Page 115 of Highlanders for the Holidays
Chapter 15
Roderick had not visitedthe cottage in three days.
Lily found herself looking toward the door again and again. Had he given up on her? She was glad that Seanmhair kept her busy, cleaning her cottage from top to bottom for the new year, or Hogmanay, but the old woman was in a foul mood.
Lily had become quite good at deciphering the instructions Seanmhair gave her in a mix of Gaelic and gestures. Yet Seanmhair was impatient as she handed her the broom and indicated that Lily must sweep the ashes from the hearth to sweep out the bad luck of the past year and start the new year fresh. After Lily carried the ashes outside, Seanmhair motioned for her to take a long walk and not come back soon.
Lily took Seanmhair’s little dog Beag with her to keep her company. As she watched him race after a squirrel, she thought a dog like Beag would be good at keeping the rats out of her shop. But would he be happy in the city, crowded with people and buildings?
Would she be happy?
She had told herself that she never wanted a husband, a man who would try to control her and steal her earnings. Yet the notion of being married to Roderick did not strike her in the same way. Though he could be heavy-handed when he believed her safety was at risk, he would not interfere with her work as a healer. He certainly respected his grandmother, and he’d made it clear he would be pleased to have Lily serve as the castle’s healer.
She had been content in London, but that was before she had come to this island. As she continued her walk, she drank in the beauty of the mountains and sea, the fresh scents in the clean air, and the freedom of scrambling over the rocky hillside. She would miss all of these pleasures, but she could survive without them.
She was less certain she could survive without Roderick.
And she did not want to.
“Come,” she called to the dog as she turned around. “If he’ll still have me, I’m going to stay.”
* * *
“Where’s Lily?” Roderick asked as he entered the cottage.
“I sent her out with Beag,” Seanmhair said, with an impatient wave of her hand. “The lass is learning our language so quickly that we cannot say what we must with her here.”
“I don’t know what else I can do.” Roderick paced the tiny cottage feeling like a caged animal. “She doesn’t want to be my wife.”
“Ye must keep her here.”
“I could use your help, Seanmhair,” he said. “Give me one of your potions.”
“There are potions for lust,” she said, shaking her head. “But love is a magic all its own and must find its own way.”
“Lust is a good start,” he said. “Give me the potion for that.”
“The two of ye have no need for that,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Most women wanted a man to protect them and give them a home. But Lily had made it plain from the start that she neither needed nor wanted a husband. He understood she was a skittish lass, like a wild horse who shied at the sight of a bridle. He wanted to take care of her, not trap her. He must find a reason for her to marry him.
What does Lily want? What can I give her?
“All of this,” his grandmother said, spreading her arms. “She wants a true home with a clan and a family—though she’s too stubborn to admit it. Most of all, she wants you, Roderick.”
Lily wanted him in her bed—but not for long and not as a husband.
“She’s one of those lost souls who had the misfortune of being born at the wrong place and into the wrong family,” Seanmhair said. “The mistrust they taught her is a grave challenge.”
His grandmother was being no help at all.
“But ye must keep the lass here,” his grandmother said. “She is the answer.”
“Don’t try to tell me again that she’s the clan’s next seer.” He dropped onto a stool and ran his hands through his hair. “How could ye have it so wrong? Lily doesn’t have the damnedSightat all, let alone the gift of a great seer.”
“Lily does have a touch of the gift, like most good healers,” she said. “’Tis just as I expected.”
“As ye expected?” he said, looking up. “Then why did ye plant the notion of her being our next seer in my head in the first place?”
