“Why do you ask?”
“Because he smiled. Really smiled, not that little one he does when he’s being polite.” Eloise looked up at her with those too-knowing green eyes. “I don’t think he smiles very much usually.”
“No, I don’t think he does.”
“Why not? Is he sad?”
Francesca chose her words carefully. “I think he carries a lot of responsibility. Being a laird means worrying about many people.”
“But doesn’t he get lonely? Worrying all by himself?”
“Perhaps he does.”
“Then it’s good he has us now,” Eloise said it with such simple certainty. “We can help him not be lonely. Like how Bluebell has Flora and Declan now, so he’s not alone.”
“Is that why you wanted the kittens? So Bluebell wouldn’t be lonely?”
“Partly. But also because everyone needs family.” She cuddled both kittens closer.
“They’re all asleep,” Eloise whispered. “I can feel it. We’re a family now, all of us together.”
The simple declaration made Francesca’s throat tight. “Yes, darling. A family.”
“Even Laird MacGhee?”
“Especially Laird MacGhee.”
Eloise’s lips curved into a sleepy smile. “Good. Because I love him. Is that all right?”
Oh, sweetheart. I think I might love him too, and I don’t know if that’s all right either.
“That’s very all right,” Francesca managed. “Now sleep. Tomorrow’s another day.”
Eloise looked up at last. “I told them a secret. Do you want to hear?”
Francesca smiled softly. “Not if it’s meant only for them.”
“It is.” Eloise hugged the kittens tighter. “But I’ll tell you one thing. I told them we’re safe here.”
Her throat ached at the words. She crossed to the bed, kissing Eloise’s forehead. “Yes, darling. Safe.”
Eloise’s breathing was already evening out, the kittens rising and falling with her chest. “Night, Mama...”
The word slipped out in the haze between waking and sleeping, made Francesca freeze.
Mama.Again.
She pressed another kiss to Eloise’s forehead and withdrew before emotion could overwhelm her completely. Francesca stepped into the corridor again, the door clicking shut. The corridor was dimly lit, illuminated only by torches flickering in their brackets. Behind her, she nearly gasped. Declan stood waiting in the shadows.
She startled. “You frightened me.”
He said nothing. Only straightened from the wall, his eyes holding hers, unreadable. Then, without a word, he fell into step beside her as she walked toward her chamber.
“Were you waiting for me?”
No explanation. No answer. Just that simple silence that sent heat racing through her veins.
They walked the remaining distance to her door in silence, the air between them thick with everything unsaid. When they reached it, she expected him to bid her goodnight and leave like he always did, like he’d done a dozen times before, always stopping just short of whatever precipice they kept approaching.
