Beth told her everything. From stepping through the doorway to seeing the hall burn down. She glossed over being accused of starting the fire, moving onto finding her way to the castle.
She talked about the building work, fixing the battlement walls, rebuilding the chapel, not mentioning the collapse for fear of upsetting her. “And who is this?” Janet asked, sitting up slowly in the bed, examining Andrew from behind a furrowed brow.
“This is Andrew, laird of the MacIntyres.”
Andrew nodded. “A pleasure to meet you at last. You’ve given my men some trouble tracking you down.”
“Here,” Beth said, holding out the locket. “Take it back.”
“You found it?” Janet said, sitting bolt upright. “I thought I’d lost that forever.” She shook her head. “You should keep it. It was going to be yours anyway once…” Her voice faded away then she smiled again. “Not that it matters. I can’t tell you how much better I’ve felt since coming back here. I swear I might live to be a hundred.”
She swung her legs out of the bed, getting slowly to her feet. She stood in front of Andrew, looking him up and down. “Well, well. Andrew MacIntyre. I always dreamed about meeting you and now it finally happens. I hope you’ve been good to my daughter.”
“Mom!” Beth said. “Don’t talk to him like that.”
“I see the look in his eyes. I’ve been around long enough to know what that look means.”
“And what does it mean?” Andrew asked, looking amused by her anger.
“It means you better propose to her before this goes any further. I wondered which Dagless you were going to marry and now I know. I never would have guessed it would be my daughter, not in a million years.”
“As a matter of fact I have proposed,” Andrew said, smiling. “Though she said no.”
“And what did you go and do a stupid thing like that for?” Janet asked, turning her attention to Beth.
“I couldn’t marry him. I needed to find you.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. You have the chance for happiness with a man who clearly worships you and you turn him down to babysit your own mother. You turn around right now and agree to marry him. Go on.”
“Mom!”
James could hide his laughter no longer, he walked rapidly away, his hand covering his mouth.
Beth blushed wildly. “Sorry about her.”
“She’s right,” Andrew replied. “You should marry me.”
“Is that what you call a proposal?” Janet asked. “You’re not too old to be spanked yourself Mr MacIntyre so you just ask her properly before I drop dead of old age.”
The sound of James’s continuing laughter echoed from the far end of the infirmary.
Andrew turned to Beth, sinking to one knee, his hand held up to hers. “Will you marry me?”
“Of course I will,” she replied, jumping into his arms and almost knocking him over.
“There,” Janet said, rubbing her hands together. “That’s settled. Now where can I get something to eat? I’m absolutely starving.”
Beth turned to look at her. “You still need to tell us what happened to you.”
“Plenty of time for that later. First we need to start planning a wedding. Tell me you have a decent kitchen for me to make the cake.”
She walked out of the infirmary into the courtyard, beckoning for them to follow.
“Are you glad you found her?” James asked over Beth’s shoulder, still chuckling to himself. “She seems quite the woman.”
“That’s mom,” she replied, shaking her head. “We better go after her before she starts redecorating the entire place for you.” She looked up at Andrew. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I thought I had lost you forever and instead you just agreed to marry me. Am I not allowed to look at you?”
“Come on you two lovebirds,” Janet called back to them. “Lots to do.”
“Coming,” they said in unison, heading out of the infirmary and following her across the courtyard.
Andrew’s hand slipped into Beth’s as they walked. She looked down at it briefly. It felt exactly right, as if that was what she’d always been missing without even knowing it, the hold of the highlander.
