A Hellion at the Highland Court (The Highland Ladies #9) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,70

then hugged her so tightly she had to tap on his back lest he suffocate her.

“Monty, I’m hurt, but I’m not angry. Mayhap you were angry with me or with Brodie when you couldn’t find me, or mayhap you were worried. Mayhap it was discovering I’d married without telling you, including you. I didn’t give you a chance to explain. I was embarrassed, so I lashed out. Your words only made me feel worse. But I don’t want to be angry all the time. Bitterness has made me an ugly person, but I have a chance to start fresh. I don’t want to begin my new life with the trappings of my auld one. I’m sorry I’ve been difficult to tolerate.”

“Laurel, it’s never been aboot tolerating you. You’ve not been easy to like since you left Balnagown, but I was the one who refused to consider how unhappy you’ve been. You’ve tried to tell me each time I’ve seen you. But I refused to listen, telling myself that you were just being awkward. It was easier than admitting that I can’t help you. And each time I can’t, I lash out just as you do when you don’t get the love you deserve. I’m sorry, Laurel. I don’t want you to ride away hating me.”

“I don’t hate you, Monty. That’s why it hurts.” Laurel rested her head against her brother’s chest, finding comfort there but wishing Brodie was closer. She felt the tears threatening, and it was Brodie who she wished to turn to.

“Laurel, send word if ever you need me,” Monty murmured beside her ear. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I will never leave you to fend for yourself again. Ask, and I will come.”

Laurel looked up at the older brother she’d adored as a child. She watched the breeze rustle hair that was so like hers before she gazed into eyes a reflection of her own. She nodded and strained to kiss his cheek. She knew when Brodie came to stand behind her, sensing his presence. With a nod to Monty and a smile to Donnan and him, she turned to accept Brodie’s proffered hand. Her husband drew her into his embrace, and Laurel felt like she could once more face the world.

Once Laurel mounted, she turned back and waved at the Ross men gathered in the Stirling Castle bailey. She’d prayed for when she could ride away from everything that tied her to the clan of her birth. She thought she’d feel elation. But it was a sense of peace that wrapped around her. She looked at Brodie, who rode beside her as they clattered under the portcullis and onto the road.

“Are you ready for the Highlands, thistle?” Brodie smiled.

“I canna wait, bear,” Laurel grinned. She’d taken to calling Brodie bear, and she thought it fit him as well as his pet name thistle fit her. She enjoyed having a special endearment for him. He’d told her how much it pleased him to hear it, then he’d shown her. They had a three-day ride ahead of them, with nights under the stars instead of in a private chamber. The couple made the most of the early morning hours to tide them over. When they were clear of the town, Brodie encouraged Laurel to race. It was her first day of real freedom, and he wanted her to enjoy every minute of it.

“If we’re going to do aught, it must before they reach Kilchurn. Once she’s behind the gates, there’ll be no way to reach her.” Nelson looked at Liam and the men who sat with him at The Merry Widow. He’d watched Laurel, Brodie, and the Campbell men ride out that morning with the Ross entourage leaving within an hour of the Campbells. “The eejit doesn’t realize what he’s done. He’s too enamored with what’s under her skirts to realize the mistake he’s made.”

“But he defended her before he bedded her,” Stephen pointed out.

“You really believe he didn’t tup her before they handfasted? You’re just as much an eejit as he. We all heard what Lady Sarah Anne and Lady Margaret saw. Half the ladies-in-waiting watched him pawing her in the passageway. Why else did they ride out every day for hours on end? Even her brother stopped chaperoning them. Campbell’s blind to her ways. He hasn’t known her for years like we have.”

“MacDougall, why do you, of all people, care? Your clan’s been raiding the Campbells,” Stephen pressed.

Nelson sat back and looked at the