“We might not always like what the other has to say. It might make us angry with one another. But I will never hold it against you if you have something to say. I know most other men wouldn’t agree. I’ve seen how Laurel and Brodie are together, and while they may bicker, I know their marriage is better for the openness they share. Laurel doesn’t fear Brodie like my mother feared my father. It made my mother withdraw into a shell, and it created tension throughout the clan. It wasn’t until my father died that my mother came back into her own and became the woman I remembered from early in my childhood. She was never my father’s confidante, and I believe it hurt her until she was numb to everything. That’s not what I want with my wife.”
“Were you and Colina close?” Emelie bit her bottom lip, praying she hadn’t overstepped. She knew Dominic disliked discussing her, but she didn’t want to make the same mistakes Colina had. She didn’t want her actions to remind him of her.
“We were in a way. I thought we were one another’s confidants, but she only told me what she wanted me to know. And I know now that I told her far too much. When I look back on it, she complained a great deal, and I spent most of my time trying to placate her. I wanted to because I thought it was my duty to. And she seemed so frail, like she needed my protection.”
Dominic found it was getting easier to think about his time with Colina. Her memory still angered him but having Emelie in his life made him understand the past was where it should remain. Emelie brought him too much happiness to cling so tightly to his resentment.
“But as much as I try to avoid comparing you to her, I realize now that she never needed my protection. And what I offer to you is not the same. I don’t wish to shield you from the world because I think you can’t face it. I would shield you from those who might truly hurt you. I talked to her aboot clan matters when I had no one else to speak to. I actually didn’t think she listened that closely. I talked to her aboot Brodie when he frustrated me. But never did we have such simple conversations as what we planned for the day or what we did. She had naught to contribute to a conversation like that since she did little but weave, sew, and nap. She took little interest in how I spent my days when I was away from her. And we never talked aboot the future, aboot having a family together.”
“Didn’t you wonder why she never got with child?” Emelie whispered.
“Aye, I did. But I didn’t push the issue because it upset her. I promised her that since I didn’t need an heir, I would be happy with our marriage, even if we never had weans.”
“And now you will have another mon’s child to care for. I doubt that’s how you imagined you’d enter fatherhood. I wish it could be different, Dom. I wish—”
“Em, I already told you it doesn’t bother me that it wasn’t my seed that created this child. If you decide to stay and the Lord blesses us, we will conceive our other children. But a bairn comes into this world not knowing his mother or his father. It is the mon and woman who raise him who matter. This bairn is mine because I claim him or her. This bairn is mine because I will be there from the beginning. I wish to be a father more than I realized. I wish to be a father to your bairn and make the child mine.” Dominic placed his hand over the tiny swell at the bottom of Emelie’s abdomen. His touch was light, but Emelie felt the sincerity. She cupped his cheeks and stood on her toes, still needing him to bend forward before she could kiss him.
“There is no luckier woman than me. I won’t bring it up again.” They exited the chamber to begin what was left of the afternoon. In just the space of a day, they’d deepened their relationship by leaps and bounds. It wasn’t just the words they spoke or the movement of their bodies. It was the knowledge that they wanted to build a future together, and it was a realization that they had both found a helpmate.
* * *
“I’m so relieved to see you up and aboot, Laurel,” Emelie said as she embraced her sister-by-marriage and friend. “You gave us all a fright.”
“I gave myself a fright,” Laurel grinned. “I suspect this bairn will be large. Aggie told me something similar happened to Brodie and Dominic’s mother when she carried each of them. Apparently, they were enormous bairns when they were born. Nora said they are still two of the largest bairns she’s ever delivered.”
“Do you think people will talk when my bairn isn’t that big?” Emelie worried.
“I doubt it. Emelie, you know how you’re built. People will worry for you and your bairn, but no one will question why a woman so small as you gives birth to a normal-sized bairn.”
“I suppose it will be as good an explanation as any if the bairn comes sooner than people expect and is big.”
“Aye. They’ll think your body couldn’t keep such a big bairn any longer, and so it was time for you to deliver.” Laurel wrapped her arm around Emelie’s shoulder. “Does it worry you much?”
“Yes. Dominic swears he doesn’t care that he didn’t sire the bairn, and I believe him. I just fear what people will say to him and aboot us, aboot our child.”
“I understand why you’re worried, but you are so different from Colina. People knew it the moment you arrived. Yes, she pretended in the beginning, but people saw in her what Dominic was blind to. From what I’ve been told and even what I saw, she had no warmth for anyone but Dom. Had she fallen in the mud like you did, we would have had roast piglet for the evening meal, and the lad would be barred from tending the livestock. If Dom hadn’t agreed, she would have gone behind his back.”
“Do people think Dom is weak?” Emelie feared the answer.
“No. Not at all. Some blame him for Colina because of the lives lost at her hands. But they’ve known him his entire life. Apparently, he and Brodie used to find ways to get in between their parents when their father had a go at their mother. He never raised a hand to her, but he was unkind. Brodie would distract him while Dom went to cheer her up. He’s been trying to find the best in people and please people since he was a lad. That’s why it didn’t surprise Brodie or me when you both explained the circumstances. He has a heart as vast as the Highlands. But it was Colina’s downfall to underestimate him. He is a warrior through and through, and he is an exceptional leader. It’s why Brodie trusts him when he must be away for long stretches. Dominic is far from weak.”
“I know that. I don’t need convincing of that. I just hate the idea that anyone thinks less of him.”
“Protective of him already?”
“Very.” Emelie didn’t have to think of her answer. The single word was emphatic and would have held an element of warning if they weren’t friends.
The women left the upstairs solar where they’d been chatting while Emelie tried on the gowns Laurel adjusted. It amazed Emelie how quickly Laurel altered the gowns, since she practically recreated them. Laurel confided in Emelie that she’d been a seamstress for years while at Stirling Castle. When her father cut off her allowance for not finding a husband, she’d had to resort to making her own income. She’d designed and made half the gowns women wore at court, and they were all none the wiser because she sold them to haberdashers in town.
The two women made their way out to the bailey to enjoy the first reprieve from the rain they’d had in a sennight. They made their way to the gardens, where they helped other women pull the weeds that sprouted from the deluge. They worked until the sun began to set. Standing and stretching their backs, Emelie glanced toward the flower garden. She spied a patch of primrose, a flower that thrives in cool, damp conditions. She appreciated its scent and often purchased primrose-scented soap when she lived at court.
“Laurel, may I cut some primrose? I’d like to use it to make some soap if that’s all right.”
“Of course you may. You don’t have to ask, Emelie. This is your home. You know I don’t stand on formality between us.”
“Thank you. I won’t be long. The light is growing dim. The last thing I need is to sever my finger trying to cut it in the dark.” Emelie hurried toward the blooms, picking her way around puddles that lingered. She reached the patch and drew a knife from her belt. Her mother had been adamant that she and Blythe learn to wield and carry a knife before they went to court. The sisters, much like Isabella had before them, carried a dirk in their belts beside their eating knives. Emelie had never needed it while a lady-in-waiting, but she’d been glad to have it more than once when she feared men she encountered in passageways, even when she wasn’t alone.
Emelie squatted to cut a bunch of flowers, but she glanced over her shoulder when she sensed someone nearby. She looked around, but she could see no one. She waited to spy any movement, but nothing stirred. She turned back to her task but hurried. Just as she rose, she heard a crash and a distinct, angry buzz. Several apple trees lay between her and the gate. A hive of wasps swarmed from the ground where their home now laid.
