The Highlander's Lost Lady (The Lairds Most Likely 3)

The warm, spontaneous welcome took Fiona aback, Diarmid saw. There was an uncomfortable silence, then Fiona’s rare, radiant smile lit her features and she curtsied. “You’re too kind.”

“Not at all, signora.” Marina took her hands. “I see Sandra has worked her magic.”

“She’s amazing.” Fiona self-consciously touched the becoming curls framing her face.

“Certo, she is. I bless the day she decided to come to Scotland with me, instead of staying in Firenze. When I heard you’d arrived without any luggage, I knew if you had something bellissimo to wear, you’d start to feel at home.”

Fiona glanced down at the pretty dress with an expression of wonder. “It’s a beautiful gown.”

“Certo, but that blue never did very much for me, whereas it’s perfect for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Prego. Come and join me, bella.” Marina brought Fiona across to a sofa and sat beside her.

As Diarmid turned back to his chair, he caught Fergus’s inter

ested gaze from where he stood near the unlit hearth. Embarrassment prickled his skin. He had an unpleasant inkling that his reaction to Fiona’s arrival had revealed too much to his sharp-eyed friend.

“Would ye like a glass of wine, Mrs. Grant?” Fergus asked. “I imagine you’re hungry. Dinner willnae be long.”

Fiona’s gesture was apologetic. “You must curse me for arriving uninvited at such a time.”

“We’d do anything for Diarmid,” Marina said. “And he’s just told us a little about your difficulties.”

As she accepted a glass of hock from Fergus, the inquiring glance that Fiona sent Diarmid wasn’t altogether friendly. “Did he?”

“Aye, I did,” Diarmid said. “Ye can trust Marina and Fergus, and I’m hoping they’ll help us against the Grants.”

“Indeed we will,” Marina said, squeezing Fiona’s hand. “I think you’ve been so brave, poverina.”

“Desperate, more like.” Fiona’s lips turned down. “I know the shipwreck was a disaster, not least because a good man lost his life to the sea, but I was lucky to wash up on Diarmid’s beach. Without him, I dread to imagine where I’d be now. The more I think about it, the more I realize I had no chance of succeeding on my own when I ran away from Bancavan.”

Fergus emptied his glass and gave her an encouraging smile. “With Diarmid’s help and now with ours, the odds have changed in your favor, Mrs. Grant. It was indeed a lucky thing that ye made land at Invertavey.”

Fiona didn’t smile back. As Diarmid recovered from the shock of seeing her dressed like a lady of fashion, he realized that she looked tired and uneasy. The last days had been long and hard, and telling him her story had been draining. Not to mention that since she’d kissed him, hostile awareness had buzzed between them like a low, irritating hum. It had worn at his nerves all day. He suspected she must find it just as grating.

“I don’t know why you’d pledge yourselves to my cause,” Fiona said gravely. “You know nothing about me.”

Marina’s eyes were dark and serious. “Signora, we told you—we’d do anything for Diarmid. It’s enough that he’s on your side. Even before he told us your circumstances. Your daughter is in trouble. So are you. Accept what help we can give you. Don’t let your pride get in the way of your good sense.”

Fiona tugged her hand free, and her expression didn’t lighten. “But one of the problems is that I’m not sure why Diarmid is on my side.”

“That’s easy to answer.” Fergus’s laugh held a hint of fond mockery. “At heart, my stalwart friend is a white knight. Your plight is a chance for him to devote all that chivalry to a lady in distress. You’re doing the laddie a favor. Life at Invertavey is so peaceful, he was getting too lazy and complacent for his own good.”

Diarmid ignored his friend’s good-natured jibes. “I saved your life, Fiona. It puts me eternally at your service.”

“Shouldn’t that work the other way?” Fiona retorted.

“I told you when I saved ye that you’d never break the bond between us.”

He wanted to sound jocular, to ease the heavy atmosphere building in the room. But the words emerged like a vow.

Fiona looked troubled and didn’t reply. He waited for Fergus to scoff at him or for Marina to break the weighty silence that descended. But neither spoke.

Instead two pairs of astute eyes leveled on him. The intense scrutiny made him rise from his chair and turn toward the window to avoid the discomfiting knowledge he read in his friends’ faces.

When Kirsty chose that moment to come in and announce dinner was ready, Diarmid sagged with relief. For a moment there, he felt like he stood on that precipice again. And this time, he’d been on the brink of jumping.