Page 47 of Married to the Icy Highlander
He glanced at Arthur, who was far too focused on the woman on his arm. He furrowed his brow. This sort of competition just didn’t exist between them. He knew that Arthur was a ladies’ man, but their friendship had always had boundaries. It was all the more reason that he wanted Ceana to stay close for the rest of the feast. Whatever issues they might have, they would resolve them later.
“If nothing is wrong, then why do ye look as if ye sat on a pine cone?” Ceana asked softly, her voice dripping with false innocence.
Neil glanced down at her, confused. But all she did was blink up at him as if nothing was wrong.
What he wouldn’t give to take her over his knee right now. Among other things.
Arthur motioned for Ceana to sit next to him when they were at the table, but Neil deliberately put himself between the two of them. His wife didn’t question his actions out loud, but the curiosity was obvious enough in her gaze. He would have to make up an excuse for that one later.
Arthur chuckled to himself, but Neil didn’t have time to question it before his friend stood up, his goblet raised so that he could address the room.
21
“Ceana!”
At the sound of her name, Ceana whipped around, searching for the source of the familiar voice. It had been a while since she had last seen her friends.
Freya extended her arms toward Ceana, a bright smile on her face. For how swollen her belly was, she still moved with remarkable ease.
Ceana rose to her feet quickly, happy for the distraction as well as the familiar face, and happily embraced her friend. Doughall stood behind Freya, sipping from a large horned cup, but Ceana couldn’t see its contents. It was the only one of its kind in the hall, so she had to presume that he had brought it with him.
Amusing, there was no denying that.
“I havenae seen ye since yer wedding!” Freya continued. “I started to worry about ye when I didnae receive a single letter from ye, but I didnae want to interrupt yer period of… adjustin’.”
It would have been nice to receive a letter or two from her friends to help her pass the time. Ceana had gotten so very lonely now that her husband avoided her and she wasn’t working in her father’s distillery all the time, but she wasn’t about to say that and make her friends feel guilty.
Instead, she reached for Freya’s stomach with a grin. “I’m sure ye had better things to do!”
Doughall quickly and wisely hid his smirk behind the wide rim of his cup before Freya hit him for insinuating something lewd.
“We have been very blessed, aye. Mercifully, we have found a wonderful healer who has made me pregnancy very comfortable. At least, so far. I do miss Ersie, though. With Laura still away, I just want me babe to…”
Emily stepped up beside her, looping her arm through Freya’s and putting a hand on her own slightly swollen belly. Granted, hers was barely showing. “Yer babe will have all of us. And when Laura is ready to return, she’ll have a lot of nephews and nieces to meet, too.”
Ceana had to bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing as Emily glared over her shoulder at her husband, Adam, who was looking far too pleased with himself.
“Me husband seems to think that it is perfectly acceptable to keep me with child year-round at this rate,” Emily said with a sigh.
Adam shrugged. “I dinnae ken what the problem is. We both want a big family, and our son is excited to have a braither or sister.”
Emily swatted her husband’s arm. “Ye only say that because ye arenae the one who has to give birth!”
“Perhaps once I have me baby, we can send our healer to ye? It might make things a little bit better. Simpler,” Freya offered.
Ceana nodded. “I, too, have a very good healer in mind. She makes lovely tonics and remedies. Just say the word and I’m sure she would love to come and assist ye. Though, I think it will be rather difficult to keep young Jeanie from wantin’ to accompany her.”
Emily grinned. “The more the merrier. That’s the Laird’s daughter?”
Ceana flushed and nodded. “Aye.”
There was a good deal that she hadn’t told them. Things with her and Neil had progressed so quickly that she had rather shirked her duty to her friends. She ought to have written to them or invited them over, done a great many things that wouldhave been customary for people in her position, and she had no excuse.
At least her friends seemed to understand that easily enough. Emily and Freya exchanged knowing glances and then spoke over one another in an effort to change the subject.
“Are ye still workin’ in the distillery?”
“Is the Laird as burly as he seems?”
