Page 60 of The Highlander's Alluring Spy
Betty shrugged. “Proper’s for the nobles. We’re a maid and a farmer and a nanny. Let’s gossip.”
Magnolia continued to smile outwardly, but internally she froze.
A nanny. Nothing more. How simple things would be if this were so!
But last night had been so wonderful, and she did not want reality to crush this unexpected high, at least not yet. So instead, she would continue to pretend, continue to live the life she wished she had.
Magnolia would drink her ale and laugh with her friends, and, for now, she’d forget everything else that awaited in the shadows of her future.
* * *
Nathair heard the rustling of the grass that indicated someone was coming up behind him. Still, he didn’t look up from the elaborate headstone that bore Catrina’s full name and her epitaph.
‘Beloved wife. Adored cousin. Dearest daughter. She is a mother to angels now.’
“I hope ye arenae sittin’ here feelin’ guilty,” William’s voice said from behind him. Nathair didn’t turn around.
“Betty didnae take long in spreading the word then, aye?” Nathair asked back without turning. He was crouched in front of the headstone, and a second later, William crouched next to him.
“Well, we a’ kenned that it was a matter o’when.Naeifabout it,” William told him.
Nathair finally turned his head. His friend held a small bunch of daisies in his hand, which he placed at the grave next to the primroses that Nathair brought.
They sat there, crouched in silence, and lost in memories for a few moments before Nathair spoke again. “So did ye ken I was gonnae be here?”
William gave a small huff of a laugh. “O’ course I did. I ken ye better than anyone. Honestly, though, I’m a mite surprised that ye finally took the leap. I thought ye and Magnolia would be dancin’ around each other for a year yet.”
Nathair said nothing.
William sighed. “She’s a good lass, especially for an Englishwoman. Elaine adores her, the village people seem to have taken to her, and ye’re clearly besotted. What’s the problem?”
“There’s nae problem,” Nathair told him, and he was surprised to find that, for the first time, that was true. Yes, Magnolia was still hiding something. Yes, he still missed Catrina.
But loving Magnolia, and having her love him, made these things matter little and less.
“Catrina would o’ liked her,” William went on after a brief pause. “Ye ken how me cousin loved to spend her days wi’ strong women like Eilidh Adair an’ me Abbie. Magnolia would have fitted right in there in their wee group.”
Nathair smiled, remembering the ladies gossiping in a time that seemed so long ago now. He could picture his recent conversation with Lady Taylor–how she’d spoken with love regarding both her deceased husband and her new kennel master.
And now he understood.
“Aye, that she would,” he agreed. “She came to me, ye ken. Cat, I mean.”
William gave him a slightly concerned look. “What dae ye mean by that? Am I gonnae have to call the healer an’ get your head checked out? Or perhaps I should be callin’ a Catholic priest since ye seem to be seein’ ghosts. Better nae tell the minister!”
Nathair let out a chuckle, stretching and straightening to his feet. “It was just a dream, William,” he said. “I ken she wasnae really there. She’s under this headstone, bones now, or dust, and the rest o’ her is in Heaven where she belongs. But Elaine believes her Maither dances wi’ the Fair Folk, an’ so that’s what she was daein’ in me dream.”
William also straightened up, giving Nathair a searching look before nodding. “Aye, tha’ sounds right. Me cousin was always away wi’ the faeries. Elaine, too. She looks like ye, Nathair, but she’s got her Maither’s heart.”
“I ken,” Nathair said with a soft smile. “I’m the proudest man a Faither could be.”
They both looked at the grave for a little longer, then William asked, “So, what did this not-apparition tell ye?”
Nathair smiled to himself, picturing the image by the lake once more. “Tha’ she wants me to be happy. That I havenae to stay stuck in the past, stuck wi’ her. It was me dream, which means I kenned it this whole time, o’ course, but…I think it took a talk wi’ Eilidh and a wee probe into me own mind before I could get there.”
William patted him on the back, and it quickly turned into a tight, brotherly hug. “I’ve only been tellin’ ye that for three years, ye bampot,” he murmured into Nathair’s shoulder.
Nathair hugged him back just as tightly. “Aye, aye, I ken. I should ken by now that ye’re always right.”
