Chapter Twenty-Nine
Shane was there. Lindsay couldn’t believe the pain she felt when she saw him standing in the hall. He’d come for the money, not for her. She knew that, but still she’d had to fight her body’s instinct to run to him and allow his arms to protect her from everything that caused her pain.
The way he looked at her didn’t help. He reminded her of Gillen. A man trying to get through his pain the best way he could. To her surprise, it was the other man who’d arrived with Shane and Alec who entered the solar first.
“I’ve not had the honor of meeting my brother’s bride. I’m Ronan, his better-looking stepbrother.”
Lindsay couldn’t produce more than a small smile at the man’s jest.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make light. He told me what happened. It bothers him.”
She nodded. The situation bothered her as well. She didn’t know what to do.
“You’ve come for the money. It’s in here.”
She led him to her room and pointed under the bed, where she’d hidden the MacPherson and MacColl coins. Though with Deirdre gone, she knew it was safe enough now.
Ronan glanced at the small coat she’d been knitting for a babe. He looked back to her, startled.
“Are ye…?”
She waited to see if he’d be able to form the question. When he simply stood there, red and unable to meet her eyes, she realized her brother-in-law couldn’t manage the words “with child.”
“I think I might be,” she answered. She had planned to tell Shane when she knew for certain. She didn’t know how he’d respond, but she knew she couldn’t keep their child a secret from him. If there was anything she’d learned over the last few months, it was how damaging secrets could be.
“I plan to tell him,” she added quickly.
“There’s something you should know.”
She frowned. Had Shane sent his brother to sway her?
He raised a hand. “Please, hear me out.”
Reluctantly, she nodded and waited.
“I know what you heard. When he said he’d annul your marriage. But what you don’t know is that he couldn’t go through with it.”
“Because he found out he was already married to the laird’s daughter.”
“No. Before he knew who you were, he’d returned to the castle with another plan. He was going to keep you as his wife and offer to work off the debt at Riccarton. Alec thought it was an absurd idea, but Shane told us you’d go with him because you’d loved him when you thought him just a soldier.”
Tears pricked at her eyes. “I had.”
“But do you still? Because he chose you, Lindsay. When it came down to it, you think he chose the clan, his duty, but he chose you.”
She blinked back tears, but more came in their place.
“I was with him in France when he lost Maria. I thought he’d never forgive himself enough to find love again. But he loves you. And I don’t think he’ll be the same if you don’t come back.”
“I love him. I just…” She just what?
They had both lied to each other. But was it possible that they were both willing to give up everything to stay together?
“I don’t know if you realize this, but it seems clear to me that fate brought you together. Mayhap it did so before it should have, before you knew the truth, but you met and fell in love just as you would have if you’d met on that field as planned. I’ve always heard that a person can’t escape their destiny.” Ronan shrugged. “Shane is your destiny.”
With that, he took the bags of money and went back to the door. He offered a roguish wink and left.
That night, she lay in her bed, thinking about what might have happened if she’d gone to the castle to meet him when she was supposed to. If she’d met him and gotten to know him as the new laird of the MacPhersons rather than Shane, one of the laird’s warriors. If he’d known she was the woman he was to marry. She realized with a start it wouldn’t have mattered. He was still the Shane she knew and loved under the title of laird.
She threw off her blankets, and after pulling on a robe, she hurried for the door. She knew what room he was put in. Meaghan had shared the information that evening. She went to his door and tested the latch. It opened, but as she held out the lantern she’d brought with her, she saw him thrashing on the bed, calling her name.
She went to him, and while sitting on the edge of the bed she stroked his cheek. “I’m here,” she said encouragingly. “I am safe, and so are ye.”
His eyes fluttered open, and he blinked a few times before whispering her name. He reached for her hand. When she didn’t pull away, he must’ve been heartened, for he tugged her closer to rest her palm on his chest and placed his hand at her hip. He looked up into her eyes, and she couldn’t look away.
“Is it true you were willing to be a servant for my father so we could stay together?” she asked him.
He blinked and then looked away before answering with a short nod. “At the time, thinking you were a maid, I believed it would be the best way for us to stay together. It seems ridiculous now, knowing who you are. To think you would have agreed to such a thing.” He shook his head.
“I would have agreed,” she said without even having to take a moment to consider it. “Of course, it wouldn’t have come to that, but if my only choice was to return to Riccarton as a servant’s wife or lose you, I would have picked whatever life allowed us to be together.”
“And now? What life will you choose? The one that allows us to go home and be laird and lady together for the rest of our days—or do you prefer to stay here? You should know, if you choose to stay, I might very well ask to be hired on as a servant so I can stay close to you.”
She smiled at his determination.
“I love you, Lindsay. It doesn’t matter what I have to be. So long as I get to be with you. I choose you.”
She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.
“I choose you, too.”
They’d both misled the other and made a mess of things. But in the end, the only thing that mattered was their love for each other.
“No more lies. No more secrets. Just us. Forever,” he promised.
She nodded but remembered the final secret she was still keeping. “I was going to tell you tomorrow—I just wanted to be certain first. But I’m pretty sure I’m with child. I only realized it after I arrived here.”
His eyes glistened, and he kissed her again, long and slow and full of promises she knew he would always keep. “A babe.”
She nodded.
“Is that the final secret between us?” he asked. She made a show of tilting her head as if she was thinking it over, but then she nodded again.
“Good. Will you stay so I can show you how much I’ve missed you?”
She nodded and linked her fingers through his.
…
Shane kissed her, pouring his heart into the press of his lips to hers. He wouldn’t hide anything from her again. He’d make certain she wouldn’t have any reason to doubt his love for her.
He savored every touch and kiss, knowing he would always choose her no matter what was to come. He’d learned much from his loss and would never take love for granted.
“I am meant to be yours. Whether we’d met that day in the woods or later when the contract forced us into marrying, we’d be together,” she said.
He considered her words and nodded.
“Ronan thinks it’s fate and there was no escaping it,” she added.
Shane was surprised not only that his brother had thought of things such as fate and destiny, but that he’d speak to Lindsay on Shane’s behalf. He’d have to find a way to thank him.
“Do you wish to escape?” he asked while kissing a path between her breasts.
“Nay. There’s no use trying to defy fate.” She sighed loudly as his lips passed her navel. “I happily surrender.”
He kissed her most intimate places, and along with his touch, he felt her body respond, tensing tighter and tighter until finally he pushed her over the edge of passion. While she was still catching her breath, he moved above her. Her slim legs wrapped around his hips, pulling him closer. He didn’t try to resist as he thrust inside her, claiming her as his. She was his wife and would be the mother of his child. He’d wanted to avoid the match his father had made for him, but now he’d thank the man if he could.
When she roused late the next morning, he kissed her awake until her lips pulled up against his in a smile. He’d happily wake her up that way for the rest of their lives.
“Mmm… As much as I would like to stay in bed with you all day, we should get ready.”
“Ready for what?” he asked with a groan. He wasn’t in any hurry to get up.
She rolled to her side, and he placed his hand between them on her stomach where their child grew.
“We need to get home, as there is much to be done,” she said with a content smile on her face.
“Home? When we first met, you told me you’d never call my clan home.” He offered her a cocky grin as he recalled their first meeting in the woods after they’d teamed up to take down their enemy. He knew as long as they stood together, they could face whatever came next.
She shrugged and pulled him close. “You’re my home, Shane MacPherson, soldier. Wherever you are, that is where I shall be.”
With Lindsay by his side, he planned to make Cluny a home for his people, his wife, and their family. However large it may become.