Bren crossed his arms and regarded him calmly.
“Ye were angry at yer wife for giving ye a child? A child that ye put inside her?”
Drust sank heavily into a chair and scrubbed his hands over his face.
“No. I wasafraid. God, she left me! I’ve frightened away my own wife. And I canna blame her. God! I was such an arse! She more than likely hates me now.”
“Aye, ye were, but she’s still yer wife and yer mate and she belongs here with ye, arse or no’. Ye have a wife and child now… and they are yers to protect and care for above all else. Above even yer brothers. That is the way of it.” Bren stood and closed the ledger on his desk. “Now stop feeling sorry for yerself and go find her. You head to the north; I’ll gather some men and search the other directions.”
“Thank ye Bren…”
“Go!” Bren told him. “No, wait!”
From half way across the room, Drust turned to look at him over his shoulder.
“What?”
“When ye find her, ye shouldna worry that ye’ll hurt the babe when ye’re tupping her like a mad man.”
“What?”
“I already asked Maggie, for my own reasons, of course. I thought ye should ken, too.”
Drust only gave him a look that said:Why the hell are you talking about tupping when my wife is missing, and turned back toward the door.
After Drust left the room, running at full speed for the stables, Faith slipped in from a side door.
“It went well?”
“Aye, he’s gone to search for her. Dirc will see that he finds her in a few days, just long enough to have it firmly in his mind how much he’d love to be a father, if only he could find his wife, and if only she will forgive him.”
Faith grinned. “Dirc knew just what to do. Scare some sense into him. Drust never would have come around so fast otherwise. Or at all. Mac Coinnach men are notoriously stubborn.”
Bren grabbed his wife and pulled her onto his lap with a contented sigh. “Aye, I will admit Dirc often kens what is best, as long as I am no’ on the receiving end of his manipulations. AndIam no’ stubborn.”
She punched him playfully in the arm. “Yes you are. And wasn’t it Dirc’smanipulationsthat brought us together?”
“Oh aye, I suppose I can make one exception, then.” He leaned in to capture her lips in a kiss.
Willa looked around as her horse plodded slowly through the trees.This forest was lovely, cool and peaceful with giant, moss-covered oaks, but she was too nervous to truly appreciate her surroundings.
“Dirc?”
“Aye, lass?”
“Do you really think it’s possible… that Drust will change his mind about the baby? What if he never does… I don’t think I can…”
“Och, lass… he will. Ye must remember that he saw his own mother die a tragic death when he was naught but a young and impressionable child. He’s had all the years since to convince himself that he must never risk another he loves that way, because he couldna stand to see it happen again. He had resolved to live a solitary life of service, and within a few short weeks he finds himself a husband and a father, the two things he has always dreaded more than death… err…” He glanced to Willa with an apologetic smile. “That didna sound quite right… I mean, no offence, lass. Anyway, it will take some time, and perhaps a bit of a shock to the system, to… er… make him see things differently.”
“Hence my temporary disappearance?”
“Aye.Exactly.”
“What if he doesn’t come for me?”
Dirc turned partway around in his saddle to look back at her, heedless of the plaid slipping off his shoulder. “I told ye lass, he’ll come for ye. He cannano’come for ye.That’swhy my plan, as always, is so perfect.”
Willa heaved a sigh. Her life had never been simple. Why did she think things would be any different now?
