“That’s because ye are treating him like a bairn and not a dog. Why canna he live in the kennels like all the other hounds?”
Catriona looked mortified. “Because he wouldnae like it! He’d cry all night! If ye make Patch sleep in the kennels, then so will I!”
Cailean rolled his eyes. She did have a flair for the dramatic. “He’s adog. He would probably love it in the kennels with his own kind.”
But Catriona was having none of it. She turned to Rose. “Tell him, Lady Rose! Ye know that Patch would hate sleeping in the kennels, dinna ye?”
Rose held up her hands. “Whoa! Leave me out of this one. I’m not stupid enough to get involved in an argument between father and daughter. Although…”
She reached down and scratched Patch’s ears and the pup went up onto his hind legs with his front paws in her lap, tongue lolling out of his mouth in ecstasy. “He might get bullied by the older dogs, and I’m sure he would miss Catriona.”
Catriona turned to face Cailean with a smug expression of triumph on her face, as though the word of a MacFinnan spellweaver settledthe argument.
Oh, wonderful. Just what he needed. Winning an argument with his daughter was hard enough; it would be doubly hard now she had an unexpected ally.
“We’ll discuss this another time,” he growled but Catriona only grinned, knowing she’d won this battle.
He sighed and took another swig of ale. For the thousandth time, he wished Mary was still here. He missed her with an ache that never seemed to lessen, no matter the time that passed. She would have known how to handle Catriona’s demands. Mary had always been better at standing up to her than he had and had teased him mercilessly at how easily their daughter was able to twist him around her little finger.
Over on the left side of the hall, his warriors were crowded around their table, drinking and singing and bantering the way they always did. He wished he could join them. He wished he could get blind drunk with them like he’d done when his father was still the laird and he didn’t have the responsibilities he carried now. He wished that, just for an evening, he could forget the cares that hung around his neck like a mill stone and relax.
Rose suddenly yawned hugely, making Catriona giggle.
“Oops,” Rose said. “I think it’s time I went to bed. If I stay up any longer, I think I’ll end up face-first in this pie.”
Cailean waved Mable over. “Escort the lady Rose to her room, would ye?”
As Rose scraped her chair back and followed Mable out, Cailean couldn’t help watching her go. Watching the way her midnight hair cascaded down her back. The way her hips moved as she walked.
“I like her,” Catriona announced, breaking him from his thoughts. “She’s nice.” She pressed her hand against her mouth, suppressing a yawn.
“Aye,” Cailean said. “Perhaps she is, but she willnae be the onlyone with her face in her pie if ye dinna get to bed soon. It’s way past yer bed time.”
“But I’m not tired, Papa,” Catriona protested. Another huge yawn cracked her face, putting the lie to those words.
“Come,” he said, pushing his chair back. “Bed. I’ll take ye.”
With a huff, Catriona hopped down from her seat, and took the hand Cailean held out to her. Ella, Catriona’s maid, came forward, but Cailean waved her back and told her to stay and enjoy the feast—he would take his daughter up to bed tonight.
With Patch trotting along at their heels, they left the great hall, made their way through the keep and then up the main staircase. Catriona’s feet began to drag with tiredness so he hoisted her into his arms and carried her, and for a wonder, she made no complaint.
Catriona’s chambers were next to his own where he could keep a better eye on her, and as he nudged the door open, a wave of warmth hit him from the fire that burned merrily in the fireplace.
Patch jumped onto the bed, turned in a circle a few times, then settled down with his head resting on his paws. Cailean resisted the urge to order him off. Catriona would have him back on the bed the second he was out of the room, anyway.
He gently lowered Catriona onto the bed and then sat down on the end of it. “Make sure ye brush yer teeth before ye go to sleep and change into yer nightgown.”
She rolled her eyes at him in an imitation of Mary that was so accurate it made his chest ache. “Papa, Idoknow. Iamnine, ye know.”
He smiled, feeling a sudden rush of love for his girl. “Aye, ye are growing up, my little lass. Ye will be an adult before I know it.”
Catriona made a face. “Ugh. I hope not. Adults are so dull.”
Cailean laughed. “Aye, perhaps we are.” He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Good night, Catriona.”
“Good night, Papa.”
He opened the door but then paused as Catriona said, “Papa? IsRose going to stay?”
