The laughter in the living room had come to a complete halt. Da rose and came to stand near Sophie. Hugh wrapped a protective arm around her—or was that a possessive arm?—and pulled her tightly against his side.
“Do I need to have a talk here with yere young man, daughter?” Da was an inch shorter than Hugh, but her da was giving him a glare that would’ve had a lesser man running for the door.
“I’d introduce myself, sir, but apparently ye already know who I am,” Hugh said respectfully, but firmly. “May I speak with yere daughter alone?”
Da looked to Sophie, and she nodded.
“I’ll leave ye be,” her father said. “For now. But the second she’s done with ye, ye better let her out of your grasp.” He glared at the hand that gripped her shoulder.
“Sophie, we’ll be in our room, if ye need us.” Mama took Da’s hand and led him away.
Sophie broke free and went to the couch. The dogs went with her, climbing up, each laying their heads in her lap.
“What do you want, Hugh? I heard all I needed to hear back at yere castle.”
A strange thought hit Sophie. If she’d been wrong about her parents and what they thought of her, maybe she was wrong about Hugh, too. She scratched the Bruce behind the ears as he groaned.
She kept her gaze down as Hugh walked into the living room and sat in her da’s recliner. She did a double take. He was wearing the kilt she’d made for him.
“There are things I failed to say.” His voice was a hoarse whisper.
The emotion behind his words forced her to peek at him. He sat forward, making the old recliner creak and looked vulnerable. She wanted to go to him and put her arms around him, but she couldn’t…not until she was certain why he’d chased her through the night and what he’d come to say.
He leaned closer. “I got the order all screwed up.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.” And it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
He cleared his throat and swallowed. “I should’ve told ye how much ye’ve come to mean to me, Sophie Munro.”
The Wallace yawned loudly and stretched further across her lap.
She wanted to say, And? Because her traitorous heart was impatient and hopeful that Hugh really did care for her.
He took her hand. “I should’ve told ye that I loved yere arms being wrapped around me night after night.”
Da harrumphed loudly from the other room.
Hugh glanced in that direction, but soldiered on. “I’m not afraid of the dark anymore. I haven’t had a nightmare all week. But most of all, ye helped me to remember all the wonderful things in life—past, present, and future. Ye’ve healed me.” He kissed her palm. “I should’ve told ye that I love ye. Ye made me whole again, lass, and I’d be a fool not to claim ye as mine for always.”
Mama’s “ahhh” slipped from under their bedroom door.
Hugh got down on his knee and took Sophie’s other hand from the Wallace. “Please say that ye’ll marry me, Sophie.”
“Down, boys,” she commanded, and for a second, Hugh pulled back. “Not you. You stay.”
She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. Mama and Da started to bicker in the other room. Sophie didn’t get a chance to answer Hugh before Mama burst through her bedroom door, dragging Da behind her.
“So what did ye say?” Her mother stopped short at the sight of Sophie and Hugh kneeling on her living room floor, arms around each other. “Oh. Then ye’ve told the lad yes?”
Sophie got to her feet, pulling Hugh to his as well. Da, blushing and looking uncomfortable, was tugging Mama’s hand, trying to get her to go back to the bedroom with him. But Mama wasn’t budging.
Da shot Sophie a look. “Answer the lad, daughter, so yere mother and me can be off to bed.”
Sophie turned to Hugh and gazed into his lovely brown eyes.
“Aye, I’ll marry ye. But on one condition.”
Both of her parents gasped.
Sophie ignored them. “I’ll marry ye as long as ye’ll always kiss me as ye do now.”
“Aye,” Hugh vowed.
She pushed his hair away from his eyes—eyes that held love for her. “Ye’ve become my sunshine in the darkness. Did ye know that?”
“And ye’ve become mine as well.”
Hugh kissed her then, and the world spun deliciously out of control, making her dizzy with joy. When she opened her eyes sometime later, she was settled on the couch, her parents were off to bed for the night, and the Wallace and the Bruce were asleep in front of the fire.
And the Laird? Well, he was right where she wanted him. He was in her arms, nibbling on her ear, making plans about their life to come, all in that voice of his that had her melting a hundred different ways.
“And ye’ll always be mine, Sophie,” he declared.
She smiled obediently. “Aye. I know. Because the Laird says so.”
“Nay. Because ye’ve made me so happy. And I’m going to spend the rest of my life making ye the happiest woman alive.”
And he did.
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Other books by Patience:
TO SCOTLAND WITH LOVE
Welcome to the charming Scottish seaside town of Gandiegow—where two people have returned home for different reasons, but to find the same thing.…
Caitriona Macleod gave up her career as an investigative reporter for the role of perfect wife. But after her husband is found dead in his mistress’s bed, a devastated Cait leaves Chicago for the birthplace she hasn’t seen since she was a child. She’s hoping to heal and to reconnect with her gran. The last thing she expects to find in Gandiegow is the Sexiest Man Alive! She just may have stumbled on the ticket to reigniting her career—if her heart doesn’t get in the way.
Graham Buchanan is a movie star with many secrets. A Gandiegow native, he frequently hides out in his hometown between films. He also has a son he’ll do anything to protect. But Cait Macleod is too damn appealing—even if she is a journalist.
Quilting with her gran and the other women of the village brings Cait a peace she hasn’t known in years. But if she turns in the story about Graham, Gandiegow will never forgive her for betraying one of its own. Should she suffer the consequences to resurrect her career? Or listen to her battered and bruised heart and give love another chance?
MEET ME IN SCOTLAND
You can run from your problems, but you can’t hide from love in the Scottish seaside town of Gandiegow....
When a video of her calling happily ever after “a foolish fantasy” goes viral, marriage therapist Emma Castle is out of a job—and off to Scotland. The tiny town of Gandiegow is the perfect place to ride out the media storm and to catch up with her childhood friend Claire. But also in Gandiegow is the one man she hoped never to see again.
She’s successfully avoided Gabriel MacGregor since Claire and Dominic’s wedding, only to find he’s now the village doctor—and just as tall, dark, and devilish as ever. Claire and Dominic’s blissful marriage, however, is not what it used to be. Soon Emma and Gabriel find themselves taking sides even as the sparks begin to fly between them. Can Emma help her friends—or regain her career—as she struggles with her own happily ever after?
SOME LIKE IT SCOTTISH
In the delightful new Kilts and Quilts novel by the author of To Scotland with Love and Meet Me in Scotland, the Real Men of Scotland are waiting. And it’s a match made in Gandiegow…
Kit Woodhouse’s matchmaking business is such a success, she’s expanding to the Highlands of Scotland where the hot, prosperous, and kilted are anxious to connect. Now, looking to fill her stable with eligible bachelors, Kit’s arrived in Gandiegow to recruit potential Real Men of Scotland. It’s not until she meets her tour guide that she discovers just how real they can be.
With his sexy grin, je
ans, and black wellies, Ramsay Armstrong is an unpolished hulk of a Scottish fisherman—and a skeptic when it comes to romance. Not exactly a man of “pairing attributes” when talking marriageable matches, but he does make Kit’s heart beat a little faster. Maybe it’s the scent of the sea in his hair. Maybe it’s the challenge. Maybe it’s the thrill of the unexpected. Then again, maybe it’s love.
Must Love Highlanders Page 20