His Secret Highland Bride

Epilogue

After saying their goodbyes to the MacKenzies, with promises between Lindsay and Meaghan to visit after their children were born, Shane sent Alec back to Cluny with the money they’d recovered and news of the laird’s return with his wife.

The money they recovered would keep their clan going through winter and allow a good planting in the spring. Lindsay was happy to see how relaxed Shane was now that there was hope for their clan. At both castles.

Ronan had left earlier that morning to return home. Shane had worried over both his brothers.

“Ronan has seemed haunted by something since the morning we met to leave for France. Whatever it is, he hides it deep,” Shane said as they rode to meet the chief of the Camerons.

“Perhaps you should just ask him.”

“Aye.” Shane smiled. “You’re very wise, wife.”

While the welcome wasn’t exactly warm at the Camerons’, it was peaceful. And Shane had told her it was beyond time the two clans put their issues behind them in exchange for peace.

“I didn’t get the chance to thank you for coming to our aid against the MacColls. If there is anything we can do to repay you, please let me know,” Shane said while Lindsay sat next to him at the dais in the great hall.

A small feast had been prepared in their honor.

“I believe it is time our clans united in blood,” the Cameron laird explained.

Dear Lord, Lindsay didn’t need to be a laird to know what he meant.

Marriage.

Shane nodded slowly.

“I would be amicable to such an alliance; however, as you see, I am already married. And we’re expecting our first child in the spring.”

The man nodded and held up his glass in a toast. “I wish you much joy in the building of your family.” After they drank, he set his glass down and leaned closer. “I’m sure there’s something that can be arranged. We shall discuss it further in my study over a dram.” It was common for men to keep their business from their wives, but Shane told her everything that night when he slid into bed next to her.

The next morning, they said their farewells and headed for home. It had been a short delay that had ended with an unexpected alliance, and now she and Shane smiled at each other as they crested the hill with Cluny Castle on the horizon.

Home. She was excited to become the lady of the keep and start their life there. “Are you going to tell Alec about the arrangement you’ve made with the Camerons?” she asked.

He twisted his lips to the side. “Not yet. We don’t need to worry about it until the spring. I’d rather not hear his griping all winter if I can help it.”

Lindsay laughed. “You think he’ll be displeased?”

Shane let out a breath. She’d often thought he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and now she saw it wasn’t the whole world—just their small part of it.

“Alec has told me more than once that he doesn’t wish to be laird. I think he uses the scars on his face to hide away from everyone. From life.”

Lindsay nodded. When she first saw the war chief, she’d thought him to be the trow everyone called him. But now that she knew the man he was, she saw the kind man he tried to hide from everyone. Perhaps even himself.

Shane offered a smile. “I can only hope the arrangement I made for him turns out as perfectly as the one our fathers made for us.”

“You mean the arrangement we were both too stubborn to allow?” she reminded him.

“It all worked out in the end, did it not?”

“Better than I ever hoped,” Lindsay said. She was happier than she ever thought to be as one of the MacPhersons.

The gates opened as they rode up to the castle. The bailey was filled with people eager to welcome them back. Lindsay felt her cheeks turn pink as Tory entered the bailey. As soon as she got down, she went to the other woman and apologized.

“I can’t blame ye, for my brother was acting like an arse. I would’ve done the same thing.”

Lindsay told Tory how excited she was to have a sister and was interrupted by a small dog hopping around at her feet. She bent and picked up Treun, who licked her chin happily.

Her cousins came over to greet her. They offered a smart bow before looking back at Munro for his approval. He winked, and the boys smiled. It was wonderful to see them so happy, not to mention clean and well fed.

“Will you take the dog back?” Robbie asked, his earlier smile gone.

James nudged him. “You shouldn’t have reminded her. Now she will for certain. She might have forgotten.”

Lindsay knelt so she could speak to them easier. “I think—if it’s all right with Mr. Munro—that it would be nice if you could keep her with you. And I’ll see her when I come to visit you.”

The boys turned again to Munro, who nodded, making the boys run off cheering.

“I received a letter from the MacKenzie war chief. He’s offered to foster Doran there for a bit,” Munro said. “I’ve agreed until next year. Let him fill out before bringing him home to join the MacPherson guard.”

Shane clapped the man on the shoulder and nodded in agreement. “Allow the other clan to bear the cost of feeding a boy of that age.”

The men laughed as Lindsay smiled at her husband. It was wonderful to see the joy in his eyes instead of pain and guilt. She looked around at the people who had come to greet them. She had a family here, both by blood and in name, and the love of this man.

“You should know—with all the MacColls we’ve taken on, your room has been given away. It means you’ll have to share a bed with me.”

She laughed as she took his hand and allowed him to lead her into the hall filled with the scents of roasted meat and berry tarts.

She had done all she could to avoid becoming the lady of the MacPherson clan, but today she gladly accepted the title and the man who came with it. And with that, she looked up into her husband’s happy face and allowed the love of this place to surround her.

She was home.

The love doesn’t end here…