“Good. Come along, dearie.”
Emily fell into step behind the woman and glanced back at Iain still rubbing his arm. She grinned and waved. Her good humor faded when they entered the kitchen. Mrs. O’Neal sat her down at the table and Emily did her best to not look at the spot where Albert had died. Then the woman slapped a piece of paper and writing tools in front of her. It was a rather large sheet of paper and Emily had the feeling Iain was right. It could be a long while before the shagging could be indulged in.
It was time for the meal by the time Emily was done writing and she gazed in amazement at all that Mrs. O’Neal thought needed doing. They were going to be busy if they were going to have a wedding in just a few weeks. She was freed from worry about that when the brothers all arrived and tried to give her kisses of welcome only to start a tussle with Iain until Mrs. O’Neal intervened with her wooden spoon and good aim. Emily laughed and realized she was going to be joining a good strong family. Happy in a way she had not been in a long time, she settled in to enjoy the meal.
Chapter Twenty
Emily could not believe it was her wedding day. Even with Maggie, Mabel, Mrs. O’Neal, and Charlotte all crowded into her room it was hard to believe it. They were now all gathered around her making sure her wedding dress was fitted and hanging on her just right. Mrs. O’Neal and Mabel had made it for her and she had been stunned speechless then cried. Mrs. O’Neal had even lent her her veil, a beautiful work of lace done by her mother for her own wedding.
“Damn, woman, you are looking very good,” said Maggie, even as she stood back and rubbed at her rounded belly.
“Thank you. When are you due, anyway?”
“Two months from now.”
“And your husband let you come?”
“Came with me, and the kids, didn’t he? Man’s always afraid if I go somewhere without him someone will snatch me away from him.” She grinned and then turned to Mrs. O’Neal. “And thankyoufor letting them in your house. We’ve been doing our best to keep them quiet.”
Emily studied Maggie as the woman talked with Mrs. O’Neal. Her husband might not be as crazy as Maggie could make him sound. Even pregnant with her tenth child the woman was quite stunning. She had a beautiful color of blue for her eyes, nearly purple, and long reddish-blond hair that was so thick and wavy one could not help wondering why it did not weigh her down. Despite all the children and being nearly thirty-five, the woman had a figure that was the type to draw a man’s eyes. When she was not pregnant, anyway. Emily had always wondered if it was one reason her husband kept her pregnant, and then she had seen they could still be madly in love with so many children, as well as with each child. They adored each one and she suspected Maggie would happily keep having them until she grew too old or was advised to stop by a doctor.
Emily looked at Charlotte, who listened to the women talk of kids with a soft smile on her face. She was carrying but had not yet announced it to anyone, including her husband. To Emily’s amazement she discovered Mabel was married to the man who ran the tavern and had six children of her own. She began to wonder if Iain expected her to perform so well and was not sure if she was pleased with the idea or terrified. Considering she had been ill in the morning for the last three days, if she discovered it was not from nerves, she may be getting an answer to that question fairly soon.
Wanting her sister to be there, Emily pulled the locket out from under the gown and settled it on her chest as Maggie stepped up and slipped her arms through Emily’s. “That is pretty.”
“It was Annabel’s. I thought it would help me, since she cannot be here, to feel her close.”
“I am sure it will. She and her beautiful man are watching. I feel it in my bones.”
“Oh, I hope so. She used to nag me to find a man.”
“Be hard to find a real man over there amongst the gentry.”
“There are a few.” She smiled when Maggie grimaced.
“Got yourself one now. Are ye going to go back to England?”
“I do not think so. I rather like this place and Iain would never be happy away from all his brothers and stuck with people he cannot fully trust and would probably be disrespectful because he is not one of them. I would not much like that, either.”
“Nope. Me and Beech moved here because the place we lived in treated him like trash. His family was dirt-scratching poor.”
“May I ask a question?”
“Sure. I don’t want to answer and I won’t.”
“Fair enough. Why do you call your husband Beech?”
“It is his name. Mother named them all after trees she saw through the windows of the house. Some were named after plants too. She couldn’t go outside. Her da died of a beesting and she was terrified she might be the same way. So she stayed in all the time. Husband’s name is Beech. Just plain old Beech.”
“It is actually a nice name.” She frowned. “Though thinking on the different trees some would not be so nice to be named after.” She smiled when Maggie laughed.
“One reason we left. Once folk learned she named the kids after plants and that she was terrified of the outdoors he was always getting in fights with ones who called his mother crazy. Poor woman was just scared, not crazy.”
“No. I have seen crazy.”
“He’s dead now,” said Maggie, knowing exactly who Emily referred to. “Paid in blood for the evil he did, as was right.”
Emily took a deep breath and let it out slowly to banish the memories. There was a knock at the door and all the women stared at it. A second knock came but it was a lot lower down on the wood. It was much too low for a grown man.
