Page 75 of The Wrong Bride
“Did ye see where he went?” Hugh asked.
“He’s just reached the entrance to the lower courtyard,” Riona said.
He briefly cupped her cheek. “Ye’ve had a hand in some of this, I believe?”
She blushed and nodded, then searched his gaze with worried eyes.
He gave her a faint smile and left the hall.
Riona hugged herself as she watched Hugh take the stairs two at a time and run across the courtyard. She’d hoped to influence Lady McCallum into speaking up on behalf of her son, but had never imagined the woman would be so kind as to spare Fiona, the sister of the woman who’d killed herself, the pain of having to relive in public what had been done to her sister.
Riona turned to Samuel. “I’m going to be with Hugh in case he needs me. Would you help Fiona find a meal and a place to rest?”
Samuel eyed her with interest, but only nodded.
Riona ran out into the evening, the chill mountain air seeping up beneath her skirts. She hurried across the courtyard, focused on following Hugh. More than one clansman stared at her as she went by, but she ignored them. When she reached the stables, breathing fast from her near-run, she stood outside the open door and peered in. Hugh squatted beside little Hamish the terrier, rubbing the overlong hair on top of his bobbing head. Brendan stood with his back to Hugh, his body tense, his hands fisted at his sides.
“Ye must have questions for me, lad,” Hughsaid in the no-nonsense voice of a commander to a valued soldier.
Brendan turned around at last. There were no tears, but his face was set in lines of new knowledge and old pain. Riona’s heart broke for the poor boy who was trying to be so brave.
Brendan took a deep breath. “My granny would never talk to me about my da. She said it only mattered how much my mum loved me, and how mum wanted me. But now, to hear she didn’t want what was done to her . . .” His voice broke as it trailed away. After a moment to compose himself, he continued, “I’d hoped it was someone like you, that maybe ye loved her but couldn’t be with a simple village girl.”
Hugh continued to pet the dog. “We can’t choose our parents, Brendan. And since we have the same father, I speak from experience.”
Brendan shuddered. “’Twas ugly and wrong, what he did to her.”
“It was. I tried to make it right for your mother. We didn’t love each other, but we were friends.”
“I bet it was you who made sure we have the nicest cottage in the village.”
Hugh didn’t say anything.
“I know my granny appreciates what ye tried to do. I do, too. I guess . . . ’tis all right that ye’re my brother, not my da.”
Hugh looked up at him and smiled, a smile that made Riona’s heart near burst with love for him, forthis man who tried so hard to make up for everything his father had done, and never felt he could do enough.
“Would you and your granny like to move into the castle?” Hugh asked. “We’re brothers, after all.”
Brendan shrugged his bony shoulders. “Thank ye, but I like where we live, and the friends who didn’t care if I was your bastard or not. But can I still come here and work with the horses?”
Hugh rose to his feet and put a hand on his shoulder. “Of course. I look forward to teaching ye to hold more than a stick sword someday, too.”
“I’ve been practicing already,” Brendan said slyly.
Hugh laughed.
Riona crept away, leaving them in peace, knowing Hugh already possessed the strength and sensitivity he needed to deal with a confused boy.
WHENHugh returned to the great hall, he felt as if stones the size of the Grampian Mountains had been lifted from his shoulders. The truth of Brendan was out in the open, and he knew Riona had made that happen. After all this time, would his mother have come forward by herself, if not for Riona? Men who’d remained wary were now giving him respectful nods, but no one tried to stop him from returning to his meal.
He didn’t see Riona, but Maggie still sat on the dais, eating with hungry attention.
When she saw him, she smiled. “I don’t think I’ve eaten all day as I waited for this to happen.”
He eyed her sharply. “Yeknewthis was going to happen?”
“Not ‘knew,’” she emphasized, “just knew.”
