Alas…
He was Scottish, and he hoped his plans for the night would be as meaningful for her as they would be for him. So he drew her attention to the croft, his heart squeezing anew when she clapped a hand to her breast and smiled.
“It’s perfect,” she said, her voice catching. “Is that Scotland?”
“Aye, sweet.” He also smiled at the distant croft. “Thon house sits on the border.”
“Oh, my.” She blinked, but not before he saw the tears glistening in her eyes. “I never thought to see my mother’s homeland. The place that has called my soul for so many years. Cranleigh will always be home, but this, to be here at last...” Her voice cracked again and she swiped at her cheek. “I am quite overcome.”
“Sweet lass, I would be disappointed if you weren’t. Scotland is that special.”
“It is,” she agreed, peering again at the farmhouse against the now night-blackened hills.
Lucian reached to smooth back her hair and brush the tear tracks from her face.
“Wait until we reach the Highlands,” he said, wishing they were already at Lyongate. “If your heart is thumping now, you will lose it entirely then.”
“Pah!” She twisted round to beam at him, her eyes dancing. “I lost my heart to Scotland years ago, though never so much as in the Merrivales’ cloakroom when you spoke of your home. I knew then that I must get here, even if it meant crawling the whole way on my hands and knees.”
“That isn’t necessary,” he said, framing her face and kissing her. A long, deep kiss because even though they’d kissed more on this northward journey than he imagined most people kissed in a lifetime, he simply couldn’t get enough of her.
He also felt a powerful need to make her happy, so when he broke the kiss and sat back, he took her by the shoulders and caught her gaze, serious now.
“You, precious lass, will no’ crawl anywhere ever,” he vowed. “If the day ever comes when you cannae walk, I will sweep you in my arms and carry you.”
“Why do I think you mean that?”
“Because I do.”
She stared at him, looking almost stunned. “I still cannot believe any of this is happening. That I am even here, and with you…”
“I feel the same,” he admitted, also feeling more blessed than he would have believed even a very short time ago. “And because I am so happy to have you with me, I’ve planned a very special stop for us tonight.”
She angled her head. “Gretna Green? Are you taking me there?”
“Nae, we’re no longer on the Old North Road. We veered off it, onto this track, some while ago. You were sleeping so soundly I didn’t want to waken you.”
“A track?” She threw another glance out the window, though little could be seen now except darkness and shadows.
A crescent moon was rising and cast some illumination, enough to cause the rocky track to gleam whitely and – Lucian’s lips quirked – to pick out a rather large gathering of hares hopping about near a tumble of boulders beside a stream.
“Aye, well, a road then,” he told her, stretching the truth. “You’ll see even worse ones the farther north we go.”
“It looks delightful to me.” She spotted the hares then and gripped the bottom of the window, smiling out at them. “Goodness, so many rabbits, and such big ones.”
Lucian chuckled. “They are hares, no’ rabbits. You will see many more before we reach our lodgings. This area is famous for them.”
“Oh, how perfect.” She settled back on the carriage seat, her hands clasped on her lap. “Scotland, and a wealth of plump, happy-looking hares.”
She slid him a look. “Perhaps I shall rescue them? Take them all with us to Lyongate to keep my carriage horses company.”
“Thon beasties wouldn’t thank you.” Lucian peered out at them, too. “They fare well enough here.” He looked again at her. “There is a local legend about them. I will tell it to you this evening over dinner at our inn.”
She smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Where will we be staying?”
“The inn that’s the reason we came this way.” He caught her hand and laced their fingers. “It’s called the One-Eyed Hare.”
~*~
