“By the saints, I hate to lose that boat,” Alex said. “Ye know how much I love her.”
Glynis pressed her lips together. Must Alex announce to his entire clan that he favored a stolen boat over his new wife?
“I’d say ye got the better end of the wager,” Duncan said, and turned to her. “Alex is a lucky man. I wish ye every happiness with the damned scoundrel.”
Glynis pasted a smile on her face as the men laughed.
Then Duncan turned and collected coins from all the other men. It appeared that every one of them had wagered against Alex marrying.
“Ye look good for a dead man,” a small, wiry man said, as he slapped Alex on the back.
“What are ye saying, Tait?” Alex asked.
“Didn’t Alex tell us all he’d be dead before he’d be wed?” Tait shouted to the others.
Connor grabbed Tait by the back of his shirt as if he were a cat. “Ye know what a joker Alex is.”
But Tait was undaunted. “If Alex said it once, he said it a hundred times: ‘Better to tie an anchor to my leg and toss me into the sea than to tie me to a wife. Better to beat me with a…’”
The sound of Tait’s voice faded as Connor marched him off.
Ian gave Glynis a smile that she was certain had stopped a few lasses’ hearts. “We didn’t have an opportunity to go off with the groom the night before the wedding, as is customary. Do ye mind if we take your husband for a wee bit before we give him to ye for good?”
“Or for bad!” one of the other men called out to another round of laughter.
* * *
Married. How had it happened?
Alex took another long pull from the jug of whiskey. From the time he was a wee lad, he’d vowed he’d never do it.
He had a wife. Despite the fact that he’d spent the last fortnight cajoling, charming, seducing, and almost begging Glynis to agree to marry him, it was hard to fathom.
“Be brave,” Ian said, squeezing his shoulder.
“What if I can’t do this?” Alex said, desperation rising in his throat.
“Is it the basic instruction ye need?” Duncan asked with a straight face. “What goes where and such?”
“I don’t mean in bed—I know how to please a woman.” Alex punched Duncan’s arm, then turned to Ian. “It’s all the rest of the time. What do I do with her?”
“Ye do the same as ye always do—the difference is that ye have someone to talk to about it.” Ian grinned. “Whether ye want to talk about it or no.”
Alex took another long drink while the others laughed.
“Glynis seems a good sort,” Connor said. “I’m sure ye have nothing to worry about.”
Worried? He glanced over at Glynis, with Sorcha asleep against her shoulder. He was petrified that he would fail them.
Oh, God, no. Alex closed his eyes as his father pushed Ian aside to sit next to him and put his arm around him. Ge b’e thig gun chuireadh, suidhidh e gun iarraidh. Who comes uninvited will sit down unbidden.
Ian, Connor, and Duncan had sensed he was sinking below the waves and had dragged him to a corner of the hall for a private talk. Alex did not want to speak with anyone else—particularly his father.
“Don’t ever love a woman,” his father said, staring at Alex’s mother across the hall, “or she’ll tear your heart out and feed it to the fish.”
* * *
Sorcha yawned and leaned against Glynis’s shoulder. Glynis kissed the top of her head, pleased to have the comfort of the child’s presence. Across the hall, she saw Sìleas enter on light feet and come straight toward them.
