Page 105 of Tender Is the Storm
She moved closer again to cup his cheeks in her hands. “Youknewthat would be a distinct possibility.”
“Aye.”
“You knew also that her prospects inourneighborhood were very slim. We don’t exactly live near any towns up here, and the other clans nearby don’t have any sons of an age appropriate for our lass. And being the MacGregor’s daughter limits her choices even further.”
“Aye, I ken that as well.”
“So this is all just a father bemoaning the loss of his only daughter in marriage, even before she’s married?” she asked in exasperation.
He nodded with a sheepish look. She decided not to scold him for such silliness, said instead, “Lach, I’ll be just as unhappy to see her go, but we knew from the day she was born that she would be leaving us one day to start her own family, and even then we didn’t expect her to start that family near to Kregora Castle. Granted, we weren’t thinking as far as England, but still—”
Kimberly amazed even herself when she suddenly burst into tears. Lachlan gathered her close, made all the soothing sounds appropriate to comforting. She finally pushed away from him, annoyed with herself.
“Don’t ask where that came from,” she mumbled.
He grinned at her, though it was obvious he was still remorseful. “I’m sorry, Kimber. I didna mean tae refresh all your own misgivings.”
“You didn’t. Unlike you, I’m delighted Meli has this opportunity for a season in London. I just…” She paused for a sigh of her own. “Just had the same hope as you still lurking, though IthoughtI had given up on that long ago. And itispointless. Even those few young lads who did come to call on her live miles away, which is probably whyyouweren’t all that displeased when they got run off.”
“Miles away is no distance a’tall up here. They just didna impress me too much is all, and rightly so as it turned out. Look how quickly they turned tail when your brothers started in on them. That last one made his excuses after one wee warning from Ian Two that he’d be displeased if his niece was e’er made unhappy.”
“I think it was Ian Two’s tone, and possibly because he had a fistful of the poor boy’s shirt when he said it.”
They both laughed for a moment, remembering how quickly the suitor had departed for home. He’d practically run for the door the moment after he’d made his excuses. The laughter eased their misgivings, or at least put them back in perspective.
“Och, well, this trip canna be avoided, I suppose,” Lachlan conceded.
“No, it can’t.”
“Speaking o’ which, is Meli done wi’ her packing?”
“She’s not leaving for three more days, so there’s plenty time to finish that up. She’s gone to see my father, probably will be spending the night. Actually, I think her intent was to assure my brothers that she forgave them for ruining her prospects here at home—a few of them have been quite guilty over that, if you didn’t know, even though the lads who came to call this last year she wasn’t much interested in—so no harm was done as she sees it. She was also going to assure them that when the right man for her comes along, she’ll know it herself, so they needn’t worry on that account.”
“She actually thinks saying so will assure them of anything?”
“Well, she’s hoping.” Kimberly grinned. “My brotherscanbe reasoned with—some of the time.”
Lachlan snorted. Kimberly had met her brothers late in her life, had grown up thinking she was an only child and didn’t learn about them until Lachlan brought her to Scotland as his bride. They’d shown up on his doorstep—or, to be more exact, crossed his drawbridge en masse, all sixteen of them. But they’d merely been the vanguard for her real father, whom she’d never met before either, a legend in the Highlands, and not a favorable one.
Ian MacFearson. It was a name mothers used to admonish their children into behaving. He was reputed to be a blackhearted rogue of the worst sort, so mean he’d sit back and laugh while his sons tried to kill each other—which he encouraged. Others insisted he was just an old recluse who hadn’t left his home for over forty years—but why do so, when he had his own harem there? Still others maintained he’d been dead for years and his ghost now haunted the old ruined fortress he’d secluded himself in all those years ago. None of which was true, but then not many people had ever met Ian MacFearson to find out otherwise.
Hehadbeen a recluse, and he left his home these days only to visit Kimberly and her family at Kregora Castle, though, as was more often the case, she had to do the visiting instead. She never minded. She rather liked the fancy surrounding his home, the gloomy atmosphere, the barren trees, the hovering dark clouds usually present, reminding her of a witch’s castle high up on a cloud-covered mountain, rather than the old fortress-converted-to-manor set on a rocky promontory that it was. And there was nothing gloomy on the inside, with her boisterous brothers in residence.
Nor was there any truth to the legend that her brothers were always trying to kill each other, though some of their fights might make it seem otherwise. They merely fought as brothers will, not with any deadly intent. If anything, they were fanatically loyal—insult one and you’d have the whole pack to deal with.
The harem tale was also silly, though understandable considering the number of sons Ian had sired. Although they all shared the same father, only a few of them shared the same mother, and all of themwerebastards. Ian had never married. He’d wanted to, had loved Kimberly’s mother most of his life, but her parents had forced her to wed the earl of Amburough instead, the man Kimberly hadthoughtwas her father until he drunkenly confessed that Ian had that distinction.
Ian might not have married, but he never denied any of his children either. He brought them all into his home, even those sired as far away as Aberdeen—at least, all that he knew of. The harem aspect of the tale might have arisen because he’d allowed a few of their mothers to abide in his home as well, even after he had no further interest in them personally. Whichever woman he favored at the time, he was usually faithful to her. Or so he assured anyone who bothered to ask him about it.
It made for a very…odd family relationship, to be sure, and Kimberly might have been glad that she’d grown up elsewhere—if the man who’d raised her hadn’t been such a tyrant and unloving parent. A few of her brothers had other sisters, but she was the only sister theyallcould claim as theirs, so she was included in their sphere of loyalty. If anything, being the only female among them, and despite her being the oldest of them, she was more protected than the rest. That protection had extended to Melissa when she was born. Since they’d all been there for her birth, they considered hertheirs.
Lachlan had had a bit of trouble with that over the years. If he and Kimberly had a spat or if he simply frowned at her wrong, he was likely to get trounced by the lot of them, if even one was around to see it. And heaven forbid if he ever attempted to scold Meli when they were visiting. It was a wonder he did tolerate them, as many times as they’d attacked him first, without asking what the trouble might be. Must be a Scottish thing, that he found their attitude acceptable and as it should be, and never held it against them.
But Kimberly loved her brothers dearly, all sixteen of them, and she was quick to make excuses for their shortcomings, which they did happen to have in abundance. They were an argumentative, hot-tempered bunch. It was surprising, really, since Ian had raised them, and he had a more mellow temperament. At least, he had prior to returning to Scotland to nurse his broken heart. And he’d been nothing but mellow since Kimberly had joined the family.
