“I understand why ye willna marry me.”
“Did I say I wouldna marry ye? I merely said I was sorry.”
He blinked. Women were such complicated creatures. “What?”
“I am sorry for all the harsh things I said. And for throwing things at ye in front of everyone.” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and glanced downward again, looking guilty as a bairn caught stealing treats. “And for tossing yer favoritesgian dhudown the garderobe hole.” She mumbled the last part so fast he almost didn’t catch it.
“I wondered what became of that dagger.” But none of that mattered. She had said, or almost said, she would marry him. “So, ye will be my wife?”
She shifted with a quiet snort and smiled. “Aye. If ye can bear it.”
He reached over, grabbed hold of her pallet, and dragged it close enough to overlap his. “I can bear it, m’love,” he said, pulling her into his arms. Tipping her head back, he kissed her long and slow, reveling in the precious taste of the woman he had never hoped to hold this way again.
She eased back and gave his beard a playful tug. “We need to be quiet and sleep now.” With a coy but determined tilt of her chin, she smiled. “And I hold fast to what I told ye before—nothing more than kisses until we marry, ye ken?”
That drew a pained sigh. But he consoled himself with the fact that he could at least hold her while they slept, and all was finally right between them. “Of course, m’love.” But he needed the sweetness of one more kiss to carry into his dreams. His heart swelled as she tightened her hold on him as if to never let him go.
Reluctantly, he lifted his head and kissed the tip of her nose. “We must try and sleep now. We will need an early start if the storm allows.” He rolled to his back and pulled her into the curve of his arm, smiling as she rested her head on his shoulder.
“What shall we do about the MacGougans?” she whispered after a silence long enough that he thought her already dozing.
“What do ye mean?”
“We canna take away what’s left of the supplies I brought inside to fix our supper. Poor Mistress Hanna has nothing. She will surely freeze and starve to death if we dinna leave her some of the food and blankets. In fact, she needs all of what we brought other than the clothing and shoes for the MacGougan bairns.”
“We willna leave her wanting. I can set some snares for more meat for the MacGougans, but I dinna ken how we can come up with more grain or vegetables.” He frowned up at the thatching over their heads. At least he had repaired the old woman’s roof to keep the weather out. “I dinna ken how we might come up with more blankets and wraps either.”
“And we would lose a whole day if we traveled back toTor Ruadhfor more. I’m sure their wee ones are already disappointed that we havena yet arrived. The older ones know Lady Catriona and Cook always send extra sweets and cakes for Yuletide.” She shifted against him with a heavy sigh of her own. “I’m wearing extra layers of everything. Mistress MacGougan could have one of my shifts and a pair of my stockings. That might help her a bit.”
“I could give the man my fur coat. It’s too warm for me, anyway.” He hugged her tighter, his heart soaring that, rather than fighting, they were working together toward a common goal. “We shall work it all out in the morning, aye? We will bring to them all that we can. I’m sure they’ll still be thankful.”
“Aye,” she whispered, nestling her head more comfortably into the curve of his shoulder. “I am thankful we made this trip and met Mistress Hanna.”
“So am I, m’love. So am I.”
Chapter Four
She snuggled deeperinto the blankets and tucked up tighter against Evander. Thankfully, her burly man gave off enough heat to warm a good-sized keep. Her burly man. Without opening her eyes, she smiled and breathed easier. Mistress Hanna had been right about letting go of the hate and choosing joy. Such a wise old woman.
She tucked a hand to her chest and pulled in another deep breath. The aching knot of all her past doubts and hurts, the knot she had fed with hatred and jealousy, had been slowly poisoning her, just like Mistress Hanna said. But now that she had finally rid herself of it, she felt a peace and a hope she hadn’t known in quite some time.
Something cold and wet plopped onto her cheek and trickled down under her chin. The snow must’ve made it through the roof again. She cracked open an eye and swiped it away. Shock and disbelief yanked her into complete wakefulness. Unable to sort through her muddled thoughts, she pushed herself upright and gave Evander’s chest a series of rapid-fire pats.
“Evander,” she finally choked out. “Evander.”
His eyes still closed, he tried to pull her back down into his arms. “Nay, love. Sleep a bit longer, aye?”
She thumped him. Hard. Fear and confusion battled for control of her. A deeper gulp of icy air made her cough as she rubbed her eyes. Had she dreamed it all? She shook him again, determined to not let go until he heeded her. “Evander! Wake, I say, and look around!”
He sat bolt upright and whacked his forehead on a low-hanging branch, jostling free heavy clumps of snow that tumbled across them. “What in God’s good name?”
Marianna hugged her knees and darted glances all around. Fear and confusion froze her worse than the cold. Everything was gone. The cottage. The hearth. Mistress Hanna and Gabriel. The only thing that remained from yesterday were the two mighty pines towering above them. The horses and the sledge shared the shelter of the large trees and waited nearby.
“Tell me I have not gone mad,” she said, clutching the blankets closer to her throat. “Tell me ye remember Mistress Hanna. And the cat. And her…her lodging. And the joy of last night as we told stories and sang songs.”
Evander gathered her close and gently rocked. “I remember it every bit, Mejjy. Every bit. I fixed her roof. Gathered her wood. The woman loved our whisky and the stew ye made. Her cat lapped up everything, too.” He paused, then hugged her tighter. “I had never seen a cat drink whisky before. That black beastie loved it. I remember it well.”
Tucked against his chest, she clutched his coat and peered out at the snowy wood surrounding them. “Think ye she was a witch?”
