Page 13 of The Mad Highlander
She was far more demure than he’d imagined, yet there was a fiery spirit in her that demanded his respect, even if she did choose to display it at the strangest of times. He smirked to himself as he recalled her failed attempts at trying to flirt with him.
“Ye must be Iris Whyte. I am Robyn, younger sister to Laird O’Brien, but I’m sure ye call him Cayden by now?” Robyn turned to her brother with a bright smile, clearly starting her antics despite his warning before he left.
Robyn Hart was a sweet young girl with good intentions; her only flaw in Cayden’s eyes was her meddling obsession with love and her untamed behavior. More specifically, she prided herself in being a matchmaker of sorts. A few of the maids had abandoned their positions and gone off to marry farmhands or even soldiers because of her insistence upon meddling—a fact that was more burdensome to Cayden than amusing.
Cayden had warned her before leaving that she was not to get involved in his marriage affairs, yet the warning seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
“What is all this commotion about?” Margot Hart appeared as if out of nowhere with a welcoming smile, embracing her son before making her way to Iris and her daughter.
“It’s a pleasure to meet ye, Lady O’Brien.” Iris curtsied politely with a warm smile as she met his mother’s gaze.
His heart flittered uncomfortably in his chest as Iris embraced his mother. There was something about the way she seemed to accept them without question that tugged at his heart. She was a stranger to them, an unwilling party thrust into an entirely new world, yet she seemed to handle things with grace.
“Please, call me Margot, and if ye feel like it someday, ye may call me Maither as well.” His mother winked at her. “But only if it feels right. I want ye to feel right at home with us.”
Clearing his throat, Cayden turned from them, attempting to leave. His mother and sister seemed to have everything under control, and there were things he needed to see to.
“Dearest, will ye nae show yer new bride the castle?” Margot called after him, shooting Iris an apologetic glance.
Turning back reluctantly, Cayden clenched his jaw. “There is nae need for me to do that, Maither. Ye an’ Robyn can show her the castle. Try nae to overwhelm her all at once. Take her to her chambers an’ help her settle in a’fore ye show her everything else. She will be needing a few items as well; send someone to the village with a list.” He turned to leave again but found his path being blocked when his mother rushed forward and glared at him.
Oblivious to the tension between her mother and brother, Robyn took Iris by the arm and led her away, chattering incessantly as they walked.
“Do ye nae want to be the one to show her around?” His mother stared at him, narrowing her eyes the way she had done when he was a child.
Cayden bristled under a piercing gaze, longing for some peace and quiet now he was home. “If I wanted to show her around, I would show her around, but I asked ye and Robyn to make her feel welcome. Laird McLaren will be here soon, Maither. I dinnae have time for things that ye an’ Robyn can do in me absence.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Margot replied a little sheepishly. “I didnae ken Laird McLaren was here so soon, and I only wondered if ye wanted to get to ken the lass better as ye havenae had any time to spend with her except for the coach ride. I suppose that will have given you some time. It is all by the by—ye will have all the time in the world now to get to ken yer bonny lass before ye wed.”
“Aye, and I need to stop a war. There are more important things goin’ on, Maither,” Cayden said, his voice filling the air.
“Aye, ye are right,” she agreed as if she had only made up her mind at that moment that he made a good point.
Cayden didn’t have time to indulge in romance of wedding plans just because his mother wanted a grandchild and had wanted one for many years. At least the fact that he had brought home a woman to wed would get her off his back.
A guard cleared his throat. “I beg yer pardon, Me Laird; I didnae mean to interrupt, but Laird McLaren has arrived.” The man stood to attention.
“You have found a bonny lass, and she looks so polite, too.” Margot lifted her hand and cupped the Laird’s cheek lovingly before stalking off behind her daughter and Iris.
Polite or terrified!
He looked at his wife-to-be, and she stared back at him like a deer that had just heard a crack in the woods. She didn’twant him to leave her side which he understood, given the circumstances. It annoyed him, but not because she wanted him to stay with her. He was annoyed that he wanted to stay to comfort her more.
Cayden shook his head before stalking off in the opposite direction. All the women in his life caused him a great deal of annoyance; Iris didn’t seem to be any different, but for very different reasons.
Iris glanced over her shoulder at Cayden’s retreating figure. She hated to admit it to herself, but she had hoped that he would have at least shown her around the castle. He didn’t seem to care that she suddenly found herself in the midst of a new home with people she didn’t know. “Me brother sure got himself a bonny bride,” Robyn gushed with a sincere smile.
Iris couldn’t help but smile back. The girls’ enthusiasm and zeal for life were quite contagious despite the circumstances.
Unlike her brute of a brother.
“I ken that this must all be quite overwhelming for ye, but dinnae fuss, Maither an’ I will show ye around.” Robyn winked at her, making Iris realize just how alike mother and daughter were. “If there is anything ye need, just let us know an’ we will do our best to get it for ye.”
I’d like to go home an’ have me brother back.
The deep sadness and fear she felt crept back in despite the younger girls’ contagious enthusiasm. It was almost strange to Iris that neither his sister nor his mother seemed to be scared of Cayden. Did they not care that he had killed their father and brother?
The grandness of Castle O’Brien was slightly overwhelming to her as she tried her best to take in all the sights. The structure itself was twice the size of her home with almost double the amount of rooms. She watched as maids bustled about, carrying trays of food or neatly folded stacks of linen. She had known all the maids’ names back home, but she doubted she would be able to accomplish the same here, not soon in any case.
