Page 66 of Her Wicked Highwayman
“Rafe? Are you in here?” His little sister’s voice startled him.
“Jo?” he called out.
Joanna’s voice was now just outside the blanket fort’s entrance. “Heavens... is this a castle?”
“It’s Fort Lennox. Isla and I permit you entrance, good lady.”
Isla giggled at his imperious tone.
The sheet that formed the doorway of their fort parted, and Joanna crawled in on her hands and knees. Her pale-gold hair flowed down her shoulders, and the blue-and-gold dress she wore made his sister appear both regal and wild, like some fae queen.
“Is your badger with you?” Rafe asked.
His little sister giggled as she joined him and Isla in the center of the tent. “Of course.” The badger in question was Brock, her Highlander husband, Lord Kincade. But Rafe called him badger because his namemeantbadger. And it didn’t help that he could sometimes be as moody and grumpy as his namesake.
“And did ye bring yer wee bairn, Jamie?” Rafe teased Joanna in his Scottish brogue.
Joanna sat down beside Isla and picked up a tart. “Yes, Mama met us in London, and we all made the trip here.”
Rafe flinched. “Mother is here?”
Joanna watched him, worry in her blue eyes. “Oh, Rafe, she is trying, you know. And she adores Isla.”
“Everyone adores Isla,” he replied coolly. “It’s impossible not to.” He didn’t want to speak of his mother, certainly not in front of his child. Isla had a good relationship with her new grandmama, and no matter what she thought of him, he didn’t want Isla’s relationship with her to be affected by his baggage.
“Just promise me you’ll try?” Joanna asked. “Besides, Mama heard that you have been courting a woman.”
“How on earth did she—Rosalind,” he growled the name as it occurred to him.
“She may have dropped a letter about it. Mama said you are courting Diana Fox?”
“Er... yes.” Rafe caught Isla looking and realized this fort was getting quite crowded. “Kitten, it seems Grandmama’s here. Perhaps you ought to go see her?”
Isla lifted Mrs. Crumpet up in her arms and let out a soft sigh. It seemed she knew exactly what her father was up to. Did all little girls possess the innate ability to know when someone was trying to distract them?
“I’ll join you in a moment,” he promised Isla.
The girl rolled her eyes and hugged Joanna before she left.
“My, she’s grown up,” Joanna observed.
“Yes. And far too quickly.”
“Does she know about Miss Fox?”
He nodded. “She adores Di.”
“Di, is it?” Joanna held back a giggle. “Youareserious about her.”
“I am,” Rafe admitted. Joanna was the only one in his family he felt he could be honest with and not fear being judged.
“And I’mglad.” His sister reached out and clasped his hand in hers. “Diana is quite a wonderful lady. Mama and I were heartbroken when her father died. It was such a pity our familiesnever socialized the way we did with the other nearby families. I would’ve deeply cherished her friendship growing up. But if you marry her, I shall not only have her as a friend, but a sister too.”
“Females and your weddings,” Rafe chuckled.
“It’s not the weddings we love—it’s the adding to our families. Besides, you and Ash always outnumbered me. I was so little that I never had a chance against two older brothers, because Thomasina married James when I was only five and his estate is so far away from here. When Ash married Rosalind I gained another sister, and now I shall have you too.” She squeezed his hand and grinned.
“Don’t tell Mother that I’m serious about Diana yet, please. Diana’s only just out of mourning, and I do not wish to rush my proposal to her.”
