Page 27 of Highlander's Wild Lass
“Ye can just leave it on the table there,” Celestia told her. She was in front of her chest of drawers, putting away her freshly laundered clothes.
“We want to talk to ye,” Auralia said, handing her the plate. “Will ye sit down, ye have been on yer feet since the chief left.”
Chester and Hugo raced into her room and jumped on her bed. Auralia sat at the end of it, fidgeting with her hands in her lap.
“Did ye agree to marry him?” she asked.
“I dinnae,” Celestia answered, regretting not pulling Anthony to her lips before he left.
“Why, Celestia…he’s a good man,” Chester said.
“Aye, he gave us our very own bows and a pile of arrows!” Hugo exclaimed.
Celestia’s eyes went wide. “He gave ye weapons?”
“Aye, he did,” Hugo said with a nod. “He said we could hunt with him once we’re trained.”
“Ye use them on our property only, ye hear me? I dinnae want old Gavin limpin’ up here with an arrow stuck in him.”
“We were nae plannin’ to use it on old Gavin,” Chester told her, kicking off his boots and letting them fall to the floor.
“But it is a good idea, Cellie. Thank ye for it,” Hugo said, crossing his legs and covering himself with one of her blankets.
“He’s a handsome man, what more could ye ask for?” Chester said pragmatically, getting back on the subject. “Who else are ye gonna marry? There’s nay one in the village that deserves ye.”
“I appreciate yer input, truly. But…I want to marry for love.”
“But ye can learn to love him,” Hugo said. “Can ye nae?”
“Right, people do it all the time—”
“Listen, I have worked hard to raise ye all up after our maither died. I’ve taught ye all everythin’ I ken, to the best of my abilities, despite havin’ the most stubborn little brothers. . .”
Chester scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “We learned that from ye too.”
“Now, we’re all takin’ on the responsibilities of this household and Da’s business. I want to hold out on marryin’ until I find a love match. I daenae want to be married out of obligation, or because there is a great hurry to find someone to care for us. We can take care of each other.”
“That’s admirable, sister,” Chester said.
“So, ye understand then? I daenae love Anthony Moore, and I willnae marry him just because he was the first willin’ suitor to present himself.”
“There’s been more than him, Celestia,” Auralia said.
“Aye, but they werenae love matches.”
“Ye daenae give them a chance long enough for them to become one,” Auralia told her.
As the days passed, Celestia regained her strength and her health once again and was back to running the household. And as April slowly fell into May, the days grew warmer too as spring took its hold on the Highlands.
The leaves on nearly every tree were newly budded and the grass of the moors and glens grew brighter with each passing rain shower. And with each night spent toiling away attempting to understand her father’s business accounts, Celestia felt ready to take the business on.
“Are ye almost ready, sister?” Chester called from the other side of her bedroom door.
“Aye, one moment!”
One of her best skirts was laid out on her bed next to a pair of tartan trews she had borrowed from the twins. She couldn’t decide between the two.
She paced between them, stopping before each to consider them. The skirt would be what is expected of her, and trews were hardly ever worn by women. But would the trews send a stronger message to her father’s customers? Or would it give them the wrong idea entirely?
