“Ye did and ye are welcome. Now, dinna ye give up on Cameron Sutherland. There is more to that lad than flirtation. He’s got a good heart—and a good head on that braw body.”
Mary snorted. If she’d meant to make her laugh, she’d almost succeeded.
“He’ll be back,” the healer predicted.
“Ye are going to make me cry again.” Mary wrapped her arms around her middle. She hoped the healer was right.
“Nonsense. Ye are done with that. Now comes the hard part.” She patted Mary’s hand. “Waiting. But never fear, when he returns, it will be because he returned for ye.”
Mary shook her head. “Nay, he’ll no’ return. ’Tis no’ his way. He has nay need of a wife. Nay wish to be tied down.”
The healer held up her index finger. “Mark my words, lass. Ye will see.”
Hours later, she made her way to her father’s solar. She’d given her situation a lot of thought. With her time as chatelaine coming to an end, she needed to do as Cameron urged her and take control of her own life.
“I wish to visit Auntie Jane in Inverness,” she told him without preamble.
He shook his head. “Ye canna leave until my new wife knows her role. Ye’ve only had the training of her for a short time. I canna believe ye have taught her all ye ken about running Rose.”
“My lifetime may no’ be enough, Da. She doesna care to learn.”
“Then make her. I raised ye to do yer duty. Now is no’ the time to think to shirk it. The clan depends on ye, as do I.”
Mary draggedherself out of bed late again, dreading another day with Seona—and without Cameron. He had been gone only two days, but Mary missed his smile, his chuckles, the warmth of his arms around her. She even missed the bad moods that plagued him while he’d suffered from his wound and the fevers that overtook him.
As she dressed, she told herself she should be grateful she had to work with her father’s new wife—almost. That responsibility kept her from barricading herself in her chamber and moping. Instead, she spent an hour each morning and another in the afternoon with her new stepmother. Mary had finally conceded that Seona’s attention span seemed to be good for only an hour, and she couldn't stand trying to pour wisdom into the silly girl’s head any longer. So the arrangement suited them both as well as could be expected.
When not in her chamber or tutoring Seona, Mary moved around the keep like a wraith. Though the healer scolded that keeping to herself was bad for her, for now, solitude suited her.
This morning, while she broke her fast, Cook mentioned she couldn’t find a jug she favored using when she made cider. “I think I saw it…somewhere,” Mary told her, tapping her chin while she tried to remember. “Ach, I ken where to look. If ’tis there, I’ll bring it to ye.”
“I can send a lass…”
“Nay, I’m no’ certain, so let me look for it.”
Cook nodded and Mary went on her way, happy to have a simple errand to divert her. The storage area was full of odds and ends. Mary had searched it days ago, looking for bone buttons she recalled her mother saving.She hadn’t found the buttons, which vexed her, so she couldn’t be sure, but she pictured Cook’s jug on one of the shelves.
She turned down the little-used hallway leading to the storage area and gasped. Her stepmother gazed with longing at the young Grant guard she favored, while he held her hands against his chest. Mary imagined Seona could feel his heart beat under them.
Mary stood frozen, watching them. They hadn’t noticed her yet, and she feared if she moved, they would. Lady Grant may have left the guardsmen to ensure her daughter’s safety and well-being in her new position, but this one seemed intent on seduction, and Seona looked more than willing.
The guard and Seona leaned close together, gazes locked, their voices low and intimate. Then the man straightened and seemed irritated by something Seona whispered. His shoulders tight and muscles bulging with emotion, his expression changed to wistful when he reached out to cup her cheek. Seona tilted her head into his hand. When she did, she saw Mary. Her eyes widened, then narrowed as she stared. The guardsman turned to see what had caught Seona’s attention. He straightened and stepped away from her, his hands clenched at his side.
“Ye will say naught,” she hissed.
Mary, shocked at Seona’s unexpected boldness, clutched her belly and backed away, suddenly sick for her father. His new wife had already decided to take a lover. There could be no doubt Seona was in love, and not with her husband. Mary’s father was ill. What might happen to him if she gave him this awful news?
Cameron wasglad to be home. Still not as strong as he’d hoped to be by now, he arrived exhausted from the brief trip on horseback to the coast and the voyage across the Moray firth to Dunrobin. But when his father came out to greet him, he suddenly felt better.
“Where are my brothers?” he asked when his father released him from a bear hug.
“Away at other Sutherland holdings,” the older man answered. “I dinna ken when they’ll be back, but soon.”
Cameron had looked forward to seeing them, and his father’s definition ofsooncould be slippery. They might return before he had to leave, or they might not.
At the evening meal, he greeted everyone and explained what had kept him away so long. In answer to catcalls about his somewhat diminished appearance, he showed off his scar, earning him feminine gasps and, after the meal was done, offers from several of the lasses to care for him. Normally, when his older brothers were home, they got the majority of the lasses’ attention, though he’d had his share. Now, he didn’t want them. His emotions were still raw after leaving Mary behind. Bemused, Cameron bid them good evening, then joined his father in the laird’s solar.
“I see ye have no’ lost yer touch with the lasses,” his father chided.
