Page 4 of Married to the Icy Highlander
“Something must have happened,” she said firmly.
“Ye cannae be serious.” Ferguson laughed right in her face.
“He wouldnae leave me,” Ceana insisted loudly and firmly enough that the few people still lingering to gossip were effectively silenced. They looked at her for a moment, holding her gaze before they scoffed, as if she was some joke… as if she was somehow offending them.
“Come, Ceana, we can just go home… put some water on yer face,” her mother suggested.
But Ceana couldn’t. She just couldn’t.
She was soangry.
“Nay. I’m goin’ to find out what happened, andthenI’ll be back,” she practically spat in Ferguson’s face.
“Ceana—”
Dropping the flowers, Ceana gathered her skirts in her hands and did the only thing that she could think of—she ran.
2
“Idinnae understand why ye are here.”
On most days, Arthur Mason’s voice was very welcome. However, most days, he was not sitting in Neil’s chair, with his feet propped up on his desk.
Neil entered the room with an arched eyebrow and walked to his desk. Arthur was one of his oldest and closest friends. He was just about the only person who was allowed to speak to the Laird in such a casual way. If anyone else had dared to be so presumptuous with his space, they would be having a totally different conversation.
As it was, Neil moved close enough to slap his boots off his desk and motion for him to get out of his seat. Arthur rolled his eyes but slowly complied.
“If ye had been at yer braither’s wedding, then ye wouldnae have found me sittin’ in yer chair at all.”
“Ye have nay business sittin’ in me chair.” Neil sank heavily into the chair. “Besides, I cannae stand there and watch me braither ruin his life like that. He’s free to make his own choices. If he wants a bride, he can have one. But I dinnae have to watch it.”
“If ye were so worried, ye could have just forbidden him from doin’ it.”
Neil cast a pointed look at Arthur, who quickly changed the subject.
“Somebody needs to get married in yer family,” Arthur said with a sigh.
“I was married, ye ken.”
“Ye ken what I mean. Everyone in the castle was verra excited about their friendship turnin’ into something more. Rumors have been circlin’ about them for years on account of their closeness, so everyone is very happy to welcome her here.”
Neil didn’t dignify him with a response. What his brother did was none of his business. He had no desire to be the sort of Laird who restricted the choices and freedoms of his clansfolk. It was his duty to keep them safe. If Blaine wished to do something so foolish like getting married, then it was on his own head.
“Have ye met the bride?” Arthur pressed.
“I ken her last name—MacLean—but I never met her…” Neil looked up from his papers. “Why are ye askin? Ye ken I havenae been out of this damned castle for years.”
“Maybe that is yer own fault. Perhaps a change of scenery will do ye good.”
“And leave the castle undefended? I dinnae ken.”
“Yer daughter needs a maither, Neil, and ye ken that too,” Arthur persisted as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Neil was keenly aware of what his daughter needed. He had dedicated a great amount of time to figuring out the answer to that question. He just… didn’t seem to be able to bridge the gap between them well enough for her to feel comfortable confiding in him.
“If that’s nae enough to motivate ye,Laird MacTristan,” Arthur continued, a wry smile on his face as he plucked a quill off Neil’s desk and started to absently turn it over and over in his hands, “ye are still in need of an heir. Ye arenae gettin’ any younger, are ye?”
“That is none of yer business either.” Neil sighed. “Have ye made it yer personal mission today to vex me?”
