she folded Cait into her arms. “I canna believe it. I’m just so excited! I’m goin’ ta be an aunt again.” Then she narrowed her eyes at Cait. “Ye havena told yer husband?”
“No’ yet. I want ta be certain.” Cait laid her hand protectively over her belly again.
For a woman who saw everyone’s future but her own, something like this must be driving Cait mad. Still… “With the way ye were castin’ up yer accounts back there, I’d say it’s fairly likely. Ye never get travel sick.”
“I think so too,” Cait said with a smile. “But I want ta wait a bit ta be certain. So, doona tell anyone. No’ even Alec.”
As though Alec would want ta know that the lass to whom he’d given his heart was carrying someone else’s child. “I’ll no’ say a word.” Then a brilliant idea flashed into Sorcha’s mind. She narrowed her eyes at Cait. “If…” She let her voice trail off.
“If what?” Cait shot back, her blue eyes rounded in shock.
“If ye’ll call off yer dog.”
Cait looked more than mildly affronted. “Beg yer pardon?”
“Call Eynsford off. Doona send him chasin’ after Alec and me. Let my future happen all on its own, without interference.” She paused. “Please?”
“I canna believe ye called him a dog.” Cait grunted.
“If the collar fits,” Sorcha tossed back.
Chapter Nineteen
Alec sat across from the Marquess of Eynsford in the carriage and struggled to hear what the pair of witches were talking about. He caught a word here and there, but not very many. And what he did hear didn’t mean much.
“Your wife is a cunning woman,” Alec tossed out into the silence of the coach.
“If cunning and conniving mean the same thing, then yes, she is,” Eynsford replied. “Can you hear what they’re saying?”
Alec shook his head. “Very little of it.” He listened for another moment, but all he could hear was Cait’s shocked gasp. “Sounds like they’re arguing.”
“Heaven help us if they are,” the marquess grumbled.
“I have my own coach,” Alec informed him. “I can take Sorcha and we can separate them.” He’d like nothing better than that anyway. Harmony be damned. He wanted his little witch all to himself.
“Have you ever seen them really argue? Any of the witches? They’re scandalous.” Eynsford shivered dramatically.
“I’ve seen them do it my whole life,” Alec reminded him.
“That’s why I volunteered to take Sorcha to my own coach. It’s terrifying.”
“Finally, something we agree upon,” the marquess said drolly.
“That your wife and my fiancée are forces to be reckoned with? Aye, we’re in agreement. But do me a favor and don’t tell them that.”
Eynsford inclined his head slightly.
“While we’re speaking so openly, if you ever find yourself outside my door again and decide to intervene, I will do you bodily harm,” Alec warned. “You know I’m capable, and you should know I won’t hesitate next time.”
“You can try.” The marquess raised one amused eyebrow. “But my wife threatened to do me bodily harm, along with several other most severe punishments, if I didn’t intervene. Unfortunately for you, her proclamations frighten me more than yours do.”
From nowhere, a comment popped out of Alec’s mouth.
“You love her, don’t you?” He wanted to bite it back immediately. But what was done was done.
Eynsford laid his head back on the squabs and regarded Alec for a moment. “With all my heart,” he finally said.
There was nothing to say to that, so Alec simply nodded once. He was glad Cait had found happiness, even if it was with the overgrown dog sitting across from him. And Eynsford seemed the most smitten of men. Still, he’d rather not have to endure the man, if given a choice.
Devil take it! What was keeping the lasses so long?
Argument or no argument, how could they possibly think to abandon Eynsford and himself to each other’s company?
Alec tossed open the coach door and quickly exited, only to find Sorcha headed in his direction.
She wore an impish smile that made all of Alec’s annoyance drain right from him. She was so full of life; she almost made him remember what it felt like to be human.
He wanted to wrap her in his arms and revel in the energy that coursed through her. It still wasn’t too late to toss her over his shoulder and make a run for it, was it? Probably.
But he wouldn’t rule that out for the future.
“Everything all right?” he asked, as he closed the distance between them.
Sorcha nodded and gestured toward Cait a few paces behind. “A little travel sick