The Highlander's Runaway Bride by Brisbin Terri

Author:Brisbin, Terri [Brisbin, Terri]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-03-10T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Eva approached the door and stopped before knocking.

Every day became more and more difficult, and she had to force herself to accept the lady’s invitation here. Arabella made her feel welcomed when she did not have to. She pulled her into the clan and introduced her to life in Drumlui Keep. She made her...feel wanted.

And yet, it took every bit of her self-control not to throw herself to the floor weeping at the sight of the very pregnant Lady Mackintosh.

And it took every remembered punishment for not behaving appropriately as the MacKay’s daughter to keep herself returning to this chamber each day.

But would it be worse when the bairn was born?

That thought struck her like a blow, and she nearly fell to her knees with pain. Only the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door forced herself to draw it all back within herself and stand tall. She reached out towards the door so it would look as though she was about to knock.

‘Oh, here she is, my lady,’ Ailean said, with a warm smile. ‘She was worrying that you were not coming.’

Eva took a deep breath, put a smile on her face and entered the place where she would suffer until given leave to go. Arabella’s greeting and hug told Eva that the lady would never have invited her had she known how painful it was for her. But, that would mean exposing her deepest secret, and Eva would not do that.

‘How are you feeling this morn, Arabella?’ she asked as she sat in the chair offered her, at the lady’s side. Eva clenched her teeth as she watched Arabella’s reaction.

‘I feel well,’ she said. She slid her hands over her large belly, outlining the shape of the still-growing bairn there. Worse, when the lady pressed on the side of her belly, movement could be seen there as the bairn responded to its mother’s touch.

Eva closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the intense joy of feeling that life within her just a few months ago. She grabbed the wooden arms of the chair to keep her hands from stroking her own belly as she used to. She would press when she felt an arm or leg pushing against the skin and then laugh at the feel of the bairn turning and tumbling at her touch.

She would...

The utter silence in the chamber told her she’d been lost in reverie. Eva opened her eyes and found the others watching her. Arabella’s keen and clever gaze had not missed a bit of what she’d done.

‘As I said, the rains have kept us prisoner long enough, Eva. I have prevailed upon my husband to take us to a place I think you should see.’

‘But, Arabella, you should not...’ she began.

Arabella held up her hand to stop her from arguing.

‘I have had this discussion with my husband, the midwife and every assorted person here in Drumlui Keep and Glenlui village, and I am done with it. I want to have a last outing before I am shut up in this keep to give birth.

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