“I hadn’t thought of that,” Alastair mused. “I think you may be right. If she were to see someone else it might bring her out of her shell, particularly if that someone else was a woman. I have to go out now, so perhaps we can do it this afternoon.”
Caitlyn smiled. “Of course,” she replied.
“May I request just one thing?” he asked.
“Of course,” she answered.
“Do not tell your mother—yet. I would like to see how Ava responds.”
Caitlyn nodded. “Very wise, but I need to ask you a favor too.”
“Anything,” he answered, smiling.
Caitlyn’s face was a mask of shock. “I have never seen you smiling before!” she cried.
He felt the unfamiliar creases on his face and realized that she was right. He hardly ever smiled. “I will try to do it a bit more often if you insist,” he told her.
“I do,” she replied. “Now, while I see Ava, will you go and see my mother?”
He bowed. “I will,” he replied, still smiling as he went out. He could not remember the last time he had felt so lighthearted.
Caitlyn went up to see her mother for a short time while awaiting Alastair’s return. Teresa looked at her shrewdly. “Ye look a lot better than ye did last night, hen,” she remarked, smiling at her. “Who have ye been talkin’ tae?”
“Just the Laird,” Caitlyn said casually.
“What about?” Eileen asked, smirking.
“This and that, Mammy!” Caitlyn wagged a finger at her. “Don’t get your hopes up, for I have absolutely no intention of marrying him!”
“Never?” Eileen asked, pretending disbelief. “He is very handsome, or so I hear.”
“Looks fade, Mammy,” Caitlyn reminded her. “A good heart does not, and I am yet to be convinced that he has a good heart, or indeed any heart at all!”
Eileen and Teresa both burst out laughing.
“You are far too fussy, Milady,” Eileen remarked. “You will end up a childless spinster!”
“If I don’t meet the right man, then so be it!” Caitlyn said loftily. “Oh, and Mammy, put on your best nightdress...the Laird is coming to see you!”
Caitlyn went to sit in the library to await his return. She took out a few books and read a bit about the genealogies of the Duncans, all of whom had pirates, fraudsters, and nefarious villains of one sort or another in their past. The worst thing a Brodie ever seemed to have done was to cheat at cards!
Alastair came striding into the library, and her heart lurched as she looked at him, for he was the very epitome of masculinity. His cheeks were flushed with the wind, and he smelled of fresh air and heather. Although his long dark hair was dripping wet, the raindrops on his thick black woolen cloak, which billowed out like a raven’s wings when he walked, were sparkling like crystals. Moreover, he was smiling again! Since she usually saw downturned lips coupled with a fierce frown, this was a delightful surprise.
Two in one day!she thought happily.There ARE miracles!
He caught her surprised stare and laughed, his deep brown eyes glowing with merriment. She was enchanted by the change in him.
“Why are you so happy?” she asked, unable to stop herself from laughing too.
“Usually my tenants are a little afraid of me,” he replied. “But today, a little baby girl had just been born, a few minutes before I got there, in fact. After the family, I was the first person to hold her. I did not want to—I was afraid of dropping her—but they insisted, so I did. She looked up at me and her eyes were searching me as if wondering what I was. It was…” He shook his head, lost for words.
“Wonderful?” Caitlyn suggested, raising her eyebrows.
“Yes,” he replied, his expression solemn again. “It made me wish I could be a father.”
“What is stopping you?” she asked, frowning. “You can find a wife, surely?”
He did not answer her, but turned away immediately. He poured her a glass of spiced wine, and another one for himself, then they ascended the stairs to Ava’s room.
