Andrew waited on the steps of the chapel with Graham and Davy beside him. His father had pulled Father Ninian aside and was speaking with him quietly. Ena and her family, as well as Tasgall, Aiden and Fiona MacKay were nearby too. The bailey was filled with MacLeods, MacKays and the members of all the visiting clans. Perhaps it was the heavy mist, but everything seemed hushed. Then the door to the keep opened. His little sister stepped through first, positively beaming, followed a moment later by the light of his life.
Davy made an audible gasp. “She really does look like an angel, Da.”
Andrew took his son’s hand. “Aye, she really does.”
She descended the stairs, on Laird MacKay’s arm. Mairi parted the crowd as Andrew’s lovely bride drew ever closer.
Finally, Father Ninian asked who gave her to be married and Eoin kissed her cheek before placing her hand in Andrew’s.
Father led them through their vows of marriage, but Andrew could scarce focus on anything but the beautiful woman at his side. When Anna said, “And thereto I plight thee my troth,” Andrew’s only thought was, thank ye, God.
Then Father Ninian blessed the gold ring that would symbolize their union and gave it to Andrew. Andrew took Anna’s left hand in his, slipping the ring on the third finger. “With this ring, I thee wed, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Father blessed the couple and led them into the chapel, followed by their families and the leaders of the visiting clans. Andrew knelt before the altar, beside Anna while the priest prayed again. Please, God, keep her by my side until the end of my days, was Andrew’s prayer.
As Father Ninian proceeded with the nuptial Mass, the sound of Anna’s voice, responding to the ancient liturgy, wrapped around him like a gentle caress and filled him with warmth. At last, the Mass was over and Father gave them a final blessing before saying, “Ye may kiss yer bride.” Perhaps Andrew should have only brushed his lips over hers, but when he took her in his arms and their lips met he knew that would not be enough. It would never be enough. Anna’s lips parted and he longed to be lost in this kiss forever.
Andrew became vaguely aware of appreciative chuckles around the chapel just as Davy tugged on his plaid. “Da, can I kiss my new mama now?”
The chuckles became laughter and Anna, her face wreathed in smiles, knelt down, hugged Davy close and kissed him until he giggled.
~ * ~
The wedding feast was magnificent. Course after course of delicacies were presented to their guests. Anna tasted it all, but it could have been bread and porridge and she still would have been delighted. She was surrounded by the people she loved most in the world and at her side was the man she adored. It was hard to believe that there had ever been a time when she fought with him, refused to dine in this hall and wanted nothing more than to leave Curacridhe forever. This was her home now and she loved it.
The sumptuous dinner was followed by music and dancing. She laughed and danced and simply relished being near her new husband.
Finally, late in the evening, Andrew maneuvered her close to the stairway entrance. Then he wrapped his arms around her and whispered, “It’s time to go.” Before she could react, he scooped her, laughing, into his arms and announced, “Lairds, Ladies, beloved family and friends, I fear Lady MacLeod and I must say good night. Please continue to enjoy the celebration in our absence.” He ducked into the stairway with her and practically ran up the steps.
He carried her to his chamber, entered and closed the door behind them.
She had never been in his chamber before, but she didn’t spare it a glance. Her world became him alone. His caresses, his lips, his heated gaze. The circle of his arms was her universe. This man who she had fought with, and then for, was her everything. His kisses, his touch, inflamed her. As he joined with her, she became pure sensation, formless bliss. She existed only with him, her heart beating with his, their very souls entwining.
When she finally floated down from ecstasy it was to find herself wrapped in his arms. Protected. Cherished. Adored.
~ * ~
After their exquisite joining, Andrew simply held his beloved Anna in his arms, close to his heart. This strong, brave, resilient, passionate, beautiful woman was his, forever.
Ye’ve been greatly blessed, Andrew.
Indeed he had been.
He brushed her temple with a kiss. “I love ye, angel.”
“I love ye more.”
“That simply isn’t possible.”
“Why not?”
“If I have learned nothing else, it’s that love is not measurable, it is infinite.”
She smiled at him. “Ye’ve learned that, have ye? Well it’s about time.”
He chuckled and nipped her earlobe, causing her to giggle. “Ye’re too cheeky by half, Lady MacLeod.”
“But ye like that about me.”
He chuckled. “Aye, I do.”
They lay in the peaceful cocoon of each other’s arms for several minutes. He caressed her face, trailing his finger down her cheek and across her soft lips. He loved kissing those sweet lips. It was then that he remembered the odd thing she had said to him when she emerged from the cave.
“Anna, my love, what are blackberry kisses?”
She had begun to doze. “Hmm?”
“When we found ye in the cave, you said something about blackberry kisses.”
She smiled and snuggled closer. “I had a dream a few nights ago about my old nursemaid Grizel. We were walking near the forest past blooming blackberry bushes. She teased me about picking blackberries as a child and going home with more on my face and hands than in my basket. She also said that ye’d enjoy kissing the remnants from my lips.”
“I’m fairly certain I will.”
Anna laughed. “I don’t doubt it. But when I was in the cave, I remembered something else Grizel said that made me absolutely certain ye would find me.”
“What was that?”
“She said that it is a good year for blackberries and that we’d share a lot of blackberry kisses. The only way could is if ye take me blackberry picking in August, and I knew that would only be possible if ye found me. So, I was confident ye would.”
“Blackberry kisses. Aye, my wee angel, we need a lifetime of those.”
~ * ~
Paradise, beyond the limits of time
“Are ye satisfied now, Joan?”
“Aye, Michael, I am. I couldn’t be happier.”
He contemplated her for a moment before saying, “You are a remarkable woman. There are many who don’t want those left behind to find love again, even if it means years of pain and loneliness. Perhaps it is jealousy or selfishness, or perhaps they fear they will be forgotten.”
“Aye, I have heard talk, but I don’t understand it. How could I wish that loneliness and pain on my beloved? How could I want my sweet child to grow up without a mother to love him? I know they don’t love me less because she is in their lives. It’s only that the pain of their loss that’s been lessened.”
“That is very true, but, Joan, there were easier paths to achieve that objective. Paths that didn’t involve the MacKays. You know, I thought you were daft when you asked me to send her to save Davy.”
“I know ye did.” Her musical laughter filled the air. “But ye see now, it had to be her.”
“You had another plan all along,” he said, giving her a knowing smile.
“I only hoped, Michael. When Sulwin and Grizel told me about her, I knew she was perfect. She is spirited, fiercely loyal and she positively overflows with love. I was certain she could capture the MacLeods’ hearts and make room for them in hers. There was just that one wee problem we had to get around.”
“You think it was a ‘wee problem?’ She was a MacKay and in spite of your great plan, they nearly killed her first.”
“Aye, that was a bit unexpected. But Michael, I wasn’t worried for a moment. Ye’re a great Archangel, I knew ye could protect her long enough for them to come to their senses, and then ye
could keep her there long enough for Dougal to see the way forward. After that it was simply a matter of time.”
Epilogue
The edge of the forest near Curacridhe, August 1361
Anna walked hand in hand with Andrew, the late afternoon sun warm on their backs. The basket she carried was nearly full of blackberries. She couldn’t say the same thing for their young daughters’ baskets. They walked well ahead of Andrew and Anna, squabbling about who picked more.
“Wheesht,” called Andrew. “The answer to who picked more is mama—and it always will be until ye put more in yer baskets than in yer bellies.”
Eight-year-old Lissa frowned. “Ye and mama eat berries too.”
“At least we’re taking some back,” said twelve-year-old Ella. “When David and Callum and Kent used to pick berries with us all the baskets were nearly empty.”
A sad smile crossed Anna’s face. She missed her sons. David of course had returned to Curacridhe after completing his training several years ago. At twenty five he was Andrew’s right-hand, just as Andrew had been Dougal’s until the old laird passed away.
“Mam, I am not going berry picking with my wee sisters today,” her ever so grown son had informed her when she suggested it after the midday meal.”
Andrew noticed her wistful look. “Angel, ye know David would have come if ye really wanted him to.”
“I know, but it isn’t quite the same as when at the merest suggestion of berry picking they tumbled out of the keep—making us practically run to keep up with them. They grow up so fast and I miss my wee sons. I hate that we send them away.”
“Anna, our sons weren’t so very ‘wee’ when they went to train. All three were fourteen—or very nearly. Davy was already home again before Callum left and Kent only left a year ago—plus he’s just at Sutherland’s. We see him often.”
“It all sounds very logical and reasonable when ye put it that way, but reasonable or not, I miss them.”
He lifted her hand, kissing the back of it. “It sounds like Mairi likes it no better.”
Mairi and Tasgall had just gone back to Naomh-dùn with their two youngest children after attending the Lammas Feast at Curacridhe. And just over a month ago they had travelled to Brathanead castle, in the southern Highlands, so their oldest son, Dougal, could begin training as Laird MacLennan’s squire.
Andrew smiled. “Tasgall said she cried the whole way home.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “Mairi said Tasgall exaggerates.” At Andrew’s arched eyebrow she added, “But I expect she did cry a bit. The MacLennan holding is so far away.”
“It’s nearer to Naomh-dùn than it is to us, and it’s fairly close to the Chisholm holding as well. Plus Ena’s youngest has gone there too.”
That was true. Shaw was two years older than Dougal and a year older than Kent. As they grew, whenever the cousins were together, those three were inseparable.
Anna nodded. “Aye, Dougal will like that.”
“It was wonderful to hear the Matheson’s good news.”
Anna smiled broadly. “Aye, it was. Even though I watched him grow up, it is hard to believe the gangly lad who freed me from that cave is a married man with a child of his own on the way.”
Andrew squeezed her hand a little tighter as he often did whenever that horrible day was mentioned. It was as if he still feared she might slip away from him. “That was another case of the right person being in the right place at the right time. If Fearghas had ridden with Da that day, instead of me, I don’t know if anyone would have been small enough to get into the cave and free ye. By the saints, the fact that Tadhg was with us at all was a miracle.”
“Why? Ye’ve never told me that before.”
“Nay, I guess I didn’t, but I only found out when Fearghas told me at Tadhg’s wedding.”
“What did he tell ye?”
“Apparently, Fearghas had no intention of bringing Tadhg that day. The lad was still quite young and had only just started training. But in the uproar that ensued after we learned ye’d been captured, Tadhg simply mounted up and went with us. We were well on our way before Fearghas realized it, and by then he figured there was no point making a fuss over it.”
“That’s…well…amazing.”
“I thought so. Although it is a bit less amazing than ye being near the strait when David needed ye.”
“Why do ye say that?”
Andrew winked at her. “Fearghas hadn’t specifically told Tadhg that he couldn’t go but I believe a certain wee MacKay had been forbidden to walk north on the bluff.”
Anna laughed and supplied the words that usually followed that statement, “But ye’ll be forever grateful that I did.”
“Aye, I will.”
They walked a bit in silence, before Andrew asked, “Speaking of that day, have ye had anymore dreams of Grizel?”
Anna had loved those dreams. “Not in years. I think the last one was the one when Lissa was about three. Grizel said that year was a good year for blackberries too.” Anna sighed and smiled. “Now that I think about it, it was a very good year. David had just returned from training and Callum hadn’t left yet. All seven of us went blackberry picking several times that summer.”
Andrew laughed. “I remember. Lissa wanted to pick her own but she couldn’t quite manage to avoid the thorns catching her clothes. Each time she got stuck, she squealed and one of the lads would pluck her loose. Finally David swung her up on his shoulders and handed berries up to her to eat as he picked.”
Anna laughed heartily. “That’s right. She had blackberry juice all over her little hands and Davy had purple stains all over his face from where she held on. Aye, that was a very good year for blackberries.”
“Every year that I get blackberry kisses is a good year. In fact, ye have a bit of blackberry on yer lips that needs kissed off.”
She grinned, “I do not have blackberries on my lips.”
“Oh, I beg to differ.” He reached into her basket, smashed a berry between his fingers and smeared the purple pulp on her lips. Then he cupped her cheek in his other hand, lowering his lips to hers.
Even after nineteen years of marriage, his kisses still thrilled her, transporting her to a place where nothing existed but the two of them and nothing mattered but the feel of his lips on hers. Before she was quite ready, giggles from the two lassies pulled her back to the here and now.
Andrew broke the kiss, gave her a roguish wink and turned to their daughters. “Yer mama had blackberry juice on her lips. And ye know how I love blackberries.”
~ The End ~
If you enjoyed Highland Angels be sure to read the rest of the Fated Hearts Series
Highland Revenge
Does he hate her clan enough to visit his vengeance on her? Or will he listen to her secret and his own heart’s yearning?
Hatred lives and breathes between medieval clans who often don’t remember why feuds began in the shadowed past.
But Eoin MacKay remembers.
He will never forget how he was treated by Bhaltair MacNicol—the acting head of Clan MacNicol. He was lucky to escape alive, and vows to have revenge.
Years later, as laird of Clan MacKay, he gets his chance when he captures Lady Fiona MacNicol. His desire for revenge is strong but he is beguiled by his captive.
Can he forget his stubborn hatred long enough to listen to the secret she has kept for so long? And once he knows the truth, can he show her she is not alone and forsaken? In the end, is he strong enough to fight the combined hostilities and age-old grudges that demand he give her up?
Highland Revenge is available as an e-book, audio book and paperback.
Highland Echoes
Love echoes.
Grace Breive is strong and independent because she has to be. She has a wee daughter to care for and, having lost her parents and husband, has no one else on whom she can rely. Driven from the only home she has ever known, she travels to Castle Sutherland to find a grandmother she never knew she had.
As Laird Sutherland’s heir, Bram Sutherland understands his obligation to enter into a political marriage for the good of the clan, but he is captivated by the beautiful and resilient young mother.
Will Bram and Grace follow the dictates of their hearts, or will echoes from the past force them apart?
Highland Echoes is available as an e-book, audio book and paperback.
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed reading about Anna and Andrew’s story. It might surprise you to learn that while Highland Angels is my seventh published work, Anna was the second heroine I created. Just like Katherine (Highland Solution), she existed in my imagination before I ever wrote the first word of my first novel. In fact, I started writing Highland Angels while I was still writing Highland Solution. When I ran into a block on one, I shifted to the other.
However I had to keep postponing Anna’s story because others needed to come first. When I finally could focus on her, she had evolved. The initial plot centered largely on Andrew trying to win her love. But as her character became even more fully formed, I realized that Anna gives her love freely, at least when she isn’t afraid. As Andrew tells her at one point, it is part of who she is and why she didn’t think twice about saving Davy. It was Andrew and not Anna who needed saving and who needed to open his heart again.
Finally, I would like to share a story about the source material for Anna’s dreams about Grizel. When I was six, my grandfather, a coal miner most of his life, died from Black Lung Disease (coal workers' pneumoconiosis). When I was a young adult I started having recurring dreams about him which were very similar to Anna’s dream. I would be with him. We would talk for a bit until he said it was time to go. He hugged me and I didn’t want to let go; I didn’t want him to leave. But he always said, “I have to go, it’s the rules.” Like Anna, each time I awoke from one of these dreams, I felt as if I had actually been with my grandfather. Also, like Anna, I felt the loss, but more importantly the sense of being profoundly loved. Anna had been so terribly disappointed when she wasn’t allowed to go home. I thought she needed a brief visit from Grizel to realize how much she was loved as well as to help redirect her anger and disappointment into purpose. Then it seemed only fitting that Grizel share her joy at being in love and offer her the promise of blackberry kisses.
Captured Hearts and Stolen Kisses Page 167