As he followed the man and was introduced to all manner of people, Aidan kept an eye on the smaller gatherings and groups that formed along the lane. Women near the tables where they prepared and served food, men nearer to the barrels of ale. Children ran along, darting and weaving around the legs of the adults who stood talking.
Though the sun set late this far into the summer and the darkness would soon take hold of the night, torches burned brightly, lighting the area and allowing them to celebrate. Aidan found a spot near the well, drinking his ale and talking as people passed him by, but watching, always watching, and listening for her name or her voice.
Ronald’s comely sister made her way to him, with Ronald close behind, and introduced herself to him. Andreana Matheson was indeed a comely lass and they enjoyed a few minutes of conversation as she pointed out various kith and kin and named them to him. He waited, holding his breath as a group of women walked by and until they passed and Cat was not among them.
He followed Ronald and Andreana to where their family gathered, in a clearing between two of the cottages. Accepting a new cup of ale, he sat with them, listening to the gossip and the music. The evening was enjoyable, not unlike his own family’s celebrations. Aidan discovered no false airs or pretences living among these people and did not find himself yearning for the position he’d left behind.
Though he did miss his family, even his overbearing, domineering father, at times such as these. But, if he found Catriona and could convince her to forgive him, he would have his own family. Ciara had shared with him that Catriona could not have children of her own, but at least he would have her.
Deciding to return to the keep, he stood and thanked Ronald and his family for inviting him. Walking back to the main road, he noticed a group of women sitting partly in the shadows. Some held sleeping children, some chatted quietly. Some were younger women with bairns and some were older. He smiled, thinking on his mother and the wives of his father’s closest friends who would sit in just such groups, sharing gossip and making plans.
One woman moved about in the shadows and he watched her, unable to look away. He cocked his head and listened for her voice. It had to be her. It had to be...
Catriona MacKenzie stood in the midst of the women, smiling and helping with some task.
Catriona was here.
His feet moved before he thought of it and then he stood before her.
‘Catriona?’
Chapter Twenty-Two
The evening was a pleasant one. Catriona sat with other women, most of whom had children and most of whom were married. Now that the impossible was going to happen and she would have a child of her own, she began listening more carefully to the advice given by experienced mothers. And she began watching how they handled the small situations and big ones with their children in the hopes that she would know what to do when her bairn was born.
She’d been holding Seonag’s older daughter on her lap while Seonag nursed the youngest bairn. Now, Seonag passed the bairn off to her own mother and so Catriona stood to hand off the wee one to her. Stretching her back, she began saying her farewells for she tired more easily now and wanted to seek her bed when she heard the name spoken of one who did not exist any longer.
By the man whose voice she would know anywhere...any time.
‘Catriona?’
Turning to face him, she stepped out of the shadows to make certain she was not dreaming this.
It was him. Aidan MacLerie there a few paces away from her. Before she could say anything, he was striding towards her. The women around her missed nothing—not the wrong name, not the handsome young man calling to her, not even her hesitation.
‘Are ye well, Coira?’ Seonag said, walking to her side. ‘Who is he looking for?’
‘Who might he be?’ asked one of the younger women.
Aidan would never go unnoticed as long as women were around, that much she knew. But he looked neither left nor right, at anyone other than her as he approached.
Did she pretend not to know him?
They clearly did not know him. The beard he wore now had fooled her for less than a second. The larger, muscular shoulders were new. Her heart pounded in her chest and her mouth went dry. The bairn tumbled within her.
Even while she drank in the very sight of him, she only knew she was not ready to face him. She pulled her shawl around her, letting it hide her growing belly, and she walked away.
Thoughts fled and judgement went with them as she trotted down the road, away from the gathering, away from him. The others must think her mad now, but she cared not. She was winded when she reached her cottage. Without pause, she entered and closed the shutters and barred the door.
Did he follow her? She knew not and would not chance to open the shutters to look down the lane. Why had he not left her alone? Why had he followed her? How had he found her? Surely the laird had not given up her secret, for he played a part in it, too.
After some time had passed, when no one approached her cottage, she put out all the candles and sat in the chair in the dark. Too riled to sleep, she sat there, thinking of all the things she would say to him. Or maybe she should leave the Matheson’s lands and seek refuge in some other place?
* * *
Hours passed and she turned over all the possible plans in her thoughts. The only one she dared not think on was the one where she listened to him and forgave him. As the dawn’s light crept into the sky, Catriona wondered why she was so afraid to face him.
Did she fear him? Or did she fear exposing her past to him in order to tell him of the bairn she now carried? Would he think she had lied to trap him somehow? Other women did such things, gaining the favour of a lord and bearing his child to be supported. Would he believe her words if she did not believe his?
