Chapter 27 #2
“I heard ye had trouble with the damn redcoats,” he said gruffly.
“Word travels quickly,” she said as she led her horse around back.
Graham followed, grumbling about the damn redcoats.
“The trouble is gone,” she said. “Iain and Captain Palmer took care of it.”
Graham snorted. “Ye put too much trust in those two. They’re thick as thieves, and I don’t trust them as far as I can throw ’em. Bloody Sassenachs is what they are, one no better than the other.”
“Careful,” she said. “Ye’re starting to sound like MacGregor.”
That shut him up for a moment. He wasn’t overly fond of MacGregor and had never liked being compared to the other chief. “He might be right in this,” he grudgingly admitted.
She stopped and stared at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard ye say that.”
He shrugged. “Ye can never trust a Campbell, always thinkin’ of themselves, they are. Goes where the wind blows. And where the money is. If the Scots gave him more gold and land, he’d side with them just as easily as he’d side with the bloody English.”
Cait rubbed her horse down even though the ride hadn’t been arduous. She just wanted something to do.
“Got nothin’ to say to that, lass?”
“Iain Campbell was there when I needed him. After my encounter with Donaldson, it was Iain I turned to for help, and he was right there. He took care of me. He let me rail and cry, and he just listened. He’s a good man, Grandfather.
I know ye can’t see beyond the history of the Campbell name, but trust me, he’s different.
John loved him like a brother and died for him. That says much.”
Graham harrumphed and said after a bit of silence, “I’ve had several discussions with him about the future of Scotland.”
“I have, too, and what he says makes sense. He thinks with his head and not his heart. He considers all angles and every scenario. Ye might no’ like what he has to say, but it’s worth hearing him out.”
Graham eyed her critically. “Ye’ve grown to a beautiful woman, Cait Campbell. Yer mother and father would have been proud of ye.”
Her throat closed up with tears, and she swallowed them. “Thank ye. That means a lot.”
“Maybe I’ll let him tell me these thoughts he has. No harm to listen, eh?”
“No harm to listen,” she admitted.
He cleared his throat. “I came to see if ye were all right.”
“I’m fine.”
Another small bit of silence. “Ye need anything?”
“Nay.” She straightened and brushed a bit of hair out of her face.
“Truly, I’m fine. Between you and Campbell, I haven’t had a moment’s peace.
Iain has been very…protective.” She wondered how much Graham knew about the encounter but decided it prudent not to ask.
She wasn’t keen on repeating the story, and if he didn’t know, she wasn’t going to be the one to tell him.
“If ye don’t feel safe, ye’re always welcome back home.”
“This is home.”
“Will ye ever forgive me, lass?”
He appeared so vulnerable and old and weary and frail. She wondered how much time she had left with him. Not much. A few years, maybe. Was she willing to waste it on old grudges and even older feuds? That would make her too much like MacGregor.
“I don’t want this rift between us anymore,” he said.
“I don’t, either.” She put her arms around his waist in a hug.
For a moment he didn’t seem to know what to do, but then he hugged her back. As she had thought, he wasn’t nearly as meaty and muscular as he’d been even eight years ago. She squeezed her eyes shut, regretting the time they’d wasted on ridiculous anger.
She pulled away to see that his eyes were wet. He quickly wiped them and sniffed, looking at everything but her.
She said, “I appreciate yer offer of a place to live. This is my home, and I like it here, but I will come visit.”
He brightened at that. “Truly?”
She smiled. “Truly, Grandfather.”
“Grandfather? Cait?”
They both looked at the house to find Rory coming around the corner.
“There ye are,” he said with his lopsided smile as he loped toward them.
“Come inside,” Cait said, giving up on some quiet time alone.
—
They had a nice afternoon. She and Rory did most of the talking, reminiscing, and catching up on old acquaintances and even older gossip.
Their grandfather tended to sit back and watch, but he appeared pleased, and she was happy with that.
It felt good to mend that rift, to not carry around the anger and guilt that had been plaguing her for so long.
As nighttime descended, Rory and Graham prepared to leave.
“Are ye sure about stayin’ here, lass? Ye can come with Rory and me, ye know.”
“I know.” She looked around her cottage. “But I need to do this.”
Graham shook his head and muttered, “Foolish,” to no one in particular.
“I can stay with ye,” Rory said. “I can sleep on the floor or in the barn.”
Cait smiled at her cousin, delighted that he was back in her life. He was the closest person she had to a sibling. She patted his arm. “Thank ye, Rory, but I’ll be fine.” Rory appeared skeptical but kept silent and rode off with Grandfather Graham.
As soon as she was alone, exhaustion claimed her.
She locked everything because Iain had made her promise that she would, and tried not to think about how silent her house was and how cold her bed would be.
Her thoughts strayed to how warm Iain would be lying next to her, and how she really wanted to curl up next to him.
She happened to glance at the front door to find Black Cat sitting in front of it. She knew what that meant. Someone was coming. She wasn’t even nervous or frightened; she knew it would be Iain, coming to check on her.
She opened the door and watched him dismount. “No harm has come to me.”
He looked her up and down critically. “I can see that.”
She stepped outside to take the reins of his mount and lead it around the side of the house while Iain followed.
“No sign of Donaldson,” she said, then hesitated before saying the next. “Graham came by.”
“Did he? And what did that daft bugger have to say?”
“He heard about Donaldson and…um…us.”
Iain laughed. “The bastard must have spies in my house. How the hell did he hear about us so quickly?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Is that all he wanted?”
She hesitated again, and Iain’s attention sharpened.
“He has regrets. We’ve reconciled.”
“Ach, Cait. That’s a good thing,” he said softly.
She rubbed the horse’s nose. “It is. I don’t want to get too hopeful, though.”
“Not everyone leaves for good. Some people come back.”
The horse nuzzled her hand, probably looking for a treat. “I know.”
“No, you don’t. But you will. I’m glad you’ve reconciled with your grandfather.”
“I told him that ye helped me these last days and that ye aren’t a bad man. I told him ye had some good ideas about Scotland and he needed to listen to ye.”
Iain’s hopes soared. Who would have guessed that his greatest ally would be Cait Campbell? “And what did he say to that?”
“That he would consider it.”
It was the same thing Graham had said to Iain, and while it was frustrating that Cait hadn’t been able to convince Graham, it was encouraging that he was still thinking on the matter.
They put the horse in an empty stall and made their way back to the cottage, entering through the back kitchen door.
“He’s getting older,” she said, taking up the thread of the conversation again.
“He’s realizing that he’s run damn near everyone off,” Iain said.
“Rory is loyal to him.”
Iain grunted as they walked through the kitchen. “And did you forgive him?”
“I don’t know if I can forgive him, but I can move forward, and he indicated that he was willing to as well. We had a nice chat, and he invited me to visit him.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I’d like to give it a try. I never thought I would be welcome back in my childhood home. He’s…different. Softer.” She laughed. “Don’t ye dare tell him I told ye that.”
Iain grinned. “I’m glad he made an effort toward amends. Now all you need is for MacGregor to do the same.”
“I’ll no’ hold out hopes for that. Graham doesn’t like ye, but MacGregor despises ye.”
Iain shook his head. “All thanks to a ridiculous feud that happened over forty years ago.”
“He’s a stubborn man.”
“Sounds like someone else I know. Come here, Cait.” He sat in the chair in the sitting room and held his hand out to her. She came to him. There was really no question about it. She was drawn to him like Black Cat was to a warm patch of sunlight.
He gently tugged her onto his lap and she happily settled there, her arms draped around his shoulders.
“I missed you today,” he whispered. “I hate being apart from you.”
“Oh, Iain.”
He put a finger to her lips. “I’m just telling you how I feel. Now that you spent the night in my bed, it will never be the same again. I will always think of you as I lie there cold and alone.”
“Ye’re impossible.” But she said it with affection, amazed at how much they thought alike. Just before he arrived, she’d been thinking the same thing.
“And you’re stubborn.”
“Well, ye’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”
“I’ll take what you’re willing to give me.”
It wasn’t right that she was making him live off bits and pieces when he wanted the whole thing. But she was still so frightened.
Frightened of change. Frightened of caring. Frightened of losing yet another person she loved.
He kissed her, drawing her to his lips with a gentle nudge of his hand on the back of her head, and she let her heavy thoughts drift away for the moment.
A sharp knock on the door had her jumping off his lap as if she’d been caught doing something wrong.
With a curse, Iain stood and reached for the pistol in his boot.