He turned his head only a little. “Aye, Cicilia?”
“Aecus fortuna iuvat,” she said. “Remember that.”
Fortune favors the kind. An’ ye are a kind man, Alexander MacKinnon, nae matter what ye want everyone else to think.
She saw a brief smile flicker across Alexander’s face before he looked away and began walking once more. “I will,” he assured her. “An’ I hope ye’re right.”
Nathair hadn’t been expecting to have to turn back halfway home. Still, he went without complaint after meeting Alexander’s messenger halfway along the road. He agreed that bringing Jeanie back to the castle as Cicilia’s lady’s maid, if she was willing, was an excellent idea.
I’ll admit it, she’s a bonny lass. Alexander keeps teasin’ me, but he’s right. I haven’ae been taken wi’ a lass so much in some time. Now if only he could see the same wi’ himself an’ Cicilia.
When he arrived three days later, Jeanie also thought it an excellent idea. After changing horses, she’d agreed to travel back with him directly. She rode with him the entire way back, her delicate arms around his waist, and the two chatted incessantly the whole week of the journey.
Nathair arrived back at Gallagher Castle with Jeanie thirteen days after the fire on O’Donnel farm, and six days after Cicilia and the twins had been installed at the castle. He was rewarded with excited squealing with happiness the second the O’Donnel children laid eyes on Jeanie.
Alexander was sitting next to him in the parlor, smiling widely as the women embraced, and the children excitedly chattered to their friend. “I dinnae tell them she was comin’. I thought it would be a nice surprise.”
“Seems ye were right,” Nathair chuckled. “How has it been the last couple o’ weeks? Was the journey all right wi’ the bairns? An’ have they settled in well enough?”
“Aye,” Alexander agreed. “Thomeas was a bit reluctant at first. Ye ken how set he is in his ways.”
I’ll nae comment on the irony o’ that.
“An’ now?”
“Now he’s been a true gentleman. Cicilia even commented on how kind he’s been despite her givin’ him a hard time before when he visited the farm,” Alexander explained. He sounded pleased.
Nathair didn’t like the accomptant, but he knew that Alexander trusted him, and he knew that for all his faults, Thomeas was loyal. If Alexander had ordered him to treat Cicilia as a guest, then no doubt he was going out of his way to do just that.
“An’ how about yer journey?” Alexander asked with a slight tease in his tone. “I’m surprised that ye dinnae take a few, ahem, detours wi’ Miss McCaul.”
Nathair grinned. “I’m excellent at balancin’ many tasks at once, ye ken that,” he laughed. “What about ye an’ Cicilia?”
Alexander tilted his head. “What about us?”
Nathair blinked at him for a moment, then burst into laughter. “Och, Sandy. Ye’re hopeless.”
Alexander had seemed mystified, but Nathair refused to explain. He couldn’t tell if his friend really was dense, or he just didn’t feel like talking about it, but either way, Nathair would leave him to work it out on his own.
He greeted Cicilia and the twins, and then he and Alexander spent the rest of the day at work, leaving Jeanie to keep Cicilia company. There had been rumbles of unrest that Nathair had not yet been able to source, and so he and the Laird spent all day discussing how to prevent rioting or worse.
Ye’d think the people would be content. They’re one o’ the best cared-for clans in the land. I dinnae have the first notion o’ what could be rilin’ them up.
They were no closer to a solution after a day of work, but both felt better knowing their minds were together on the topic. Nathair barely saw Jeanie, or Cicilia for that matter, for the rest of the day.
He liked the girls, but it was pleasant to spend a day with his friend alone, even under the circumstances. And now that work was done, they sat together in Alexander’s room, drinking whiskey and chatting about nothing much at all, just like they had as youths.
There was a rapid knock at the door, and Nathair looked up in surprise. Whoever was knocking sounded urgent. Scared, even.
“Come in,” Alexander called, and the door opened to reveal a terrified-looking Cicilia, pale under her freckles. Her eyes were red, and her face damp, and her voice and hands both shook when she spoke.
“I…I’m sorry to interrupt but I…Alexander, there’s…” she tried, and then her tears started anew. Alexander was already on his feet, and she rushed into his arms while Nathair quietly closed the door behind her.
What in the devil’s name has happened now?
Once she’d caught herself, Alexander pressed her gently again to speak. Cicilia nodded and, still loosely held by Alexander, showed him a piece of paper.
Alexander removed one arm from her waist to take it and read it, and as Nathair watched, his friend’s eyes turned cold.