Lizzie had an inkling of the source of her sister-by-marriage's irritation and felt her own temper rise. She'd warned Patrick not to make decisions for her, but it seemed he—and her interfering brother—couldn't resist.Men.Was there a more protective breed around than a proud Highland warrior? “Let me guess. You and Patrick decided that I would be better off not married to a MacGregor—”
“AnoutlawedMacGregor,” Jamie clarified.
“Not any more,” Lizzie quipped back. “So you decided to make me believe that he didn't want me.”
Jamie shrugged uncomfortably. “Something to that effect.”
Lizzie felt her face flush with anger. She rose to her feet and crossed the room to stand toe-to-toe with her overbearing lout of a big brother. “How could you! How could you let me sit here in misery for weeks believing that the man I loved cared so little for me that he turned his back on me at the first opportunity? How could you both be so high-handed and cruel? I love him, Jamie. And if that means I live in a hovel, I will gladly do so. Wouldn't you do as much for your wife?” He had the good grace to grimace guiltily, but Lizzie wasn't finished. “How could you let my child grow up without a father?”
Jamie swallowed hard with a wince. “Child?”
“Oh, Lizzie, that's wonderful!” Caitrina exclaimed, rushing over to give her a hug. “When?”
Lizzie smiled, the excitement contagious. “I'm not sure. I've only just suspected. Perhaps a few months after your babe.”
Jamie started to slink back, obviously happy for the change of subject, but Lizzie stopped him. She crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow. “Where do you think you're going? I'm not finished with you yet. I'm not a girl anymore. I don't need my big brother to fight my battles.” She shook her head. “I should have said something and put a stop to this interfering after what you did to John Montgomery.”
Jamie smiled. “I'd like to take credit for that, lass. But someone beat me to it.”
Lizzie frowned. “But if you didn't, who …”
Her gaze shot to her brother.Patrick.It amazed her to think that he'd felt enough of a connection even then to exact vengeance on her behalf. The knowledge soothed her lingering hurt and made her even more certain that she hadn't been completely wrong about his motives and feelings. “Did you know it was him?”
Jamie shook his head. “Nay. I'd recognized him at the gathering, and knew he'd come to your assistance, but that was all. Though after what happened a few weeks ago, I suspected.”
Lizzie swallowed.I will kill anyone who harms you.John should be glad he'd only suffered the loss of an ear and part of his arm—if Patrick knew then what he did now … She shivered.
Though there was a certain poetic justice to it, Lizzie wasn't sure she liked the idea of such violence in her name.
“He's a Highland warrior, Lizzie. You can't make him something he is not,” Jamie said, reading her thoughts.
Jamie was right. Patrick had been fighting for survival most of his life. Like most Highlanders, he was used to exacting vengeance and solving problems with his sword. “Do harm to mine and I'll do worse to yours” was part of the Highland credo. Barbaric? She supposed some might think so, but it was the way of it. Not to say that she didn't plan to work on his skills at diplomacy.
“You must have made some impression on him,” Jamie said. “ ’Tis a lot of trouble to go to for someone he barely knew.”
I wanted you from the first moment I saw you.His words that day when she'd realized that he'd been her gallant knight came back to her. Hehadcared about her, even from the beginning.
“What will you do?” Caitrina asked.
Lizzie thought for a minute. She was tired of being the one to fight for their happiness. If he wanted her, he was going to have to decide on his own—perhaps with a bit of prodding so he didn't wait too long.
“After all the effort my brother and Patrick went to just to see to my happiness, I hate to disappoint them.” She smiled. “Now that I am free to marry, I think I shall do so. Perhaps I shall send him a wedding invitation?”
Caitrina's eyes went wide with admiration. “You wouldn't.”
Lizzie smiled. “Oh, I just might.”
Jamie looked back and forth between them. “I never thought I'd say this about a MacGregor, but I almost feel sorry for him.”
Patrick might be going to hell in the form of the Campbell's dungeon for this, but he didn't bloody well give a damn.
He rode through the gates of Dunoon ready to do battle, barely heeding the formidable stone walls of the impenetrable fortress or the mass of equally formidable warriors lining them.
“Are you sure about this?” Robbie asked in a low voice. “Riding into the devil's lair is hardly the best way to test your newfound freedom.”
Patrick gave him a sharp look. “It's you who insisted on coming along. I told you to stay back with Annie.”
Robbie locked his jaw and shook his head. “Nay, she has Lamont to watch over her.”
