Page 79 of The Highlander's Auctioned Bride
He took her hand in his and his gray eyes met hers with a determined and forceful look.
“He is so lucky to have ye, lass. Remind him of that every day.”
“And what if he doesnae wish to hear it?”
“Well, I might not know the man, but I didnae listen to begin with either. Yer maither always had ideas for the business that I ignored until she insisted, I tried something small that she hadsuggested. Over time she became me confidant in all things, and I can see that with ye and Laird MacLennan.”
He squeezed her hand gently. “Ye have a strong will, Maisie, and so does he. It willnae be easy livin’ together in harmony, but ye can make his life better. Ye might be the makin’ of the man, and I think he will be the makin’ of ye. I can already see it.”
Maisie watched the fire for a long while and was startled when her father stood up, looking down at her quizzically.
“Are ye here because ye wish to see me, or are ye runnin’ away from a man who is tryin’ to push ye away? Believe me when I tell ye, he doesnae ken what’s good for him. I ken I didnae.”
CHAPTER 29
“I dinnae care!Just get it done!” James shouted at Harris as he tried to explain that the guards were too exhausted to keep up the watch for another day.
He stormed away, kicking over a bucket on his way past the stables.
“Ye are bein’ unreasonable, m’laird, and I willnae have ye take it out on me men.”
James spun around to find Bram behind him, his arms flexed, broad shoulders tense as though ready for a fight. The guards behind him scattered to their posts leaving them relatively alone in the wide courtyard.
“Och yes?” he thundered. “And ye would ken what I am takin’ out on them would ye? I am doin’ me duty, I am protectin’ me people, I am?—”
“Ye are missin’ yer damn wife, man,” Harris growled, stalking toward him, stopping James in his tracks as he pointed a finger into his chest.
“Ye have been impossible since she left. She has been gone two days and already ye have smashed three glasses, made one maid cry, almost frightened Kenzie half to death with yer grousin’, and told me I’m a bampot five times!”
Harris was much smaller than James, but he felt himself backing away from him nonetheless.
“We are all workin’ to try and figure this out together, and ye are actin’ as though ye are the only man who can defend yer castle and yer bride. Well, ye cannae dae everythin’ alone, m’laird.”
James hit a post at the edge of the stable block, and it knocked the wind out of him, as did Harris’s words.
It is just like Maisie said.He thought.She told me she could help me, and instead, I dismissed her and sent her away to a place she may never return from.
James rubbed at his chest and the tightness that had formed in it. He watched Harris breathing heavily and squaring up to him as though he might fight him.
“I have been at yer side all our lives,” Harris murmured, keeping his voice low. “Yer faither abandoned his duties and left yeto tend to the estate while he went all over the clan with his mistresses. Maisie is nae a mistress and ye are nae yer faither.”
“Ye shut yer mouth if ye dinnae want a fist to the jaw.”
“Go on then,” Harris challenged. “Come at me, ye’ve been itchin’ for a fight all day.”
James looked at Harris’s loyal, firm expression and felt the fight drain out of him. His man was right. He was being a monster to everyone, and he missed Maisie terribly.
Even now he wondered where she was, what she was doing. Despite the danger for her, he would rather have her here with him than miles away with her father.
“Well? Are ye goin’ to fight me or nae?”
“I wouldnae wish to ruin yer beard,” James said softly, and Harris’s eyes turned from as hard as marble to soft in moments.
“The best chance ye have of gettin’ to the bottom of this is the man in the cells downstairs. If I were ye, I’d go and see why he’s so adamant that he’s innocent.”
James knew he was right. He had been avoiding visiting Marcus, leaving him to stew. He had hoped it would provoke a confession, but the man had refused to speak to anyone.
As James looked across the courtyard to the dark entrance of the cells he suddenly stiffened as he saw a female figure going down the steps.
