“And that would be?”
“We have a wedding with guests, but family only.”
Her eyes flashed a bit as she looked up at him. “Pray tell what family means to a Highland clan?”
He laughed, a hearty laugh from deep within him. This woman would keep him on his toes and laughter in his life for the rest of his days. “You have me there. Aye, family will likely mean most of the clan. We’ll keep it short?”
“Very well,” she said with a sigh, though he could see the smile playing at the corners of her lips. “I suppose this is what I’m a part of now, isn’t it?”
“’Tis, lass,” he said with a grin, and she gave a bit of a surprised shout when suddenly he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, doing nothing but holding her tight, feeling like the most fortunate man in all the world that he was here with her, and she had agreed to be his for the rest of their days. “You’re a McDougall now,” he said softly in her ear. “Or, at least, you will be as soon as we can make it so.”
She rested her head against his shoulder, her arms coming around his back, her fingers making soft circles on the bared skin, giving him shivers despite the rather warm day.
“Gwen,” he said, and she lifted her head to look at him as if she knew that what he had to say was rather important. He had wanted to surprise her, but he had a feeling that with her, she would prefer to be consulted with. “I have to tell you something. I know how you’ve been without a family for so long, and I had thought that, perhaps, for our wedding, you might want to have your family attend.”
Her eyes widened at his words. “My — my family? You mean my mother and father?” A hard look came over her face and she shook her head rapidly. “No. They gave me away. They’re no longer my family. They—”
He held up a hand to stop her.
“I know, lass, I know.” He caught himself running a hand through his hair. “Listen, I asked around a bit — with some help from my father and my brothers. From what we can tell, your parents have both passed, some time ago as it were, for they lived a hard life. However, you do have siblings — many of them, as you told me. Would you like to meet any of them? I know… I know I probably shouldn’t have inquired about them without asking you. But I wanted to know if there was any hope of finding them before I told you any of it. I haven’t said a word to them, so if you’d choose not to meet them, well, then, it will be as if nothing has changed.”
She stayed silent, sitting there staring at him, and his heart hammered in his chest. How angry would she be that he had gone into her past behind her back, trying to find her family without her awareness? She wouldn’t leave him, would she? He knew she had a hard time trusting, and as it was, he had only just won her trust back. Now he had taken the information she had given him about her true name and done something with it she may not have wanted.
“Gwen, I’m—”
A tear started running down her cheek, followed by another, and she turned her head away as if she didn’t want him to see her cry.
“Gwen, lass…” He reached out toward her, wiping her tears, raining kisses over her cheeks in their place. “I’m sorry. Let’s pretend I said nothing about it. We can go on as we were. You have a family now, never forget that—”
“Roderick,” she whispered. “Thank you. I — I would love to meet them.”
“You would?” he sat back, surprised. “You just said they were no longer your family.”
“No, I don’t suppose they ever will truly feel like family,” she said slowly. “Not like you with your parents and siblings. But my brothers and sisters, they didn’t give me away. Who knows what fate lay in store for all of them. I don’t know how many of them survived, nor what kind of lives they’ve had. I remember most of them from when I was a girl, and I would love to see them again.”
He cupped her face in his hands.
“Consider it done,” he said. “Anything for you.”
Chapter 24
Gwen cleared her throat nervously as she saw the wagon rolling along the drive. Roderick came up behind her, putting a strong arm around her, and she leaned into him for support. She had never thought she would have someone who she could rely on as she did him. There had been Doc, sure, but she had never been completely certain if he would be there when she needed him. He came and went as he pleased, and she had been more of an afterthought unless she was required for a scheme of his. Though he had been there when she needed him the most, for which she was grateful.
With Roderick, she knew he would do anything for her — and she would do the same for him. She smiled up at him and then turned her gaze back to the road. It had been a week since Roderick had told her that her family was close enough to attend their wedding, which was to take place the next day. His mother and sister had panicked when he told them when he wanted to be married, but he was not to be swayed. They had looked to Gwen to be an ally of theirs but she had simply smiled, telling them she had left the decision to Roderick.
“Of course,” Peggy had said with a snort. “Leave it to a man to have absolutely no regard for the necessary preparations.”
“It’s all right Peggy,” Gwen had said. “Really, nothing frivolous is required. We need a priest and our family, and the rest is unnecessary.”
“Unnecessary?” Peggy had exclaimed, and Gwen had to bite her lip to try not to laugh, as the young woman was altogether serious in her argument.
Adam had collected her siblings. She wasn’t sure how many had come, but she tried not to let her apprehension show as they drove into the yard and began to descend out of the carriage.
“Gwen?” There was no denying that the man with flaming red hair standing beside the lead horse, gripping his hat tightly in his hands, was her eldest brother, Jacob. As she looked at him, her eyes blurred as a flood of memories came rushing back, and soon she was running across the yard and launching herself into his arms.
She was soon so surrounded that she could hardly breathe, but she didn’t care. “Oh, how I’ve missed you all!” she said with a cry, though she didn’t even recognize the young ones, which made her cry all the harder. Good Lord, collect yourself, Gwen. She had cried more in the past week than she had in the whole of her life prior to that time.
Finally, Jane ushered them all inside, and they were tripping over one another with their words as they caught up on the past thirteen years.
After they had found places around the fire, Gwen focused on the stories of her siblings. Of all who had made the journey, four were her actual siblings. The other three were spouses. Two had brought their babes and children.
“Another two were sent overseas, as you were, Gwen,” Jacob said, looking at her with sadness in his eyes. “Another two have passed. And the four of us mostly grew up with one another, though a few of us spent time with various aunts and uncles over the years. Our parents… well, they did what they thought was best. They truly believed you would have a better life somewhere else, where there was more opportunity.”
Gwen shook her head. “Life is always better with the ones you love,” she said quietly. “In no way could a young girl make her way in the world alone without family, without someone to look out for her.”
Jacob sighed. “Now that I have children of my own, I can hardly understand their actions, Gwen. But they’re gone now, and we cannot ask them about their decisions. Instead, we can only forgive them as best we can and make up for the time we’ve lost. What say you – will you be my sister Gwen again?” he asked.
A slow smile turned Gwen’s lips up into a smile. “Of course,” she said, and as the McDougalls joined them, she realized she had never been so completely happy in all her life.
* * *
For once, Roderick could hardly eat anything set in front of him. He was too preoccupied with staring at his wife. She looked absolutely radiant. Peggy had fretted that she had not had time to have a dress made, but Gwen wore Peggy’s finest pale-green dress, and it fit her perfectly. Her hair was loose, fl
owing unbound over her shoulders, and Peggy had made her a band of daisies to wrap around her hair.
She was sunshine, she was happiness, and she was his.
Gwen turned and must have seen the intensity of his stare, for her brows furrowed.
“Is something the matter?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“Not at all,” he responded. “Everything is very, very right.”
She smiled and looked out around them at the Highlanders who filled Galbury’s hall. The number of people in attendance was small by McDougall standards, though most of the clan had managed to fit themselves into the room. Roderick knew it was a bit overwhelming for Gwen, but she had admirably gone along with everything.
She had told him one of the best wedding gifts she had received was the arrival of Doc’s son, John. Somehow, meeting him and telling him about Doc, who he was and the life he had lived, as well as his wish for his son to have the money — a wish she had not fulfilled due to her return of the emerald — gave her closure to that part of her life.
Roderick placed his arm around the back of her chair and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I’ve had about enough of this, lass.” Her shoulders settled back into him. “What say we have our own fun somewhere private?”
She turned and gave him a wicked grin.
“Are you sure you want to miss all of this? I know how you enjoy celebrations.”
“I have a better celebration in mind.”
Gwen pushed back her chair, and he knew she meant to leave quietly, but they wouldn’t be getting away with that in this crowd.
“Where are you off to?” someone called out, and a red blush crept up Gwen’s cheeks.
“I’m off to claim my bride!” he responded, raising his arm like a Highlander of old, and despite the look of shock she gave him, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her past the cheers and shouts of the crowd and up the stairs.
When they rounded the corner and he strode down the corridor to his chamber, she pushed at his chest. “Will you put me down?” she asked. “I can hardly believe you would tell them all where we are going! Why, your mother was there!”
He silenced her with a kiss, and she seemed to forget her protestations as her arms came round his neck, and he continued on to the room that was now their chamber together. Once through the entrance, he kicked the door shut behind them, and carried her to their bed, placing her down upon it with all the gentleness he could muster.
As much as he wanted to disrobe her and take her here and now, there was something he needed to attend to first.
“I have a present for you, lass,” he said, and she pushed herself up into a sitting position, divesting herself of her boots.
“A present?” she said wrinkling her nose at him. “But I haven’t got anything for you.”
“Oh, you’ve given me more than enough,” he said in response, passing her a package wrapped in coarse paper. “Here.”
She eyed him warily for a moment before taking it from him and ripping off the paper. Inside was a small box. He watched her eagerly and felt a great sense of pride when she opened it with a gasp.
“Oh, Roderick,” she exclaimed. “This is…” she swallowed hard. “This is absolutely beautiful.”
He took the necklace from her, bringing it around her neck and clasping it together.
“Wherever did you get this?” she asked, her face still incredulous.
“From a jeweler,” he said, adding, “I bought it,” to which she eyed him with some chagrin, making him laugh.
“It’s not the emerald you wore for so long, nor is it large, I know, but a sapphire is also a fine jewel, and the color reminded me of the loch,” he explained, to which she murmured something so softly he couldn’t hear her. “What was that?”
“I said,” she answered, not looking at him, “and the color of your eyes.”
He chuckled, bringing her chin up to look at him.
“Perhaps you are a romantic after all,” he said tenderly.
But she shook her head.
“Do you like it?”
She said not a word but launched herself into his arms, and he caught her, having just enough strength to keep them both upright.
“I love it,” she said, laughing, “and I love you.”
“And I you.”
He couldn’t have said how or when they moved, but all he knew was soon they were next to one another atop his plaid on the bed, their lips locked, and their legs intertwined. Her apparent urgency drove him onward, and his hands skimmed up her bare legs, pushing that beautiful dress up higher, over her hips and her waist. He began working at the laces on the back of her dress as her hands wound into his hair, and when she arched in toward him, he lost all thought.
It was not long before they were each stripped of their clothes, with the exception of the necklace she wore around her neck. Roderick didn’t think he would ever tire of the sight of her exquisite body, nor the feel of her soft skin against him. Roderick rolled on top of her, unable to take things slowly this time. She didn’t seem to mind, however, as she entwined her arms around him, lifting her legs around his hips and interlocking her ankles around his back. He leaned back for a moment and she reached down to guide him inside of her.
She released a gasp as she took him in, and he gripped her hips as he began moving in and out, the pleasure building quickly in a torrent of passion. He tried to slow, but the sound of her steady pants in his ear nearly sent him over the edge as the pressure mounted.
Then she leaned back away from him onto the bed, and he took in the sight of her breasts moving up and down with his thrusts, and he nearly lost any control he still held onto. She moaned as she moved her hips in time with him, driving him faster and faster. He thrust more rapidly, and within a few strokes, she was calling out his name amid cries of pleasure, and he quickly followed her over the edge, grinding into her as he found his own release.
He claimed her mouth in a heated kiss, but they remained next to one another, unwilling to let go.
“Do you think we should go back down?” she whispered.
“Aye,” he replied.
“Are we going to?”
“Absolutely not.”
Epilogue
Three months later
Gwen stretched an arm behind her head as she walked into the dining room, greeting the family who had gathered around the table. She was sore from the day before, as she and Roderick had spent the afternoon helping one of the crofters herd errant sheep. It sounded like tedious work, but it had actually been fairly satisfying once she learned what she was doing.
She paused for a moment as she poured her tea, suddenly aware that all were looking at her.
She placed the pot back on the table.
“Is something the matter?” she asked, her eyes finding Roderick’s, who sat to her right.
“Not at all,” he responded, taking her hand and giving it a quick squeeze with his large, warm fingers. “We’ve had a letter from Callum.”
“Oh?” she asked, unsure if she was ready to hear what the missive might bring.
“Nothing to worry about, lass,” he said with his ready grin. “Simply that North-West Mounted Police met Grim and his men when the ship docked and are dealing with them accordingly. We will not have to worry about them again.”
She nodded slowly, and though she heard his words, she knew it would take some time until she could put behind her the feeling of being watched, being followed.
“Is there anything else?”
“Aye,” Roderick said, and she appreciated that they let him speak the news to her, despite the fact that Finlay or Duncan had likely received the letter to begin with. “The emerald has found its way back to its original owner. The police tracked it down, and to say the family is thankful is an understatement.”
“Good,” she said with a nod. “I’m glad. And now that Scotland Yard has been made aware of the London buyer, they can surely keep a watch on him.”
“’T
is true,” Finlay said now. “They are waiting for him to acquire something of value and then they will move in on him, as surely it will be stolen goods.”
“I can hardly believe it all,” she murmured and took in the smiles of those around her as she was encouraged to eat. This was family, she thought. They were with you no matter the circumstances. And they were her family now. She would have never thought it to be possible, and yet, here they were.
* * *
It had been a hard week of work around the clan’s lands, and Roderick told Gwen that day they were to take a well-deserved day off.
“But—”
“Ah, no protests,” he said, holding up a finger. “Today is a day to explore.”
What he truly wanted was time alone with his wife. After three months, he still woke up each morning and hurriedly turned over to look at her, to make sure it all wasn’t a dream. But no, there she would be, her mouth slightly open as she breathed deeply in sleep, for she always slept later than he. He had imagined it would be the other way around, but it was one luxury she gave herself over to.
She had fit in here better than he could have ever imagined. His father had quickly come around, appreciating her boldness and fearlessness, and her past seemed completely irrelevant.
Except, there were parts he enjoyed looking back on.
“Do you recall the first time we met?” he asked as she joined him on what he now thought of as their rock, the rock where they loved to sit on and look out over the wide expanse of waters below them.
She smiled her wide grin.
“Of course,” she said. “I shall never forget it as long as I live. You sitting on the bank’s veranda, trying to look as though you had not a care in the world. I think the reason I believed you were just a man flirting with me is because that is exactly what you were.”
Roderick’s Purpose: The Victorian Highlanders Book 4 Page 16