Page 28 of Falling for Her Highland Steward
“Michael,” Caillen said, his voice without expression as he sat on the straw-covered floor and wrapped himself in a blanket before turning to his friend. Michael offered him a mouthful of ale from his flagon, but Caillen waved it away irritably.
“Something has obviously upset you,” Michael observed, frowning. “What is it? Have you tried kissing Erin? Did she push you away?”
“Do not speak of her like that!” he snapped. “It looks as though Erin is going to accept the hand of Laird Logan Grieve.” His voice was grim. “He is not the man for her.”
Michael was taken aback. “What?” His voice was a squeak. “No. She cannot. That cannot be allowed to happen.” He shook his head firmly. “No. No.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “Tell her that, Caillen.”
Caillen gave a cynical laugh. “Michael, you know her better than I do, so you must know that trying to make Erin do something against her will is like trying to push a wave back into the sea. I have tried to make her change her mind, but the more I talk, the less she listens.”
“She is indeed a very stubborn woman,” Michael agreed, then his tone changed from one of thoughtfulness to one of menace. “But you have a lot to lose if you do not persuade her, my friend.” He gave Caillen a sly sideways look. “Remember our bargain.”
“I know, Michael,” Caillen said wearily, nodding his head. “I know that you paid for my education, board, and lodging. I know that you paid my father a hefty sum to let me go. I know that you have been paying him every year to make up for what he is losing because I am not there. I know the money is accruing interest. I know all of these things. However, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it at this moment. I will give it back to you as soon as I can.”
“You have been promising that for a long time.” Michael laughed. “Perhaps if you help me, I will forgive some of the debt.”
“And you have been promising that for a long time too,” Caillen reminded him, his voice grim but resigned. “Erin has not made up her mind. If I confront her, she will either give my position to someone else or shut me out of her life completely. I do not think she would go so far as to marry him just to spite me, though, but she constantly surprises me.” He stared into the fire, letting his mind wander. He had no ideas left.
There was silence for a while.
“Where is Stephen?” Caillen asked at last. “Have you brought him with you? Erin is missing him terribly.”
“He is safe and well,” Michael replied, his face softening into a smile. “His whole attention is now on his new puppy, Joey. If I tried to bring him home now, he would be most upset.”
“So he is still in Edinburgh? But Erin expects you very soon!” Caillen was shocked. “How can you be so heartless, Michael?”
Michael yawned and turned his eyes on Caillen. He had always been jealous of this big, handsome man with his golden-blond hair and deep-brown eyes who could seemingly have any woman he wanted. However, now he, Michael Oliphaunt, not so tall, not so handsome, but much wealthier, had the upper hand, and he was going to enjoy using it.
“I will keep him for as long as I like,” he declared. He stood, looking down at his friend for a moment, but when Caillen stood too, he had to look upward, and he felt a dart of jealousy shoot through him. “You have a great gift, my friend,” he said silkily. “Women fall at your feet. Use it.” Then he walked away into the darkness.
13
Caillen felt his heart beating a wild tattoo in his chest as he entered Erin’s study the next morning. When she was not there, he breathed a sigh of relief, then walked to the window and stared out of it without seeing anything. He seemed to have picked up her habit of staring into space when he was troubled.
What on earth was he going to say? Did he have the right to say anything? “Don’t be stupid, Caillen,” he muttered aloud. “You have to say something. You have no choice.”
His voice must have been loud enough to reach the door, however, because Erin’s voice answered him. “You are not stupid, Caillen,” she declared. “And if you have to say something, please say it since apparently you have no choice, and I would like to hear it.”
He spun around and stared at her for a moment, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment. Her hair was windblown, and her plain brown dress creased, yet she still managed to look quite lovely.
“Sit down before you fall down,” she ordered sharply. “You look as if you have not slept for a week, Caillen. And stop looking at me like that. I know I look a mess. Before you ask, I have been up on the turrets thinking, and the wind blew my hair, well, everywhere. Did you want to ask me something?”
Caillen watched as Erin took the pins out of her hair, then he saw it tumbling over her shoulders in shining chestnut waves. “Yes, I did.” He paused before he went on. “Have you decided whether you are going to marry Laird Grieve or not?”
She frowned deeply at him. “No, I have not decided,” she answered. “Not that it is any of your business”—she thumped her fist on the desk—“at all! Why do you want to know?”
They stared at each other for a long moment before he said, “Very well, but please remember that if you marry him”—he leaned forward—“and things go wrong, neither Michael nor I will be able to help you because Grieve will be your master. Oh, he looks kind now, but wait until you are married. Wives have very few rights, Erin.” He stood up and bowed, then his face changed. “Milady,” he said frostily, before walking toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Erin asked angrily.
“To work.” His tone was polite but icy. “That is what you pay me for, is it not, milady?”
Erin had absolutely no answer to that. She laid her arms down on the table and pillowed her head on it. She was not only missing Stephen but Nairn. He would have known what to do.
Another couple of uneasy days passed, during which Erin and Caillen circled each other like a pair of wary cats, speaking only when absolutely necessary.
Erin often prowled around and paced her study, trying to summon up the urge to do some work. She was mulling over her situation and, as she so often did, wondered what Nairn would have done had he been confronted with a similar situation. He had been older than she and had a lifetime of wisdom behind him.
Presently, there was a soft knock on the door, and Erin answered, “Come in!”
