With a wave of his hand the bedroom wall wavered, then became clear as crystal. He and Nessa had front row seats of everything going on in the other room.
“They’ve been in there for three days. Ye’d think they’d surface by now for a bit of food and drink.” Fiona fussed about the table to set the steaming scones on the trivet and turned to fetch the pot of coffee off the warming plate sitting on the back of the buffet.
“You put a fully stocked refrigerator in there, remember?” Trish shot her a knowing look above the rim of her coffee cup as she tried working the kinks from her neck. “By the way, I think it’s somebody else’s turn to take the couch in the drawing room. That thing’s just for looks. It’s definitely not for sleeping.”
Brodie winked at Fiona as he held out his cup for a refill. “Have ye already forgotten our honeymoon, dear wife? The only time we saw the lobby of the hotel was when we arrived and when we were checking out.”
Fiona clucked her tongue as she filled her husband’s cup. “Aye, my love. Don’t be distressed. I promise ye, I’ll ne’er forget those days. But we had room service, full meals at our beck and call, in order to keep up our strength.”
“This isn’t right, Latharn.” Nessa waved at the wall as though she were shooing flies. “Make it go away.” There was just something weird about watching your friends as though they were in a fishbowl.
“As ye wish.” Latharn waved his hand and the wall darkened, resuming its inherent state. “Then we’d best be joining them to get your coffee. I’m a bit hungry now myself.”
Latharn emerged first, his arm curled around Nessa’s waist, nodding a solemn greeting to the trio at the table.
“Good morning,” Nessa murmured with a yawn. “Is it okay if we join you for breakfast? The coffee and scones smell fabulous.”
“I’m surprised you’re able to walk to the table,” Trish retorted under her breath. With a wicked grin, she slid the plate of scones down the table to Nessa.
“Trish!” Nessa scolded. A surge of heat flushed to color her cheeks as she accepted a cup of coffee from Fiona.
“Trish,” Latharn intoned, with a nod of his head. “I apologize for keeping ye from your bed.” Then with a steaming look his gaze slid back to Nessa as he reached over to caress her cheek. “But I’m sure ye understand Nessa and I had a calling we couldna possibly ignore.”
With a giggle, Trish lifted her cup in silent salute and gave Nessa a saucy wink. “Oh, I’m not angry, Latharn. I’m just jealous. She’s topped any record I ever held.”
“Record?” Latharn gave Nessa a questioning look.
“Never mind.” Nessa handed him a well-buttered scone and kicked Trish under the table. “Don’t you want me to fix you some eggs or something?” Maybe if she plied him with food, he’d ignore Trish’s banter.
“No thank ye. Fiona’s scones are fine,” Latharn responded with a perplexed frown. “Brodie, I’ll be needing the paperwork for the trust. I’m anxious to return to my home.”
Setting his coffee aside, Brodie rose from the table to access the safe on the wall. Within moments, he’d returned with a worn leather envelope bound with a cord of shimmering gold.
Latharn accepted it and pulled out a weathered parchment clipped to a sheaf of more recent-looking papers. His eyes scanned the pages and he turned each one, checking to ensure nothing was amiss.
“You can read?” Without thinking, Nessa said the words, regretting them as soon as they left her mouth.
Latharn slowly raised his head from the papers he held in his hands as though struggling to control his choice of words. “Ye will discover that I am not an uneducated man, Nessa. I’m quite learned in a great many things.”
Regret swelled in her throat like a lump of rising dough. She’d unintentionally wounded his Highlander pride. “Latharn, I didn’t mean that I thought you weren’t smart. It’s just that most men from your era, most lairds, didn’t know how to read.” Nessa tapped on the thick sheaf of papers. “Especially not legal documents like those.”
“My mother ensured we all knew how to read. She understood the power of the written word.” Latharn flipped back another page, his shoulders still held stiff as he resumed his reading.
“What sort of trust?” Nessa asked. She had to change the subject. Men were so sensitive. She’d never hurt him for anything in the world. Leaning over his shoulder, she looked over the papers in his hand. They appeared to include the deed to some land.
Fiona emerged from the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee and inclined her head toward the papers Latharn held. “MacKay Castle and all the surrounding lands have been kept ready for Latharn’s return. His father proclaimed it so centuries ago, when his mother found the way to break the curse.”
Fiona made her way around the table and refilled everyone’s cups. With a proud smile, she gave Latharn a gracious nod of her head and hastened to add. “Latharn will now be the first real laird of clan MacKay since the Battle of Culloden.”
“These look to be in order. Ye’ve done well, Brodie. Surely, you and Fiona will come and live with us at the keep?” Latharn grimaced as he tasted the coffee. He preferred mulled wine or ale.
“Us?” Nessa repeated. “As in you and me?”
Latharn’s smile disappeared and he pulled her closer, hugging her to his side. Cradling her chin in the palm of his hand, he held her in his gaze. “Aye, us. We’ll be married with the next full moon, and we’ll move into the castle as man and wife.”
“Married on the next full moon? Now wait just a minute. What are you talking about? I can’t think…could you please stop touching me for just a minute. I can’t think when you’re touching me! I need some space.” She pulled her face out of his hand and backed a few feet away. “You haven’t even asked me, and all we really know about each other is that we’re good together in…there.” Nessa waved in the direction of the bedroom. “Why do we have to talk about this now? Why don’t we clear this up, um, later?” Married? She hadn’t thought anything about married. She hadn’t thought past the mindless bliss of his arms. She wasn’t ready for reality.Breathe, Nessa. Got to remember. Breathe.
Latharn rose from his seat so fast, he knocked the chair halfway across the room. He closed the space between them and grabbed her by the shoulders. He searched her face as he spoke. “That we’re good in there, as ye call it, barely begins to scratch the surface of the bond you and I share. I’ve been walking your dreams for ten long years. I searched for your soul eons longer. Now that the curse has been broken, it’s time for us to live as one. And as for me asking ye to be my wife, have ye not been listening to me for the past three days, for the past six hundred years?”
