Page 42 of Married to the Icy Highlander
“I slept great, and Myrtle didnae hate me too much!” she said, causing Ceana to laugh. “And when I woke up, yer maither and me new uncle, Peter, let me have some sugar plum pastries!”
“Yer uncle?”
“He was the only one willin’ to show me around the festival yesterday. And it’s been a while since I saw my other uncle, Blaine.” Jeanie pouted.
“I see,” Ceana murmured.
The fact that her stepdaughter was growing closer to her family while Neil was pulling further away from her made her heart ache. But she put on a brave face.
“Maybe next time Myrtle will be even nicer to ye. But for now, ye willnae let Alice pick the flowers all alone, will ye?”
“Nay. Ye go rest—I’ll tell ye everything later!”
Ceana was sorely tempted to go back inside and straight up to her room.
If she could justify spending the day in bed for the first time in her life, then that was what she would do. But the guilt of remaining idle was impossible for her to deny. For so many years, she had awoken before the sun to go and tend to the distillery, doing as many of her chores as she could. Here, there was still plenty to be done, of course, but it wasn’t the same as it was back home.
Never mind the fact that her mind was wholly and utterly consumed with thoughts of an annoying man.
She headed to the only place she could think of that would be quiet enough for her to take her special tea. That, and a small part of her wanted to hide. She could not deny that. The events of last night just kept playing over and over in her head.
She couldn’t stop thinking about the ways things could have gone, the night they might have shared, but even though she had done exactly as he had asked her to do, it was not enough. She had made a fool of herself for nothing. Perhaps he had never intended to be with her in that way at all.
She’d been nothing but honest with him since day one, and yet he still refused to trust her. He had no reason to be so guarded when this whole arrangement was supposed to be mutually beneficial. He had upheld his end of the deal so far, so why was he still keeping her at arm’s length?
A lairdshouldbe skeptical. In his position, it was only right. But it still hurt her feelings more than she cared to admit.
The herbs that Alice had given her tasted absolutely horrible, but Ceana was going to force herself to drink the whole thing. Anything that would stop the pounding in her head would be most appreciated.
The castle’s library was modest but comfortable. It was large enough to have a fireplace on either side. Bookcases lined the walls, and a large circular sitting area occupied the center of the high-ceilinged room. In the corner, a small staircase seemed to disappear into the wall and reappear on the second floor, where a banister wrapped around the whole room and even more bookshelves lined the walls. But, most importantly, it was quiet.
Ceana placed her tea on the small table in the sitting area and lowered herself onto a large, plush chair with a groan. It was so tempting to just curl up in the chair and go right back to sleep. At least she was less likely to be angry with her husband in her sleep.
Just when she had finished her tea and started to drift off to sleep, the door opened loudly enough to jostle her awake once more. Her eyes felt heavy as she looked up to see Neil’s friend, Arthur, standing in the doorway, seeming very surprised to find her in the library.
“Good morning. I didnae ken ye’d be here. I hope that ye dinnae mind some company?”
Ceana furrowed her brow as she motioned with her hand that he should lower his voice.
Arthur took a seat across from her with a grin. “I was hopin’ to get the chance to talk to ye, since the wedding celebrations ended so quickly.”
Ceana wished that she had more tea because it was certainly starting to take the edge off her headache. The sunlight streaming through the windows didn’t seem quite as painful as it did before.
This was her husband’s closest friend—the last thing she needed to do was to be rude to him at a time like this. It wasn’t his fault that she and Neil were not on the best terms.
“I ken that it was rather rushed, and for that, I hope ye’ll forgive me. I am sorry that ye didnae have the chance to?—”
“Think nothing of it, M’Lady,” Arthur interrupted. “I’m just glad that Neil remarried. I was startin’ to worry about him and his future happiness.”
Ceana sat up straighter in her chair. “What do ye mean?”
Arthur smiled kindly and shrugged. “Given his past…”
His words settled like a rock in her gut for reasons that she didn’t even want to try to understand. “His past? Ye mean because he lost his wife? He’s nae over her yet?”
Her chest tightened uncomfortably. What a silly reaction. She was so upset over a man who didn’t even want her. Who seemed wholly and utterly unable to trust her.
“Nay!” Arthur said quickly, shaking his hand. “That’s nae what I meant at all.”
