Page 30 of The Laird’s Wrong Wife

Paisley drew her needle through the cloth. “Are ye happy to become Faither’s wife?”

Ceana looked toward the lawn. Tommy had fashioned the stolen strap into a lead for Ness and was attempting to march her in a circle. The memory of Oscar’s palm against her waist returned with enough clarity to warm her skin.

“I have scarcely had time to understand it,” she replied. “I am nae unhappy though, if that’s what ye are askin’.”

“I thought every lass wanted to be a wife.”

“Every lass is expected to become one. Wantin’ it is an entirely different thing.”

Paisley considered that while winding thread around one finger.

“I never expected anyone to choose me,” Ceana added, not really knowing why. “Nay one wanted me before.”

“That is foolish.” Paisley looked up at once. “Ye are very bonnie.”

The praise struck deeper than Ceana wished it to. Paisley had no reason to offer courtesy, and her solemn expression held no trace of flattery.

“Ye are kind.”

“I like ye.” The girl lowered her eyes again. “I like Tommy too, though I would deny it if he heard me.”

Ceana smiled. “I shall protect yer reputation.”

Paisley pushed the needle into the cloth without drawing it through. “’Tis why I daenae want another braither or sister.”

Ceana gave her time. The girl’s shoulders had drawn inward, as if she expected laughter.

“What do ye believe would happen if another child came?”

“Faither is busy already, and Tommy is the heir. If his new wife had her own bairn, she might decide there was nay place for me.”

The words her own bairn sounded borrowed. It immediately made Ceana’s smile falter.

“Did one of the other women say that?”

“One said she would give Faither more sons. Another spoke of her own son while Tommy and I were beside her.” Paisley pulled the needle through too sharply, puckering the fabric. “The last one said the council could give her son the same rights as Tommy.”

Ceana pictured a woman discussing a child who did not yet exist while Paisley sat within earshot. A new son could gather allies, and a daughter could be sent away quietly once she ceased to suit the household being built around her.

“What did Oscar do?”

“He ended the match. She left the next mornin’.” A flicker of satisfaction crossed Paisley’s face. “Faither was so angry that nay one dared ask her to stay for breakfast.”

Great. So it wasn’t only Tommy who had driven every woman away. Oscar had hidden the harder truth beneath a story that made his son sound impossible. He needed a wife who would join the family without dictating what could be taken from his children.

Ceana covered Paisley’s tense hand with her own. “While I have authority here, nay one will speak as though ye or Tommy belong to a life yer faither has left behind. This is yer home.”

“Do ye truly mean to stay?”

“I gave yer faither me word. I willnae vanish without explanation.”

Tommy ran back with grass on his sleeves while Ness bounded behind him. “Are ye speakin’ about me?”

“Only about troublesome goats,” Paisley said, reclaiming her hand before he could see.

Ceana turned to her, and they both laughed.

Oscar slowed down his walk beneath the garden arch.