Chapter Three
Claray and Thorn both have fond memories of Maddie,
He knew which mantle was hers, having noticed how lovely she looked in the dark green fabric, so he reached for it from the peg on the wall and held it out for her, wrapping her up tightly before he held the door open for her.
Once they stepped outside, he moved a touch closer to her, wrapping his arm around her, and to his surprise, she didn’t move away. But after he bumped into her clumsily three times he dropped his arm and reached for her hand instead. “This time of year always makes me think of your grandmama.”
Claray brightened in an instant. “Aye, I have memories of how lovingly she placed everything in the keep. She’d let all of the bairns put wee decorations about, and it did not fuss her if they were crooked. She let it be the way each one wished it to be.
Once she had us make faces on pinecones with berries. She said they were all gorgeous.”
“I’m sure they were,” he said, cocooning her hand in his to warm it.
“Nay, they were not. But to Grandmama, everything we did was beautiful. She used to have us paint pictures like her storybooks, but we always made a mess.”
“I think I recall something like that right after Nari and I came to Clan Grant. She was a gracious woman. I thought she was an angel.”