Page 72 of A Highland Bride Taken
It wasn’t safe to head outside just yet, so he thought up another way that would help them forget the day’s ordeal.
“Shall we go to the library?” he suggested. “I believe there are a few stories I can read to ye. Do ye like knights and princes?”
“Aye,” the boys chorused. “Will ye tell us about King Arthur and Merlin?”
“Aye. I believe I have a book I can read to ye.”
They squealed in excitement, and he turned to his wife with a look.
“Shall we go, wife?”
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Mabel nodded, but she was surprised when he pulled her into his chest and pressed a kiss to her hair.
“Me brave wife,” he said, pulling back from her. “Darragh frightens even the bravest of men, but ye held yer own. I am proud of ye.”
She smiled and nodded, even though she still felt guilty that she had not been able to protect Ollie.
“I thank ye,” she answered quietly. “Shall I prepare some snacks?”
“Nay, ye have done enough,” he told her. “I will tell the maids to fetch some.”
She nodded, grateful for the help.
An unpleasant feeling had settled in her stomach since she had overheard his conversation with his grandfather, but seeing him had helped keep it at bay.
She followed him quietly to the library, sensing his concern for her, but she did not want or need him to worry about her. The boys were his priority, as well as hers.
Still, grief couldn’t steal her wonder as she spotted the volumes lining the tall shelves of the castle’s library. It was the one room she had yet to visit since she had arrived at Muir Castle, and she was instantly reminded of her love for books. The air smelled of paper and ink, and she instantly felt at ease.
Her mother had warned her against hiding away, only to add that a husband might not be pleased by it, yet she had not cared. The words had eased her worries, and it seemed the husband she had married was much the same.
The Laird set the boys down to search out a volume, and when he had found it, he led them to a long settee. Mabel smiled when she saw the boys rush to sit on either side of him.
He started reading, and she settled into the lone settee opposite them, watching the scene. The boys looked so much like her husband that they could have passed off as his sons. He treated them just as well.
They looked like one happy family, she realized, and she had grown to love the warmth she felt when they were all together. She eyed her husband, who gave her a wink and continued hisreading, and realized her fear had abated since he had walked into the Great Hall and stood between her and his grandfather.
She had been unable to leave him, and even though she had only overheard snippets of their conversation, she had wanted to storm into the room and strangle the man.
An unprecedented protectiveness had surged inside her when she heard Laird McCormick’s hateful words. She wished she could have lunged at him and slapped the words off his mouth, but the boys needed her, and now they needed the comfort of their uncle. His strength would chase away their fear just as it had chased away hers.
They were an odd family brought together by grief, but somehow they had grown to care for one another. And Mabel had grown to care for her husband, who only had smiles for her.
She had grown to care for him and love?—
She clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing that she had fallen in love with her husband.
The realization filled her with trepidation as she watched him read to the boys, who asked questions now and then. He answered without breaking stride, laughing when they asked particularly funny questions, and she laughed to herself, knowing he had no such inclination towards her.
He had been kind and thoughtful, but he did not love her.
She shook the disappointment off her and watched him read, noting how his smile did not quite reach his eyes.
He had suggested the activity to quell the boys’ fear, but he no doubt was still swarmed by the dark cloud his grandfather had brought with him.
“It seems the boys are verra exhausted,” he noted, drawing her out of her thoughts. “Same as ye.”
