Page 36 of In Love With the Wrong Highland Sister
“I hope he will be coming here for the weddings,” the laird informed him. “I am sending a letter to his guardian as soon as we finish here, but I wanted your approval first. Now that I have it, we can move on with the arrangements. Are you both sure?”
“Yes,” Laria answered. “I love children, and if we have him around us all the time, it may feel a little like having a child of our own. Do you not think so, James?”
“I think you should see whether you like him first,” James advised.
“I have a feeling it will be love at first sight,” she said softly, beaming at him.
* * *
William was everything Laria had imagined. She had last seen him when he was four years old, and he had been a little tearaway then, seeming to have boundless amounts of energy to spend.
Now, five years later, having lost his parents, he was a little more solemn and seemed like a coiled spring, as though he was conserving all his potential to let it loose as soon as he had the chance. He was fair-haired, like the rest of the family, tall for his age, sturdily built, and looked as though he could hold his own in a fistfight.
He stepped out of the carriage and went to Laria and Eloisa at once, and they both hugged him while he put his arms around them and began to laugh.
“We are so glad to see you!” Laria said tenderly as she looked down into his silver-gray MacLean eyes, smiling.
“We are,” added Eloisa. “You have grown so much since the last time I saw you.”
“So have you,” the boy replied cheekily, grinning and showing two deep dimples on his cheeks. “You were a different shape then.” He was looking quite openly at her breasts, but his comment was sincere, not suggestive. She was indeed a different shape.
“I was,” Eloisa agreed, laughing. “Now, you must come inside and warm up beside the fire.”
She and Laria each took a hand, and they strolled through the main gate to the huge ornate arched doorway that opened into Kirkmuir Castle.
“I like this place,” he said decidedly, staring at every detail as he looked around.
“You have hardly seen it!” Laria laughed. “There is a lot more of it.”
“I like it anyway,” he replied. Then he gasped. “Who are they?” He pointed to the tall figures of James and Gavin, who were striding toward them, grinning.
“They are the Elliott brothers. The sturdy one is James,” Laria answered. “He is the older of the two, and the other one is Gavin. I am marrying James, and Eloisa is marrying Gavin.”
“Good day,” James greeted them. He thrust out a hand, and William shook it firmly, not the least bit intimidated by the tall, muscular man.
“William MacLean at your service, sir,” he said politely, bowing.
“James Elliott.” He returned the bow. “And this is my brother, Gavin Elliott.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Gavin said solemnly.
The little boy had to tilt his head back to look at them, but evidently, he liked what he saw since he immediately let go of Eloisa’s and Laria’s hands and asked: “Can you show me the battlements where the guards are? And the castle?”
“We were just going to have something to eat,” James answered. “Would you like to eat with us? Then we can see the rest.”
William jumped up and down gleefully. “Yes, please!” he cried. “I amstarving!”
James and Gavin looked up at Laria and Eloisa, grinning. “Do you mind?” James asked.
The two sisters looked at each other then burst out laughing. “He obviously wants to go and do ‘man’ things!” Laria observed. “He does not want to be with us feeble females. Take him away. He will be happier with you.”
“Enjoy yourself, William!” Eloisa called.
James gave them an absentminded wave, then grabbed each of the men’s hands. A moment later, he was swinging in the air between them, whooping, until, a few seconds later, James picked him up and slung him over his shoulder.
“I have a feeling that I will see very little of that child when he comes to stay with us!” Laria said, laughing.
“He is definitely a man’s man,” Eloisa agreed.
