by Aileen Adams
“Don't try to talk,” Hugh said. “You're going to be all right.”
She looked at Hugh. He gazed at her with worry while beside him, Derek crouched, that maddening grin lifting his lips.
“What's…” She winced, swallowed with difficulty and tried again. “What's so funny?”
Derek chuckled and then gestured toward his brother, then back down at her. “Maybe there's hope for the two of you yet,” he grunted. He glanced at Hugh and then down at her, his grin widening. “You should've seen this poor sod the moment we realized you'd been swept overboard.”
“What did you expect me to do?” Hugh turned with a frown to his brother. “She's my wife!”
“Aye,” Derek laughed. “I forgot. She's your wife.” He turned to wink at Dalla. “I do believe, lass, that my brother has fallen in love with you. It took one look on his face for me to realize that, and that's why I jumped into the water after you.” He gestured between the two of them. “I'm the better swimmer, more experienced.” He tilted his head toward his brother. “He would've ended up drowning you both.”
Hugh sent an angry glare toward his brother. “You were just closer, that's all,” he said.
Dalla watched the gentle bickering between the brothers, knowing that it wasn't bickering at all. They were just trying to make her feel better, and it was working. She turned to Derek. “Thank you… for saving my life.” She swallowed. “Now I suppose I owe you.” She glanced at Hugh. “We're still even.”
He smiled at her, a genuine, heartfelt smile that touched her heart. She knew then that the two of them had a chance to make a good marriage. However, her thoughts soon soured, and she looked at Derek. “The ship?”
“Battered to pieces,” he said with a nod of satisfaction. “Found bodies floating around after we got you back aboard, and then I headed out to sea, well away from the shoals.”
“My uncle?”
He shrugged. “I didn't see any survivors. Bits of flotsam, some rigging, pieces of the ship, some body parts, but no more than that.”
Was her uncle dead? Could it be possible? With relief, she realized it was. While she never thought she would have felt such an emotion over the death of a family member, she certainly hoped so. “It's over then?”
Hugh nodded. “It seems so. We've seen no sign of any pursuers, not on the shoreline, nor behind us.”
It was at that moment that Dalla realized that the ship wasn't pitching, the wind wasn't howling, the thunder wasn't booming and crashing. She frowned. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Couple of days,” Hugh replied. “We'll be making our way northwestward, then down along the western coastline of Scotland. With good weather, Derek said we should reach landfall in about a week.”
She glanced between Derek and Hugh, her thoughts once again uncertain. “And then?”
“And then, we're going to pay the Duncan clan a visit,” Derek nodded, winking at Hugh. “A long-overdue visit.”
Epilogue
Six weeks later
A light snow fell outside the Duncan manor house, but inside the great hall, a huge fire burned.
The table was laden for a feast, laughter floated around the room in celebration. A threefold celebration.
The first, the return of Derek McInnis with his twin brother. Before they had even reached the manor, the small group of travelers had been intercepted by Maccay, who stared in disbelief for several moments, then let out a whoop of joy.
“Hugh! You're alive!” He'd only then turned toward his companion, and his eyes had widened as he stared for several moments, his mouth moving but no sound emerging. Finally, he croaked. “Derek? Derek! You're alive, too!”
The two brothers chuckled, and then Maccay's gaze landed on Dalla. He looked between Hugh and Derek, and then a smirk appeared as he winked at Derek. “And you have quite a lovely lass with you, don't you?”
He nodded. “I do, but she's not mine. She belongs to Hugh.”
Maccay blinked, then frowned, as he turned to Hugh, then glanced again at Dalla, then back at his best friend. “Explain.”
Hugh grinned. “Maccay, I would like you to meet my wife—”
Another joyous whoop escaped Maccay, and he threw back his head and laughed. “I knew it! I knew it! And where did you find her?”
An awkward glance passed between Hugh and Dalla, but it was she who answered. “Actually, he bought me as a captive, then he forced me to marry him.”
Maccay stared at the three of them, his amusement fading. He turned to Hugh with a frown of confusion. “You mean you… you made her marry you?” Again, he glanced at Dalla. “Where are you from? Your accent…”
Hugh glanced at Dalla, thinking to answer for her, but she gave a slight shake of her head, lifted her chin, straightened her shoulders as she sat atop the mare that Derek had bought for her, and of course, a massive black stallion for himself.
“I am from Norway,” she told Maccay calmly. “And yes, he made me marry him.” Then she smiled. “And I am ever so glad that he did.” She reached for Hugh's hand, and he took it and gave it a squeeze.
Maccay shook his head, not quite understanding, but accepting. “And you thought I was the crazy one marrying a woman with no memory,” he muttered.
Hugh laughed. “Let's go to the house. Everyone there?”
“Everyone and then some,” Maccay said with a wink.
Hugh had very little time to wonder what he meant by that. Soon after they entered the manor house, Phillip and Jake laid their eyes on Hugh, welcoming him back with boisterous shouts of relief.
Their eyes widened when they saw Derek stride in behind his brother, and then the hall soon turned loud and full of laughter, with much clapping on the back, and shouts for a celebration. Agnes scurried out of the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about, took one look at Derek, and then squealed in delight, rushing toward him, arms open.
Derek bent down, lifted the woman into his arms and swung her around several times, eliciting more squeals of laughter.
“Ye devil, Derek! Oh, it does my heart good to see that you are alive and well.” She looked at Hugh and smiled. “The brothers are together again.” She turned to the laird. “I shall prepare a feast. A celebratory feast, yes?”
Phillip grinned and nodded, casting a curious gaze toward Dalla, but just about the time he broached a question, a baby's cry from the stairs leading to the second floor captured their attention.
Hugh glanced upward in surprise as Sarah came down the stairs, carrying the squalling baby in her arms, shaking her head with abject embarrassment.
She saw Hugh and squealed in delight, much as Agnes had, and hurried down the stairs.
Hugh, standing next to Dalla, could only stare at the tiny bundle in her arms, the infant's face red with emotion.
Hugh grinned and turned to Phillip. “Remind you of someone?”
Roars of laughter followed and abruptly, Sarah placed the infant in Hugh's arms. “Let's see if you can do something about this. She's got quite a set of lungs, and I can't seem to calm her down, and neither can Heather.”
Hugh uncomfortably cradled the baby in his arms, staring down at the red face, the tiny fists, the open mouth squalling for something. “Hush little one,” he grumbled. “I don't understand your language.”
“May I?”
All eyes turned to Dalla as she gave Sarah a questioning gaze, holding out her arms for the infant.
Without hesitation, Sarah nodded, and Hugh gratefully placed the screaming infant into her arms.
Lowering her head and singing so softly her voice almost whispered, Dalla began to sing a lullaby in her native language to the infant, much as she had sung to his horse.
Within moments, the baby's squalling reduced in volume, then to a few hiccups, and then quiet wonder as she stared up at the face hovering above her.
Everyone stared at Dalla, but she gazed down at the infant, unmindful of the multiple pairs of eyes on her.
Hugh swallowed and
then made the announcement.
“Laird Phillip, Jake, Sarah, this is my wife, Dalla.”
In the midst of congratulations, another young woman emerged from upstairs, her belly slightly round with child. “Hugh! You're back!”
Heather flew down the stairs and flung herself into Hugh's arms, then only then noticed Dalla staring at her with open-faced curiosity.
“Hello,” she said with a slight flush in her cheeks at her behavior.
Dalla nodded.
“You are Hugh's wife?” Again, Dalla nodded. Heather placed her hands on her shoulders. “Well then, welcome to the Duncan clan.”
Hugh wanted the explanations done and over with. He stated the facts quickly and bluntly. “I bought Dalla on the coastline. She's Norwegian. I made her sign a paper marrying us, and she is my wife.” He glanced at Dalla, holding the now quiet baby, rocking softly back and forth. “And I love her.”
Dalla looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. Then she turned to those gathered around him. “And I love Hugh as well. And if you'll have me, I too will consider myself a member of the Duncan clan.”
Over dinner, the entire story was told.
Then the attention turned to Sarah, calmly holding her baby as she sat by Phillip, gazing at Hugh and Dalla with a sense of satisfaction. Finally, she spoke. “It's about time you found yourself a bride, Hugh. You will make a good match.”
“What's the baby's name?” Dalla asked.
Sarah glanced at Hugh, then Derek, then down at her little girl, then back at Hugh. “I named her after someone very near and dear to the Duncan clan, and most especially to Hugh and his brother. Someone I never had the honor to meet. In loving memory and in the hopes of dreams to come. Her name is Mary. After their mother.”
Hugh stared at Sarah, swallowing past the lump suddenly growing in his throat. Finally, he spoke. “Thank you, Sarah. It is a good name for your firstborn. Congratulations.” He turned to Jake and Heather. “Soon, little ones will be taking over the manor house,” he commented. He looked at Phillip. “And what have you to say about that, Phillip?”
Phillip shrugged. “The more, the merrier!”
Everyone laughed, and then the attention turned to Derek. Phillip spoke, his tone somber. “We've missed you, Derek. It's good to have you back on Duncan lands again. How long can you stay?”
Derek gazed at the familiar faces around him, plus the new additions since he had left. Everyone happily married, procreating, beginning new traditions.
“I’ll stay the winter, if you can put up with me that long,” he grinned. “But come spring? I will return to the sea… to my shipping business. Until then, we have some catching up to do, don’t we?”
“Indeed we do, brother,” Hugh clapped his brother on the back. “Indeed we do.”
Phillip, the laird of the Duncan clan, raised his mug of ale. “To the Duncan clan… growing with no signs of slowing down!” he shouted.
“The Duncans!” came the answering roar, followed by laughter.
Afterword
I hope you enjoyed An Auctioned Bride! I can’t wait to bring you the next book in this series!
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Copyright © 2017 by Aileen Adams
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