Paris had to put his hands on Gar to keep him from moving too much. “Easy, lad,” he said. “I’ve warned you against tearing the stitches.”
Gar wasn’t listening. “Then help me sit up,” he said. “Please, Uncle Paris.”
Paris wasn’t happy about it, but he complied. He pulled Gar into an upright position as Jordan packed pillows behind him. It was enough support that it didn’t put any strain on the wound site, but Gar was holding out his hand to Mattie, silently begging her to come to him. In spite of the uncovered injury that made Mattie sick to look at, she did. She crossed the floor and sat down on the bed beside Gar as he pulled her into his powerful embrace.
For her brother, she wept in his arms.
Paris and Jordan stepped away, realizing this was an intensely private moment for Gar and Mattie. As they left the chamber and quietly closed the door, Mattie sobbed for Maksim, this time with Gar’s comfort. But she also sobbed because Gar wasableto give her comfort. Up until the man’s fever broke, she wasn’t sure that would ever happen again. But it had.
It was a bittersweet moment.
“He just wanted to belong,” she wept. “He was so happy at the prospect of serving here, with you.”
Gar had his mouth on her forehead. “He was a fine knight and a good friend,” he said softly. “I will miss him.”
“As will I,” Mattie said. But then, she raised her head and looked at him. “He always looked out for me, you know. I think the main reason he came to Gleann na Fola with us was to make sure you treated me well. He was here to protect me.”
Gar smoothed the hair away from her face, gently. “And I shall happily continue that duty,” he said. “He will be well remembered, Queenie. I promise you.”
“I will not name our firstborn after Paris, but I will name him after my brother.”
Gar grinned. “I think that is an excellent suggestion.”
“Truly?”
“Truly.”
Mattie gazed into his eyes, reaching up to caress his stubbled face. “The past several days have shown me something,” she said softly.
“What is that?”
“It is difficult to put into words,” she said. “Mostly, it has shown me a glimpse of the life I’d always hoped for. I spent years dreaming about our marriage, Gar. Dreaming of what it would be like, what you would be like. That young man who saved me from a bully was the only dream I ever had.”
A smile crept across his lips. “Are you sure the last few days haven’t been a nightmare instead?” he said. “I can only imagine what you’ve gone through. I’m so terribly sorry you had to go through it.”
But Mattie shook her head. “This will sound strange, but I’m glad I did,” she said. “Not for Maksim’s death, of course, but for the experience of watching you as a garrison commander. Of watching you as you dealt with your men and your friendsand your family. If I knew nothing else about you prior to these moments, the way the people around you respect and honor you would have told me everything I needed to know. The bond you share with them is something not even my dreams could have imagined.Youare more than I could have imagined, Gar. And I am very thankful that you agreed to marry me. Even if my dog did destroy your breeches.”
She turned a beautiful moment into a humorous one and Gar started to laugh, wrapping her up in his embrace once more and hugging her as tightly as he could without compromising his stitches. They pained him when he moved, but he didn’t care. He felt weak and drained, but it didn’t matter. All of it was a small price to pay for having his wife in his arms.
Hiswife.
The wife he’d never wanted.
The wife he now couldn’t live without.
“Your dog destroying my clothing was the best thing that could have happened to me,” he said. “It introduced me to a woman I am not worthy of, but a woman I love with all my heart. I will strive for the rest of my life to be worthy of you, Queenie. Thank God I was able to marry the most remarkable woman I have ever met.”
Mattie smiled at him, her hands on his face as he gently kissed her. It was a deeply intimate moment, one with a depth of emotion that neither one of them had ever experienced. As they reveled in the tenderness, someone knocked swiftly on the door before throwing it open.
“Gar!” It was Caria. “Poppy has returned with the army! Matha has gone to greet him, but she says I must make you stay here. She does not want you getting out of bed and she will bring Poppy to you.”
Gar snorted as Caria swept into the chamber and ran right for the lancet window so she could watch the returning army enter the gatehouse.
“I do believe I am hardly able to get out of bed,” Gar said. “Even if I could, I have nothing to wear. Where are my breeches, Queenie?”
Mattie chuckled, pointing to the infamous patchwork breeches draped over the back of a chair near the hearth. When Gar saw them, he sighed with satisfaction.
“Ah,” he said. “It is good to see my old friend. Thank you for not burning them while I was incapacitated.”
