The Scotsman Who Swept Me Away

by Hannah Howell

  “Do you think they will try to make one?” asked Belle.

  “Oh, yes. It is a new and fancy thing. They will not be able to resist.”

  “Inside or outside?”

  Emily listened to the men for a few minutes, then sighed. “It is sounding as though they want to try to get one inside, which means a lot of hammering and cursing.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “Not to worry. It does sound like something nice if they can get it together. I just wish they could try to build something quietly.”

  Belle was still laughing when Mrs. O’Neal brought over a tall, thin man with a wild mop of graying brown hair. He wore a white collar and a black suit. It was difficult not to worry too much about what he thought of this business. It had been arranged and announced with no warning and no meeting or conversation with the pastor. She knew their pastor at home would have found some way to make his disapproval plain to see.

  After a surprisingly polite talk, the man went over to the brothers. “Did he marry Emily and Iain?” she asked Mrs. O’Neal.

  “He did. Matthew and Abbie, too. He moved out here many years ago. He was somewhat too worldly for many people in the town he came from. They love him around here. Does all the weddings, all the christenings and all the burials. I go to his church when I can.”

  “He does do a nice sermon,” Emily said.

  Two men entered the room. They were dressed nicely if a bit roughly, and each had a wife. Belle easily recognized that the women were of Native heritage. They each had a child and one of the wives was soon to bear another.

  After she was introduced to the Powells, things began to move fast. People began to arrive and Belle began to feel nervous. Geordie, on the other hand, was enjoying the teasing and congratulations he was getting. Then Iain’s lawyer and his wife came over to say hello. After only a short talk, Belle had information about a few lawyers that dealt in wills and offered them a place to stay if ever they wished to wander back East. By the time they went to talk to someone else she realized she may have also found a way to do something with the house in Boston that Morgan had inherited, a way that could build her a nice account for the future, something that would be of far more use to her than a house.

  Then Mrs. O’Neal pulled her out of the room. Emily grabbed her friend Red and disappeared into the fancier sitting room. Several of Red’s army of children went with them as did her large redheaded husband. As Mrs. O’Neal pulled her up the stairs, Belle caught a glimpse of Geordie surrounded by a bunch of men all fascinated by his talk of the shower bath.

  “Time to give you some finishing touches.”

  Belle frowned at Mrs. O’Neal. “Like what?”

  “Something that sparkles, some flowers, and something blue.”

  “I have a few things that sparkle. Not sure why I brought them, but it has become a habit to keep them with me.” She pulled a small case out of the drawer she was using in the bureau.

  Setting it on the bed, she opened it and found the things her mother had left to her. There was a necklace of shells and stones all nicely polished, with a set of earrings to match. Mrs. O’Neal oohed and aahed over a wide, etched silver bracelet, then quickly put it on Belle’s wrist, making Belle think she would have to do her best to find one for the woman. She sat on the bed as Mrs. O’Neal placed a small wreath of flowers on her hair. Then Belle stood up to carefully don her necklace and earrings. She took a look at herself in the mirror and blushed, for she felt she looked beautiful and believed that to be very vain.

  “Child, you do look pretty. For just a little while I worried about the necklace of stones and shells, but, no, it sits on the ivory dress perfectly.”

  “They were what my mother left me when she died. She never much liked jewelry, but these things she clung to.”

  “And that makes them even more perfect. One should always wear some family heirloom if one can. Emily wore a locket of her sister’s. I cannot recall what Abbie wore, but it will come to me. Well, ready to get married?”

  “You like doing this, don’t you?”

  “I do. I really do, and when you walked in with Geordie and those two babies, I knew I would get to do it again. He had that look.”

  “What look?”

  “That this one is mine look. Iain had it, as did Matthew. And both of them came with children, too. Beginning to wonder if that should be my sign.”

  “Ah, well, that fool war left a lot of children needing someone. A lot of women, too.”

  “It did indeed. Enough sad talk for a wedding day. Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  * * *

  Geordie tried to stand still, to not reveal the attack of nerves he was suffering from. He knew Belle would not humiliate him with any public desertion or refusal, but now the fact that he had not formally proposed troubled him. Women expected one, not just agreeing with someone else’s plan for them. Then he saw Belle walk in through the door and caught his breath. He had seen her many guises, but he did not think he had ever seen her in her full beauty. He slowly walked over to her.

  “Belle,” he said as he took her hands in his. “Ye look stunning. I ken Mrs. O’Neal pushed this, as she is prone to. Are ye sure?”

  She stretched up on her tiptoes and gave him a light kiss. “Yes, I am sure. And when we get back home, remind me that I want to try to find Mrs. O’Neal something like my bracelet.”

  “No more of that, you two,” said the pastor as he took them by the arms and led them to the spot where he would perform the marriage. “Let us get on with making it all proper and legal.”

  “The rings,” Belle whispered to Geordie. “We do not have the rings.”

  “Oh, aye. Taken care of.”

  She started to wonder about that, but then set all her attention on the pastor and his words. Strangely, she calmed with each vow they had to repeat. It made her more certain that she was doing the right thing. Then Abel, dressed up neatly, stepped up with the rings resting on a fancy little pillow. Belle found herself shaking a little as Geordie slid hers on her finger.

  When she slid a wide gold band on his finger, she suddenly thought of her father’s ring at home, and decided she would see if he would allow a switch. Then Geordie kissed her, and despite some of the hoots from the small crowd, she did not shy away from his response.

  Wrapping his arm around Belle, he led her to the dining room where all the food was laid out. Mrs. O’Neal had done them proud yet again. As expected, the table was swarmed and he allowed Belle to pull away to make sure Abel and Morgan got some things they wanted and were seated in the kitchen with the other children. He found himself with the Powells.

  “She should be back soon,” he told the women. “She was just getting Abel and Morgan settled in with all the other children and grabbing some food before it disappears.”

  “A big possibility. The people round here do love it when you have a gathering. And they ain’t coming just to look at your pretty faces.”

  Belle was headed back to the room where everyone was gathered, when two women approached her. It took her a moment but then she recalled they were the Powell brothers’ wives. She had a feeling she knew what they wished to discuss. So she led them to seats so they could all sit as they talked and, in this corner of the room, be relatively private. Just as she was about to say something, one of the women leaned forward and ran her finger over Belle’s necklace.

  “This has some age to it.”

  “It does. It belonged to my mother’s mother.” She turned the bracelet on her wrist. “So did this.”

  The other woman smoothed her fingers over the animal carved into the silver. “What is this animal?”

  “A seal.”

  For a while they talked about the making of jewelry, how those of mixed races survived where they had each lived. By the time the women left with their husbands, Belle felt there was a lot more holding those marriages together than the need for a home and some kind of acceptance. It was an impression strengthened
when the brothers came to gather up their wives and take their families home.

  Seeing how the house was clearing out, Geordie started to move Belle out of the room and up to their bedroom. She watched as the crowd started to thin out, people pausing and offering them congratulations and good wishes. They were all very nice, even though she had seen that many of them had noticed she, as well as the Powell women, shared Native heritage. She was tired out though, not used to hours spent with a boisterous crowd of people she had only just met. By the time Geordie stepped close enough to grasp her hand, pull her to her feet and lead her up the stairs, she really gave no thought to why the men all clapped him on the back as if he was some conquering hero.

  As they entered the bedroom and he led her to their bed, she began to understand what all the back slapping, and laughter, and whispered jokes were about. When he pushed her down onto the bed and sprawled on top of her, she punched him in the arm.

  “Ow! What did I do?”

  “Laughed at those dumb man-jokes.”

  “What dumb man-jokes?” he asked as he undid the front of her gown.

  “The ones they told you as you brought me upstairs.”

  “That is just the silly way men celebrate such occasions,” he answered as he slowly removed her stockings, then her petticoats. “And do ye mean to tell me that women dinnae make any jokes about it? I dinnae believe that.”

  “Well, try. Unwed women have little to no knowledge or understanding about it all, so how could they make jokes? She would also be considered a fallen woman or something like that if she did reveal the knowledge with a joke. My father told me all about it, so I could have told a few, but I am not sure it is something to joke about.”

  “Your father told ye everything about it? Really? Why would he do that?”

  “Because he thought it was a silly rule to keep women ignorant about such an important part of life. He also thought it silly for a man to send his daughter out into the world ignorant of what men are capable of doing, or of how she might keep the man she chooses happy enough not to be tempted by some buxom dance-hall girl.”

  He tugged her gown off and tossed it to the floor. “Well, why dinnae ye show me what he taught ye and I can verify it or nay.”

  “Sneaky man.”

  He kissed her and stood up to shed his clothes. Belle told herself not to look at him too much or he would preen, thinking she was ogling him. Then she saw the slow smile grow on his face and knew she was ogling him. Annoyed with herself as much as she was with him, she reached out and grabbed his erection, then tugged him down on the bed. While he lay there clutching himself and acting like she had done him serious injury, she stood up and slowly pulled off her chemise. She laughed when he lunged at her and wrestled her under him.

  Playfulness quickly disappeared as he stroked her body. Belle fought to keep her need tamped down so they could go slowly and savor each other, but soon knew she would not be successful. This man belonged to her now, had taken vows with her, and that knowledge added a ferocity to her need for him that both thrilled and frightened her.

  Belle found herself pinned beneath him as he kissed his way down her body. She burrowed her fingers into his hair as he kissed her breasts, licking and nipping gently until she was squirming beneath him. He reached her belly. There was barely enough time to catch her breath when he nipped the inside of her thighs so that he could push them apart and nestle himself in between them and leisurely feast upon her. She could barely smother her cry as her release tore through her, and then he was there, driving into her and finding his own.

  They lay side by side, panting. After a few moments, Geordie patted her backside. “I think married life could kill us.”

  She laughed and slapped his thigh. “If you finish that with some comment on how we will at least pass with smiles on our faces, I will do you a serious injury.”

  Geordie laughed and pulled her into his arms.

  * * *

  Iain was walking quietly past Geordie’s door with Robbie and Lachlan and he smiled faintly as he heard the laughter behind the closed doors. “He will be leaving with her.”

  “Och, aye. He will,” said Robbie. “He did love being near the ocean. The quiet rhythm of it in the night is hard to resist. And it is beautiful. So is Belle, and that house she inherited is in her blood. The whole area is. And, aside from her family, I think she is close to the land in a way we might not fully understand. Rather like us and Scotland.”

  “Or like us and being part of a clan.”

  “I suspect so. Ye said ye kenned we might nay all stay around.”

  “I did, but I had hoped.”

  “To make your own clan?” drawled Lachlan and earned himself a swat on the arm. “But there can be visits whenever we wish. And, truth is, I will be one of the first to trot out there and see what there is. Sounds like she has a fine place and works hard to keep it up and flourishing. I’d also like to take a gander at the ocean when it isnae tossing around the ship I am on. I got to thinking I might even like to try digging clams, although not sure I would want to eat any,” he added as they went down the stairs.

  “I would like to ken who ate the first one and was he just joking when he told everyone they were all right to eat. Was it just a joke on all his neighbors?”

  “And I just hope her great-grandfather achieved what he wanted to with that complicated will.”

  “Two things worked in his favor even then, I think. The heir was a female and he was a white man with a long history in the area. The Powell sisters had a nice long chat with, um, Mehitabel? And what the devil is that name?”

  “Bible. One of the wives got a little book that lists names and what they mean, to help mamas choose something magnificent to name their children. Hope there was something learned that the Powells can use as I ken the brothers are worried about what could happen to their wives and kids if they die and havenae tied the title to their land without every chain possible.”

  “Good plan,” said Robbie. “They dinnae have the advantage of an old, weel-kenned name and people round here wouldnae bow to it as they are doing back East. And that lawyer ye hired, Iain, had a long chat with Mehitabel. Think he was verra impressed by what her grandfather had done to protect his family. By the time they face the problem of no male heir, there will probably be even less chance of anyone trying to negate that will.”

  “I smell bacon cooking,” said Lachlan, and hurried down the stairs.

  * * *

  Belle looked at Geordie and tried not to sigh as she watched him dress. It was a little hard to believe he was hers now. Since she had gotten a lot of good advice from Iain’s lawyer, she could even set aside any worry about someone trying to steal her family’s land because she had married and the man was a stranger just off the boat.

  “Get dressed, Belle.” He gave her a light slap on the backside, which was well protected by the blanket she was under.

  “Do you know how annoying a rise-and-shine person can be to those of us who do not rise or shine in the morning? Why are you in such a hurry?”

  “I can smell bacon.”

  “Ah, of course.” She slid out of bed and went to find something to wear as well as tidy up her clothes from yesterday. “Cannot miss a chance at bacon.” She began to pick up her wedding clothes. “I guess I will have to learn how to cook it properly now.”

  “Ye dinnae ken how to cook bacon? I am sure I had some at your house.”

  “You probably did, but Auntie would have been responsible for it. That is why you didn’t get it every day.”

  “I dinnae ken what to do about this. May have to rethink the wedding,” he said as he started out the door, shutting it after him just before the shoe hit it.

  * * *

  “Already fighting with the wife?” asked Iain as Geordie hurried into the kitchen.

  “Not really. Just told me she doesnae ken how to cook bacon.” He started laughing when he saw the shock on his brother’s face.

  “Is that w
hy ye came home?” Iain asked.

  “Nay.” He laughed and shook his head. “Seems her aunt fixes it when she stays for breakfast.”

  “Seems a sensible solution,” said Mrs. O’Neal.

  “Maybe, but it would help if she learned how and nay just for my pampered belly. She rents rooms during the summer season, with meals included.” He filled his plate and took a seat, keeping an empty one by his side.

  “That is a lot of work for a lass on her own.”

  “It is—the gardening, the caring of the grounds and house, the orchard and fruit bushes and a cranky neighbor who wants a large piece of her land for himself. But she appears to have a small army of cousins. There are also people who feel beholden to her father, who was a doctor. They might help out.”

  “That is good. So the town helps look after her.”

  “It appears so. So, Geordie, ye are leaving the West, aye?” Iain asked.

  “Aye. I am. I want to. Never really felt settled into this area. With the family, aye, but nay this place.”

  “Ye think the East is more like home?”

  “Weel, she will be there for a start, aye? But I do think it is a place my soul will settle to.”

  “Just dinnae settle in a way that makes ye just a new chapter in the book of the ocean’s history. It’s a long and bloody one. We will come to visit ye though, so ye best have enough room to house us.”

  “There is plenty of room. Just try to avoid the storm season.”

  “And when is that?”

  “In the late summer. August and into September, although the occasional storm can happen whenever the mood takes it.”

  “They are bad storms?” asked Mrs. O’Neal.

  “They can be. It is usually the high water and high winds that cause the most trouble.”

  “They talk about it as if it is a fifth season,” said Robbie.

  “Well, you just wait for one to come along and you will see why,” said Belle as she entered the kitchen and sat next to Geordie.