Page 52 of Fire in his Highland Heart

She sighed and tried to get to sleep. It was good to enjoy wonderful things while they lasted.

Chapter Eighteen

Blake was restless for the remainder of the night and well into the morning. He couldn’t fall asleep until dawn was nearly approaching, and when he finally did, he was up with the sun. Normally, functioning on such little sleep would have made him irritable, but his liaison with Arguen put him in a good mood.

He had meant it when he said she deserved the world, and he wanted to give her all manner of fine things. But for now, he needed to work. It would do no good to daydream and dawdle like he’d done the past few weeks. The town needed him to be a leader, and a leader he would be.

* * *

“Ye seem much happier with the laird now,” Mrs. Kinney observed. A few days after their nighttime tryst, Arguen visited the castle again to check on Mirellain and the other children (and though she would not admit it, to steal some kisses from Blake).

“Och, now that I’ve tended his bairn, I dinnae hate him,” she answered, hoping it sounded nonchalant.

Mrs. Kinney didn’t seem to accept her answer completely, giving her a sly look. “Hate is a strong word.”

Arguen looked genuinely taken aback. “Aye, well that’s how I felt at first.”

“Well, ye’ve had quite the transformation,” Mrs. Kinney remarked.

Arguen narrowed her eyes, half-playfully, half-suspiciously. “Och, what’re ye playin’ at, now?”

“Ye smile at each other now. Kindly. ‘Tis quite the change.”

The young healer breathed deeply. “Well, when ye nurse a child for near a fortnight an’ her father is worried, ye get to ken each other better.”

Mrs. Kinney shrugged and turned back to her work, still not seeming entirely satisfied.

Mayhap she kens! Arguen thought to herself. Older women were always so wise about things like this. Had the two of them been obvious? She didn’t think so, but then again, it was hard to see one’s behavior from an outside perspective. They would just have to keep their liaisons hidden until the time was right.

When that would be, she knew not, but she trusted Blake, now more than ever.

* * *

When James arrived in Blake’s study a week later, no doubt to cause mischief or poke fun, Blake did not turn him away with a gruff comment like he would have before.

Instead, he smiled and invited his friend in. When the door closed behind James, Blake sighed.

“James, I need yer help.”

James’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh—I’m sorry—what is it ye ask o’ me?”

Blake rolled his eyes. There was that familiar disdain he’d grown so used to. “Yer help, James. Gloat all ye want, but this is no time tae be cheeky.”

“What could the great laird of the castle need me help for?” James asked, plopping himself down in one of the chairs across from Blake’s desk.

“James, this is a serious matter. I cannae have ye jokin’ about now.”

The sincerity in the laird’s eyes was enough to convince James to sit up straight and listen. He could be a mischievous one, for sure, but he was nothing if not loyal.

“What is it ye need?” he asked.

Blake took a deep breath and folded his hands under his chin. He wasted no time with his words. “I’d like tae ask her tae marry me,” he said simply.

James’s eyes bugged out of his head. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Ye mean...the healer?” he asked, half-disbelieving.

Blake nodded. “Aye. I ken how I feel for her, an’ I haven’t felt such a thing in years. Ye ken, of all people.”

James nodded. “Blake, this is all well an’ braw, but...the other matter.”