Her heart was warming. Caitlyn met his gaze and asked softly, “Alexander, why did you come for me?”
“Because I had to. You—” He struggled to find the words and, finally, with a muffled curse, he dropped to one knee, took her hand, and held it to his heart. “Caitlyn, I’ve done nothing right since I first met you. I’ve been out of my mind wanting you, which blinded me to even more important matters.”
“Like?” she said breathlessly.
“I love you.” His deep voice held the faintest tremble.
Tears sprang to her eyes.
He kissed her fingers. “Caitlyn, I’m not a young man. I’m almost forty. You’re twenty-three.”
“What does that matter?”
“When I’m fifty, you’ll be thirty-three and just as beautiful as you are right now.”
“MacLean, is that what this whole thing has been about? You think you’re too old for me?”
“Not now. But I feared that later, the differences would create a rift between us. That I’d have to watch you grow disinterested and slip away from me.”
She smiled softly. “That will never happen.”
“If it does, it’ll be worth whatever pain it causes, if I can just have some time with you now. I love you, and I’m sorry I didn’t admit it to myself until you were gone.” He cupped her chin and lifted her face to his. “I love how impulsive you are, how your eyes shine when you laugh. I love how you savor every bite you eat. I even love how you snap at me when you’re annoyed. The truth is, I just love you. It’s that simple.”
Caitlyn’s throat was too tight for her to answer. He loved her—he truly loved her. She could only—
Knock! Knock! Then Mary’s voice came through the door. “Caitlyn, are you all right? I heard something break.”
“I’m fine!” Caitlyn called. “I just dropped my mug.”
“And . . . I thought I heard a man’s voice.”
“Ah, no.” Cait lyn looked mischievously at Alexander, then grabbed her cloak and yanked it on, whispering, “I must leave her a note and—”
“No, you don’t,” he whispered back, finding her boots by the bed. “I’ve already taken care of it. Your parents will return in the morning and they know I’ve come for you.”
“My parents? But how?”
Laughing softly, he pushed her boots onto her feet. “I—”
“Caitlyn?” The knob rattled. “What’s wrong with this door?”
“It’s closed. Good night, Mary!”
MacLean opened the casement and climbed out onto the closest limb, then reached back for Caitlyn.
She tucked up her skirts and followed him without pause, her heart singing. Carefully, they climbed down the tree. When they reached the bottom, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly.
She smiled. “Where are we going?”
“To your grandmother’s. She’s expecting us.” He glinted a smile at her. “Your grandmother came to see me.”
Caitlyn gaped.
“She had a lot to say, none of it repeatable since I am a gentleman.”
“She has a sharp tongue.”
“I doubt you know the half of it. When she was through shredding my character, I told her that whatever she had to say about my behavior toward you, I would not only agree, but admit that I’d acted worse.”
“Alexander, I didn’t behave, either.”
He grasped her gloved hands and pulled her against him. “But I put you in the position of having to prove yourself. I had no right to do that. My only excuse is that I was a fool and I couldn’t leave you be.”
“Alexander, please, don’t—”
“Hear me out, Caitlyn. I didn’t treat you with the respect you deserve. Your grandmother was right about that. I’m sorry, and I won’t ever do such a thing again.”
Caitlyn peeped up at him. “Did Mam give you a horrible scold?”
He chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest. “You have no idea. After she’d calmed down and I’d explained my feelings, she demanded that I fix things. So I have. On the way here, I went to London to visit your parents and—”
“You didn’t!”
“I did. Your grandmother gave me their address. Your mother was charming and your father, once he was through being furious with the way I tricked you into our wager—”
“You didn’t trick me.”
He kissed her nose. “Actually, we tricked one another, but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that because I made a clean breast of the issue and confessed my sins, your parents not only forgave me, but they gave me their blessing.”
She blinked up at him. “They said you could steal me out the window?”
He laughed softly. “No, they might be a little shocked at that. I merely told them that I was going to fetch you to your grandmother’s so we could make arrangements. They’re to follow with your brothers and sister for the wedding in two weeks time.”
“Wedding? Our wedding?”
He lifted Caitlyn and swung her around, a deep laughter rumbling through him. “Ah, Caitlyn, my love!”
Her heart sang—sang, her ears humming along. He loved her! It was all worth it for this one, glorious moment.
MacLean took a suspiciously shaky breath, then his arms tightened about her so much that she had to protest. He silenced her protests with a passionate kiss, one that was everything she wanted.
And she knew that this moment was just the beginning. Before them were new tasks, new challenges, perhaps new troubles. But from now on, they’d solve them together—hand in hand.
Epilogue
Och, the dream o’ me life has been to dandle me own great-grandbairns upon me knee!
OLD WOMAN NORA FROM LOCH LOMOND TO HER THREE WEE GRANDDAUGHTERS ONE COLD EVENING
“He’s the spittin’ image o’ his father.” Mam tickled the baby’s dimpled chin. “Jus’ look at those green eyes!”
Mary, sitting by the fireplace in a rocking chair, hugged the baby tighter. “Little Ronan is so beautiful, Caitlyn.”
“So is Alexandra.” Triona, sitting across from Mary, held another tiny bundle. She brushed her fingers over the baby’s soft cheek, a look of wonder in her eyes. “It’s so lovely that you had twins, and they’re one of each—a boy and a girl.”
From the settee near the window, Caitlyn smiled contentedly and adjusted the blanket Alexander had so carefully tucked about her legs before he’d left to help his brother Hugh with some new foals. “I wouldn’t know how adorable my babies are, for I’ve only been allowed to hold them long enough to feed them.”
Mary grinned. “Mother and I are leaving this afternoon, so you’ll get your chance then.”
Triona touched Alexandra’s tiny gold curls. “I asked Hugh if we might stay another day or two. I know you could use the rest.”
Caitlyn watched the gentle glow in Triona’s gaze as she looked at Caitlyn’s new daughter. From across the room Caitlyn exchanged a concerned glance with Mary. Triona and Hugh had been trying to have a baby for years, but to no avail. It was almost heartbreaking to see her holding Alexandra so lovingly.
As if she knew Caitlyn’s thoughts, Triona sent her a calm smile. “It’s a good thing I have my stepdaughters to cuddle, or I’d feel cheated!”
Triona had inherited the title of “mother” from three girls Hugh had taken in when they’d been abused and neglected by their own mother. The warm light in Triona’s eyes made Caitlyn relax. “And they are wonderful girls. I shall call upon them often to help with their cousins.”
“They’ll love that.” Triona’s hazel eyes gleamed with love. “When we realized it might not be in our future to have children of our own, Hugh and I decided not to lament what we didn’t have, but to celebrate what we did have. Our daughters are the centers of our lives and we feel no lack.” Triona kissed the baby’s nose.
Mam snorted. “I think ye’re bein’ a mite hasty, sayin’ such a thing.”
Triona sent Mam an amused glance. “You gave us potion
s and they didn’t help. It’s just not meant to be.”
“Och, ye’ll see. These things take time, they do. Me potions will work yet.”
Caitlyn watched as her grandmother and sisters held her new babies, a feeling of deep happiness warming her through and through. She and Alexander had the sort of marriage she’d always dreamed of having—they were partners in every sense of the word. Even now, she couldn’t help but smile when she thought of how he’d come to the nursery to make sure she was reclining upon the settee as ordered, and how he’d tucked the blanket about her, saying it was too chilly by the window to be without one.
After five years, he wasn’t so hard-hearted and he laughed far more frequently now. Everyone commented on it, even his own brothers when they came to visit.
Things had changed at Wythburn, too. Against Father’s wishes, William had joined the navy and went off to sea. When he came to visit, Caitlyn was amazed at how tall, bronzed, and broad-shouldered he’d become. Robert had gone to Cambridge, where he was the lead student as they’d all predicted, his interest settling on ancient cultures. And Michael was finally healthy enough to join the squire’s son on a yearlong trip through the ruins of ancient cultures on Italy, Greece, and on into Africa. Father was green with envy over Michael’s good fortune, and they all eagerly awaited the letters telling of his adventures.
Though Mother had been worried about Michael’s weak lungs, the warmer climates had done what no amount of medicine in damp England could and, if his letters were to be believed, he was now amazingly robust.
Mary rubbed her cheek against Ronan’s head. “Why are babies so adorable?”
“God made ’em that way so ye’ll fergive them fer messing their nappies.” Mam ran a gnarled hand over the baby’s head. “He’s strong, this one. That’s a good thing as he’ll lead the clan one day.”
Mary frowned. “Mam, what about the curse? Is it over? Everyone has completed a deed of great good. Fiona stopped a clan war by marrying Jack; Gregor and Venetia are involved in so many charity ventures that I can’t even begin to name them; while Hugh adopted three girls and has given them a lovely home. Dougal rescued Triona when she almost drowned—”
“And he’s done more than that,” Triona said. “He and Sophia are buying the abandoned MacGulloch house, fixing it, and donating it the church to use as an orphanage. The current orphanage is about to fall down.”
Mary nodded. “And Alexander takes care of all of the needy on his land.”
“Aye, he does more fer them than most lairds,” Mam agreed.
“So has the curse ended?”
“I’m afraid not,” Caitlyn said.
All eyes turned her way. “Yesterday, some fool allowed one of his prize bulls to escape and run through town. Someone was almost trampled, but was saved by the smithy in the nick of time. Alexander was furious when he found out.”
“So that’s what caused that little storm,” Triona said.
“Yes.” Caitlyn sighed. “I hoped the curse would be broken, too, but—”
“Well that’s the problem wit’ curses,” Mam said. “They’re rooted in myth, and ’tis possible we have it wrong.”
“Wrong?” Mary blinked. “Then … the part about the deed of great good is untrue?”
“Perhaps,” Mam said. “We won’t know until the bairns come of age. The curse doesn’t set in until then.”
“So it might be broken, but won’t show up until the next generation. At least that’s something.” Mary rose and brought Ronan to Caitlyn, and settled the sweet-smelling baby into her arms.
Caitlyn nuzzled his cheek and smiled. “Curse or no curse, these will be happy children. That’s all I can do for now.”
Mam smiled. “ ’Tis more than enough, me dear. Love is a powerful thing, far more powerful than a mere curse.”
Caitlyn slipped a finger into Ronan’s small fist, smiling when he tightened his grip. Aye, curse or no curse, the MacLean family was strong and happy and loving.
A movement out the window caught her eye and she saw Alexander riding across the moor toward the castle, the wind ruffling his thick black hair. Hugh rode on a golden horse behind him, the streak of white in his hair agleam.
If they hadn’t vanquished the curse with this generation, they’d do it with the next. The MacLeans’ tenacity, intelligence, and capacity for caring knew no bounds. Together, with those who loved them, they could overcome any obstacles that remained.
Caitlyn kissed her son’s forehead and smiled into his sleepy green eyes. “I promise that you’re destined for a happy, healthy life, my son.” For with Alexander by her side, she could do anything.
The Laird Who Loved Me Page 27