“Yes.” Her voice was choked.
“Yes, you can give me an answer or, yes, you will marry me?”
“Both.” Then she buried her head in his neck.
“I love you, lass. And I’ll love you longer than there will be shooting stars in the sky.”
And when he kissed her again she looked way, way up in the sky, and thought that Georgina was wrong. Stars are there for wishes. She knew, because she’d just had one come true.
Chapter Forty-Four
When you get up in the morning,
Don’t ye blush with shame.
Remember your mother before ye,
Did the very same.
—Scottish bridal toast
Calum and Amy returned to the hall before too much time had passed and tried to enter as inconspicuously as possible. Calum took his glasses out of his pocket and put them back on, then walked her through the door, took her hand, and danced her across the room.
Slowly, one by one, the dancers moved aside and stood in a huge circle, clapping and laughing. Before long they were the only ones dancing. The whole room was standing in a circle and clapping in time to the music.
Amy looked up at Calum. “What are they doing?”
He glanced around uneasily. “I don’t know. Just keep dancing.” He twirled to the steps of a reel and the loud clapping and cheering all around them.
Amy leaned back during one step and asked, “Do they know we’re going to be married?”
“No, lass. I had to ask you first.”
“Then why are people winking at us?”
“I don’t know.” He spun her around and finally the music stopped with both of them completely out of breath and standing alone in the middle of the hall.
Angus MacDonald brought out a jug of whisky and filled some glasses. More jugs appeared through the crowd and all the men raised their glasses.
“Saoghal fada, sona dhuit!”
Amy looked up at Calum. “What does that mean?”
“It’s a bridal toast. May you have a long, happy life.”
“Then that means they do know,” she said out of the corner of her mouth. “Calum, I think you told them before you asked me.”
“I didn’t, lass, I swear.”
“Lang may yer lum reek!” Angus MacDonald shouted and the men downed another glass.
“Calum?”
“Och! What’s the matter, lass?” Robbie MacDonald swaggered up. “Why are you frowning so. You should be the happy bride-to-be.” He gave her a wink and slid his arm around her, which earned him a scowl from Calum.
“I’m frowning, Robbie MacDonald, because I don’t know how you know that Calum asked me to marry him. Or that I said yes.”
“Well, we don’t know for sure, lassie, but we Scots can put two and two together better than most.”
