That sounded like Gretna. Ian too had felt the need to silence his sister from time to time.
Remy looked Ian’s way, a crooked smile on his lips. “I love her. I know I’m not the man she deserves, Ian. I know that. I tried tae walk away but I canna. Think back when ye realized ye were in love with Ida.” Remy placed his fist to his chest, right over his heart. “I feel the same.”
Bloody hell. Ian let out a sigh for the third or fourth time today, he had already lost count. “But ye said ye would never settle with one lass in yer life.”
“That was before Gretna fell into mah life,” Remy said softly. “I have not touched her innocence if that is wot ye are worried aboot. I wouldna disrespect her or ye.”
Ian knew in his heart that Remy was telling the truth. Even if his sister had tried, he wouldn’t have crossed that line, not with her.
“I want tae wed her,” Remy finished. “But I will walk away if ye tell mah tae.”
Ian opened his mouth and then shut it. Damn him and damn his sister too. All he had ever wanted was for Gretna to be happy. She had tried for so long to find someone who would give her thegreat love she had spouted about since she was a young lass and before he wed Ida, Ian didn’t believe that it existed.
Now he understood what love was. He felt it every day he woke next to his wife. “Ye donna deserve her,” he told his friend. “She deserves everything.”
Remy hung his head, indecision on his face. “I know. I’ve told her that very thing but she doesna believe that should be a reason.”
Ian looked at his friend, the torture that he was going through, and knew that whatever he told Remy, he would do. If he told him to walk away, Remy would do it because he cared about their friendship that much.
But deep down, Ian couldn’t make two people who truly cared about each other that miserable.
“Aye, then I will expect ye tae live in the keep.”
Remy’s head snapped up and his eyes widened. “Wot?”
Ian clasped his hands behind his back, his stance what his wife liked to call the laird stance. “I’m giving ye permission tae ask for mah sister’s hand. There’s a dowry of course that ye will be privy tae, but mah only condition is that ye remain in the keep for now.” That way Gretna could have the life she was accustomed to and Remy didn’t have to worry about finding a new home from the barracks that he currently lived in. “Think of it as mah wedding gift tae ye.”
Remy swallowed a few times before he finally pulled himself back together. “I’m assuming ye wish tae wed her still?” Ian prodded, enjoying the discomfort on Remy’s face.
“Aye, if she will have mah,” Remy responded.
Ian held out his arm and Remy clasped it, giving his friend a true smile. “Then ye better go ask her before she starts tearing down the keep stone by stone.”
Remy laughed and the weight lifted off Ian’s shoulders. “I can already imagine her in mah mind doing so.”
They shared a grin before Ian stepped back. “Then, I will leave ye tae it.” He didn’t much mind Remy being part of their family. He had always considered him as a brother already. This would just make it official.
He found his wife in the stables, cooing to her horse when he entered. “Did ye give them yer permission?” she demanded, placing her hands on her hips.
“Aye,” he answered, drawing her against him. “I did.”
Some of her ire softened and she wound her arms around his neck, letting him press a kiss to her temple. “Good. I would hate tae have tae force yer hand.”
Ian chuckled. “Ye think ye can force mah hand, lass?”
She looked up at him, giving him a grin. “I know I can.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong on that account.
EPILOGUE
A month later
“Och! I always knew ye would be a beautiful bride, but seeing it with mah verra eyes still catches mah off guard.”
Gretna looked at her reflection in the mirror, smoothing down the front of her dress nervously. Today was the day that she had longed for, the day that she would stand beside a man that would pledge his love for her and give her the future she had longed for.
She just never expected it to be Remy.
