A Hellion for the Highlander

“Ye ken, I was thinkin’ the same thing,” Cicilia laughed and snuggled into his arms. After a moment, she said happily, “The future is lookin’ fairly bright for us both, aye?”

Yes, it was. It was as though Alexander had been living under a fog for most of his life, and now here was Cicilia, lifting it from him at last. She was the sun, clearing the dark clouds that had surrounded him so tightly he hadn’t even realized until it was almost too late.

But nae more. Now I can be the Laird an’ the husband I am meant to be.

Because he owed his people, too. Thomaes had ignited the flame with his twisted words and his money…but Alexander himself had set the kindling. His father would be saddened to see how distant he had been from his people, how locked up in his own pain. Indeed, if he hadn’t found Cicilia’s light, he may have been trapped in that darkness forever.

Nathair had tried to help, but how do you help someone be happy when they have forgotten what happiness is? Alexander had thrown himself into his duties to escape his pain. The pain of his parents’ death, the pain of Ilene’s abandonment. He’d done an excellent job in a sense, but he’d hidden his soul from his people.

That couldn’t happen now, though, for his soul was no longer only his own. Cicilia had patiently drawn it out from the dark corner where it had been chained, and their spirits were entwined together forever. She had brought joy back into his life, and he provided stability into her chaos.

“Ye ken, when me Maither an’ Faither were wed, there was a big fair the followin’ week. They loved each other so much that they dinnae think it was right that the weddin’ was limited to just them an’ the nobility.” Alexander smiled. “Every year, the Gallagher Fair drew in crowds from everywhere in the clan, an’ sometimes from over the borders as well.”

“I vaguely recall,” Cicilia admitted. “But nae in the last…well, since ye became Laird. I dinnae ken that’s what the fair was for, though.”

“Aye. It hurt too much, so I canceled it, for right or wrong,” Alexander admitted, looking a little embarrassed. “I was thinkin’, though, it’s past time that we reinstate it. Do ye think the people would like that?”

Cicilia’s eyes were bright. “Aye. I think the people would like that. I think they’ll be more than happy to give ye a second chance.”

“What makes ye say so?” Alexander asked, worried.

“Because I did,” said Cicilia, “An’ it’s the best decision I’ve ever made in me life.”

He smiled faintly. “So there’s hope, then?”

“Och, Alexander. Where there’s life, and where there’s love, there’s hope. An’ when we’re together, there’s nae shortage o’ either,” Cicilia promised him.

For the first time in so, so long, Alexander fully believed it.

Chapter 30

Veritas Aequitas

Truth and Justice

Catherine helped Cicilia to perfect the design of the gift she’d give on her wedding day and even loaned her the money to pay the goldsmith upfront. Cicilia would, of course, pay her back the second her own accounts were back in order, but it was nice to know that she needn’t worry for the moment.

They had just arrived back to the Castle, almost three weeks after Thomaes’s capture and incarceration. In that time, Jeanie, Alexander, Nathair, Cicilia, and the twins had all traveled together to the newly renovated O’Donnel farm.

It was beautiful. Just as it was before the fire. Me Daddy would have been thrilled.

The twins spent some time fawning over the pet pig they’d had to abandon shortly after it was purchased. Their delight when Alexander told them they could have a special sty built for him at the castle could be heard throughout the land.

He also insisted that, in place of a luckenbooth, he had a different gift for her—the gift of the rebuilt farmhouse around them.

I told him I’d pay for it meself as we’d planned, but I suppose bein’ a Laird means makin’ grand gestures where ye can.

And now they had returned to the Castle, the papers sorted to temporarily pass the farm into Jeanie’s parents’ hands. Catherine and her children were still there, and the Laird of Sinclair would be joining them soon to attend the wedding.

As Alice and Matthew enthusiastically greeted the twins, Catherine hurried over and hugged her brother tight. “So the weddin’ now, then?” she asked.

Alexander chuckled. “Ye’re relentless. Aye, the weddin’.”

Catherine cheered, then let go of Alexander and took both of Cicilia’s hands in her own. “Sister,” she said.

Cicilia laughed, her heart light as a feather. “To ye as well, Sister.”

Once everyone was settled, Catherine asked Cicilia to accompany her down to the village. She made it sound like it was just a light journey, but Cicilia knew the truth.