He shifted again and scowled at the two walking toward them.It was that damned witch with the one Jessa cherished as a sister.Mairwen silently greeted him with a smug nod and a knowing smile.
Before turning his full attention to Jessa and her Emily, dancing and squawking like a pair of feckin’ geese, he shot a narrow-eyed glare at Mairwen, knowing she would get the gist of his displeasure at her timing.
“I never thought I would see you again,” Jessa told the tall, dark-haired woman who reminded Grant of his allies in the east, the royal merchants native to the lands that his nemesis, the East India Trading Company, exploited for coffee and spices.The lasses caught each other up in another hug and continued spinning in a dizzying circle.
“One would think they had been separated a lifetime,” Mairwen observed as she joined him.
“Those two are bound by something much stronger than blood.”Grant resettled his stance and folded his arms across his chest.The women’s greeting and excited talking over one another could last quite a while.He nodded at Jessa’s Emily.“That woman is the sole reason the lass refuses to remain in this time.”
“Refuses?”Mairwen said so sharply that it made him smile.“What do ye mean—refuses?”
“What doesrefusesusually mean?”
The old witch wrinkled her upper lip as if about to gnash her teeth at him.“Dinna test me, laird.Until ye are fully and happily bound with yer mate, I have enough to say grace over.”
“What the devil does that mean?Are ye telling me the priest converted ye?”
“I am telling ye there is evil afoot.Evil not of this world.One of my Tranquility Weavers sensed a dark energy lurking around the lass before she came to ye.”
A protectiveness shot through him with the heat of a raging inferno.“What dark energy?”
“One that would benefit from the fall of the Veil and thrive upon the chaos that would ensue.Yer Jessa and yerself possess an unusually strong connection.They dinna wish ye united.They fear the strength of yer bond.”
“Aye, well, the strength of our bond may not be strong enough for Jessa to choose to remain in this time and become my wife.”He nodded at the women still holding tightly to one another.“The bond she shares with that one pulls at her, strengthens her reluctance to leave her old life behind.”
“I have spoken to Emily about that.It is my hope she will help Jessa open her mind to all the possibilities a life here offers.She has promised to do so to the best of her abilities.”
“All the possibilities a life here offers?”Had the old witch told the woman that the only way he kept his clan’s body and soul together was by funding his people’s needs through smuggling?
“She does not know ye are a smuggler, and stop calling me anold witch.I have told Emily little about ye.I thought it better that Jessa fill her in so Emily might encourage her.Enough of their ridiculous chattering.We have a union to safeguard.”She charged forward and pushed her way between the lasses, then looked back and summoned Grant with a pointed glare.
He glared right back at her and narrowed his eyes.They would be having a word about her eavesdropping on his thoughts.They had addressed that invasion before.Gritting his teeth, he strode across the way, took his place at Jessa’s side, then gave Emily a gallant bow.“Welcome to MacAlester Keep.I am the laird, Grant MacAlester, at yer service.”
“Good to meet you.I am Emily Mithers, but then you probably already figured that out.”The woman smiled and held out her hand, acting as though she wished him to take it as if she were a tradesman, and they had just struck a deal.
Odd, indeed, but mayhap that was a quirk from the future.He shook her hand, impressed by the firmness of her grip, and wondered if she was handy with a sword.When he noticed Jessa watching him, as if afraid he wouldn’t accept her friend, he did his best to charm the woman who Mairwen had said was going to help him win his Jessa’s heart.“It is glad that I am that ye have come to visit, Mistress Emily.Jessa and I were just discussing how much she missed you.”
With tears in her eyes, Emily turned to Jessa.“I had to come.I was so worried about her.”She shot an irritated look Mairwen’s way.“Her departure was very abrupt.”Her tone clarified that she and the old witch were not on good terms.
Interesting, indeed.Grant smiled.If he could win Emily’s trust, she could prove to be a valuable ally.He wondered if she would consider staying in this time with himself and Jessa.
“That is not her fate,” Mairwen snapped.
“Stay out of my mind, witch,” he retorted with a growl.
“Good,” Emily said.“He’s on our side.”
“He’s onhisside,” Jessa corrected, then gave him an apologetic nod.“But he’s been very kind and sort of patient, for which I am very grateful.”
“Sort of patient?I have given ye free rein to spoil my servants, allowed ye to banish a clansman, and dipped into my supply of coffee beans, which I intended to sell in Edinburgh for enough to feed my kinsman for a few months this winter.”
“That clansman was a wife beater and an animal abuser.The pulley system for the well will increase efficiency and decrease injuries, and I never said you had to dip into your precious coffee beans.I would’ve just as gladly drank tea for breakfast.”
“Wow.”Emily appeared impressed.“You two sound like you’ve already been married for like fifty years.”
He jabbed the air, pointing first at Jessa and then at her.“She’ll not agree to marry me because she refuses to leave yer side.”Feckin’ hell.The words had burst free of him before he could stop himself.He snorted and bowed his head.“Forgive me.I should not have said that.’Twas quite rude.”
“Yes, it was,” Jessa said, but followed the accusation with a sigh.“But what he said is true.Grant is many things, but he is not a liar.”She resettled her footing like a hen scratching for bugs, then surprised him by hesitantly looping her arm through his.“He is a good man, Em.Nothing like any of the others.”
