He turned her to face him before pulling her closer, surrounding her with his arms. “I am. And so much more.”
“Sit yerself down.” Gwen’s loud hissing carried through the curtain, her annoyance with her husband obvious.
Darragh snorted. “I should have picked a better time to speak my mind, mayhap when we were completely alone, but I wanted ye to hear the truth.” He cupped her cheek, stroking her bottom lip with his thumb, “I’d have taken ye to wife even if we’d not been promised to each other at birth.”
Almost afraid that she hadn’t heard him correctly, she placed a kiss on his palm before pulling back with a very slow movement to search his face. His brown eyes were rounded, his expression soft with emotion. His sincerity tugged at her heart and she didn’t immediately know what to say, how to put her feelings into words. He’d always held her interest, from the first moment her mother had said he was to be her husband. Her attitude toward him had only changed when she started to believe he didn’t feel the same. When he ignored her after she had sought him out. She only wanted his attention like the other lasses received from the lads.
Darragh shrugged, smiling sheepishly as if he may have shared too much.
“Ye are very pleasurable in my arms, but yer stomach is still growling. Ye sound near to starving.” He slapped her bottom.
She hesitated a moment, wanting to give him some indication of her own feelings. Awkwardness threatened to overtake her, so she quickly kissed him before pushing open the curtain to join the couple.
“Good morn to ye,” Brighit said, her smile feeling wide enough to light up a room.
“Ah, did ye sleep well?” Gwen was wiping her hands on a cloth, while her husband sat quietly at the table.
Brighit’s mind flashed back to the intimate night of loving she’d shared with her husband. She wondered at the woman’s knowing smile and her face heated. “Most certainly.”
“I’ve a few vegetables from the garden for soup, if ye’d like to start there?” Gwen indicated the sack on the trestle, her smile broadening when Brighit nodded.
Unlike the women at home, Gwen definitely seemed to take pleasure in teaching Brighit. There’d be no ridicule from her for what Brighit didn’t know. That was a great relief. Brighit opened the bag, surprised by her own sudden interest in its contents. “These will be fine. And the herbs?”
“Plenty have not gone to seed. After we break our fast, we’ll decide which to use. Ye wanted to make bread as well?”
“The bread. Let us make a filling, dark loaf.”
“Ye sound as if ye’ve a full day planned.” Darragh joined them, nodding a greeting to their hosts.
Brighit’s eyes followed him as he came to a stop opposite William, and that knowing smile returned to Gwen’s face. “A fine man ye have there.”
“Fine indeed.”
Darragh had not heard them as he settled at the trestle. “But yer insides are calling for something a bit sooner, wife.”
Gwen rubbed Brighit’s shoulder as she passed her to reach the iron pot beside the fire. “I’ve taken care of the breakfast. We cannot have yer bride cooking on an empty stomach.”
The porridge was hot and filling, its sweetness increased by the always present honey.
“Yer cock is having trouble knowing when to crow, William. I heard him all night.” Darragh helped himself to more hot cereal before settling back down beside Brighit. “How are the eggs? Are they plentiful even through winter?”
William wiped his mouth before answering. “We have more than enough. Our nephews take turns coming by every week or so. ’Tis only the meat that has been scarce of late, but we’re fine.”
“I would not mind seeing what I can get for ye, in appreciation of ye giving us a dry place to sleep.”
Collecting the bowls, Brighit followed Gwen to the small work bench behind the hearth. There, Gwen emptied the bag of a large assortment of root vegetables, scattering the colorful array across the top of the wooden surface.
“Are ye up for a little hunting then?” William’s voice sounded pleased, as if he’d come up with the idea himself.
“A fine idea,” Darragh said.
Brighit glanced up to find Darragh’s eyes on her, just as she’d suspected, and his look of interest made her blush. She smiled at him before she took up a knife and started chopping.
While the men discussed a plan, Gwen shared her concerns about her husband with Brighit, careful not to be overheard. William seemed healthy, but his tracking and hunting was taking longer and longer. Although he’d never said as much, Gwen was worried that he’d had trouble finding his way home again.
“And what about ye, Brighit?” Darragh asked.
Brighit’s blade slipped and she bit her lip to keep from making a sound.
