name of all things holy is hygiene anyways?”
Ben grinned. “Nay, I have no idea.” But the thought that Kenzie was trying to make the people who lived at Castle Ross better left him prouder than he’d ever thought possible.
How he loved her. She was such a capable, independent woman. There was much to admire.
“I’m sure she’s just trying to help, and mayhap if ye listened to her you may learn a thing or two.
Bruce scoffed. “I know all there is to know about life. I dinna need any lessons from a woman.”
Ben turned at the sound of the laird of Clan Grant and his son Evan arguing in the keep below. He leaned against the battlement and watched. The lad Evan was hot-headed and too quick to wield a sword. The laird, although no more trustworthy, at least thought on matters before acting on half-truths or slurs.
“Did ye know that Evan Grant asked Kenzie to be his wife? Confronted the lass on the way back from ye planting the other day.”
A cold, thundering rage stormed through him. Evan Grant had asked her to be his wife? He would kill the man for acting so presumptuously. Kenzie was his and no one else’s. He should never have left her alone that day. Anything could’ve happened to her. She could’ve been killed, raped, kidnapped. The list was endless. He ought to be horsewhipped for allowing his temper to get the better of him.
“Ye aren’t allowed to kill the Grant lad, Laird. ’Twould start a war that we’re little prepared for.”
Which was another thing that lay at Ben’s feet. Had he not gone off whoring, drinking himself into a stupor for the months after Aline’s death, his clansmen would be better prepared for any attack they may come up against. And most importantly, the one that was to take place in May.
He frowned, wondering if Kenzie’s frenzied discussions with his people had anything to do with what history had coming for him. Was she trying to save them all?
“I have no intention of starting trouble with the Grant clan. They are my son’s family, after all, but I will not allow Evan Grant to think he can even touch one hair on Kenzie’s body. She’s mine and no others.”
Bruce turned to him, clapping him on his shoulder. “I like Kenzie and I think she’ll do well as ye lady. When are ye going to ask her to be ye bride?”
That he couldn’t marry the lass left Ben empty inside. He’d promised himself that he would never marry again. Never put another at risk by having his children. The past weeks he’d been sleeping with Kenzie they had been careful, and he’d had the town healer send up a portion of wild carrot to mix with her tea to stop any unnecessary complications, but still… The image of Kenzie heavy with his child, Alasdair on her hip, was a picture he’d kill to see. The realization struck him like a blow, and he fisted his hands, leaning over the battlements to regain his mind.
She was too young to die. He wouldn’t ask her to marry him, no matter how much he longed to spend the rest of his life with the lass. Kenzie had made her plans perfectly clear from the start. She would return home, but if they were able to enjoy each other’s company in the meantime, so be it.
“Kenzie is not like other women and dinna wish to marry just as I dinna want another wife. We’re enjoying each other and nothing else. But I still do not appreciate Evan Grant pressing his desire for the lass onto her. I’ll not have it.”
“Ye must speak to him, for I do believe he’s quite determined.”
Ben frowned. “Tonight, after the evening meal, I wish to discuss a matter with ye, but in private.”
“Should I be on guard? What is it about?”
Bruce threw him a concerned glance and Ben shook his head to dispel the clansman’s worry. “Nay, not yet, at least, but bring with ye an open mind, for what you’re about to hear may be a little unbelievable.”
“Aye, of course, my Laird.”
Ben knocked on Kenzie’s door and hearing no reply opened it, finding the room empty. He went in and shut the door, sitting on the end of her bed to wait her return. The room smelled of roses. Seeing the fire starting to wane, he threw a couple of logs and a peat block onto it.
The door swung open, and Kenzie