The Legend MacKinnon by Donna Kauffman

Author:Donna Kauffman [Kauffman, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Romance
ISBN: 9780307807724
Google: FSOLP5orfH4C
Amazon: 0553579231
Barnesnoble: 0553579231
Goodreads: 651727
Publisher: Fanfare
Published: 1998-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FOUR

Cailean hung up the phone. "She's coming over."

Rory sat down, rattling the table next to him. "What?"

"I said she's—"

He held up a hand. "I heard you." He stood and began to pace. "And I suppose you can't wait to see her."

"If she is my cousin, then yes, I'd like to meet her. You might be interested in meeting her as well."

"Another bluidy Claren? I dinna think so!"

"I'm a Claren and you've managed to tolerate me well enough." "I didna have a choice."

Cailean sat down, very carefully. "I see."

He stalked to the bed and stood towering in front of her. "Do no' take that tone wi' me. You know as well as I that our situation is different."

She'd come to think of them as far more than just a forced union, that their being together meant more than a means to an end. More fool she for thinking he felt the same way. She stood and pushed past him. "You still might want to reconsider meeting my cousin."

"I couldn't imagine why."

Cailean turned to him. "Because she's your new landlady."

"What!"

"She owns the land you've been living on, including Stonelachen. Lachlan left it to her. I guess Lachlan bought his way into that cemetery fair and square."

"He doesna belong there," Rory thundered. "He doesna belong with the sacred remains of MacKinnons who gave their lives defending that very soil against him and his like."

"You yourself said that no man owns the earth, but is merely caretaker of it. Well, the Clarens took care of that land, too."

"Not too damn bloody well they didn't. They lost it to the MacDonalds before they could move into the place." He stormed to the door, then back across the room again. "Once I realized the battle was lost, I made sure they couldna take Stonelachen without more cunning than the lot of them had together."

"How could you protect the castle? The Clarens knew it was there."

"Aye, they knew. Angus Claren himself had feasted with my da many a time in better days. But they didna know all her tricks. I moved walls, blocked

passages. I made sure they never found all of her." He folded his arms across his chest. "She was MacKinnon built and it was MacKinnons she protected. We were the ones who filled her with life, we were the ones who gave our lives for her. They might have conquered the MacKinnons, but I wasna about to let anyone else take Stonelachen without a fight.

"You can print all the pieces of paper you want and spend all the money you want. In the end, it all means naught. The land is owned by those who protect it and take their life from it. It's a partnership, with the land as the only enduring partner. Men will come and go, ownership as they see it will pass again and again depending on who is the most powerful or cunning at the moment."

The intensity of his gaze held her still as surely as if he held her there by force.

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