Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Is he ignoring me now?” Margo asked Miss Crusoe.
The kitten was sitting on her knee, watching her with an unsettling amount of interest. Not only had Margo not seen Cameron the entire day, but the kittens had followed her relentlessly.
They had stayed in her quarters while she rested after breakfast. Then, when she had wandered the grounds, the kittens found a way to stick by her.
“Has he kicked you from his study, then?” she pressed, speaking to Miss Crusoe as though she could truly answer.
Miss Crusoe blinked at her slowly before whipping her head around to where Friday was attempting to scale the curtains. With a sigh, Margo put Miss Crusoe on the floor and rose to her feet. Carefully, she plucked Friday’s claws free from the fabric and put his orange body back on the stone.
“If you are so bored, perhaps you should go bother Eleanor,” she told the creatures.
They did not bother looking at her, Miss Crusoe jumping at Friday before taking off running.
When she reached the door connecting Margo’s chambers with the room Cameron had been inhabiting, Miss Crusoe flattened herself and crawled under.
Then, as if he refused to be thwarted by such a simple maneuver, Friday followed, slipping through with just as much ease as his sister did.
“You little rascals,” Margo said with a click of her tongue.
She put her hands on her hips, figuring that she should be grateful they were giving her a short break. But, as she approached the door, she didn’t hear anything from the other side. The sun had set nearly an hour ago; by all means, Cameron should have been inside by now.
Something tightened in her chest; a complicated mix of frustration, worry, and disappointment.
It was so overwhelming that she let it take control of her.
Before she even registered what she was doing, Margo was walking through the door, ready to demand an explanation about why he had been so withdrawn.
“Where…”
The room was empty. She took everything in; the well-made bed, the fire in the hearth burning low, the darkness penetrated solely by the moonlight streaming through the windows. He was not here; and he likely had not been here for the entire day.
I should be relieved.
The thought came to her suddenly, but did not sit well with her heart. She felt like she couldn’t trust her feelings. Though perhaps she was simply worried about their contract deadline quickly approaching.
“Where are you?” she asked the kittens as she shuffled blindly around the room. “I do not want you in here on your own.”
She spotted two of them blinking at her from the armchair near the fire.
They were frozen in the middle of their wrestling, watching her as she made her way over to them.
Suddenly, they jumped to their feet and raced back into Margo’s room, leaving her alone in the center of the Laird’s private quarters.
I should leave.
Yet, she could not be there. She wondered if he had changed his mind about the agreement. She wondered if something terrible had drawn his attention away. She wondered if he was in the castle or the village or somewhere else entirely.
“Of course there’s no note,” she sighed after she had looked over his desk. “He demands that I must bear him an heir, makes me sign a contract, then avoids doing anything about it.”
With a scoff, she went back to her chambers, closing the door behind her. The kittens had stopped their romping, and all five of them were snuggled together in the center of her bed. Miss Crusoe was the only one that still looked alert.
"Why does he kiss me only to avoid me afterward?" Margo asked as she snuffed out the candle on her bedside table.
Miss Crusoe mewed, the noise sounding almost like disagreement. And, when Margo buried herself beneath the covers, Miss Crusoe walked up to her and nuzzled against her neck. The kitten’s soft purr carried her to sleep.
At least I haven’t been abandoned by the kittens.
Three days, three entire painstaking days passed Margo by without so much as a glimpse of Cameron. She was practically driving herself half-crazy wondering where he was.
“Perhaps I have gone mad,” she mumbled to herself as she stepped into the courtyard after breakfast. “I should not care if he is avoiding me.”
Even as the words left her mouth in a whisper, she found herself scanning the faces of everyone gathered around her.
The guards were speaking among themselves, and her heart sank deep in her chest when she realized that Cameron was not standing there with them.
A few children from the village gathered in a circle, shooting marbles as their fathers dropped off their fish deliveries.
“Are ye lookin’ for someone, me Lady?”
Margo spun around, her heart hammering with hope that the voice belonged to Cameron. Logically, she knew the sound of Gavin’s voice. That did not stop the disappointment from creeping in when she locked eyes with him.
“No, I am simply watching the people,” Margo forced a smile, her face heating up as if she’d been caught doing something embarrassing. “This place is so much more alive than Abbott Manor.”
“Aye, we are a lively bunch,” Gavin agreed, crossing his arms over his chest as he surveyed the scene. When he returned his attention to Margo, he said, “I am glad to find ye. I have a message for ye.”
“Is that so?” she asked, keeping her voice carefully neutral, though her emotions threatened to make it shake.
“Aye. Laird MacLeod has been called away to assist his cousin, Laird Lachlan MacLeod,” Gavin said, taking on a formal cadence.
It seemed almost as though he were doing his best to keep his own opinions out of what he was saying.
“One of the clan granaries has suffered damage. He will be returnin’ in three days. ”
“I see,” Margo said, managing to keep her anger under control. “I assume that is where he has been over the last several days.”
“Yer assumption would be correct,” Gavin nodded as he raised a hand to greet the guards. “I received his missive this mornin’ and thought ye may like to ken.”
“It makes no difference to me,” she said, the lie sounding weak even to her. “But I do appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thank you, Gavin.”
“Of course, me Lady,” he said, giving her a single nod before he stepped away, walking toward the guards.
I should not feel so disappointed that Cameron didn’t tell me himself.
The feeling of being left alone washed over her. A gust of wind came winding through the courtyard, the air noticeably cooler. She shivered, wondering if the Land was mocking her for being so invested in the man.
She knew she should not take his absence personally, but she could not help thinking how easy it would have been for Cameron to inform her himself. Their rooms were adjacent. Surely, he’d known about it the night before he’d left.
Turning away from the children’s laughter, Margo walked back into the castle. Her stomach turned, and her heart ached. She only hoped that spending the afternoon with the kittens would soothe some part of the pain that didn’t fully make sense to her.
“Laird MacLeod, is that you?” an accented voice asked, a young woman only a few years older than Margo stepping out from the flowered bushes. “We did not know if you were coming or not. Did you send a missive ahead of your arrival?”
“Ye werenae expectin’ me because I left the second I found the time to,” Cameron said as he dismounted. “I trust that ye’re well, Marian.”
Around the two of them, residents of Glen Carrick went about their day. The gardener was pruning bushes, and a boy stood by with a basket to collect flowers. A groom was walking a young mare in circles, speaking to her in a low tone to desensitize the animal.
“Much better now that you are here,” she said, her brightness and the way her mouth curved around her words painfully reminding him of the woman he left at Castle MacLeod. “Did you come to assist Lachlan with the granary?”
“Aye, I did,” Cameron said gruffly, irritated at himself for seeing Margo in Marian. “We just finished a round of emergency repairs. I’d like to see to it that we fix the granary as soon as possible.”
“I wondered how much damage you got so close to the sea,” Marian said conversationally, waiting for one of the stableboys to run forward. As he took Cameron’s horse, she gestured for Cameron to follow her inside. “It wasn’t anything too bad, I hope.”
“It was nothin’ that we couldnae handle,” he said, deciding that she didn’t need the details.
He had a feeling she would be able to sniff out the ordeal with Margo, even if he didn’t include that bit.
“The fishin’ boats we repaired after the last storm held nicely.
I’m confident that we will be able to weather the storms to come more effectively now that our fleet is runnin’ once more. ”
“I am quite glad to hear it. I have never had fish quite as good as the fish that your village brings in,” she said, waving over a maid. “Would you please prepare a chamber for Laird MacLeod?”
The maid nodded, giving a small curtsy before scurrying away. As she rounded the corner, he heard the low murmur of her voice being answered by a deeper timbre. Then, a second later, Laird Carrick, Lachlan MacLeod came striding down the hall.
“Laird MacLeod!” Lachlan said as he stepped into the Atrium, doing nothing to hide the surprise in his voice. “We werenae expectin’ ye.”
“Ye wrote for me help, cousin,” Cameron replied, grasping his hand in quick greeting.
“Aye, nearly a month ago,” Lachlan confirmed laughing as they released one another. “That was before we’d received news that ye were married.”
“And we did not even receive an invitation to the wedding!” Marian said, her indignation rivaling Margo’s. “Nor did you bring your wife along so that we could meet her. Lachlan tells me she’s an Englishwoman as well.”
“She is,” Cameron confirmed, his skin prickling with acute discomfort.
He’d come to assist his cousin to give himself a break from the ever-present distraction that was Margo MacLeod.
And now, only minutes after arriving, she was the only thing he could think about.
“I think the two of ye would get along well.”
“Then you should bring her along next time,” Lachlan said, leading the three of them toward the Great Hall. “I’d like to meet the woman that finally made you settle down.”
“I’m nae any more settled than I was before me weddin’,” Cameron said, his voice clipped with poorly concealed frustration.
Lachlan caught his eye, and a spark of understanding passed between them. He would drop the subject for now, but the discussion was merely tabled. Cameron wasn’t sure if he was grateful or annoyed that his cousin was bound to ask for more information later.
“I will give ye the report on the damage and what we’ve gotten finished since I sent the missive,” Lachlan said as they entered the room.
A group of servants was quickly putting together a small spread of bread, cheese, and fruit.
“Ye will have to forgive us for nae havin’ a more substantial meal for ye.
Marion, could ye let the cook ken that we have a guest that needs somethin’ to eat. ”
“Of course,” Marian said easily, giving the two of them a smile before she walked away.
“Ye daenae have to trouble yer staff for me,” Cameron said as they settled across from one another. “This is more than enough.”
“It will take them a wee bit of time to prepare yer chambers,” Lachlan said. Then, puffing out his chest slightly, he continued, “And ye ken that I will always repay yer own generosity.”
“Is it a point of pride for ye?” Cameron asked, suppressing a smile at the way his cousin’s gaze narrowed.
“I’m nay keepin’ score. It’s me job to look out for me people and me allies.
When we have needed help in the past, ye have come without a second thought.
” Drumming his fingers against the top of the table once, he added, “Truthfully, I should have come to yer aid sooner. Both of our clans rely on the granary, but yers more than mine.”
“I imagine the recent storms delivered quite a beatin’ to yer land,” Lachlan said. “And I’m nae keepin’ score, either. Perhaps I’m just bein’ cordial with me cousin.”
Cameron rolled his eyes, picking up a berry and staring down at it. When the color started to remind him too much of Margo’s lips, he popped it in his mouth. After he swallowed, he said, “Daenae do that.”
Daenae.
“One day ye will get used to kindness,” Lachlan said. Then, he sat back, crossing his arms as he continued, “Now, eat while I inform ye of what me and me men have been doin’.”
Cameron said nothing, listening as Lachlan reported to him. Cameron could barely focus on the words that came out of Lachlan’s mouth; his mind drifted back to Margo, back to the way her body felt against his on the cliffs, the softness of her mouth, her hips, her hair.
It’s like she’s hauntin’ me.