“Aye. This day and forever.”
She rushed into his arms. “Then I say yes, yes, this day and forever.”
He silently promised that he would spend his days making sure Abigail never regretted staying with him.
Chapter 24
Abby couldn’t believe she was saying yes to marriage, saying yes to marriage with a laird of all things. But could she stay in eighteenth-century Scotland? Should she even be contemplating it? It was one thing to say yes to spending the rest of her life being loved by her Highlander, but quite another to live the rest of her days in what to her felt like prehistoric times.
She wanted to stay in his arms, but she knew she would have to face her siblings sooner or later. “Iain, can I have some time with my family? I think we need to talk.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Aye. I need to talk to my family also.”
Once he’d left, Max, Izzy, and Garrett all began to talk at once. Abby let them go on for a moment, and then said, “Be quiet and let me speak.”
Max stepped between Izzy and Garrett and hit them on their arms. “Let her speak.”
“Thanks,” Abby said, and went on to tell them all that had happened to her since arriving in eighteenth-century Scotland.
Once she’d finished, she said, “And I’m in love with Iain, and I want to stay and marry him.”
“No,” Garrett said, and they all stared at him. “You can’t stay here. You’ve seen the brutality of this time.” He waved a hand in the air. “And there are other things to think about. Your health, for one. What if you get sick? Are you going to let them bleed you with leeches? Give you laudanum? For Pete’s sake, it’s opium.”
Abby shushed him with her finger on her lips. “Keep your voice down. The whole castle will hear you.”
“I don’t want you to stay here,” Izzy said.
“Nor do I,” Max said.
“Good, then that’s settled,” Garrett said. “Grab the orb, Abby, and let’s go.”
Abby plonked down on the side of the bed and rubbed her face. “Don’t say anything else. Just let me think.”
Tears filled her eyes. What was she to do? She couldn’t just leave Iain moments after accepting his marriage proposal. A thought hit her, then. If he loved her as much as she did him, would he go back with her? But could she ask that of him? The thought of not having him in her life was just too much to bear, and she decided she could definitely ask him.
***
Iain sat at his writing and planning table in the solar, waiting for Jannet, Maeve, and his most trusted guards, Donal and Callum. They had to accept and protect Abigail if she stayed and married him.
His heart sank with the realization that Abigail’s family had come to take her away from him. They would be persuading and cajoling her into returning to their time with them right at that minute. Iain hoped she would tell him ofher decision if it came to that and not just leave the castle, leave him.
Jannet arrived first, and she had a small box in her arms that she set down at the end of the table. “Och, ye have more guests.”
“How do ye know that?”
“I can hear.” She gave Iain a small smile and a look that said she knew a lot more than Iain had ever thought.
Iain frowned. Had she been listening at the bedroom door?
Maeve entered, with Donal and Callum a few steps behind her. All three eyed Jannet warily, and Iain had to choke back a laugh. He could almost hear their brains turning. Did Jannet tell him something they would have preferred him not to hear?
Iain stood up, went to the door, and told the guard there to fetch wine and cups. Once they were filled and handed to his four guests, he took a cup, bid the guard leave with a nod, and returned to sit behind the desk.
He raised his chalice. “A toast.”
Everyone put their cups in the air.
Iain continued. “To the MacLarens and all others who abide here. May we survive the English onslaught and drive them from our lands.”
