The Laird’s Christmas Kiss (The Lairds Most Likely 2)

Mamma had the bit between her teeth. She might relent in time but right now, she was determined on making her position clear. She’d see that everyone suffered the torments of the damned before she stepped back from her ultimatum. If she stepped back.

Elspeth wanted to retort that Hamish had been in a rage because he was an idiot. But that wasn’t fair.

“He misunderstood,” she said, knowing she was wasting her time.

“Lady Glen Lyon, your daughter is as pure as a lily,” Brody said. “Ye have my word as a gentleman.”

“That’s all very well, Brody, but appearances are what count. I have my political influence to worry about,” her mother said. She directed an implacable stare into the space above Elspeth’s head as if she couldn’t bear to look at her erring daughter.

Elspeth blinked back stinging tears. Tonight had been wonderful—up until it wasn’t. One of the saddest parts of this quarrel was that over the last few days, she’d hoped that she and her mother had grown closer. She should have known better.

If her mother imagined that bullying would change Elspeth’s mind about marrying Brody, her mother didn’t know her at all. Once Elspeth made her mind up, nothing would shift her. Look at her ill-fated penchant for that handsome rogue Brody Girvan.

She’d inherited that strong will from her mother. If Mamma really decided to turn her back on her daughter, she’d cut Elspeth loose from the family. Her stomach had been roiling since Marina had come in. Now she raised a shaking hand to her lips and prayed that she wouldn’t be sick. That would be the final beastly humiliation.

“Elspeth, listen to me. Dinnae get your hackles up. If ye do, you’ll never listen to sense,” Brody said. “This issue is between you and me. Please say you’ll marry me.”

She gave him credit for injecting such desperation into his voice. She also had to give him credit for knowing her well enough to understand that beneath her unassuming exterior, she possessed a formidable obstinacy. It seemed her mother didn’t know her half so well.

“It’s not just between you two, though, is it?” Hamish said. “Elspeth’s ruin is a family matter.”

Brody shot him a furious glare. “If you dinnae shut your mouth thi

s minute, I’ll shut it for ye.” His fists clenched at his sides, and the threat of incipient violence vibrated in the air.

“This is my house, and I willnae have it turning into a bear’s den,” Fergus said sternly.

“Elspeth, please?” Brody turned back to her with a pleading expression that almost made her wonder if refusing him was the biggest mistake she’d ever made in her short life.

Oh, dear Lord, he sounded like he cared about her, and she knew he didn’t. Everything would be different if he did.

She braced to answer as she must. “No, Brody. I said I won’t marry you, and I’m standing by that.”

Her mother gave a furious huff and whirled toward the door. “Then you’re dead to me, Elspeth.”

“I won’t be coerced, Mamma,” Elspeth said, fighting the urge to run after her mother and beg her to reconsider.

“You know she won’t, Mamma. She’s like a mule when she gets her mind stuck on something,” Charity chipped in. “You’re going about this all the wrong way.”

Her mother stopped but didn’t turn around. “She’ll listen when she starts to wonder where she’ll sleep tonight.”

“Elspeth has a home here as long as she likes,” Marina said in an uncompromising tone that to Elspeth’s surprise matched the strength of her mother’s. “She’s not a child. She’s almost twenty-one. She has a right to wed where she wishes.”

Elspeth wanted to hug her, while relief as powerful as a tidal wave swamped her. “Thank you, Marina,” she mumbled.

Marina’s kindness undermined her show of strength. She felt closer to crying now than she’d felt since Hamish had come in.

Fergus glanced at Hamish, Diarmid and Brody and must have decided that they’d retreated from the brink of a brawl. Hamish and Diarmid looked disgruntled, but in control of their impulses. Brody, blast him, still looked desolate as if all his hopes had crumbled to nothing. She didn’t believe that was true for a minute.

“I dinnae think there’s anything to gain from continuing with this tonight,” Fergus said. “Why don’t we all go to bed? In the morning, I doubt circumstances will seem as desperate as they’re painted right now.”

“The voice of common sense, il mio amore.” Marina bestowed an approving smile on her husband. “Per pietà, nothing good can come of this atmosphere of grand drama. We all need to settle down when our tempers have cooled and decide our next actions then.”

Brody folded his arms over his chest and his jaw hardened in an adamant line. “I’d like to talk to Elspeth before she goes upstairs.”

“So ye can bully her into accepting you?” Diarmid asked snidely.

“As if I’ll let you put your paws on my sister again,” Hamish snarled, tensing up once more and bunching his hands at his sides.