Page 12 of Married to the Icy Highlander
It wasn’t like he felt particularly lonely. He certainly had more than enough responsibilities to constantly keep himself busy. That was why having a wife who didn’t make any demands on his time was crucial.
He had no intentions of changing the way he lived or operated simply because he had a wife. He was a laird, and with that came heaps of responsibilities.
However, Ceana was not too hard to look at, and that fire in her eyes…
Focus, Neil.
A knock sounded at the door—the nurse had come to fetch Jeanie.
It had been the nurse’s idea that they spend more time together. Though, Neil wasn’t sure how well it was working. The conversation wouldn’t flow properly. He wasn’t great with children, let alone his own child. The conversations they had always shifted to Jeanie’s mother. Neil wanted to have a better relationship with his daughter. He loved her. But…
“Good day, Faither!” Jeanie said as she hopped down and skipped over to her nurse, who was waiting for her with an outstretched hand.
Neil waved somewhat awkwardly to the pair as they left. After he finished getting dressed, he headed down to the stables, where his horse was already ready and waiting for him. He mounted the beast and rode down to the village.
He had hoped that the ride would clear his head, but it didn’t. It seemed that since he had met Ceana, all of his thoughts kept drifting back to her.
Once everything was sorted for the wedding, he was sure his thoughts would settle. He did not like loose ends. He ought to have sent word ahead, but he hadn’t had time for that either.
He found their distillery rather quickly, knowing that there were only two in the village. Her family home was modest but inviting.
Neil tethered his horse to a tree outside and knocked on the front door.
A young lad opened the door. A scraggly black cat was perched on his shoulder, eyeing Neil warily. Neil could have sworn that the cat was sizing him up.
He straightened up. It felt strange to take his eyes off the cat to address the boy.
“M’Laird!” the boy greeted, bowing his head slightly.
The cat didn’t seem phased by the movement at all. It never tore its yellow eyes away from Neil.
“I’m here to meet with yer maither. Is she home?” Neil asked, getting right to business.
The boy smiled brightly as he stepped back and invited him inside.
Neil ducked under the doorframe—he was just too tall—and stepped into the modest living area.
The fire in the grate to the left burned low, but it kept the room nice and warm. A single wooden table with bench-like seats on either side occupied the far corner of the room. There was a small, circular straw mat on one of the benches—no doubt for the wee creature that was perched on the boy’s shoulder. Fragrant steam curled up from a cast iron pot hanging over the logs.
On the right side of the living area, in the corner, there was a single narrow staircase that led upstairs, where the bedchambers likely were. That was where the lady of the house appeared. She hiked up her skirts as she hurried down the stairs to greet him.
“M’Laird! We werenae expectin’ guests! Please excuse the mess.”
Neil glanced around despite himself—there wasn’t a single thing out of place. Though, now he was painfully aware of the fact that he might have dirt on his boots.
“I hope that me visit doesnae trouble ye. I just wanted to get some formalities out of the way. I assume that Ceana told ye that we are to be wed?”
“Yes! Of course, she did! We are very happy about yer union, M’Laird!”
Neil lifted his hand. “If we’re goin’ to be a family, ye might as well address me by me name. Just Neil will suffice.”
“Ye can call me Ida as well, if it pleases ye, M’Laird. Can I get ye anything? Tea?” she asked kindly as the boy went to get the kettle.
“I didnae want to trouble ye. I just wanted to discuss with ye some of the finer details,” Neil answered as he headed to the table and lowered himself onto a bench.
“Of course! What did ye want to discuss?” Ida answered while gathering things for tea.
“Well, I’ll need to decide who’ll become me man-at-arms now that me braither has gone missing, but I was thinkin’ that Ceana and I could be married by the week’s end.”
