Sin laughed. “Perhaps.”
“Have you any more word about the MacKaids?” Alexander asked.
Lochlan shook his head. “None of my men have found a trace of them. Have yours?”
“Nay.”
“That sits ill with me,” Sin said. “I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of them.”
“Most likely not,” Lochlan concurred.
“So what should we do?” Alexander asked. “I’ve notified my cousin of what they’ve done, and he has issued an order of execution for them, but until they’re caught...”
“There’s not much we can do,” Braden said.
Sin finished off his tankard of ale. “Sure there is.”
“What?” Braden asked.
“Marry Lochlan off.”
Lochlan shoved playfully at Sin’s arm. “You’re drunk.”
“Is he?” a feminine voice asked.
They looked up to see Sin’s wife, Caledonia approaching the table. She moved around the side of it until she was behind Sin’s chair. “I had a feeling my wayward husband was spending far too much time down here.”
“Come, my lord,” she said, taking Sin’s hand. “We have a long journey home tomorrow and I promised my brother Jamie that we would be back in time for his birthday.”
Sin kissed her hand, then rubbed it against his cheek.
Lochlan was amazed by the gesture that was so alien to Sin.
“Goodnight gentlemen,” Sin said, rising to follow after his wife.
They passed Maggie in the entranceway.
Lochlan smiled. “Look lively, Braden. ‘Tis your turn to have your ears boxed.”
Braden scoffed, “My sweet Maggie knows better than to box my ear, eh, love?”
“It depends on if you’ve done anything to have them boxed for.” She smiled at Alexander and Lochlan. “Do you mind if I steal him away from you?”
“Not at all,” Alexander said.
Lochlan watched them leave.
“So,” Alexander said once they were alone. “Have you any plans to take a bride?”
Lochlan swirled the ale around in his cup as he considered that. “Mayhap one day.”
“Aren’t you a little old now not to be looking?”
Perhaps he was. But Lochlan had too many things that demanded his time, and marrying a woman sight unseen wasn’t something he relished.
“To everything there is a season.”
Alexander laughed at that.
