Page 61 of Married to the Icy Highlander
“I was so afraid when she left! I didnae ken how to stop her! I thought if I was good, she might come back. I’ve been a proper lady all day, Faither. I swear that I have!”
Slowly, Neil returned the hug, patting her back comfortingly as he nodded. “I ken that ye did, lass. She’ll be back soon, I promise ye that.”
As she pulled away, she wiped her tears quickly. “I like hugs, Faither.”
Neil’s heart swelled. “Then I shall hug ye more often.”
“And… I dinnae really like chess, but ye do, so…”
Neil grinned. He knew in his heart that it didn’t matter even if Jeanie was just an urchin on the street—she was meant to be his daughter. He might not always know how to show it, but he loved her.
“Jeanie, we can do the things ye enjoy, all right?”
Jeanie cracked a smile. “And ye promise that ye’re nae mad at me?”
Neil shook his head. “I promise that I’m nae mad at ye.”
“Good!” Jeanie hopped off his lap and placed her hands on her hips as she looked at him sternly. “Now, go and get Ceana back, so we can watch the stars together!”
27
“Are ye sure that ye dinnae wish to talk about it?” Ida asked, pouring Ceana a hot cup of tea. The poor woman had been fussing over her since she had arrived.
“Nay,” Ceana lied.
She did want to talk about it, but she didn’t know where to begin. She didn’t know what part of the story would hurt the most, and all she knew was that even while she was sitting there, she couldn’t stop thinking about Neil no matter how hard she tried.
It did not help that her mother, her brother, and the cat were all sitting there, staring at her.
Ida was hovering. Peter was sitting at the table and hugging the cat, who, for once in its mangy life, didn’t look like it wanted to gouge her eyes out.
Even when she had carried her trunk into her old room upstairs, she had felt strange. She ought to feel more at home now, but this wasn’t her home any longer, was it?
“How long will ye be stayin’ with us, then?” Ida asked, attempting to get more information out of her daughter in a not-very-subtle way.
Ceana sighed and sipped her tea, trying to absorb all the warmth from it, before she sighed. “I dinnae ken how long. I think I would like to lie down and rest for a bit if that’s all right with ye? Then, I thought I could spend some time in the distillery.”
“Ye dinnae need to work just because ye have come to visit, ye ken?” Ida shook her head.
Ceana knew that they all thought she worked too much. Perhaps she did. But at the time, she had to. Now, she just wanted somebody to occupy her time so that she wasn’t idle. Sitting around and stewing in her thoughts was going to be the death of her. She was even wary of the dreams she would have. If Neil was going to be in them, then perhaps it would be best for her just to stay awake and head down to the distillery now.
She glanced down at her teacup, running her finger along the rim, overly aware of their eyes on her. How was she supposed to look at her mother and say that she was upset with her husband for not trusting her? Ida would tell her that she was being silly.
It was true that her parents had been in love, but they had also chosen each other over and over again, despite their flaws.Ceana knew that. She did. She just… Oh, that was truly the heart of the issue.
She bit her bottom lip, pretending that she didn’t see the cat jump out of Peter’s arms and cross the table to sit directly in front of her. Usually, nothing good happened when Myrtle was this close to her. But he merely tilted his head to the side, as if he could read her mind and see the real reason why she was upset—she had fallen in love with a man who would never reciprocate her feelings.
Neil had been honest enough, and she was mad that he hadn’t changed his mind just because she had feelings for him. Of course, she was being the stubborn one this time, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself either.
“Unless ye’d rather I do something around the house, Maither?” Ceana offered.
Ida huffed, sitting heavily in her chair. She was just about to speak when a heavy knock sounded at the door.
The shadow under the door was wide, and it brought with it a feeling of doom that Ceana only ever got when Ferguson was near.
“Dinnae answer it,” she urged, but Ida was already on her feet and heading toward the door. “Nothing good can come of openin’ that door, Maither. Please.”
Ida cast a sorrowful look over her shoulder. “He willnae leave until he says his piece—ye ken that as well as I do.”
