Page 47 of Falling for Her Highland Steward
“Pfft!” he said scornfully. “There are plenty of men capable of doing my job.”
“No, that is not what I meant.” Erin studied him, his broad shoulders, big, calloused hands, and his corn-blond hair shining in the sunlight. Lastly, she gazed into the warmth of his deep brown eyes and was lost forever. “Not Caillen the steward, but Caillen the man. I do not think I can let him go.”
Caillen froze. He was too scared to ask what she meant in case he was wrong. No. She had not just said she loved him. He was being fanciful.
“Because I love Caillen Johnstone.” Erin smiled, and he saw the truth in her eyes.
“I love you too,” he answered, standing up and moving around the desk to face her. He stopped a foot away from her, suddenly uncertain. “I have done almost since the first time I saw you. Erin…are you sure? Is this what you really want?”
“Yes, Cal.” When she smiled, he gathered her into his arms and held her so tightly that their bodies almost melted into each other.
“Marry me, Erin.” He kissed her softly. “Even though I am not rich like Logan Grieve or Michael, and I do not have anything to offer you but myself, I will love you forever.”
“Logan gave me a betrothal ring,” Erin told him, “but it was too big.” She chuckled. “I knew there was a reason it did not fit! You are all I want, Cal. I love you.”
21
Logan Grieve sat in a chair beside the fire in the parlor and listened to Erin as she gave him the news that she would no longer be his wife. He felt as though he had been stabbed in the heart but was determined not to show her how deeply she had hurt him.
“I amverysorry, Logan, but I cannot fight my feelings for Cal any longer,” she said sadly, unable to look him in the eye. “I must break our engagement, but please believe me when I say that this gives me no pleasure at all. You are a good and decent man, and I have kept you dangling for months. Forgive me, please.”
He was silent for a long time, looking at the floor, and Erin’s heart was breaking for him. She wished he would shout, or weep, or throw something at the wall because the deadly quiet was driving her mad. At last, he looked up, but the expression on his face was neither anger nor hurt, as she had expected, but a strange, solemn dignity. It was not like the Logan Grieve she knew at all.
“If that is what you wish, milady, then so be it.” He stood up and looked at her steadily, then opened his mouth to say something else, but at that moment, Caillen walked in.
“Forgive me, Laird Grieve,” he said awkwardly, “I had no idea you were here.” He took a deep breath. “Erin has told you the news?”
“She has.” The laird nodded. “I am very disappointed, of course, and needless to say, my pride has been hurt. But if Erin loves you, then who am I to stand in your way? In truth, I suspected it as soon as I saw the two of you together. After that, I suppose I knew in my heart there was no hope for me, but I denied it to myself. Well, if you will excuse me, I will be on my way, but I wish you both every happiness and a long life together.”
“Thank you, M’Laird, that is very kind of you,” Caillen said warmly. “Will you come to our wedding?”
Laird Grieve shook his head. “Thank you, but no,” he replied. He strode out to mount his gray stallion and galloped away without looking back.
Erin turned to bury her face in Caillen’s chest. “I feel dreadful,” she murmured sadly. “I hope he finds someone else—someone better than me.”
Caillen pulled her closer. “There is no one better than you,” he whispered.
Erin had enlisted Betty’s help with her choice of material for her wedding dress but had declined the offer of Stephen’s, saying that she wanted her dress to be a secret. When he looked disappointed, she made him another offer.
“But you can help me to eat the feast after the wedding,” she offered. “Unless, of course, you would rather not. In that case, I will have to give all the tablet and shortbread away to the other guests.”
Stephen had laughed uproariously at this. “Don’t be silly, Mama!” he reproached her. “I am going to eat EVERYTHING! Is Brian coming?”
“I have invited him and his parents,” Erin replied, “but not his dog—or your dog, for that matter.”
Stephen had been allowed to bring his four-month-old puppy Joey home with him. He was the bane of Betty’s life since she was always tripping over him, and Stephen had learned some colorful new swear words from her since his arrival. Needless to say, this did not please Erin at all.
“Can I bring him some bones from the kitchen after the wedding?” he asked plaintively. “Everyone else will have lovely things to eat.”
“You may give each of your dogs a whole rabbit each,” Erin told him, smiling. “But you must go now since I need to speak to Hannah about my dress.”
He jumped off her lap and scampered out of the room, leaving Erin to smile with contentment. It was only two more weeks until her wedding, but she wished with all her whole heart, and especially with her whole body, that it was sooner. She could hardly wait to have Caillen all to herself. She wondered what he would look like naked, then pulled her mind away from the thought. She had matters to attend to, such as the most important one of all: the dress.
Erin’s mother had once told her when she was just a little girl that a wedding was all about the bride and the dress, and all the groom had to do was show up and be married. She chuckled. It seemed that she had been right. No tailors, silk merchants, or seamstresses were tending to Caillen!
“It isnae fair,” Hannah Kirk, the seamstress, said, sighing as she studied Erin. “Women who have given birth shouldnae be allowed tae have figures like yers, milady.” She had come to the castle, bringing samples of all her silks, velvets, and linens so that Erin could choose fabric for her wedding dress, and although she had seen the lady of the manor many times before, she had never had the chance to really study her, much less fit her for a garment. Now she could see that every line of Erin’s body spoke of womanly perfection, and although she spoke with a smile, Hannah was envious.
However, as Betty had said to her earlier: “Who would no’ be envious, Hannah? She has everythin’ anybody could want, but she doesnae keep it a’ tae herself. She is the kindest lady I ever met. Nae one o’ her tenants is hungry. Everybody has a proper roof over their head, and none o’ them leaks. She is beautiful inside an’ out, an’ we are lucky tae have her.”
