“One of these days I will be able to take my time,” he murmured, then chuckled at the curious look she gave him. “There is a lot we can share, loving.” He kissed her.
She was not sure what his words meant. It sounded as if he planned to keep her with him for a while. He did not know about her special skill, one the horrified Kerr had called witchery. He had to be forgetting about all of her responsibilities. She wished she could be so selfish, to just say farewell to it all, and reach out for whatever he wanted to share with her for however long he wanted to share it. That was not something she would ever be able to do, however, but she said nothing. The hard truth could wait to be told only when it was absolutely necessary.
Chapter Fourteen
“Ye are coming with us.”
Bethoc stared at Callum. They had enjoyed the last week, slipping away to be together, making love when they could, and just being free of the crowd that surrounded them most of the time. But reality was back; she was not free and never had been. There were seven children who needed her.
“Ye need to meet your real father, lass.”
Those words drove her heart into her throat. She had never really given much thought to her father since she had learned it was not Kerr. The man had never been a part of her life and, after one and twenty years, she doubted he would abruptly change his mind. She was not sure she wanted to start some kind of relationship with him, either.
“Nay. He wouldnae want a grown daughter rapping at the door.”
“Aye, he would.” Callum took hold of her hands, ending her nervous wringing of them.
“There are the children to worry about. I must needs . . .”
“Nay, ye dinnae. Robbie will stay with the older lads so no one will try to take the house and the others will come with us. Colin and Bean intend to stay here. And ye ken weel that Laurel would dearly like to take young Magnus into her home.”
“I ken it. I have been trying to be unselfish, to, weel, let go of the lad.” She frowned when he grinned. “’Tis nay funny.”
He kissed her. “I wasnae laughing. I was just thinking that ye sound like me when one of my strays has a chance to go to a new home and have a proper family.” He sat beneath the tree and tugged her down beside him. “Magnus seems to truly like Laurel.”
“He does and I think he wouldnae mind being her boy. She is certain he is Yolanda’s boy. I am wondering if they have talked of the woman at all but keep forgetting to ask. And he hasnae been part of this family all that long, nay like the others.”
“Robbie likes Laurel too. I am thinking that is why he is staying for a while.”
“I am nay sure Laurel is wanting a mon.”
“Neither is Robbie looking for a lass but he is wondering and he means to give it a try.”
When he put his arm around her, she leaned against him and sighed. “Ye insist I meet with this mon Brett Murray, dinnae ye?”
“The mon is your father.”
“One I have ne’er met. Dinnae ken e’en in passing. I cannae see that he will want that changed.”
“I do but nay just for him. The clan is a large one, Bethoc, and a good one to have a friend in. Ye dinnae have to stay with him. As ye say, ye are a grown woman, but he didnae desert your mother, e’en gave her a way to contact him, so he showed that he wasnae deserting ye, either. That shows he would ne’er have left her with child and unprotected. His own family would have been most upset with him if he e’en tried. Mayhap he would like to ken what happened.”
“I ken it. I was thinking on it last eve, thinking on how different my life would have been. Then I thought on the boys and I am nay too sorry I ended up here. I would have been raised as a Murray and nay here to meet them. That would have been a tragedy, I think. They needed me.”
He nodded. “Aye, they did. I am thinking though that ye need to meet your father. Ye need to do that for ye, to see what ye sprung from and all that.”
“I am nay a small boy like ye were, Callum. I am old enough to find it simply comforting to ken I have one and he didnae treat my mother poorly, would have been there for us if my mother had contacted him.” She turned and gave him a quick kiss. “But, aye, ye are right. After my mother, mayhap it would be good for me to ken the other half of my parentage.”
Callum took her into his arms and kissed her hard. “Mayhap we should go back to our place by the burn.”
“Too late, ye randy goat. I need to make a meal. And, we should be more careful. Someone could discover us there.”
“Bethoc, they ken where we go.” He laughed at the look of horror on her face.
“How could they?”
“Weel, I suspicion it has something to do with me telling Uven to make sure none of the lads wandered off and went near the burn the first time I took ye there.”
Bethoc was stunned. She had thought it was all their little secret. Now it appeared everyone had known what they were doing. The times she had worried about being discovered had been an unnecessary loss of peace of mind. Everyone had known that she and Callum were down by the burn doing something they should not be doing and had politely stayed away. She was not sure how she felt about that.
