Page 58 of A Highland Bride Taken
“Likewise, Crawford,” Campbell returned, tightening his hold on the man.
He caught his wife stealing a glance at him and nodded at her. She was surrounded by her family now. She must have been ecstatic at the surprise.
He had invited them in a bid to help her cope with the many unfamiliar faces she would be meeting, but now he saw that his worry had been unfounded.
She had surprised him with the poise with which she had carried herself and made conversation, especially with how she had looked.
His men had been right to be so stunned by her that they couldn’t speak. Campbell himself had been stunned as well. A compliment had been hanging on the tip of his tongue, but when he had seen his men eyeing her bosom, he had not been able to speak any words.
He had seen her face fall in disappointment, but he had been much too angry to change his mind.
Even now, he felt naught but anger as he watched Laird Stuart stare at her.
“Ye didnae send an apology for missing me wedding, Muir,” Kian accused with a mock glare. “Even after receiving such a fine blend of me whiskey.”
They had not seen each other since Kian had gifted him the brew to convince him to leave his castle for the wedding. That felt like a lifetime ago, even if it had only been a matter of weeks.
Campbell had not been thinking of marriage back then, only the upcoming harvest. But now he was married, and with heirs.
“Ye ken why I couldnae attend yer wedding, Crawford, or did ye forget?” he replied with a small smile.
“Aye, I ken.” Kian laughed. “Ye cannae even pretend to apologize.”
“I never say things I dinnae mean, and ye ken it.”
They shared a small laugh, and Campbell remembered why he had missed his friend so.
They had met as boys at a cèilidh hosted by Clan Crawford and remained fast friends ever since. Kian had led a battalion alongside him when other clans came to pillage Muir Castle and had sustained several injuries as a result.
Theirs was a friendship forged in blood and one Campbell cherished, even if they were both too damn stubborn to say anything about it.
“And ye went to marry a lass from the same clan a few days after me wedding,” Kian mused. “Do ye intend to follow in me footsteps every time? I feel proud.”
Campbell wrinkled his nose.
He had not even realized he had done it until his friend had so kindly pointed it out, and now that he had, he laughed humorlessly.
“Will ye believe me if I say it was unplanned?” he asked.
“Aye.” Kian nodded. “I believe I am to blame as well for the incident.”
Campbell gave him a confused look, and Kian told him all about how he had unintentionally sent his wife riding through the Highlands after telling the family the reason for his absence.
“I believe I have ye to thank, then, for me marriage.” Campbell laughed.
“‘Twas fate, even though it was rather hilarious,” Kian said with a smile. “I would never have believed ye would marry.”
“I intended to marry sometime, Crawford. I just didnae intend to marry quickly,” Campbell corrected with a pointed look. “I needed heirs.”
He watched as a mischievous grin spread across his friend’s face and knew the coming conversation was not one he wanted to have sober or inebriated.
“And ye would have found a clan willing to give ye their daughter?” Kian joked. “They call yethe Beastly Laird. I am surprised Laird MacLennan agreed to a match with ye.”
“He couldnae refuse me even if he wanted to,” Campbell answered smugly. “I only gave them the illusion of choice.”
“Still, he would have been well within his rights to refuse,” Kian reminded him. “And the lass… How did ye convince her to marry ye? She doesnae look scared of ye.”
Campbell wanted to point out that his wife was not scared of him, not even at the beginning. She was shy, he knew that now, but she had been bold when men would not dare look him in the eye.
