“Day after tomorrow.”
I mull it over. “Fine, as long as I go with you.”
She winces. “Sorry, but that’ll be awkward.”
I chuckle. She’s adorable. “Right, then, I’ll bring you to the bookstore, leave you with a bloody guard, then pay a visit to Father MacGowen until you’re done.”
She nods. “Deal.”
MacGowen’s taken easily to his guard, and it puts me at ease knowing our Clan Chaplain is safe.
“Oh, good news,” Cairstina says, sashaying past me. Her voracious appetite’s padded her beautiful curves. I fucking love it.
“Oh?”
“Yup. Paisley passed all her exams.”
“Excellent.”
She smiles. “She’sveryappreciative you finally said she could travel.”
“Aye, on one condition,” I tell her firmly. “Same as the last.”
“What’s that?”
“I told her you and I come with her.”
Cairstina gasps. “We will?”
“Aye. I’ve got every detail already sorted.”
Her arms come around my neck and she gives me a firm squeeze.
“Thank you,” she whispers in my ear, and I know she isn’t just thanking me for this. “Thank you.”
I kiss her cheek and hold her to me. “Cairstina, I’m the one that ought to be thankingyou.”
She smiles, snuggling into me like she belongs here.
“Before you came, I was so miserable. I was mourning the loss of Tavish, and convinced I’d never measure up to him.”
She lays her hand flat on my chest. “Och, I know it, Leith.”
I hold her to me and continue my confession. It feels so good to say it.
“I never thought I could be the man my father wanted, the leader my family needed. Until you.”
She shakes her head. “Wasn’tIwho taught you that, handsome. ’Twasyou.”
I smile, running my hand along the back of her head. Listening to the gentle sound of her breathing.
“Aye,” I finally admit with a sigh. “Sometimes, it has to be.”
She nods in agreement. “I wanted to please my mum. She wasn’t anyone who was even worthy of my attention, much less my eagerness for her approval. I wanted someone to validate who I was.”
“God, you know I understandthat.”
She sighs. “Aye. Even when she was mean, even when she hurt me, I still craved the knowledge that she was proud, that I made her happy.”
