Page 24 of Married to the Icy Highlander
And yet Ceana was smiling, pleased as anything as she nodded. “Of course, it is all right. Ye must, M’Laird.”
That glint in her eyes was going to be his undoing, he could tell.
Jeanie grinned as she lay back down, and then she started recounting all of the things they had seen over the day. She mentioned everything they had eaten and how she and Ceana had snuck into the kitchens and stolen sweets before coming out here to spend their evening. She then added how she was certain that her nurse had given up searching for her.
Neil had never heard her speak so much at once. She seldom spoke to him about anything when they played chess. He must have done a good job of choosing a suitable companion for her if she was feeling comfortable enough to speak so easily around her.
“Och! Faither!” Jeanie exclaimed, turning to face them. “Fiona was tellin’ us about the festival in the village tomorrow, and Ceana said that the festivals in the village are so much fun! Can I go?”
“Did she now?”
Jeanie nodded. “She said that there would be dancin’ and food and singin’ and that all of the children from the village were goin’ to come out and play! I want to play with other children me age! I can show off me new dancin’ skills!”
“Aye, ye can.” Ceana grinned. “And ye can tell them all about the stars that we have seen tonight!”
Neil leaned back on his elbow as he watched the pair of them speaking without wholly registering what it was that they were talking about. Just seeing them smiling at one another was enough.
Jeanie got along with her maids well enough, but she liked to give them a run for their money every chance that she could get. To see her so excited about the littlest things? He envied Ceana because of her ability to speak with children so easily. He onlyinterjected when it was necessary, but for the most part, he was content to only listen.
Ceana, however, was happy to converse with Jeanie as if he were not there at all. He supposed that made sense, seeing how their last few conversations had gone.
If she wanted to be stubborn about it, then that was her own business.
“Why are ye and Faither only talkin’ to me but nae to each other?” Jeanie asked as if she was reading his mind.
How did children always seem to know the most uncomfortable thing to say, and blurt it out as well?
Neil glanced in Ceana’s direction, clearing his throat in an attempt to buy himself some time before answering such a strange question. He had not been expecting to be called out by his daughter like that.
“Och, I ken!” Jeanie exclaimed happily. “Ye’re both shy!”
She nearly toppled over as she dissolved into a fit of giggles at about the same time Fiona, her nursemaid, appeared in the archway with her hands on her hips.
Neil had certainly never been called shy before. He did not think he cared for it. Nor the sly little grin on Ceana’s lips, for that matter.
“Ah, there’s Cassiopeia!” he noted, hoping his daughter would be distracted enough to forget the topic entirely. It was one of the only constellations that could be seen in Scotland year-round.
Fiona tutted and cleared her throat loudly right when Jeanie started yawning dramatically and stretched her arms over her head. Not once, but twice.
“I think I am tired,” she announced suddenly, looking very pointedly between Ceana and Neil. “Ye should stay and watch the stars!” She nodded sagely. “Both of ye! So that ye can tell me all about them tomorrow! Otherwise, I’ll have to stay up all night!”
The lass rose to her feet, yawned dramatically again, and then kissed Ceana on the cheek once before quickly running over to Fiona—who would no doubt scold her later—leaving Neil with his wife.
11
“Well, she is about as subtle as a brick, is she nae?” Ceana remarked with a laugh, hoping to break some of the tension between them. She knew that this was something she had asked for, but now that she was alone with him, she was not entirely certain what to do next. “I dinnae ken where her discretion comes from, but it might need some work.”
Neil could not have looked more uncomfortable if he tried.
“I will have a word with her, then,” he said flatly as he made to stand. But she could not have that either. She didn’t want him to go. “Have a good night.”
What? No, that wasn’t at all what she had meant. She didn’t think that Jeanie meant any harm. She was just being a girl. Ceana likely would have done the same if she were in Jeanie’s shoes. Though she was very fortunate that she had witnessed her parents fall madly in love with one another over and over again.
The example her parents had set for her was a fairytale love. Sickeningly embarrassing, in her younger self’s opinion. But looking back at it now, she had nothing but fond memories of them together. She had learned hard work from her father and compassion from her mother.
Though she had yet to see which traits Jeanie had inherited from her father. Apart from perhaps her stubbornness when she put her mind to something.
It would be a shame for Neil to leave when Jeanie had just given them this opportunity to get to know each other better.
