“Calder seemed to think we wouldna have any trouble wintering there,” she continued. “Something about yer smuggling person helping us. Although, at the time, I dinna think he realized there would be so many.”
He idly tickled her arm. “It makes me proud that so many joined us.”
She pushed up on her elbow, grabbed hold of his chin, and made him look her in the eyes. “They love their chieftain. As do I.”
For the first time since they boarded, he smiled. “I love ye more than ye could ever imagine, my precious dove.”
“Well, good. In that case, I will share the news I was saving.”
“And what news is that?”
“Remember how I promised to stop using the tansy oil and vinegar once we reached Nova Scotia?”
He cocked a dark brow. “Aye.”
“I willna have to wait until then to stop Vivyanne’s remedy to avoid getting with a bairn.”
A hint of joy sparkled in his dark eyes. “And why is that, my love?”
“Well…as it turns out, I apparently overestimated the effectiveness of both.” She waited for his reaction. Apparently, pregnancy had contributed to her ease in vomiting after all. “As near as I can figure, our wee one will arrive at around the time we are ready to depart for Nova Scotia.”
“Merely days ago ye assured me ye were not with child.” He reminded her of a bairn trying not to explode with excitement on Christmas morn. “But ye are certain now?”
She wrinkled her nose, trying not to sound as foolish as she felt. “It appears Grissa keeps better track of my courses than I do. When we rejoined her here and I informed her I still had no need of her arsenal of womanly supplies, she proclaimed me a mother-to-be. After a bit more thought and backward counting of days, I realized she was right.”
He rumbled with a happy chuckle, rolled to his side, and pulled her into his arms. “A new land, a new home, and a fine new bairn.”
“Our cup runneth over.” She smiled up at him, then combed her fingers deep into his dark hair and pulled him down for a kiss. “I love ye,” she whispered against his mouth. “Forever and a day.”
“Not nearly long enough, m’love. Not nearly long enough at all compared to my love for ye.”
Epilogue
Nova Scotia
September 1724
“Dinna peek. Robbieand I worked verra hard on this surprise.” Barely able to contain his excitement, Teague led Mila across the large center room of their home among the evergreens of Nova Scotia.
“Ye added more shelves to the back wall of the pantry?”
Inwardly, he flinched. She, Mrs. Cain, and Greta had been nattering on about the need for more shelving since last summer. He guided her around the wooden toys scattered in front of the largest stone hearth he and the stonemasons had ever built. “No shelves, but I promise ye will like it.”
“I am watching ye, Mi,” Robbie said. “Dinna be cheating.”
“Marella—what are Da and Robbie up to?”
Teague shook his head and mouthedno-noto his sixteen-month-old daughter perched on his precious dove’s hip.
The lively bairn bounced, stretched for him to take her, then angrily clapped when he didn’t respond fast enough to suit her. “Da! Da!”
“Ye better take her.” Mila stopped and waited for him to take the child, but obediently kept her eyes squinted shut. “I know what it is! Ye routed the new drains on the back of the house to the inner well house tank Robbie invented. Now, we willna have to worry about the water freezing as long as we keep the firepits going.”
“No.”
“Ye dinna have to be short about it.” A frown puckered her brow. “Can I open my eyes now? ’Tis baking day, and I promised Greta I would help.”
“I didna mean to sound short. Marella is yanking my—beard.” He untangled his daughter’s chubby fingers from his whiskers, then tickled her neck with squeaky kisses before handing her over to Robbie. “Torture yer brother for a while, ye wee beastie.”
