“Don’t bark at me,” Avery said with a mischievous smile. “I was not the one who drank my weight in ale last night, little sister.” She grabbed the single egg from the tray and cracked it into the empty glass, discarding the shells on the tray and holding the glass out to Melissa. “Here, swallow this. Darragh and his men swear by it whenever they’ve had a bit of a dram that resulted in too much fun.”
Melissa gulped as she took the glass and watched the yolk slip from side to side. “You are sure about this?” she asked, eyeing the contents of her glass with disgust before looking at her sister through her long lashes.
“About that more than anything else,” Avery replied as she crossed her fingers and held her hand over her heart. “I swear, I’ve seen it help Darragh on more than one occasion.”
Tilting the glass and holding it up to her lips, Melissa allowed the slimy egg to slip down her throat. “That was disgusting,” she complained as she placed the glass back on the tray and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Keep that in mind at the next feast.” Avery laughed as she perched on the edge of the bed once again. “Please tell me that you at least remember getting married yesterday?”
“Of course, I married that great oaf Daniel because I had no other choice,” Melissa grunted as some of the fog surrounding her memory began to clear. “We said our vows before Father appeared in the crowd—” She stopped talking and stared at her sister. “Please tell me that part was a dream, at least?”
“I’m afraid not,” Avery said as she stood. “Everyone is waiting for us downstairs so that we can discuss the matter a little more calmly. Let’s get you bathed and dressed.” At that, Melissa groaned and fell back on the bed. “There’s nothing that a good bath can’t fix,” She muttered into her cushion, whishing there was an easy fix for the things that Daniel had made her feel. Their sudden kiss had made her think of him in ways that she hadn’t been prepared for.
Taking a deep breath, Melissa followed her sister into the large sitting room where everyone was already waiting for them. The bath had done its job and cleared her mind, allowing her to remember more of the evening before, but not what had happened between her and Daniel after they had gone up to the tower.
The wedding feast had gone off without a hitch as she recalled small snippets of people toasting and Daniel eventually carrying her up to her bed.
“It’s good of you to join us,” Daphne said through pursed lips as she glared at her youngest daughter. “We didn’t think we would be seeing you today.”
“Please, Mama,” Melissa pleaded nicely. “I’m not in the mood for a scolding. I’ve learned my lesson, and it was a valuable one at that.”
“Good.” Daphne nodded and clasped her hands in front of her chest. “It would be easier if you listened, but sometimes feeling is better than hearing.”
Daniel and Darragh sniggered under their breaths as Avery walked over and elbowed her husband in the side, signaling for the men to be quiet and not make a big deal of Melissa’s condition.
Melissa immediately averted her gaze from Daniel’s as she struggled to remember what had happened between the two of them in the tower after the kiss.
“Now that you are all here,” Daphne began. “I will call your father.” She turned her attention back to her daughters. “While I do not expect you to forgive your father immediately as if nothing had happened, I will ask that you hear him out without passing judgment or dismissing him straight out the gate.” She lowered her voice. “He is still your father, even after everything that has happened.”
Melissa felt her frustration growing as she looked at her mother. “I don’t understand why you felt the need to bring him back into our lives in the first place,” she glowered. “Things were well enough as they were.”
“I don’t expect you to understand what a married woman feels when her husband does something wrong,” she put her nose in the air with a hurt look on her face. “You’ve only been married for a day.”
“Yet I have far better sense than allowing a criminal back into my heart!” she raised her voice and balled her fists at her side. “You have probably been exchanging letters with him for months. Can’t you see that he’s worn your defenses down! Please think about everything that he’s put us through,” she pleaded with her mother to see reason. “You came this far, don’t let him pull you back in now.”
“I don’t think we should be getting into this right now,” Avery said as she took a step forward and placed her hand on Malissa’s arm. “Let’s all take a deep breath and deal with the matter at hand.
Daphne pursed her lips but refrained from saying anything at all.
“Me Lady?” A young girl in her teens entered the room with a polite curtsy and put an end to the argument.
“You may show His Lordship into the room now, thank you, Skye,” Daphne said as the girl curtsied once again and left.
Melissa felt her anger growing again at her mother’s use of her father’s title. Her father did not deserve the respect her mother was giving him as far as she was concerned.
“Me Lord.” Skye held the door open as George Young stepped into the room.
He held his hat in his hands in the same manner he had done the day before at the wedding.
Melissa could see that his clothes had been patched and mended in a few places, signaling the bad luck he had received after everything that had transpired before.
Good.Let him suffer for everything that he put us through.
“I’m glad you all agreed to see me again,” George said as he came into the room and stood at Daphne’s side. “Your mother and I were hoping that you’d have a change of heart.” He gave a pathetic smile.
“Both of you?” Avery was first to speak up, her tone echoing the anger and confusion that Melissa was feeling.
“Yes, both of us,” Daphne replied confidently with her head held high. “I have given your father a chance to prove himself again, and I’m hoping that both of you will find it in your hearts to do the same.”
