A Love to Discover (Loving in the Highlands 2)

'Yes, I know, but still, it is so light right now,' I say, blushing.

'You are beautiful, Elsie, with that perfect body of yours, with that long blond hair and angelic eyes,' he says, making me blush even more. 'And I want to look at you every day. But if you are really shy right now, I will turn away until you get dressed.'

'Yes, I am not used to men looking at my naked body, so please turn around, until someday I will get used to it,' I say, as I see him turning around in the bed and facing the window.

'I will be patient and will wait until that happy day arrives,' he says, chuckling.

I quickly put on my underwear and earasaid, and in a minute I am ready.

'I am ready, my love, you can also get up, so that we can go and have some delicious breakfast,' I tell him, looking adoringly at his strong and muscular backside.

'Mmm, the delicious breakfast sounds good,' Calem says and also gets up. He quickly gets dressed, we wash, and soon both of us are ready to go to the kitchen for the delicious breakfast made by Ainslee that I have missed so much.

I make my hair into a neat braid, and we leave my bedroom. The cool air hits my face when we get out into the stone hallway, which is semi-dark. I lead the way to the kitchen, and we walk hand in hand. I am proud to show him my castle, and he is impressed by how beautiful it is.

'I really like your castle, Elsie,' he tells me. 'Everything is neat and beautiful.'

'When my parents were alive, the castle was alive, too,' I reply. 'After they died, the castle lost some of its liveliness and kind of cooled down.'

'It is like that every time,' he nods, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. 'Our parents make our homes warmer and full of happiness. When they are gone, they take part of that feeling with them.'

I want to tell him that together we will create a warm and happy home, and that our children will also have that good feeling of warmth and happiness, but I merely smile to myself, enjoying the thought. I just do not want to speak about having children right now. The topic may turn into a very long discussion, and I do not want it to be interrupted by us reaching the kitchen, which is by the way quite close to us already. We will still have plenty of time to talk about anything and everything. Now we must meet Ainslee and eat the tastiest breakfast.

'Oh, Elsie! My girl! How are you!'

Without turning around, I already know whose voice I am hearing. The soft, yet grown-up, the tiny, yet strong, the timid, yet brave voice belongs to my most favorite maid – Ainslee. I spread my arms and go towards the old woman to give her a hug. Even though only two months have passed since I saw her last time, she has changed. She seems to have grown older, more wrinkles have appeared on her kind face, and the brightness of her eyes is gone.

'Ainslee, I am so happy to see you!' I say, looking at her.

'My girl, my Elsie, how are you?' She asks me again.

'I am very well,' I reply, but then I see her eyes filling with tears.

'My girl, I was so worried,' she says. 'Since you and Megan were gone, I was very worried. I did not know where you were and how you were. I did not know what had become of you. I did not know how I could find out.'

'Oh, Ainslee, there was no need to get worried,' I hug her again. 'We were very well. Megan got married and is very happy now.'

'I know,' she says, breaking into a smile. 'I heard about it a couple of days ago. It was the only good news in those two months.'

'And I am going to get married with Calem,' I add, looking at him, who nods and smiles at Ainslee.

'I am so happy for you. Always be happy. Please take good care of my Elsie,' Ainslee says to Calem, sounding very emotional. 'I love her as my own daughter. Please always be good to her.'

'She is the love of my life. Of course, I will protect her and always take good care,' Calem replies politely. He knows that I treat Ainslee different than anyone else, as she has always been like a second mother to me.

'I am so happy for you,' Ainslee says again. 'The breakfast is ready, please come and eat,' she adds, sounding cheerful again.

I nod and look at Calem. He also nods, and we both follow Ainslee into the kitchen. Only now, that I enter the kitchen, I realized how much I have missed that place, as well as the food that is made by Ainslee.