Chapter 8
“Meredith!”
Melissa had flung herself from her horse and into Meredith’s arms in a whirlwind of hair and clothes.
“Meredith, I’ve missed ye! I can’t wait to see inside the castle! It looks very grand from here, is it? What’s me room like? Mam has brought some dresses for ye to try, so ye can decide which ye want to wear for the wedding! Wait until ye see what mine’s like!”
Laughing as she staggered under the weight of her younger sister, Meredith somehow managed to untangle herself from her grasp and held her at arm’s length to get a good look at her.
“Melissa, I swear ye’ve grown since I last saw ye,” she said. “Ye definitely haven’t got any quieter, though. So many questions!”
“Oh, ye cannae talk about that,” Melissa grinned. “Ye talk twice as much as me, and ye know it! It’s been so dull without ye at home! Felix barely speaks at all, and as for Ma and Pa, well…”
She stopped to roll her eyes in the direction of their parents, who were speaking politely to Ryder while casting an eye in the direction of their daughter. Felix, Meredith’s younger brother, meanwhile, hung back, holding his horse’s head and scowling fiercely. Meredith would have to worry about that later, though, for as Ryder moved towards her younger sister, she saw Melissa drop into a curtsy, raising her eyebrows sarcastically at him.
“How d’ye do, Laird Grumpy,” she said archly. “I hope ye’ve been being nice to me sister these past weeks!”
“Melissa!” Meredith elbowed her sister sharply, horrified by her behavior, but although Ryder’s face betrayed his shock, he simply smiled politely and kissed the hand Melissa now offered him.
“Welcome to Millar Castle,” he said simply. “Any family of Meredith’s are always welcome here.”
Meredith sighed in relief at the easy way he had managed to diffuse the potentially awkward situation. All the same, as her mother came towards her and embraced her warmly, she couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder to where Felix was still standing alone with the horses, determinedly ignoring everyone — including Ryder.
He could be a difficult young man; he always had been. From the moment he’d been old enough to walk, Felix had been jealous of his two older sisters, doing anything he could to wrest their parents’ attention back to himself, even if it meant getting in trouble.
Meredith still remembered the time her little brother had stolen her favorite doll and thrown it from the highest tower in the castle, watching as it broke into pieces on the flagstones below. Felix hadn’t wanted the toy for himself. He just hadn’t wanted Meredith to have it, and as she watched him scowl again in Ryder’s direction, Meredith was afraid that the intervening years had done little to change her brother’s personality. She just prayed he wouldn’t make things difficult on her wedding day.
* * *
“I love it!”
Meredith let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as Melissa turned to face her, her beaming face confirming that she was, indeed, more than happy with the bedchamber Meredith had allocated her.
“Are ye sure?" Meredith asked anxiously, searching her sister's face for the trace of an untruth. “D’ye think ye’ll be comfortable here?”
“Och, aye,” Melissa replied, grinning broadly. “In fact, ye'll have trouble gettin’ rid o’ me! Now, what's for dinner? I’m starving!”
Meredith smiled back at her as the two sisters linked arms and headed downstairs. It hadn't been easy bringing Ryder's musty old castle up to the standards she knew her family were used to, but, with Ellen's help -- and that of the rest of the servants -- she had somehow pulled it off just in time.
Her mother, she knew, wouldn’t have said anything had Meredith's new home not lived up to her expectations. She would have worried, though, and that was the last thing Meredith wanted, especially given that the reason she was here in the first place was to lessen her family's worries, not to add to them.
While her mother would have worried in silence, however, she knew all too well that Melissa would have complained in public, which meant the approval her sister had just bestowed on her was worth more than she'd ever have admitted.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go out riding," she told Melissa now, as they arrived at the Great Hall, where the servants had been instructed to serve dinner. "I'll show ye the loch and the forest trails... it's so beautiful at this time of year Melissa. Like home, only the colors are so much more vivid, somehow!"
“I’m sure I'll love it, too," Melissa said happily, taking a seat at the long table, while Meredith took her own place, at the head of the table, opposite Ryder, who was pretending to listen to Meredith's mother's polite conversation, while his eye roamed the room as if looking for a chance to escape.
He looks so uncomfortable, Meredith thought, her good mood evaporating as she pulled in her set. Like he's only here under duress or something. And just when things were going so well, too!
She had desperately hoped Ryder wouldn't mind the presence of her family in his home. In fact, a small part of her had even dared to hope he might actually enjoy it. Until now, she'd been planning to ask him if Melissa might stay on for a while after the wedding -- she would enjoy it so much, and there was no denying that Meredith herself would appreciate the company. Now, though, as she watched him quietly from the other end of the table, her biggest hope was simply that they all make it through dinner without some kind of argument erupting.
"Ooh, this smells delicious!” Melissa was saying now as the servant boy placed a bowl of cook's famous broth in front of her. “Broth like this has always been Meredith's favorite! Well, that and cake, of course! Ye cannae ever get enough cake, Meredith, can ye?"
Meredith blushed furiously as she remembered the last time she and Ryder had shared a slice of cake together. Glancing up, she caught his eye and smiled as he winked solemnly in her direction. Maybe it will be OK after all, she thought, allowing herself to relax slightly. Yes, it was all very new — for both of them — and their new situation would take a little bit of getting used to, but wasn't that the case for every newly betrothed couple, after all?
Surely she and Ryder were no different in that respect from anyone else? It would not all be easy. She knew that -- and, if she hadn't, one look at Felix's sulky face would've quickly confirmed it. But, all the same, here she was, with all of the people she loved most -- yes, even Felix -- in the same room, and a whole new life about to begin.
What could there possibly be to worry about?
* * *