Chapter Twenty-Nine
Journey to the Highlands
Alex doesn’t quite know how to help Robbie with this woman he fell in love with,
but Maddie does.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alex deals with Caralyn and does his best to give her what she wants, but at what price? The similarities between Maddie and Caralyn’s situation come out eventually, and our Maddie stands up for her, even months along in her pregnancy.
Two days later, Robbie sat at the table in the middle of the solar while Alex sat behind his desk with Maddie seated close to him. “Why did she wish to see you, Alex?”
“I don’t know, but I granted her request. Do you wish to give us a little background on your relationship with Caralyn before she joins us?”
Robbie shrugged his shoulders as he walked over to pull the fur back from the window.
“I found her after a Norseman beat her until she was unconscious. She was in bad shape and didn’t awaken until the next morning.
I brought her to my camp, then went back and rescued her daughters.
Tomas and I took them all to the priory near Glasgow right before the Battle of Largs. ”
“And that’s all?” Alex’s eyebrows lifted as he watched his brother.
“That’s what is most important.” He turned back around from the window to face Alex and Maddie.
“Then how did you end up bringing her to our clan?”
“Och, ‘tis a long story.”
“We have the time.” Alex glanced at his wee wife, methodically rubbing her rotund belly. “Is aught wrong, sweeting?”
Maddie smiled. “Nay, I am fine. Just a wee bit tired.”
Alex leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“Would you two like me to leave?” Robbie asked.
“Nay! You will stay until you answer my questions.” Alex glared at him.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“Enter,” Alex said.
Caralyn stepped in hesitantly before closing the door, pausing for a moment when she saw Robbie standing by the window. “Should I come back?”
“Nay.” Alex stood and ushered her over to a chair. “I have asked my brother to attend. Is this agreeable to you, Caralyn?”
She nodded and smoothed her skirts as she waited for a prompt to begin.
Alex settled back into the chair behind his desk and nodded for her to begin.
“My laird, I have come to explain a bit about myself and to ask a favor.”
Robbie couldn’t guess what she was about. Nervous, he started pacing in front of the hearth.
“I have two things I wish to discuss with you, if I may.”
“Go ahead, lass.”
“My mother always taught me to be honest, so I feel the need to give you an explanation of my background. I don’t know what Robbie has told you about me.” She glanced from Robbie to Alex Grant.
“Verra little. You tell us whatever you need to tell us,” Alex said.
Caralyn’s hands gripped her skirts before she started. Robbie wanted nothing more than to walk over and hold her in his arms before she started, but he could tell how much it had cost her to come here to speak with Alex, and he needed to let her stand on her own.
“I have a verra different background. While I was married for a time, for the last five years I have been a mistress to a man who sometimes gave me to his friends.”
Robbie barked. “What are you doing? They don’t need to know this.”
Alex held his hand up to his brother before taking his wife’s hand. “Maddie, would you like to leave?”
“Nay, Alex, I am fine.”
“Continue.” Alex nodded to Caralyn.
Caralyn glanced up at Robbie before she spoke.
“I realize it may not be best for me to be around all your weans due to my background, so I wanted to be completely honest with you. I would like to stay at your keep, if possible, but I realize I’m an imposition.
Still, I wondered if you might have a cottage near the loch where I could stay with my daughters. ”
Robbie stopped pacing and crossed his arms.
“I apologize if this upsets you, but I can’t change who I am.” Caralyn kept her eyes fixed on Alex Grant as she spoke.
After taking a moment to reflect on her words, Alex cleared his throat. “Is this what you wish to do? Do you wish to continue to be a mistress to someone while you are at the Grant keep?”
“Nay!” Caralyn bolted out of her seat, but then sat down again. “Your pardon,” she whispered.
“Was it your choice to be this man’s mistress?” Alex asked.
“Nay.” Caralyn shook her head adamantly, then bowed her head. “I was forced. We were desperate for food, and the man made his price clear. Then he held my daughters and threatened to hurt them if I didn’t comply with his instructions.”
“Then I don’t see its relevance to this discussion.”
Caralyn’s head jerked back up, and she glanced from Alex to Maddie.
Maddie stood and walked around the desk to her, grasping her hands in hers. “It does not matter to us what you have done in the past. I disagree with you. You can change who you are. What would you like to do to contribute to the clan?”
“Well, ‘tis part of my problem. The only thing my husband taught me before he passed was how to fish. I thought if we lived near the loch, I could catch and clean fish for you. Ashlyn loves to fish, as well.”
Alex nodded his head. “I see. And the second thing you wished to discuss with us?”
“The person who forced me has been searching for me. He followed us out of Glasgow, but Robbie and his men fought off his men. He was able to escape back to Glasgow. I fear he may come for me and I don’t wish to risk any of your clan being hurt by him.”
Alex turned toward his brother. “Robbie, the man got away?”
“Aye, he threw Caralyn on his horse while we fought off his guards. By the time I followed, he was far enough ahead to force me to use my arrow. I struck him in the shoulder and he pushed Caralyn off his horse down an incline. I had to make a choice, and it was more important to me to make sure she wasn’t in danger. ”
Alex quirked an eyebrow, then returned his attention to Caralyn. “If he comes for you, you are safer here inside the keep than in a cottage.”
“But I don’t wish to endanger anyone here.” Her voice was firm.
Maddie returned to her chair in time to hear Alex whisper to her out the corner of his mouth. “Hmmm, where have I heard that before, wife?”
Alex stood. “Thank you, Caralyn. I will give some thought to your request. Until I make my decision, I expect you to stay in the keep.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Maddie and Alex give Robbie advice on how to help Caralyn adjust to Clan Grant and Robbie.
Later that night, the Grant brothers sat around the hearth drinking ale, along with their brother-in-law, Quade.
The only female present was Maddie, fast asleep in Alex’s lap, resting in their favorite chair together, the one Alex had made special for them.
He kissed her forehead and she sighed and cuddled closer to him.
“So, Robbie, do you want to tell us exactly what this lass means to you?” Alex asked.
Brodie smiled, “Aye, I see a bit more interest than is usual with you. Most of the time, you just ignore the lasses until it suits your needs. Your eyes follow this one everywhere.”
Robbie sighed. “’Struth, I am interested in her. But her past has been so difficult that I don’t know if we will ever suit. Her life is focused around her bairns, and I don’t know if she wants another man in her life.”
Maddie sat up, brushing the sleep from her eyes. “Your pardon. May I, Robbie?”
“Och, aye. I was hoping for your input, Maddie. I seem to say and do all the wrong things.”
“Based on what she has said, my guess is she won’t want to be touched for a while. She was forced for so long, she probably wants no part of a man’s touch right now.”
“She isn’t afraid of a man’s touch. But I don’t think she understands the way things should be between a man and a woman. Again, her experiences have tainted her view of the world.”
“Aye, because all she has learned is wrong. It has been five years for her since her husband passed. The years since sound like pure torture. I know this is hard, but you will have to be patient if you really wish to pursue her.”
He paused for a moment before he admitted the truth. “Aye, I do.”
Quade said, “Are you ready to be involved in her daughters’ lives? I think that would be important for her. She needs to see you interact with her wee ones.”
“Gracie accepted me right away, long before Caralyn did. So she isn’t an issue. I guess I am not sure about Ashlyn. They are so tied up with their new friends, I haven’t spent much time with them.”
“You must court her,” Alex said.
“What do you mean?” Robbie asked.
“Start from the beginning and do the things she has never had done for her. Take her for a walk, go for a picnic, go for a boat ride in the loch. She needs to know life with you will be different.”
Maddie nodded. “Aye, she has to learn what a good relationship is all about.”
“Mayhap we can set her up in a place so that she feels she has something of her own. What about the cottage by the loch? We could fix it up for her.” Robbie looked at Quade for support.
Alex said, “The family cottage is still there and it needs fixing up, but she can’t stay there alone until the issue with Murray is done. I don’t think it will be long before he’ll be here, so go ahead and work on it if you wish.”
Quade said, “I’ll help. Will give me something to do while we wait for our new niece to be born.”
“Nephew,” Maddie said.
“Another lad, wife?”
“Aye, another lad. I can tell from the way he carries. No blond-haired lassie yet, Alex.”
“Hmmph. Then we’ll just have to try again,” he said with a smile.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Alex in the birthing chamber again, this time for Connor…
The door burst open and Alex flew in, tugging Caralyn off the bed so he could climb up behind Maddie. “Sorry, lass,” he gave Caralyn a sheepish look. “This helps when my wife has to push the bairn out. ‘Tis all I can do for her.” He began to massage Maddie’s shoulders and Caralyn stepped back.
Robbie stood in the doorway, winked at her and said, “See you later, lass. Time for me to leave.”
Time flew by over the next hour. Maddie worked hard to deliver her bairn, and Caralyn helped where she could.
She forgot about everything they had discussed, devoting all her focus to Maddie and Brenna.
Alex was a delight to watch as he took care of his wee wife, cradling her between pains, encouraging her when she needed him.
He mopped her forehead and kissed her cheek.
She had never heard of any man staying through a birthing.
This was definitely something she would have to ask Robbie about.
Sometime in the following hour, Brenna yelled, “I can see the bairn’s head, Maddie.
Push now, push hard.” Brenna pulled Caralyn down next to her and pointed to the babe’s hair.
“I think ‘twill be yellow haired, Maddie. Push for your husband.” Jennie popped her head in at the last minute and Brenna beckoned her inside.
The lass stared at everything in wide-eyed wonder, but she knelt down on the floor to watch.
Alex held Maddie up while she pushed, her hands locked behind her knees for leverage.
The bairn’s head came closer to being ejected, but it fell back when Maddie took a breath.
While Maddie relaxed, Brenna told Caralyn and Jennie about the life cord that came out with the baby, and showed them what she would use to tie it and then cut it when the time came.
They waited for another wave of pressure to prompt Maddie into pushing.
When it came, Maddie pushed with all her might. Finally the head popped out and Brenna cradled the bairn’s wee head in her hand, using a cloth to wipe off the wean’s face. “Come on, Maddie, the head is out, you need to push and get the shoulders out.”
“I cannot, I have no strength left.” Maddie panted in exhaustion.
Brenna cleaned out the inside of the babe’s mouth. “Alex, she needs to push. Get her to finish this.”
Alex sat her up and when a new wave of contractions assaulted Maddie, she pushed until her face was beet red. The bairn’s shoulders slipped through the small opening, and Maddie fell back against her husband, sighing in relief.
Brenna caught the wee one and Caralyn reached down to help her. The healer had just set the babe in Caralyn’s waiting hands when he let out a loud yelp and turned bright red.
“You have another lad, Alex! Maddie, ‘tis a beautiful lad. He has light hair and he is hopping mad right now. What a strong laddie!” Brenna’s joy was contagious.
The bairn let out a feisty scream as he wiggled, his wee hands fisted with all his might, and they all smiled.
Caralyn only realized there were tears streaming down her face when her vision blurred.
She watched Brenna tie off and cut the life cord and wrap the bairn in a soft plaid before settling him in his mother’s arms. Maddie cried when she saw her new wean and Alex kissed her.
Alice, who stood by Maddie’s side, cried rivers and, in between, managed to say, “Four, my word, child, four healthy bairns. How I wish your mama could see you now.”