Page 54 of The Highlander's Auctioned Bride
“I must return to me aunt, it was pleasant to see ye again, Maisie,” she said as she turned and walked away from them through the gardens.
When Maisie turned to James, he was watching her expectantly.
“Why did ye nae pick her?” Maisie blurted out.
James’s head snapped round to face her.
“What?”
“I ken she cares for ye,” Maisie said, her eyes lingering on Lillian. “Ye have kent her all yer life. Surely, she would have been a better match for ye than a strange girl from Larkhill.”
James frowned. He did not like her speaking of herself that way but was excited to think that Maisie was jealous of Lillian.That means she cares.
“I happen to like me strange girl from Larkhill,” he said, his voice thick with amusement, but at Maisie’s sad expression, he quickly tried again. “I dinnae want Lillian, ne’er have,” he answered truthfully.
“Why?” Maisie asked, and she seemed genuinely puzzled.
James smiled. “She has hounded me since she was wee,” he confessed. “She is a sweet girl, but she doesnae ken her own mind. She’s too naïve. Too simple. Ye are nothin’ like her, ye’re a nuisance.”
“She called ye Jamie,” Maisie insisted.
He snorted. “Aye, well, that’s proof enough that she doesnae ken me. I hate people callin’ me Jamie about as much as ye hate people callin’ ye Thomasina.”
Maisie’s expression relaxed considerably.
“She looks more like Lady MacLennan than I do,” she finally said.
“What dae ye expect? She has been trainin’ for it all her life. But I didnae choose her, and I dinnae regret it.” As soon as he said the words aloud, he realized how true they were.
I dinnae regret choosin’ ye.
“Would ye prefer Lady Thomasina MacLennan?” he asked with amusement. “For I can arrange the servants to call ye that.” Maisie hit him playfully on the arm and his heart soared at the teasing.
“Only if ye wish me to call ye Jamie,” she said playfully.
“Dinnae ye dare.”
She snorted as he offered his hand, and she linked their fingers together looking up at him quizzically.
“Why did ye come to find me?” she asked.
“I was asked to spend me meals with me wife, and that is what I plan to dae.”
“It is too early for dinner.”
“Aye, we missed lunch, and the cook is furious. We should go and make it up to her.”
James walked her back into the castle, his stomach growling as they made their way down to the kitchens.
The cook was, indeed, furious that they had missed their main meal. He knew her of old and had stolen bannocks from her kitchen as a lad. The old woman, spikes of gray hair coming off all sides of her head, was entirely unphased about scolding him like a schoolboy. Before he had even fully entered the kitchen she was on at him.
He attempted to pacify her, but it wasn’t working too well until Maisie made a comment about how wonderful her food was, and at that point, the cook could not do enough for them.
In moments, two plates were filled with cheese, bread, and all manner of appetizing treats. After a brief bustle of activity, he took the plates and told Maisie to follow him.
He took her to the same stone steps where they shared their first kiss, and she looked at him—perplexed.
“Three evenin’s a week, lass.”
