of bread from Angus and used the piece to point to Athair. “When do you intend for us to depart?”

My father patted the space next to him for Angus to sit. My son took to Athair with a rare trust, perhaps because Ranulf and Athair shared a similar size, and my sire and my son developed a fast bond. Once the boy sat, Athair said, “After my daughters are each with child, we will make the trek to my wife’s family’s home. This allows for a rest and refresh for the women before we set sail. After about seven days, we journey to our final destination.”

Something about the finality of our limited time together gave an ominous tone to an upbeat conversation. I squirmed a bit in my seat.

“Are you uncomfortable, wife?”

Now I squirmed for a different reason. Whenever he whispered in my ear like this, so soft and low, involuntary quivers shot down my spine…and other places.

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