Page 81 of Undeniable
“Tis the best time to do so. Yer father has offered his blessing, Baran Munroe is dead, Duncan is out of the way for the rest of the winter, and there isna another clan foolish enough to challenge the MacKays right now.”
Jamie tipped his cousin’s chin up so his cousin had to look him in the eyes. “I doona know why ye are acting like a spoiled bairn all of a sudden. Ye are usually quiet and keep to yerself.”
“Ask the captain why,” she said defiantly.
“Has he disgraced ye in some way?”
“Aye,” she said. “He told me I was beautiful!”
Jamie chuckled. “How is that wronging ye?”
“When I admonished him for doing so, he went out of his way to find me and say it over and over—in front of the servants and soldiers.”
“He is teasing ye,” Jamie said.
“Attention I doona want or ask for.”
“Miran,” Helen soothed. “Yearebeautiful—strong and capable. How can any man keep from telling ye?”
“I willna go with him, Jamie.” Miran shivered into the folds of the over-sized cloak. “And if ye try to make me…” She dinna finish her thought, but instead, stormed off.
“What has come over the lass?” Jamie asked his wife.
“I think she loves him,” Helen offered.
Jamie’s red brows shot up.
“Aye,” Helen said. “And I think she resents him for it. He isna the kind of man her father envisioned her being with—not from what she’s told me.”
“She’s stubborn,” Jamie said. “Used to having her way. I see the error in it now. Alex and I indulged her to make up for the loss of her parents. We wanted her to be happy.”
“She is happy.”
Jamie pointed in the direction Miran had gone. “If that is her way of acting happy, what is she capable of when she’s angry?”
“Give her time to adjust to her new life here. We all need to get used to living with each other.”
Jamie tugged his wife into his arms. “Ye are a very clever woman.”
“I am?”
“And verra beautiful.”
She smiled.
“Please doona send her away with Kuresh.”
“I willna change my mind, Helen. Let her get a taste of what it’s like to be outside in the dead of winter. Perhaps she will come to appreciate more of what she already has.”
Helen had taught Jamie how to love without intending to. And now, he wanted his cousin to learn not to reject love. For that’s what Miran MacKay needed more than anything—the love of a good man. She’d lived so long without it, without her parents, without any brothers or sisters, that she’d neglected her own heart, living as a maid to cover up the pain.
“I will speak with her tonight.” Jamie said.
“I hope she will listen,” Helen said. “But I warn ye, I don’t think she will. She’s too much like her cousins for that. Far too much like you.”
THE END
