“Poor lass.” Brett shook his head. “If she had only kept that letter I gave her.” He took Triona’s hand in his and kissed it. “She didnae deserve that misery. E’en if I couldnae have wed her for some reason, the Murrays would have taken her in. Nay fixing the past though. I am sorry ye were trapped because of that one mistake.”
“It wasnae good but it had its good parts,” Bethoc said, “if that makes sense.”
“Oh, aye,” said Triona. “I have the same feeling about my first marriage. Ella’s the good part.”
Bethoc smiled. “The lads and Margaret are my good part. I didnae ken how or why Kerr took the lads from whate’er life they had but they did make life easier to bear. When ye have someone ye have to watch over, ’tis hard to get too lost in your own misery, aye.”
“Aye, verra hard,” Triona agreed, and smiled.
“So, Callum, I hear ye have had an adventure, one that required even Innes’s skills,” said Brett.
As Callum told the story, Bethoc fought to stay alert but weariness began to weigh on her. Triona quietly excused them, leaving the men to talk, and Bethoc was grateful. She was astonished by the room she was shown to, from the heavy drapes on the window to the feather-filled pillows.
“Aye, we are doing so much better at Banuilt now,” said Triona after Bethoc exclaimed her delight over a tapestry on the wall. “A lot of work left to do but now we ken it can be done. Wait until ye and your lads see Callum’s lands and home. Brett tells me ’tis verra nice.”
“Weel, I am nay certain I will see it.” Callum had spoken of it but she was still uncertain for he had never said what she was to be or do when she got there.
“Oh, aye, ye will. Your boys will too? Will ye take them all?”
Bethoc frowned. “It has been said that Colin and Bean wouldnae be going and Robbie would stay with them. I think Robbie hopes he can catch Laurel’s interest as weel.”
“Laurel?” Triona asked, and listened carefully as Bethoc told her Laurel’s story and then she sighed. “I suspicion Robbie kens all this.” Bethoc nodded. “Ah, good, then he kens he cannae woo her as he might another lass. And which boy does she want?”
“Magnus. She is certain he is Yolanda’s child and she was hanged for a murder she didnae commit before we were able to stop that vicious game the sheriff played. Now all they can do is take the stain from her name. Since his father is dead too, that means he is an orphan. Magnus seems to like her weel.”
Triona nudged Bethoc with her shoulder. “’Tis hard to set them free. Yet, mayhap ye should do it for Laurel’s sake. Give her that person she needs to care for so her mind doesnae rest too long on what was done to her. Give her someone to love so that she doesnae forget what that is.”
“Oh. I should have thought of that.” Bethoc sat on the bed, realized it had a feather mattress, and forced herself not to be distracted by that. “I ken she willnae keep him from the other boys or me. And she has a lovely cottage. And she wants to honor Yolanda.” Bethoc sighed. “I need to let go.”
Sitting next to her, Triona patted her clenched hands. “She sounds perfect for the boy.”
“I dinnae want the other boys to think I am intending to hand them all off to someone.”
“They have nay reason to think that. Just be who ye have always been with them and, nay matter what changes come, they will be fine.”
“Thank ye, Triona. Ye have a true skill for seeing another’s worries. And Callum says I have a lot of them.” She frowned. “He says I astound him with the things I can think of to fret about.”
Triona laughed. “I do the same. How does it feel to meet your father?”
“Odd. I dinnae blame him for anything, if that is your worry. My mother made the mistake, lost the only way to reach him and couldnae e’en recall what he wrote. It hurts a wee bit to say it but she truly wasnae verra sharp of wit. ’Tis why she ne’er once thought to leave, ne’er thought to help any of the lads Kerr brought home.” Bethoc grimaced. “She truly did live in her dreams. Brett was her prince.” She was startled when Triona collapsed in a fit of giggles.
“I am sorry.” Triona finally got herself under control, wiped her eyes, and sat up. “Your mother’s story is so sad yet Brett as a prince, weel, she was young. She was ill, I think. Ill in her mind. Mayhap only a little at first then more and more so as time went on.”
“Aye, she was. She was so bonnie and so brittle. A sad woman who met a sad death.” Bethoc saw Triona frown. “’Tis better than some of the other things I have thought o’er the years.”
Triona patted her on the back. “Families. None are perfect. Ye are now part of ours so ye will discover that soon enough.”
Her laughter followed her out of the room. Bethoc had to smile and shook her head as she dug her night shift out of her pack. As she dressed, she thought on the man she had the right to call Father. He certainly was good-looking, strong, and a laird. His wife was both wise and charming. What left her a little stunned was how he welcomed her, never questioning her claim. She rather wished she had been able to greet him with more warmth, then shook her head. Bethoc would just let things happen, no planning, and no fretting, which would please Callum.
Tugging on her night shift after having a quick wash in the still-warm water left by the maids, Bethoc got into bed. She groaned with pleasure as the soft mattress cradled her body and her hand was settled nicely against the soft feather pillows. This was luxury, she thought, and she would not allow it to spoil her.
* * *
“She isnae sure,” said Brett after the women were gone. “Nay about me or about having a father.”
“Weel, she is a grown woman. I dinnae think she e’er expected to meet the mon who fathered her.”
“She has her mother’s eyes.”
